Two of the services we offer are, on the surface, very different: JD Edwards (JDE) implementation and support, and Lean-based Continuous Improvement programs. Recently, though, we had occasion to apply the principles of Lean to how we were dealing with a JDE customer. This customer, to whom we provide Managed Services (aka Support) for their JDE Grower and Grower Contracts modules, is planning a fairly large JDE upgrade, getting up to date on ESUs (aka bugs and enhancements) and tools (aka infrastructure). The customer asked how Azmera should be involved in the Grower component of the upgrade. Based on prior experience of upgrades gone badly, our consultant replied describing the various activities and deliverables that he felt were best practice in an upgrade like this. This included opportunities to leverage new functionality. He did add a note that these activities didn’t necessarily correspond to hours or cost and that he wasn’t trying to upsell. They should all be incl