About the Enterprise Spectator
In 2002, I launched the Enterprise System Spectator, one of the first technology blogs, first on Blogger, and in 2024 I migrated it to Substack, and shortened the name to, simply, the Enterprise Spectator.
Since the beginning, I have been covering issues and trends in enterprise technology, especially around enterprise software, such as ERP, CRM, HCM, and supply chain. My coverage also includes reflections on running a consulting business along with a research firm.
Consistent with my 50+ years working for and consulting to end-user organizations, I always take the perspective of technology buyers, not sellers.
Although I have been dealing with tech vendors for many years on behalf of my consulting clients and have covered them extensively as an analyst, I sit unequivocally on the buyer’s side of the table. I tend to take a critical view vendor hype and inflated promises. I definitely have a contrarian streak.
My career began when I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973 and shortly thereafter started my first job in IT for Macy’s at its headquarters in New York. I spent the next decade in corporate IT and the next 10 years as an independent consultant, followed by eight years helping to grow a small system integration firm to over 110 employees.
Following the bust in the technology sector in 2000, my partner and I founded our management consulting firm, Strativa, and in 2005 we acquired Computer Economics, an IT research firm, founded in 1979. I sold both firms in 2020 and, after my earn out, I retired in 2024.
Although I am retired from employment, I am not retired from the industry. I am continuing my role as an industry analyst here on the Enterprise Spectator.
In addition to covering current trends, I am also documenting the many lessons learned over my long career. Although the technologies have changed greatly over those 50+ years, the lessons learned still apply. The technologies may be new, but the lessons are timeless. Scroll back through the publication archives and you can read them all, free.
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