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FEATURE: TAILORED ERP
place to ensure continuity and to test current
DR plans frequently,” he said.
Demonstrate the benefits
With regards to any resistance from
employees, Nortje says that it is helpful to
‘compare apples with apples’ and to clearly
compare the old systems and processes to
the Novum platform. In this way, employees
can have a clear view of the benefits that the
system offers.
“Novum essentially provides you with a
heartbeat into your organisation, at any
time of day,” he adds. “The trick is to make
the initial introduction and rollout as smooth
and as seamless as possible. With the right
preparation, and with training, businesses
can quickly reap the benefits of this
innovative tool.”
A look at Novum – how
redPanda puts words
into action
The development of redPanda Software’s
Novum enterprise management system
illustrates how corporate culture impacts
product development.
What sets Novum apart is its ability to make
measurable improvements in customer
service, productivity and communication
across the entire organisation.
“Novum provides generic measurements that
can be applied to every department,” said
Gareth Hawkey, CEO of redPanda Software.
“The overall goal of the system is to
see, measure, improve. It creates the
transparency of who is working on what,
objectively measures what is being done and
Gareth Hawkey, CEO of redPanda Software
allows you to improve the process when you
see where the gaps are.”
It also encourages organisations to consider
the communication between management
and the different teams.
Julian Weber, redPanda Sales Manager,
added: “This allows you to respond to
challenges more quickly and also identify
teams that are doing well.”
Novum’s measurements are valid across the
entire enterprise, focusing on productivity
and quality, which can measure any role in
the enterprise.
The development of the current Novum
software started two years ago and it
involved every member of the organisation
to decide where the true measurements
should lie.
“We didn’t want to scare people off with
subjective measurements, so we needed to
find a unified objective that we could use
Julian Weber, redPanda Sales Manager
across our entire company that is objective,
transparent, easily understood and the
whole team can buy into,” said Hawkey.
“We are very proud that we have succeeded
in this and it took a long time to achieve.
The application was created by interns in
the redPanda mentorship programme and
was guided by more experienced managers
and team leaders, helping them to grow
their skillset.
“We wanted something new, exciting and
fresh,” said Nortje.
“We initially built this for ourselves, and we
wanted young and fresh developers to bring
their energy to it.
“It was also very important for us that the
new system would not change the culture of
the team; we still wanted the young energy
that we have at redPanda.”
redPanda now offers the system as a product
to its clients and it has been successfully
implemented, not only for IT teams, but
also for organisations focusing on retail and
customer service.
“We have made it as simple as possible since
people may be hesitant to adopt an entirely
new system,” said Hawkey.
“Very little training is required and it is
very intuitive, making it a powerful tool
delivered in a simple way, while offering the
transparency and objectiveness needed to
improve your organisation.” n
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