The independent voice that keeps your ERP program honest.
9Nation is David Apollon, twenty-five years leading large-scale Workday and ERP/CRM programs, steering executive governance, and holding the big systems integrators accountable to the outcome they promised.
25+ years · 75 engagements · Workday-deep, platform-agnostic
Including a $25M Workday turnaround across a multi-hospital health system.
Trusted on programs across 25+ years
A representative cross-section of organizations served across 75 engagements and 16 industries.
Big integrators are paid to keep building. Someone independent has to keep asking whether the program is actually on track.
That's the seat I take, executive program leadership with no software to sell and no incentive but your go-live. I run governance, cutover, and change at the scale where a single bad quarter costs millions, and I tell you the truth the status deck won't.
Services across the full delivery lifecycle
Program Leadership & Governance
Executive steering, status discipline, and the RAID and decision rigor that keep a program decision-ready.
Phase Zero & Strategy
Assessment, business case, and mobilization that de-risk the program before the first dollar is spent.
Change & Enablement
Change strategy, communications, and end-user training delivered at enterprise scale.
Quality & Go-Live
Testing and independent V&V, cutover command center, go/no-go discipline, and hypercare.
Delivery Mechanics
Data conversion, integration management, and the requirements and solution design underneath it all.
Vendor & SI Management
Selection scorecards, SOWs, and holding implementation partners accountable to the contract.
Workday-deep, platform-agnostic. Workday · Salesforce · ServiceNow · PeopleSoft · ADP
From selection to hypercare, accountable the whole way.
Selection
The right platform and SI, with scorecards and SOWs that protect you.
Phase Zero
Assessment, business case, and governance that de-risk the program before build.
Build & govern
Executive steering, decision discipline, and an SI held to scope.
Test & IV&V
Independent validation, payroll parallels, and an honest go/no-go.
Go-live
Cutover command center, contingency, and a controlled landing.
Hypercare
Stabilization through the first real cycles, then a Center of Excellence.
Sixteen industries, one standard of delivery
Programs under pressure, delivered
Rescuing a $25M Workday program
Took over a stalled multi-hospital implementation, reset governance and the cutover plan, and drove it to a stable go-live.
A statewide ERP modernization business case
Built the assessment and business case that de-risked a multi-agency transformation and won executive sign-off.
Global testing & cutover command
Ran the global testing strategy and the cutover command center for a multi-region, follow-the-sun go-live.
Trusted in the room where it counts
David was the only person in the room willing to tell us the program was off track while we could still fix it. Vendors said it was possible, but they were only looking at their own resources. That candor saved our go-live.
Deployment went surprisingly smoothly. David's calm, decisive approach, independent of our SI, gave us confidence we were on the right track.
We brought David back for a second phase after he delivered a successful big-bang implementation three years ago. Once again, he delivered. His leadership on our Review-and-Recommend ERP initiative was exactly what our steering committee needed to make the right call.
A status report that's green on the outside and red on the inside is the most expensive document in your program.David Apollon, 9Nation
Field notes from the program trenches
The watermelon status report
Why green-on-the-outside programs fail, and how to read the red underneath before it costs you a quarter.
Running a go-live command center
The playbook for the seventy-two hours that decide whether your program lands or limps.
Choosing and managing your SI
The independent-voice approach to selection, SOWs, and holding implementation partners to account.
Hard lessons, one slide at a time.
A peek at the visual library, click through for the full set.
The things executives ask me first.
Why independent, why not just trust our SI?
Your systems integrator is paid to keep building; efficiency isn't their incentive. I'm the senior voice in the room whose only stake is your outcome, running governance, cutover, and change, and holding the SI to the scope and quality they signed up for.
How do you work alongside our existing SI?
As a partner, not a replacement. I sit on the client side, keep the program honest, accelerate decisions, and make sure knowledge transfers to your team so you own the platform when the SI rolls off.
When should I bring you in?
Earlier is cheaper. Phase Zero and selection are ideal, but I'm just as often brought in mid-flight to reset a stalled program or run an independent go-live readiness assessment.
What platforms do you cover?
Workday-deep, platform-agnostic, with depth in Salesforce, ServiceNow, PeopleSoft, and ERP across sixteen industries.
How do engagements start?
Usually with a short, candid call and a focused read on where your program actually stands. Book a 15-minute intro call to start.
The occasional hard-won lesson.
No cadence promises, no spam, just the next lesson from the program floor.
Keep your program honest.
If you're betting tens of millions on an ERP program, put an independent set of eyes on it, before the status deck turns from green to red.