THE JAR(GONE) PODCAST

Successful change management hinges on strong leadership and clear communication. In this episode, Todd Boutte and Troy Cavazos discuss resistance to change and provide actionable strategies for overcoming it, specifically from a leadership perspective. Whether dealing with major projects or small shifts, they highlight the importance of empowering employees in a way that works for them and chat through real world examples of change management done right.

Without proper data now, there's nothing to measure performance against in the future. Data models and a reporting strategy are commonly under-prioritized during system implementations. In this episode, Todd Boutte and Natalie Romero discuss the importance of a reporting strategy that aligns with business goals. They dive into the specifics of how to create a data model and how to define a reporting strategy that lays the foundation for reliable and consistent reporting from the start.

Any company project, whether a software implementation or change management initiative, needs a strong communication plan. Employees need to stay in the know and understand what parts of the project involve or affect them. In this episode, Todd Boutte and Senior Consultant Natalie Romero discuss what a good communication plan looks like, do's and don'ts for communication across the organization, and key questions to ask to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

AIOps is more than just a tool for IT operations. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss how AIOps enables CIOs to demonstrate the power of AI to the business while reaping significant operational benefits. By leveraging AIOps, CIOs can not only enhance IT efficiency and reduce costs but also position IT as a vital contributor to the overall success of the organization.

Hear from Bill Aimone and Todd Boutte on the intricacies of ERP selection and future-proofing the ERP. They discuss what many organizations neglect to consider before selecting an ERP and share their expertise on ERP best practices, common pitfalls, and the importance of aligning the ERP with future business goals. Their insight will help steer organizations toward a robust and scalable ERP solution that sets them up for future success.

From aligning company culture to developing a new technology strategy, there's a lot to consider before a rebrand. Bill Aimone and Todd Boutte discuss the implications of a rebrand and how to approach it, particularly relating to new acquisitions (although these principles are widely applicable). They cover the strategy and forethought makes a rebrand successful and discuss key areas impacted by a rebrand.

When is it the right time to reevaluate your ERP? Most companies don't reevaluate but once a decade. However, it’s important to take a good look at the ERP, especially if the organization is experiencing significant growth or inefficiencies. Sometimes a new ERP is better and more cost-effective in the long run. Other times, the current ERP just isn't being used correctly. In either case, these are common signs it's time to consider a new ERP to save time, money, and wasted effort in the long run.

The traditional post-ERP assessment lacks a holistic approach and addresses process, organizational, and reporting issues in silos. We’ve found a better way: perform the post-ERP assessment with a focus on how the whole business operating system (BOS) can be refined based on functionality provided by the ERP. Todd Boutte and Bill Aimone discuss what it looks like to refine the business operating system, optimize the ERP, and drive continuous process improvement.

What is true cloud software? Bill Aimone and Todd Boutte discuss the concept of the cloud and how it has evolved over time. They explore the differences between traditional enterprise software and newer true cloud solutions and the challenges companies face when trying to discern between the two. They emphasize understanding the service provided by software companies and the need for transparency and security in the selection process.

What are the signs an organization is ready for change? At fast-growing companies, leadership often has a vision for growth. But leadership’s vision, doesn’t always align with the organization’s capacity for growth at that time. Alex Perry and Bill Aimone address how organizations can assess if they’re ready for change. They discuss questions organizations can ask before change occurs, whether they’re facing an acquisition, getting ready to go public, or even implementing a new ERP.

There are recent reports of accountant shortages as people have exited the field and student interest in accounting has declined over the past few years. In this episode, we discuss ways to address the accounting shortage with AI—something much more doable that restructuring entire accounting programs at universities, especially in the short term. We discuss how finance and accounting organizations can leverage AI to become more efficient, reduce errors, boost controls, and stay innovative as the industry shifts.

Perhaps you've seen in the news how hundreds of large corporations have been cutting costs lately. They're laying off employees, closing stores, and decreasing spending on innovation. But many of these cost-cutting methods are temporary. In this episode, we're talking about organizational design considerations that have a huge impact on revenue and spending. We discuss how to know where your organization can become more efficient to cut costs in the long run.

High-growth companies often reach a crossroads where implementing an ERP system is necessary for continued growth. Put simply, an ERP helps automate processes, provide better information, and establish better controls. How can high-growth companies know when it's actually time to implement an ERP? Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell talk about knowing when it's time to invest in an ERP, why it's beneficial, and what it takes to successfully implement an ERP at a high-growth company.

Many executive leaders believe they have a robust B2B sales process in place. Reality is, for many sales organizations, the sales process is merely a list of items to enter into the CRM. There's much more to it than that. Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss three components of an effective B2B sales process that a surprising number of organizations are under-utilizing. They explain what's important in a B2B sales process and share their experience helping organizations successfully transform their sales approach.

If you’re going to invest time and money implementing a new ERP, you want to do it right. One of the biggest challenges organizations face during an ERP implementation is determining how to divide responsibilities among Finance, IT, and Operations. We’ve seen organizations structure an ERP implementation team in a number of different ways, but one approach  has helped many organizations see the most success.

When making improvements and leveraging new technologies, organizations tend to invest in procurement and payables processes instead of customer billing and collection processes. The problem is, most inefficiencies and opportunities for valuable improvements exist in the customer billing and collection process. Why not challenge how quickly and efficiently the company is getting cash in the door?

We're discussing the newest edition of our State of the ERP Handbook. We review many of the widely used ERP vendors on the market and evaluate their scalability and applicability to organizations of various sizes and industries. Whether you’re noticing gaps in your current ERP, need to upgrade to a more scalable solution, or are growing internationally or through acquisitions, this handbook can help you narrow down your short list and determine what ERP might be best for you.

Financial Planning & Analysis is a critical function within most organizations and the team wears multiple hats. In its simplest form, FP&A provides the organization with the right forward-looking information for decision support. However, the role of FP&A is broader and the value the FP&A team provides extends into pricing, sourcing, working capital allocation, and acquisition evaluation. In this episode, we discuss how FP&A teams can operate at the next level and leverage technology effectively.

We keep hearing the term "business operating system" tossed around. You may have heard it called "company management system" or "operating model" as the jargon has evolved. Put simply, it's how you operate consistently as a company while adhering to your overall mission, vision, and strategy. People have overcomplicated the concept, so we're putting it in plain language. We discuss the value of a business operating system, how to implement and maintain it, and tools we've used to help our clients implement a BOS that works.

Business intelligence has changed a lot in the past 10 years. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Todd Boutte discuss where BI has been and where it's headed considering recent advancements in artificial intelligence. They talk about how organizations should approach AI when it comes to reporting, plus best practices for utilizing business intelligence tools and AI.

Economic pressure is causing many organizations to reevaluate their cost structure and find ways to save. As a result, companies are laying off employees and cutting costs across the board. The problem is, many find these costs creeping back in when the cost cutting pressure is off. Why? Traditional cost cutting methods don’t work. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell recommend a different, more structured approach, resulting in permanent cost reduction.

In this episode, Peter Purcell and Senior Manager Katy Wyrick offer a fresh perspective on purchasing cards. They discuss why they're important, when to use them, and how to use them along with practical advice for implementing P-Cards within organizations. They also share how clients are successfully using P-Cards to simplify purchasing, prevent unnecessary expenses, and increase revenue.

Purchase orders are often cumbersome, but they don’t have to be. In this episode, Peter Purcell and Alex Perry discuss how to correctly use purchase orders to track expenses, help with cash flow forecasting, and prevent unnecessary overspending. They talk about when to use a PO, when not to use a PO, and how to make the process easier for everyone involved.

What are the business use cases for ChatGPT? In this episode, Peter Purcell and Todd Boutte present the possibilities for ChatGPT as a business tool. They talk about where it might show up across organizations in the future as the platform continues to grow, and they share best practices for implementing, maintaining, and taking advantage of all ChatGPT has to offer—both now and in the next several years.

The recent Southwest Airlines debacle has elevated the term “Technical Debt” into a household word. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Lauren Conces discuss technical debt risk management and share how our clients are proactively addressing technical debt and reducing the risk of technology-related business interruption.

There are pros and cons to outsourcing a large portion of an IT organization. Benefits include quick access to expertise, lower IT costs, and the ability to scale operations rapidly. While the pros are easy to realize, it’s crucial to ensure partnership with an external IT vendor doesn’t indirectly create problems that outweigh the benefits. Peter Purcell and Lauren Conces discuss best practices for managing an outsourced IT organization to maximize the benefits.

There’s a new challenge in the ERP world as many systems integrators have moved to a fully remote work schedule while their clients are in the office. Consequently, companies going through a remote ERP implementation with remote systems integrators are facing unexpected challenges. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss this recent trend, how it is affecting companies, and what to do to make sure the remote ERP implementation meets expectations.

The buzz around artificial intelligence has picked up again with the public release of OpenAI's ChatGPT late last year. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Trenegy's technology lead, Todd Boutte, discuss ChatGPT's possibilities and pitfalls. Can it replace Google search? How much can we influence ChatGPT's intelligence, or even trick it into learning incorrect information? Will ChatGPT replace the need for employees? How will it impact our lives?

Running a successful service company requires keeping a close eye on profitability across customers, service lines, and types of jobs. Understanding the total costs to provide a particular service to a specific customer (job profitability) is a must for pricing decisions, evaluation of capital investments, and hiring strategies. In this episode, hear how leading service companies are adopting the right costing strategies to ensure optimal return on shareholder investments.

Tracking IT assets is one of the best things an organization can do to help IT improve their value and ROI. Failure to properly commission, maintain, and decommission assets can cause major problems down the line. Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell have helped organizations save millions of dollars per year in this area, and in this episode, they discuss how to start tracking assets, how to maintain assets in your CMDB, and best practices for decommissioning assets.

We hear the term "IT transformation" thrown around all the time. But what does it really mean? In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss what IT transformation means, why it's important, and how IT can be a successful business partner by focusing on four key things: reliability, predictability, security, and responsiveness. Everything else is just noise.

Cybersecurity continues to be talked about from the boardroom to the shop floor. In this episode, Bill Aimone interviews Joseph Janeka, CEO of Parsolvo, who shares why traditional cybersecurity isn't enough to protect critical assets and what it means to implement a zero trust cybersecurity model. Hear how leading IT organizations are driving business value through the latest digital transformation tools and improving IT processes.

The digital revolution in IT departments requires improving service delivery, automating IT operation management, and optimizing IT asset management. In this episode, Bill Aimone interviews Peter Purcell to break down the IT jargon including ITSM, ITAM and ITOM. Learn how leading IT organizations are driving business value through the latest digital transformation tools and improving IT processes.

At some point, every company will be faced with pressure to cut costs. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss how traditional top-down cost-cutting measures don't work and why a two-pronged approach is better. A combined top-down and bottom-up approach to cost reduction is a path to sustainable reductions with the highest return. Listen in to learn how this approach can work for your organization.

Cutting costs isn't fun or easy, but companies that grab the bull by the horns will see the most success. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell share how to proactively cut costs and do better with what you have. They'll discuss which companies are reaping the benefits of cost-cutting, which companies have failed, and what we can glean from their example.

E&P companies have unique complexities, and tracking work processes is no easy task. Today's E&P companies have to navigate through a maze of technology solutions to find the best fit. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Katy Wyrick share their direct experience selecting and implementing E&P business solutions and provide an independent perspective of what's working today.

What's all the buzz around blockchain? If you aren’t considering blockchain, you’re losing ground and not optimizing  revenue… right? In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss the facts and myths around blockchain and how it can impact your business.

People don’t usually adjust well to changes in the workplace, but companies can’t grow if they don’t change. How do you get your people to do their job differently and not revert back to old habits? Change management, of course! Listen as we share a practical and realistic approach to fostering a culture of change.

Many small to medium-sized companies imitate Fortune 500 companies by using their HR departments as a crutch to complete initiatives that should be handled by other departments or outsourced completely. Listen to our discussion of the areas in which companies rely too heavily on HR and who should really be responsible for leading these efforts.

With oil prices up, many oilfield services companies are looking to grow through acquisitions. In this episode, Bill Aimone and Peter Purcell discuss the common struggles companies face as they take this approach. Listen to find out how a company can effectively grow without spending a ton of money on the integration.

You can't run a business without Information Technology (IT) and most business owners take a traditional approach because they don't know their options. Businesses have an opportunity to re-capture lost revenue and improve productivity by getting IT right. IT Strategist and Trenegy Co-Founder, Peter Purcell, shares how business owners can eliminate the traditional IT support.

The traditional methods for preventing cyberattacks are not working and corporations are spending millions. Leading companies are taking a different approach toward threat prevention by focusing on the people side of the equation. IT strategist and Trenegy co-founder, Peter Purcell, shares how corporations are taking proactive measures to successfully prevent cyberattacks.

Modern technology platforms are quickly reshaping commerce, talent acquisition, and knowledge sharing. Crowdsourcing and multi-sided platforms have changed consumer behavior and are dramatically transforming how corporations operate. Finance and accounting will be in the center arena to drive these changes. Trenegy's own, Bill Aimone, shares specific opportunities for finance in this evolving tech-driven world in a recorded session from Houston's CPA Society CFO & Controller Conference.

Is your company’s IT support slowing you down? Do you feel stuck or trapped with your current IT support provider? Bill Aimone, co-founder and Managing Director of Trenegy, shares four common myths most companies believe about IT support services.