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And I completely understand his doubts.

You’d hear about the concept of Release mostly in the App or software development world, but rarely in ERP implementations.

And without going into too much detail, I’d say there should be more thought put into methodologies that involve project implementation before immediately choosing to implement Agile or stick to the more traditional Waterfall model.

But when it comes to ERP implementations, there is one thing you simply CANNOT skip over: DEFINING YOUR IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY!!!

But guess what?

You don’t have to chose and stick to one specific methodology. You can mix them up to build the optimal approach for your implementation. Agile is now the most prominent methodology in the software world, but this doesn’t mean it’s the perfect fit for all types of IT projects.

ERP implementation is THE MOST CRITICAL IT transformation for an organization, and the bigger the organization, the greater risk of failure.

Unlike traditional Software development, the customers may not grant you multiple chances to get it right. A little bug in an interface, an hour of system failure can result in millions of dollars lost in revenue, so think twice before fully committing to Agile!

True consultant life story: I remember a mandate I had in a paper mill factory a few years ago. There was an error in the SAP Transportation module setup, which resulted in a mismatch of batch numbers assigned to trucks delivering tons of paper rolls.

Long story short, New York Times was on the other end as the customer, and my client had 5 business days to figure out the issue and solve it. Failure in this task would have likely resulted in the loss of a 5-year, multi-million dollar contract.

My team spent 16 hours a day — including a 12-hour night shift — to find and fix the bug, then manually reprocess hundreds of shipments. Then we spent the next 3 weeks — 12 hours each night — helping the factory workers find the missing rolls and directing the truck lifts to the right trucks.

So when is full Agile Methodology appropriate for a project?

I think we will all agree that in a B2B or large B2C organization, AGILE is NOT ERP friendly, but that doesn’t mean we cannot take inspiration from that concept. The key success driver of my ERP implementations is my ability to mix the Agile and Waterfall concepts together whenever it made sense.

This could be characterized as a hybrid implementation methodology. To describe it in few words, it is the ability to design, prototype, test, deploy and repeat this sequence of events in a short time frame while running a waterfall project.

If you’d like to hear more about my hybrid methodology, I’d be happy to hold a much more detailed discussion with you to see if this concept would make sense in your current or future NetSuite implementation.

Talk to you soon,

Osar

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And now that January 2019 has come and gone, we’re back with yet another infographic, and there’s obviously a few minor differences we’d like to point out!

Although it should be noted that our more professional channel of #allnetsuite remains our most popular by far, we’ve actually added a new channel to our list of top channels last month: #allintegration.

This channel is primarily used for sharing all the neat tips and tricks many of our experts have discovered over the years. We’ve continued to encourage each of our Netsuite experts to pass on their accumulated knowledge with the intention of creating an environment that fosters lifelong learning and casual networking.

Maybe you have a question concerning new Netsuite integration processes, or perhaps you’re simply looking to further develop your understanding of Netsuite in general; either way, #allintegration is the channel you want to be in if you’re aiming to better your skills as an expert Netsuite administrator.

Our #cool_listening channel surprisingly continues to be a staple of our online community, and both Osar Iyamu and Thierry Klesse have been central to building interest in that channel.

In addition, we have related channels such as #cool_events and #cool_places that we hope to promote a bit more in 2019.

Most importantly, we added five new Netsuite consultants, resulting in a grand total of 25 active users. As 2019 continues to get underway, we definitely expect that number to continue growing exponentially.

And while our goal continues to focus around building our community of Netsuite experts, we plan on inviting more of our customers into the mix soon.

As for overall engagement, we’ve remained pretty consistent, showing an expected bit of growth that coincides with the addition of five new Netsuite experts.

Our primary hope is to not just continue adding more community members, but to have more of them engaging with each other on a more consistent basis.

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You’ve all seen those crazy Silicon Valley startups! Why can’t an online community be just as fun?

Last week, we took a brief look at how OdeCloud’s online Slack community had grown over the past month, highlighting a 300 percent increase in active users. Those users take the time to help each other solve incredibly complex Netsuite problems that each of them had trouble solving alone.

This is exactly how OdeCloud’s infinite pool of knowledge and resources is meant to be utilized.

But just as our individual lives aren’t meant to revolve entirely around our careers, a great community isn’t there to just assist with work-related issues.

A great community shares in the collective experience of each other’s personal lives, expanding far beyond the limits of a strict, professional workplace. The OdeCloud community is no different, encouraging each user to share a bit of who they are outside of work.

Because let’s face it: We are more than what we do.

One way OdeCloud helps make things fun: The #CoolListenings channel, which is used to share music.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVxk9PW62Vk[/embedyt]

As seen in the infographic from our previous post, #CoolListenings is the most active discussion channel after OdeCloud’s more professional medium, #AllNetsuite. Community members provide some of their favorite tunes, showing off a diverse array of musical interests.

Aside from all the jams, the community has a #CoolEvents channel, which stays true to its namesake. Users can signal boost events they’re planning to go to, or they can simply share media they took from events at which they were present.

Just last month, OdeCloud CEO, Osar Iyamu, took a family trip to France, sharing pictures he took in the #CoolPlaces channel. He’ll often lead in the sharing, inviting others to events he organizes through his musical passion project, UnplugX, or posting pictures from some of his #Random adventures.

Like that one time he and Omar met international recording artist, producer and entrepreneur, Akon!

These are just a few tidbits that were shared with OdeCloud’s community via Slack. There are many more awesome things we’ve been up to.

As we continue to grow, we hope you take the chance to join us at one of our upcoming events and share in this fun community we’re building!

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Two heads are better than one.

Building a brand is easier than ever. All it really takes is a click of a button.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen fast-growing brands such as Glossier, Groupon, and Copyblogger go from small-time online communities to renowned worldwide companies.

Following the path of online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, a number of these companies now provide features for their members to distribute products or services as merchants, influencers, or consultants.

In the same manner, social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and Discord have given individuals the tools to potentially further those communities, blurring our borders and redefining communal proximity.

But what if the community as a whole WAS the product? What if the community’s collective expertise was the brainpower behind the actual service?

This is the idea behind OdeCloud’s community of freelance NetSuite experts. We serve the global demand for NetSuite admin services by providing a community of experts that act as a single entity.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfNUz2qlQkY[/embedyt]

As opposed to traditional freelancing platforms, OdeCloud eliminates the stress related to finding that one perfect contractor for a single Netsuite gig. In addition, companies working with OdeCloud would no longer have to worry about an individual freelancer lacking the bandwidth or expertise to support a fast-growing organization.

Essentially, the availability of a large pool of talent within the community provides the opportunity to offer a one-stop technology service. Companies could potentially outsource all technical functions to OdeCloud, preserving an internal business analyst role for facilitating team collaboration.

On the consultants’ end, gone are the days of freelancers having to look for gigs on their own. No more having to lower pay rates to better compete in the freelancing market. No more having to forcefully extend his or her bandwidth for the sole purpose of completing a single gig.

When choosing OdeCloud, companies essentially contract with OdeCloud’s community of consultants, who, in turn, are encouraged to assist each other to find the perfect solution to whatever issues may arise.

This focus on communal knowledge and assistance is not only there to help serve the customer, but it also helps create the environment freelancers need in order to promote healthy, long-term relationships and higher learning.

Generally, we at OdeCloud refer to this as community-based, crowdsourced consulting.

In conclusion, traditional freelancing platforms will always fall short in delivering quick and effective solutions to complex technological problems.

There’s a critical need for an on-demand expertise platform, but one that is designed and built to benefit fast-growing organizations and the long-term growth of the Freelance Economy.

This is where community-based, crowdsourced consulting has the advantage over a lone wolf contractor.

This is where OdeCloud comes in.

Hope you liked this one!

In our blog next post, let’s take this discussion a tad further and expand on how exactly the OdeCloud platform will go about pairing companies with their own “dedicated team” of consultants.

And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to our blog! We update every Monday with fresh content.

Cheers,

Osar

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