ERP

The current ERP system works for 90% of our operations, so it's an investment that's paying off. The management of the data isn't the meat and potatoes of the data that fit the ERP. This includes metadata not necessary associated with orders/invoice/shipping/AP, process queues, and workflow management. Actually, the cloud tools I was referring to would allow us to re-use our empty data centers with a private/public cloud hybrid. These aren't buzzwords that I've learned but tools I've actually implemented and used. The buzzwords just make it easier for people to disseminate what I'm trying to say without having a summary a mile long. Finally, I don't report to the CIO, I report to the accountants that have to pay. One of the things that make my role unique is that I can speak tech (to a certain degree) and finance (my actual career).

Thanks for the advice.

1) This isn't about getting my way, this is about evaluating and presenting the best solutions.
2) Working in HVAC is no different than any other company. An income statement is the same at every company.
3) Which is why I'm evaluating all of the alternatives.
4) No, speaking about the data center room helps answer the question before it's asked: "Do you have the capacity to support these apps (servers, redundant power, load balancing, etc.)." It also keeps the conversations on-topic (see the acronym complaint above).
5) I know where our pain points are, I'm speaking about concepts and technological approaches.
6) I'm being paid to evaluate these options, so...yes.

We already have OBIEE that we're training people to use. By managing data, I'm referring to work queues, metadata, and workflow functions.

Thanks for the advice but this is more lower level than what's needed right now. Effectively, the shared library becomes the applications' API instead of directly with the ERP system. Same result but too technical for the people my recommendations are going to.

I was reading a Dilbert comic when writing the post.

We already have a data warehouse and BI tools that I'm slowly training people to use and is where I'm finding these home-grown applications.

You've hit the nail on the head. These spreadsheets are being used to manage the data that ultimately ends up back in the ERP. It's like human ETLs once you think about it. Thanks for your suggestions.

Unfortunately, we're not considering going to an ERP, we're already there; designed it, deployed it, now final tweaking it.

ERP overall strategy. For most of our business, the ERP strategy has worked and processes were changed to match those best practices; however, some processes can't be changed due to customer/partner reluctance, prior contract support, or simply the ERP not fitting (workbenches come to mind here).

Thanks for the feedback.

Going to /. will give me a wide range of answers from experienced IT professionals and code monkeys just starting their career. When you're looking to brainstorm, it's good to get like minded people together that cross generations. I can get new ideas from the youth and hand swatting from the old that can tell the youth their idea will fail because they attempted it x number of years ago with the result of Y. That actual synergy you get will be lost once a ton of baby boomers retire and the youth start re-inventing wheels, something I fear for my generation.

Thanks for your feedback.

Most of the applications are for managing the data for day-to-day tasks like knowing what to work on next. The ERP is already running with few hiccups and most processes were changed to match the ERP and best practices, it's these one-off apps that were created to compliment what the ERP was missing for them to get their work done. Thanks for your feedback.

Thank you for your valuable feedback and I've added your suggestions to my (growing) list of pros and cons.

Thank you for your feedback.

Thank you, but I'm (selfishly) asking for advice from those who have experience in this area from a technical point of view who would know these terms. However, you have done a fantastic job defining those acronyms for me so others can find the other comments provided by other /.s that answer the questions and provide insight for similar problems they've faced and solved.