Gayatri Rajan, senior applications group director for ERP Suites, is fascinated by systems. Her career has been defined by a passion for understanding, appreciating, and utilizing the technical, layered structure of the JD Edwards system to achieve huge goals and success in each of her roles.
Originally an accountant, Rajan branched out with her MBA majoring in Information Systems which set into motion the course of the rest of her career. After management stints, weathering the worst recession in a generation, and regaining her footing in top-level positions, Rajan joined ERP Suites in 2022.
She brings with her more than 20 years of Global IT experience with expertise invested in the JD Edwards system that has helped guide her professional life.
How were you introduced to JD Edwards?
When I joined the IT industry, I had an accounting background. When you’re in accounting, it’s great but revolves around month-end tasks. So fortunately, during my tenure at the company, I got my first exposure to JD Edwards.
I found the systems fascinating, because it’s nice to capture data, report out to customers, internal, external. So that triggered my interest. I pursued my ambitions and completed the MBA program at Xavier University in Cincinnati majoring in information systems.
I then joined the manufacturing subsidiary of major automobile manufacturer, and there I got a lot more involved in the JD Edwards systems.
Shortly after that I got into a consulting opportunity which led me into mid management – which was my first applications manager role with over 18 direct reports.
What are your goals as part of the senior leadership team at ERP Suites?
Coming to ERP Suites has been a great experience. Little did I know that ERP Suites offered functional consulting. My focus coming into ERP Suites as a Senior Director is to showcase the offerings for functional services in areas like Finance, Distribution, Manufacturing, HR/Payroll, Advanced new technologies, and many more. The caliber of my team is extremely marketable as all the team members have years of experience working in multiple industries. They have so much to offer that it surely enhances the value of the customers.
The goal of the leadership team is to align productivity of the team with high quality of service. As a senior director, I am aligned with the senior leadership team’s vision for enhancing this strategy for customer growth.
What differentiates ERP Suites from other players in the JD Edwards community?
ERP Suites offers continuous learning opportunities. Not only do you learn the way the market is moving, but as an individual, you want to grow as a person. So that is something that differentiates ERP Suites from other companies I’ve worked with so far.
The vision for us is not to become like any other competitor or provider. I’m looking for something that only we can bring – more innovation, automation. This is a technology company, so I want to make sure we embrace the new technologies, and we use the learnings with our solutions.
Can you share an example of ERP Suites embracing new technology?
Last year we implemented a solution for one of our customers. They said, “Hey, I don’t want to upgrade. I don’t have money to spend. However, I want this QR code implemented for my customers. They are asking for this, so can you guys help us?”
It was a major challenge because the new or latest version just provides you with a basic, out-of-the-box solution. But for this customer we had to find a creative solution. As a senior director, one of the things I enjoy most is to challenge my team to go beyond the normal thinking and think outside the box and go outside the box and see what creative solutions they can come up with. Customers see that we are adding value and helping them with their limitations on resourcing – it could be people, it could be funding. Whatever it is, we try to come up with better solutions for them.
The team did a fantastic job. I presented that solution at the SCUG conference and shared the experience with others. This shows you how we want to innovate, come up with alternative solutions, and help.
Read more about the new Third Party QR Code Implementation Rajan and her team oversaw here.
Why have you stuck with JD Edwards over other ERP systems?
During my tenure with a company when working as an analyst and the strategy was to implement SAP. I had the option to learn that if I wanted to, but I was a total loyalist of JD Edwards, so I stuck with the program and stayed in this arena. SAP at that point was exploding like crazy. In 2008, when the recession really hit, I doubted myself. I said, “Maybe I should have learned a little bit of SAP,” and so I did. I took a course just to find out what it was all about.
When I was doing my SAP training, I found out that multiple consultants managed different aspects of the modules contrary to JDE when consultants are cross functional in most cases. If something changes/ happens, I know how to take care of it, because of the integration, the way the software’s written. That’s where it was an informed decision: “No, let me stay with JD Edwards.”
What is one of the most exciting things about JD Edwards?
The concept changed and they brought in this new evolution called Orchestrator. It has been the best change Oracle could bring in for JD Edwards because what it did was, it did not restrict customers from going and upgrading the software, but what it did, it brought a lot of integration tools that were available within the system, where we could leverage the existing systems for then to talk to each other.
That is what really makes me very excited talking about JD Edwards because I feel very passionate about it. Orchestrator has offered solutions and not only in this area but HR Payroll, for example, has a lot more to offer. They have the employee self-services and we at ERP Suites have done a fantastic job. We have created a mobile app that you can download and register as an employee and you can go from there. Opportunities are limitless. As long as we have the right resources, we can expand in those areas.
What sets JD Edwards apart from other ERP systems?
We as a team at ERP Suites are focused on giving values, no matter what version of JD Edwards a customer is on. Some of them may have restrictions, but we’re transparent to our customers and they know what we can offer and what we cannot at this point.
The customers that have been using JD Edwards know the system really well. They have been on this journey for a long time and there are a lot of folks that have created creative solutions because it’s a flexible ERP. So, they have created a lot of customizations. When I talk to any customer, I am always listening to them, because they know their system very well. As a professional in this industry, with the exposure I’ve had, I feel it is my duty to tell them exactly what’s available in the market and make it a better experience for them. That is what I see, as the functional team in the Applications group, is providing that value to our customers.
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