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Brian Sommer

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President, TechVentive, Inc.

150 points

Former Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) partner

Ran Andersen Consulting's Worldwide Software Intelligence unit for a decade

Launched an Internet startup in 1999 to broker software implementation services

Founded TechVentive in 2001 to assist buyers and sellers in technology

WEB: vital analysis

June 30, 2011

Brian Sommer is speaking at this roundtable

ERP Innovations: Using Cloud, Mobile and Social to Improve Agility

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

June 27, 2011

Brian Sommer and 6 other people answered this question

When choosing enterprise software, do you hire independent selection consultants?

One of the common items in these responses is that the consultant should be independent. I agree with that position. The problem is identifying a truly independent consultant. Here are some conflicts anyone considering a consultant should verify.
1) Does the consulting firm have a systems ... more

Information Technology

June 15, 2011

Brian Sommer and 4 other people answered this question

Is low cost the primary benefit of cloud ERP?

Michael -
Straightforward question that's hard to answer.
Problem 1 - "Cloud" solutions can be anything that is running on someone else's computers. So, cloud offerings can include ASP products, hosted on-premise software to full blown SaaS multi-tenant solutions. I saw a presentation today that ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

May 13, 2011

Brian Sommer and 5 other people answered this question

How does cloud computing change an organization?

The biggest changes that will occur are:
1) Multi-tenant applications have the ability to relieve IT organizations from significant obligations to maintain, upgrade and update application software. In organizations I interviewed last year, large enterprises calculated that 41-60% of their 8 year TCO (total cost of ... more

Cloud Computing

Enterprise Resource Planning

May 11, 2011

Brian Sommer and 10 other people answered this question

How do you balance customizing ERP vs. the risk and expense?

The best counsel for any company would be to look at any particular customization in the light of its strategic value to the company. Some functions, like Fixed Assets Accounting, will never be strategic. This is a tactical function that should utilize standard software with ... more

Information Technology

Enterprise Resource Planning

April 12, 2011

Brian Sommer and 3 other people answered this question

Which factors of organizational culture could affect ERP implementation project?

I've encountered dozens of these factors during my career. Some of the more memorable ones include:
1) Passive/Resistive cultures - Some people are great at agreeing with most of your project, configuration, etc. decisions. They may even agree to help but don't. They're not comfortable with ... more

General Management

Information Technology

Enterprise Resource Planning

April 10, 2011

Brian Sommer and 6 other people answered this question

Is cloud-based ERP really less risky than on-premise?

I'd like to suggest that any reader of this stream look at:
http://www.privacyrights.org/data-breach
and
http://www.infosecurityanalysis.com/
The first site has a chronological listing of data breaches. It lists the name of the organization, how many records were potentially breached, etc. The second has some interesting charts, ... more

Information Technology

Change Management

Cloud Comptuing

April 7, 2011

Brian Sommer answered this question

Epicor and Activant are getting acquired by Apax Partners. Who benefits and why?

This deal is interesting on a couple of levels. First, the total value of the deal is approx. $2 billion. From some published reports I've seen, the total revenue of the combined firms is approximately $825 million annually. This puts the deal at little more ... more

Information Technology

March 21, 2011

Brian Sommer and 21 other people answered this question

3 ways to handle and work for an autocratic, micro-managing and de-humanizing boss?

I've read two books on the subject: Crazy Bosses (by Stanley Bing, the Fortune columnist) and Brutal Bosses and Their Prey. Bing's book does a great job of identifying about 6 common pathologies of these bosses. Sadly, I hit the trifecta with one boss of ... more

General Management

March 16, 2011

Brian Sommer and 2 other people answered this question

ERP: What are the hidden costs?

Michael -
In a series of interviews I completed with ERP customers in 2010, I learned that their costs broke out this way:
1 - the largest cost (for large enterprises) was their internal IT personnel cost to support, upgrade, patch, etc. the applications. For many, ... more

General Management

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