Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We dared and are delighted to announce that we won second place in the “Cross-industry for SMEs” category of the ERP System of the Year competition – one of the most prestigious awards in the ERP industry – with our ERP system JTL-Wawi! Partner and Training Manager Manuel duly represented us at the award and reports here not only on the challenges we overcame, but also explains its significance for the industry. Let’s look back on a few exciting weeks of competition!
What is the competition for ERP system of the year?
According to the organizers, the “ERP System of the Year” competition is the most important award for ERP providers in Europe. The Center for Enterprise Research (CER) at the University of Potsdam has been presenting the award for 18 years. The award is based on the recognition that enterprise resource planning (ERP) and digitalization are closely linked. The integration of ERP systems is therefore one of the key foundations for the successful digitalization of companies.
An independent jury consisting of experts from the fields of digitalization, consulting, journalism and science will review the participating solutions. The finalists present their products to this jury in a digital pitch.
Preliminary round: JTL masters first hurdle as a team
Even though I, as Partner and Training Manager, presented JTL to the outside world at the “ERP System of the Year”, participation required intensive teamwork, especially during preparation. First of all, we had to submit detailed application documents and discuss a whole range of questions:
To answer these questions convincingly, we mobilized our resources, from development to partner management and marketing. Thanks to our teamwork, we cleared the first hurdle: We had made it to the final!
The all-important final round
In the final, we had to convince the jury in a 15-minute pitch. Here, we not only had to concisely present the USPs and unique selling points of JTL-Wawi, but also shed light on more in-depth technical topics such as interface capability and our particular suitability for SMEs. Finally, we faced critical questions from the expert jury. Its members included experts from research and business, including Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Gronau, Head of CER and Chair of Information Systems at the University of Potsdam, and Benedict Bender, Trusted Advisor at Potsdam Consulting Advisory GmbH.
During the questions, I explained some more details about our import/export tool JTL-DataTransfer and our production assistance solution JTL-Workbench. The judges also wanted to know more about connection technologies such as the JTL-Wawi API. After an exciting day of finalist presentations, it was now up to the jury to choose the winner. For us, it was time to keep our fingers crossed!
2nd place for JTL-Wawi! Jury praises flexibility for merchants
Naturally, I dressed up for the award ceremony, which took place two days later at the Potsdam Industry 4.0 Center and was followed by a gala evening. In addition to the festive atmosphere, there was also a lot of excitement in the air! We had chosen the “Cross-industry for SMEs” category for our application. However, prizes were awarded in a total of five areas (manufacturing, cross-industry customer benefit, retail, cross-industry for SMEs, cloud) as well as three special prizes (customer satisfaction, customer benefit, implementation approach). Even though the jury did not choose us as the winner, I proudly accepted the certificate for second place in the “Cross-industry for SMEs” category. After all, we had achieved a lot as a team!
In awarding the prize, the jury particularly highlighted JTL’s tiered license structure, which enables merchants to grow and scale in line with their sales volume. The flexibility of our interfaces, such as the JTL-eazyAuction marketplace connection, was also praised as outstanding.
JTL-Wawi on its way to the top of the ERP universe
This award not only shows that we, as an ERP provider with holistic multichannel solutions for modern retail, can certainly compete with others in terms of functionality and usability, but also that we are on the right track with our planned innovations. We are proud of what we have achieved and will continue to work hard to optimize JTL-Wawi so that you can make your retail profitable, efficient and future-oriented.
As a software provider that lives and breathes community-driven development, we would of course also like to thank you, our users. Without your feedback, which we receive every day via the JTL forum, social media and other channels, this award would not be possible. Thank you very much!
