#53 Moar ERPs, Technical Debt, ChatGPT Garbage, Migration Lessons, Trends
In this issue:
Is Technical Debt Bad or Just Misunderstood?
If we were playing the game of associations, first reaction to “technical debt” would be “bad”. It is usually thought of as ball and chain on the leg of “digital transformation”.
Every customer running an SAP system for more than a few years is likely to have some degree of technical debt. (Sometimes we call it “legacy”, which sounds less threatening and almost noble.)
In finances, not all debt is considered bad. Debt that puts you in a better position, such as low-rate mortgage, is “good”. Financial debt, good or bad, needs to be paid off eventually though. But, as we know, “technical debt” can sometimes be just abandoned. There ought to be a better analogy. I like how Dawid Kraczkowski compares technical debt to… weeds:
“Both demand regular attention to manage; leave them unchecked, and they can choke productivity, much like weeds competing with plants for nutrients.”
As a proud lawn owner, I get this. But our neighbor’s overzealous battle with weeds left their lawn with several bald spots. Yikes. Dawid says:
“[…]include refactoring in your estimates. As you integrate new features, take the opportunity to clean up and remove any unnecessary or obsolete code.”
One thing is different here though. While it’s become fashionable to replace some grass lawns with clover or other more sustainable “weeds”, you definitely wouldn’t want to have an SAP system full of overgrown BDC-based function modules. Keep that weedwhacker handy, folks. JP
Vaguely Information-Shaped Noise
I’m an amazing enterprise software nerd, but to find the best opportunities I need the world to know how great I am. I know! I’ll post an article on LinkedIn!
In today's fast-paced world, it's essential to embrace the journey, making each moment count towards our endless pursuit of excellence. Let's strive to transcend boundaries, leveraging every opportunity to refine our skills and elevate our aspirations. Together, we can transform challenges into stepping stones, leading us to the pinnacle of our personal and professional growth. Make every day a masterpiece, an epitome of dedication and perseverance.
Wait...that's not quite right. Let's try again.
In an era where distractions are just a click away, it's more crucial than ever to anchor ourselves to our core values, those unwavering principles that guide us through the tumult of daily life. By steadfastly adhering to our core beliefs, we cultivate an environment where purpose thrives and distractions falter. So, let's pledge to remain true to our values, forging ahead with clarity and conviction, as we build legacies that resonate with authenticity and purpose.
No. That's not it either. Hmm.
You know what I hate with the incandescent rage of a thousand supernovas? Meaningless dreck posted on social media. It's painfully obvious who's using ChatGPT to blindly create posts. If you’re going to force some poor GPU to write for you, here are two guidelines:
If your prompt produces something like the above, you should not post. You don’t have an idea worth sharing. (And that’s not a bad thing. It’s hard to make stuff.)
Write up a draft in your own words first, then ask for help in improving your tone, or if you left something out.
Make ChatGPT work alongside you to improve your thoughts. Use it to help you refine your message, not to create it.
I try to filter my social feeds down to the good stuff. When I see brain-destroying idea-sludge, I turbo-block. If you post LLM vomit to the world, you are putting your personal stamp on garbage. PM
Keep That Open-Source Coming
I just love open-source business software. The spirit is so refreshingly different from my customary project work with mega-systems. We’ve talked about Odoo and ERPNext multiple times. I went looking for more, and I found some real gems.
Dolibarr - not only a good set of apps, but a pretty extensive partner ecosystem and store.
Tryton - nice Docker setup for trying/using their solution. And I always say success stories are the best information that you can share about your product.
metasfresh ERP - the UI looks nice. Releases every Friday, REST API.
My hunch is that there are thousands of businesses running software that’s wrong-sized for their needs. I’ve seen the SAP part from both sides: “why in the world are you running SAP?” to “why in the world aren’t you running SAP?” But there surely has to be an incredible market for companies who don’t even know they could be running an ERP that would save them all sorts of headaches. PM
Learning From SAP Community Migration
I’m a proud survivor of three SAP Community migrations. Most recent one still seems to be in the post-apocalyptic wound-licking stage. But this story is not about how SAP ruined community [once again], it’s about what can we learn from this.
When there is an angry mob with torches and pitchforks (or its digital equivalent) outside your windows, it’s not the best time to boast how migration was smashing success. I’ve seen this go “oof” many times. Acknowledge the migration team’s hard work but then maybe just lay low for a while.
“Nobody likes change” is bull hockey. Nobody likes changes that make our life worse. Also I think the “YA” part of the MAYA principle (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) gets frequently ignored by enthusiastic “techies”.
Someone said “UI is like a joke: if you have to explain it, it’s not a good one”. Put this on a plaque, please.
Good option to minimize the angry mob in p.1 is to open some feedback channels. People like being heard or at least listened to. For bonus points, actually do something with that feedback. “The Idea Place where ideas go to die” is still fresh in community memory.
Migrations are hard but necessary and sometimes unavoidable. They’re not unusual though and we shouldn’t keep stepping on the same rakes. JP
Yet More Low-Code
If you go hunting around for enterprise low-code app development tools, many vendors are going to give you similar-shaped solutions:
An integration platform, for shuffling data and processes around
Process automation, low-code doesn’t just mean creating simple UIs
A mobile experience, probably a dedicated app that can host other apps inside it on a user or role basis
In the SAP ecosystem, some flavor of SAPUI5 for responsive web
I stumbled across another tool recently, Simplifier, and it checks all those boxes. It looks like they’ve been around for a few years, so it’s clearly a shortcoming on my part that I haven’t seen them yet.
There’s a subtle difference in their approach that I like. If you visit the website, you are clearly being sold more than the platform. You’re being sold a team to help you implement - the English version of the site calls it a “Personal Success Team”.
I think everyone needs to check their skills and time expectations for enterprise low-code app delivery. We are still not quite at the place where AI can summon a complete enterprise app out of thin air, and until that happens you just ain’t gonna get apps without skilled people tackling them. Simplifier has a good approach here: the dedicated service being front-and-center with the product. PM
2024 Tech Trends Commentary
I missed this Fireship video back in December but we have till the end of Q1 to talk about the trends for the year, so here we go.
Graphical IDE – yes! Late 90s Visual Studio was such an awesome departure from the blinking monochrome mainframe screens and command prompt. If you look at SAP BAS, it’s like we went full circle back to “terminal”. As far as I’m concerned, bring back WYSIWIG and drag-and-drop, please.
And the wearable tech subject just keeps on giving. While the internet makes fun of a guy wearing “MacBook for your face” on NYC subway, SAP is enthusiastically climbing on the Vision Pro bandwagon. Because naturally, everyone wants to have an art museum background when looking at their financial dashboard. What a time to be alive! JP
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Fun fact Tryton originated from an old fork of Odoo 15 years ago.
I don't really get the buzz about the new SAP Forum design. Shared pain is half pain as a German proverb is saying. I am supportive to the endeavor to align the developers world emotionally to their users when they have to work with Fiori bonding them closer together in the common agony of modern UX design.
But let's be honest, most of the the blogs.sap.com content was anyway a chaining of SAP marketing terms which could have come out of a large language model and a dozen commentaries beneath praising the authors fantastic work. Now "form follows function" developed an adequate home for it.
This is the future. Everybody who is complaining is simply to old.