SAP on a Mac

I was reading this Blog the other day about Apple on their new product, called "Boot Camp" which enables Microsoft Windows XP to run on Macs. It made me think for the first time to swap my PC. Why? Well having to work recently with few web designers using them, I have got to say – It’s really cool! It is nice. It is easy. And it is friendly. I have been using PCs since I have first logged on a computer. Microsoft Windows was all I have been taught at school and it was available on PCs only. I never wanted to bother learning something else. But today I spend so much more hours in front of my computer that I’d rather do that on a “nice, “easy” and “friendly” one – not to say a Mac. And you do not have to be a geek to think that way. With “Windows on a Mac” it sounds like it is going to be an easy move. But it also sounded to me slightly different…something like…“PeopleSoft on a Mac” or “SAP on a Mac”. Do you know where I’m coming from? Not yet! One of our DiscussHR members wrote the other day a really good article about how well communicating change management within your organisation (link). She says “one idea per mail”…“it is better to send out more mails than a few longer mails with mixed subjects”. This is so true but ERPs do not think that way but rather “mix modules in one system”…”it is better to have all modules in one system than several systems to manage different modules”. And I think there are pros & cons to that. “All in one” might sounds good for IT/IS. It is certainly a more efficient approach. However, “All in one” also means bigger and more complex systems. The business might rather think “Small is beautiful”.Thanks to Shared Services Centres (SSC) we now have skilled members who know how to use these systems. This was not the case before. However SSC are not the only HR System end users. What about the HR Business Partners? What about Managers and Employees using these Self Service Technologies? They are my concern. Not sure about you but the Business Partner I know struggle not to say avoid running a report. Some of them actually just do not know how to do it. And rather telling it, they’ll stay quite and get their information somehow. I’d actually love to know how sometimes. Some managers’ keep maintain their employees data in Excel while their assistant update the system for them. I have seen IT/IS uploading some Managers excel spreadsheet in the system just because they did not want to use Self Service. I can keep going like that with so many examples. What does all that mean? ERPs are certainly efficient – I do believe they are – but you might want to think of more simple and user friendly alternatives for your end users. And by that I mean for instance Self Service and Reporting systems.