The Boss Volunteers Our Company for Beta Testing (Part 1)

in #mytechlife75033 years ago

The Boss Volunteers Our Company for Beta Testing (Part 1)

Rewind 4 years, I’m the lone IT guy working for a beer distributor. Our truck drivers are still using paper invoices and handheld Motorola scanners to deliver beer and collect payment. This is the most important part of being a distributor, you don’t get paid until you deliver. I’ve been advocating to use our ERP providers delivery app via iPhone for over a year but it was always too expensive for the ‘budget’.

It’s a late Thursday afternoon and I’m walking down the hallway and see our Madam President:

Me: Hello Madam President, haven’t seen you lately, traveling again?

MP: As a matter of fact I just got back from a conference and I’ve setup us up with a new delivery system for the drivers.

(Shocked that she would do that without telling her IT Director, ME, I reply)

Me: Oh wow, that’s great news. Will it work on both iPhones and iPads? Or do we still use the handheld zebras?

MP: I don’t know.

Me: Is it compatible with our current ERP system?

MP: it’s supposed to be.

Me: So it’s compatible with our ERP’s cloud?

MP: I guess so. Let me do this, I’ll send you the contact info of the team that is coming out to help launch it and I’m sure they can answer your questions.

Me: That sounds good. I just want to make sure everything is compatible before we switch over to anything.

MP: I’ll try to find that for you as soon as possible but you might want to be here when they deploy the new system.

Me: Of course, if I’m going to support it I’ll need to know as much a possible.

MP: Great. They fly in on Sunday and they will start the process Monday morning before the trucks roll out.

Me: This Monday?

MP: Yes, so you better give them a call tomorrow to make sure we are good to go. I’ll email you the contact information. We’ll be only the 2nd company on the west coast to use their system. It’s very exciting.

Me: We are the 2nd? How did the first one go?

MP: Okay I guess for a beta launch. At least that’s what they said.

Me: Beta? You mean we are a beta test?

MP: Yeah, isn’t it great?! We’ll be the first ones in our area to use it.

Me: (In stunned shock and silence)

Have you ever been so shocked by a situation that you were just a loss for words? That was me in that moment as MP walked away...how did this all play out? Wait for part 2!!

UPDATE: Thank you everyone! I’m working on part 2, which I will post tomorrow. I’ve only scratched the surface of this IT debacle...expect several parts...tomorrow the INVESTIGATION begins!!## TLDR Summary:

MP: As a matter of fact I just got back from a conference and I’ve setup us up with a new delivery system for the drivers. Our truck drivers are still using paper invoices and handheld Motorola scanners to deliver beer and collect payment. MP: I’ll try to find that for you as soon as possible but you might want to be here when they deploy the new system. MP: Yes, so you better give them a call tomorrow to make sure we are good to go. I’ve been advocating to use our ERP providers delivery app via iPhone for over a year but it was always too expensive for the ‘budget’. Let me do this, I’ll send you the contact info of the team that is coming out to help launch it and I’m sure they can answer your questions. I just want to make sure everything is compatible before we switch over to anything.

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