WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textTo understand the total cost of ownership of software, one of the critical pieces that you need to understand would be the software license and pricing. There are several nuances of the licensing model with several variables that could impact your total costs. The licensing and pricing nuances could be as simple as whether you are buying a single-user or multi-user license, or it could be as complex as whether you would still be paying for your license if the user leaves the company.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise in selling and procuring software packages to discuss software licensing/pricing. We also discussed several variables that executives need to review to understand their implications and how that would impact the total price. Finally, we discussed the difference between named vs. concurrent licenses and the nuances of consumption-based pricing.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textThe game has completely changed when it comes to serving customers in the new world of e-commerce. The personal touch that existed in the traditional world may not exist in the e-commerce world. The customers also operate in self-serve mode, so they need a lot of information to research and make decisions. You might think that the role of salespeople may not be relevant in the new world of e-commerce, but their role is even more relevant as they need to become coaches and provide the same hand-holding as they would get in the traditional world.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise implementing e-commerce websites to discuss customer service strategies. We also discussed the challenges with e-commerce customer service and how it differs from traditional customer service. Finally, we discussed the effective ways of measuring customer service and the newer trends and technologies available to improve customer service.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textHow vital could bookkeeping be? Isn't it all about capturing all the transactions and creating a bunch of statements to file taxes? Well, strategic financial planning is where your real opportunities reside. If you are not strategic about it, you may be chasing wrong opportunities that may not have as much financial value as you would if you were strategic with your bookkeeping.In today's episode, we have our guest, Jeannie Doherty, who discusses how strategic bookkeeping differs from tactical bookkeeping. She also describes the five pillars of strategic bookkeeping and how most owners think of bookkeeping as numbers 101. Finally, she discusses how to find comparable industry data to lead the negotiation and keep your costs in check and how to do budgeting and spend analysis to create the strategic financial framework that will help you scale.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textToday's consumer requires most stores to provide the same experience that they will get from larger brands. These experiences could include click-and-collect, also known as buy-online-pick-up-at-store, integrated loyalty across channels, and omnichannel experience across all the channels. These experiences require you to have your inventory centralized and reconciled across channels. Or there will be friction to the process with significant customer experience issues such as not buying the product on the site that consumers may be looking for. These issues could also include delays with shipment at the store or challenges with traceability of the order. In today's episode, we have our guest, Jason Greenwood, who discusses the nuances of the click and collect process and why you need to centralized inventory and distribution strategy to enable this experience. He also provides some easy hacks on how brands can enable this experience without having a true technology and operational infrastructure to enable this experience. Finally, he discusses several scenarios and implications if the businesses might not have a true click and collect experience system.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textManaging aerospace projects is just like solving puzzles. You have many moving pieces, including managing your customers' expectations, coordinating with your supply chain, and meeting the specification requirements. But when it comes to the NPD process, a project manager's job is even harder due to increased risk and the lack of available data to estimate accurately. Estimating and delivering a project within time and budget requires tons of data and experience to forecast all the possibilities where the project is likely to fail.In today's episode, we have our guest, Lori Nevin, who discusses the differences between the aerospace industry's new product development and product improvement projects. She also provides practical insights into how to mitigate risks and estimate the projects to win but at the same time not lose money taking those jobs. Finally, she discusses the quality, compliance, certification, and audit processes for the aerospace industry.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textIf you plan for your next digital transformation initiative, you need to decide whether you will opt for an on-prem system or cloud. You might ask why anyone would even worry about on-prem in 2021. Well, there are several reasons. If you already have an IT infrastructure and are locked into on-prem licenses, the cloud option may be more expensive. You might also want to opt for on-prem if any regulatory constraints require you to be present on the on-prem system. Finally, some people may be just more comfortable with their data on their premises.In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with digital transformation infrastructure to discuss how to choose between on-prem and cloud. We also discussed how to build the criteria based on your business needs and how to identify fake clouds. Finally, we discussed why on-prem would still be a viable option in some cases, even if the rest of the world may be taking a cloud-first approach.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textThe average rate at which the average consumer abandons their shopping cart before making a purchase is 81%. There are countless reasons why consumers leave their shopping carts. These reasons could be legitimate such as unexpected shipping costs. They could also be website functionality issues such as the requirement for a new user account, their tendency to research to buy later, and security concerns. These issues affect conversion, sales, and customer experience. In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with e-commerce shopping cart issues. We discussed these issues and the implications on consumer behavior as well as conversion. Finally, we discussed several advanced shopping cart features such as cart-to-quote, approval processes in the B2B carts, out-of-the-box functionality available in e-commerce systems, and several stories related to shopping cart issues.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textIf you are exploring the ISO journey, your current collaboration tools might outgrow your needs driven by ISO compliance. Your current legacy PLM tools may not support collaboration features. If your current processes are manual or done on a spreadsheet, you may be overwhelmed with the tracking and information required to submit to regulatory bodies. Like any other cross-functional process in your organization, your design review processes require multiple teams, including quality, engineering, and production.In today's episode, we have our guest, Adam Keating, who discusses the needs of design revision processes in the engineering departments of manufacturing companies. He also describes the deficiencies of legacy PLM systems and the number of custom development companies need to do on top of PLM systems to make it work. Finally, he discusses the user experience issues and adoption issues in the quality department that derail quality efforts.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textThe processes of most food and beverage businesses are challenging due to government regulations. Still, the distillery business is even trickier due to maintaining inventory through the production process. There is significant inventory tied in the final phases of the production process. Then you don't have access to the final consumer as the government mandates you to go through the distribution channels. Finally, there are significant quality and packaging guidelines that need to be followed through and after the distribution.In today's episode, we have our guest, Jim Vinoski, who discusses the nuances of the distillery industry and its manufacturing and production processes. He also discusses the nuances of inventory and warehouse processes in this industry. Finally, he outlines the 3-tier and licensing system unique to this industry and shares an ERP story that was a massive success with implementation despite business model challenges. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textThe majority of digital transformation initiatives fail, and in most cases, they fail because of people issues. When it comes to building digital initiative teams, you need a comprehensive approach. The first batch of champions you have chosen to drive the initiatives may be super excited initially. But their excitement may fall off once they realize the amount of effort involved in driving these initiatives. Then you need to manage the detractors' expectations, or they may be extremely vocal and far more enthusiastic than your champions to ensure that the initiative is not successful. What could you do to ensure that you have the right team in place from the get-go that will help you reach the finish line without any disruptions?In today's episode, we invited an expert panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise with digital transformation initiatives to discuss how to build successful digital teams. We also discussed how to find initial champions, find covert champions, and reduce churn. Finally, why defining and aligning success criteria could help with the success of digital teams and reduce churn.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.