A Software Insiders Point of View

So it’s that time of year for holiday cheer and pundits to tempt fate and pontificate.  Here are some very very draft predictions for 2009 in order of most likely to least likely to pan out:

End user predictions

1. Heavy discounting continues for new license. Discounts include non-monetary concessions such as training, implementation, integration, and other professional services.
2. SaaS contract terms move from annual terms back to month to month contracts.
3. Single source ERP strategies lose appeal as customers move to contain exposure to vendor lock-in with large ERP vendors.
4. SaaS integration becomes a requirement as customers seek hybrid deployment options.
5. Consortium and shared service buying move beyond the public sector.
6. Customers with more than 3 ERP systems move to reduce to 3 or less.
7. Custom dev shops extend functionality on PaaS offerings.
8. Software appliance adoption exceeds that of open source.
9. Lack of third party maintenance seen as anti-competitive.  Customers demand options.
10. Industry groups ban together to define web services and business process standards.
11. Open source SaaS software improves open source adoption rates.

Vendor predictions

1. SaaS vendors continue to take market share away from pure on-premise vendors.
2. Intense software discounting in Q4 2008 and Q1/Q2 2009 drives less capitalized vendors to go broke or be acquired.
3. ISV’s battle for ecosystem partners as capital for innovation becomes scarce.
4. Apps vendors torn between building on .NET, delivering their own SaaS offering,  or hosting with another vendor like SFDC.
5. M&A activity abounds in Gov Con (i.e. Public sector, Education, Utilities, and Defense verticals) as vendors seek to consolidate around public infrastructure spending.
6. Specialized apps vendors emerge to meet micro-industry niches and many arise from system integrators with software development expertise.
7. System integrators forgo vendor “warnings” and deliver on third party maintenance.
8. A few system integrators will acquire software vendors and drive towards solutions convergence.
9. Software vendors improve support and maintenance offerings.
10. Large ERP vendors cede the SMB market or acquire for market share presence.
11. Cloud computing remains a 2009 buzzword and every vendor will dilute the meaning till it becomes meaningless.

Your POV.

Send me your view of 2009 and what you think will be hot or not.   What’s the one trend you think will pan out?   Feel free to share with me your experience.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

December 1st, 2008 | Tags: 2009, End User, enterprise applications, enterprise apps, Enterprise apps strategy, Enterprise Software, Monday's Musings, Predictions, R "Ray" Wang;, Trends, Vendor | Category: 2009 Trends, 3rd party maintenance, Apps Strategy, ERP, Enterprise Software, Enterprise apps strategy, IT Strategy, Monday's Musings, R "Ray" Wang;, SME, SaaS, SalesForce.com, Software Ecosystems, Uncategorized, Software Vendors, appliance market, business process, contract negotiations, contract strategy, custom development, enterprise applications, enterprise apps, force.com, license fees, license policy, long term apps strategy, maintenance fees, shared services, smb, software appliances, software licensing, software licesing and pricing, software pricing, software trends | Leave a comment

Tuesday 2nd December ’08 9:00 am to 11:00 am Mumbai Greetings! As part of NASSCOM Speakers Club, we take pleasure in inviting you to attend the session on “The Emerging IT Services & Software Ecosystem: Seven Strategies For IT Services Firms To Shift The Balance Of Power” and the speaker for the session is Mr. Ray Wang, VP & Principal Analyst, Forrester Research. Rapid changes in business models, work force dynamics, geopolitical, and economic concerns, and technology advancements challenge IT Services firms to transform existing business models.  As IT Services leaders respond, they must determine which strategies will reduce the dependency on large ISV vendors while advancing market mindshare. Join Forrester’s Vice President R “Ray” Wang, as he shares 7 critical strategies that address the issues facing IT services firms during this historical opportunity to shift the balance of power — in their favor. Presentation highlights: Responding to the 4 forces of change The emerging solution centric ecosystem Seven strategies for success We look forward to an interactive session and please do not hesitate to call us for further information. Regards, Rajiv Vaishnav Vice President - Member Outreach NASSCOM (022-2823 48 44/51) ======================================================

Program

Time Activity 9:00 – 9:30   am Networking Breakfast 9:30 – 9:45   am Introductions 9:45 – 10:30 am Presentation by Mr. R “Ray” Wang, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research 10:30 – 10:50 am Q & A 10:50 – 11:00 am Vote of thanks ====================================================== Brief Profile: Mr. R “Ray” Wang With his understanding of the overall Ecosystem of solutions, technology and system integrators, Ray provides strategy and guidance for firms navigating through the vendor selection process. His foremost research areas at present include Software Partner Solution Offerings and The Future Of Software Licensing And Pricing. In 2008 Ray was recognized by the Institute Of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) as Analyst of the Year. Bloomberg, WSJ, CIO, Computer World quote him frequently on issues related to CIOs and IT vendors. Ray is based in the USA (CA). View his complete profile at: http://www.forrester.com/rb/analyst/ray_wang

November 28th, 2008 | Tags: Apps Strategy, Emerging IT Services, Nasscom, R "Ray" Wang;, Software Ecosystems, speaking engagement | Category: Apps Strategy, Enterprise 2.0, Enterprise Software, Enterprise apps strategy, IT Services, IT Strategy, Nasscom, R "Ray" Wang;, Uncategorized, enterprise applications, enterprise apps, software trends, speaking engagement | Comments (1)

With 2020 hindsight and the best rear view mirror clarity (j/k), Q3 appears to be THE deflection point in where the economy began to impact the enterprise software vendors.  A flurry of continued lowered guidance on earnings by vendors reflects the general nervousness sweeping customers and prospects as we head into the most important quarter…Q4.

Major trends in Q3 include:

• Overall new license revenues down for most on-premise vendors except IFS, Intuit, JDA, and SAP, who have managed to buck the trend.  Continued drop in this leading indicator for long term growth is a troubling sign.
• Vendors continue to focus on cranking up maintenance and service revenues, though most vendors have put off any maintenance price increases.
• Vendors continue significant cost cutting with travel freezes and non-client facing expense elimination or reduction.
• Exceptions to the trend in on-premise apps license revenue decline include purpose built solutions or vendors with deep verticalization strategies.   For example,  IFS’ is gaining traction with its focus on micro verticals and project based businesses.  Retail’s re-emergent focus on reinvesting in operations is bolstering JDA’s business.
• Subscription revenue vendors (i.e. SaaS vendors and vendors with SaaS/OnDemand offerings) continue to grow at breakneck paces with Ariba (73%), Concur(72%), CA (55%), and Taleo (49.4%), leading the charge in year over year quarterly revenue growth.

Here’s the break down of year over year quarterly new license sales numbers/recurring revenues:

Enterprise Software Vendors with Perpetual License Revenues (YoY)*

• CDC Software - License down 16% to $12.8M / Maintenance up 12% to $24M / Services down 15% to $21.1M
• Deltek - License down 13% to $18.5M / Maintenance up 12% to $29.3M / Services up 1% to $23.1M
• Epicor Software - License down 7% to$22.4M /Maintenance up 24.8% to $50.1M / Services up 27.1% to $41.6M
• i2- License up 0.4% to $10.6M/ Maintenance down 8.9% to $20.9M / Services flat at $33.4M
• IFS - License up 34% to SKr 142M ($17.9M) /Maintenance rose  SKr 175M ($22.1M) / Services revenue up 13.4% to SKr 287M ($36.2M)
• ILOG - License up 61% to €17.8M / Maintenance up 46% €
• Intuit - General revenues up 8% to $481M.  Quick Books Revenue up 6% to $152M, Payroll and payments revenue up 16% to $152M
• JDA Software - License up 48.4% to $23M/ Maintenance rose 5.9% to $46.4M / Services revenue down 18.6% to $29M
• Lawson Software - License down 17% to $21.1M/ Maintenance up 13% to $89.1M / Services down 3% to $80.7M
• Oracle (Apps) - Oracle reports Q2 FY2009 in December - will update later as they are the “first” in the cycle
• QAD - License down 7% to $13.1M / Maintenance up 1.2% to $32.7M/ Services up 8.9% to $22M
• SAP - License up 7% to €763M / Maintenance up 20% to €1.167B / Services up 11% to €748M

Enterprise Software Vendors with Subscription Revenues (YoY)*

• Ariba - Subscriptions up 73% from $18.8M to $32.6M
• CA - Subscriptions up 55% to $1.393B / Software fees down 30% to $15M / Services down 27% to $74M
• Concur - Subscriptions up 72% to $55.7M
• NetSuite - Up 44% to $40.4M
• Oracle (On Demand) - Oracle reports Q2 FY2009 in December - will update later
• Right Now - Subscriptions up 19% to $25.9M
• SAP - Subscriptions up 39% to $64M
• SalesForce.com - Subscriptions up 44% to $253.4
• Taleo - Subscriptions up 49.4% to $40.9M

The bottom line - the price wars in Q4 are real but the best deals may come in Q1.

Initial results show that SaaS vendors appear to be the main beneficiaries with customers seeking shorter term contracts (i.e. moving away from one year agreements back to the month to month model).  Try before you buy is definitely picking up.  However, early Q4 indicators from conversations with sales professionals and prospects indicate that Q4 discounting for on-premise software remains fierce and as competitive with SaaS pricing.   Prospects and existing customers should take advantage of Q4 price wars but be cognizant that deals in Q1 2009 may be even better because most vendors will have exhausted their Q1 pipelines!

Your turn.

What’s the best deal you are getting?  Feel free to post your comments here or send me an email at rwang0@gmail.com .

* Not responsible for any math errors or erroneous revenue information.  Please read the quarterly filings yourself =)

November 26th, 2008 | Tags: Apps Strategy, Ariba, CDC Software, Computer Associates, Concur, Deltek, Enterprise apps strategy, Enterprise Software, Epicor Software, i2, IFS, iLOG, Intuit, JDA Software, Lawson Software, Monday's Musings, NetSuite, Oracle, QAD, Quarterly Revenues, R "Ray" Wang;, RightNow, SalesForce.com, SAP, Taleo | Category: Ariba, Computer Associates, Concur, Deltek, Enterprise apps strategy, IFS, Intuit, JDA Software, Quarterly Financial Tracker, SalesForce.com, Taleo, Uncategorized, i2, iLOG | Comments (2)

Forward and Commentary

With my esteemed colleagues John R. Rymer and Paul D. Hamerman, we recently updated our Oracle Versus SAP In Enterprise Applications: Let The Battle Of Architectures Begin! report published in May 31st, 2006.  This new update was released October 31, 2008 and highlights a shift in direction and vendor vision for both Oracle and SAP’s future.  This report was the result of 12+ months of active research.  We placed significant emphasis on primary research, discussions with system integrators, conversations with leading customers, and on-the-record and off-the-record discussions with current and former Oracle and SAP employees.

Executive Summary

A key decision criterion for enterprise applications is how compelling and clear the vendor’s vision for the future is. Oracle’s vision for the future of its apps business is now clearer and more compelling than that of archrival SAP. But Oracle’s biggest test is yet to come — it must deliver the Oracle Fusion Applications system with its associated promises of better flexibility and lower cost of ownership and do it within the next two years to keep the upper hand in apps innovation. SAP offers a gradual and potentially less disruptive path for enterprise customers, evolving its current release piece by piece; it has also taken its innovative SAP Business ByDesign product off the table as its next-generation suite. Each vendor now offers more (and more complex) paths for customers to consider, but it is unlikely that mass defections will take place in either direction. Despite the size and influence of Oracle and SAP, customers should challenge the vendors to prove the value of their migration and upgrade strategies, including assessing whether either vendor offers better front-office or vertical solutions than best-of-breed suppliers or emerging cloud-based solutions.

Report Links

Click here for the link to the Forrester report: Which Has The Better Apps Strategy: Oracle Or SAP? Oracle’s Bold Next-Generation Play Versus SAP’s Less Disruptive Path. For media courtesy requests, please send me an email to rwang@forrester.com

Your POV.

Would love your feedback on the report.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 22nd, 2008 | Tags: Apps Strategy, enterprise applications, Enterprise apps strategy, ERP, Forrester Research, John R. Rymer, Oracle, Paul D. Hamerman, R "Ray" Wang;, SAP | Category: Apps Strategy, Enterprise Software, Enterprise apps strategy, Oracle, R "Ray" Wang;, SAP, enterprise applications, enterprise apps, maintenance fees | Leave a comment

After more than 350 conservations with customers about the maintenance and support issue in the past 4 months, it’s becoming quite clear what users expect from their software vendors.   While those issues can be broken into tens of categories, three themes have emerged that include:

• Choice. Customers want to choose between tiered plans.  The best plans allow customers to select the option best for them.  Choice means the availaiblity of a basic plan or the full range of services expected in a comprehensive “insurance policy”.
• Value. Users expect plans to show ROI or meet service level agreements (SLA’s).  These SLA’s should reflect outcomes not just process.  If a user contacts a help desk 5 times a year and pays $500,000 in maintenance, at $100,000 a call, they better be getting platinum response levels of 1 hour or less and a resolution in 24 to 48 hours.
• Predictability. Maintenance and support remain one of the biggest budget items in the ownership of packaged apps.  Changes in price, policies, or service levels should be communicated with at least 4 quarters notice.  The best vendors provide guidelines that give customers predictability 2 to 3 years in advance.

The bottom line- can vendors deliver on such promises?

Let’s see which vendors can deliver on all 3 pillars.  Recent financial analyst reports from investment houses (i.e. Merrill Lynch’s Kash Rangan w.r.t. Oracle and Merrill Lynch’s Raimo Lenschow w.r.t SAP) indicate a sharpening downward trend in revenue estimates, not only for Q4 2008, but also for FY 2009 and FY 2010.  Software vendors under pressure to make margins will be forced to choose whether they are willing to take short term pain in stock valuations for long term gain in improving the vendor-client commitment or make their numbers by disenfranchising customers during a time of crisis by violating any one of the three tenants of maintenance pricing.   Because many software vendors have blown through their Q1 2009 pipe in Q4 2008, new deals are scarce and maintenance revenues are the easiest targets for “guaranteed” revenue and price increases.

Your POV.

Are you being hammered in your existing maintenance arrangements?  Do you feel locked in or do you feel your vendor is willing to work with you on deals?  Feel free to share with me your experience.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 17th, 2008 | Tags: license policy, Maintenance, Microsoft, Monday's Musings, R "Ray" Wang;, software licensing and pricing, users | Category: Microsoft, Monday's Musings, R "Ray" Wang;, license fees, license policy, maintenance fees, users | Comments (1)

Title: Vendor Event: Sage Summit 2008
Location: Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO
Link out: Click here
Description: Experience Sage Summit

The annual Sage Summit conference is where Sage Software customers connect. It\’s the place to be if you want to discover new ideas, concepts, skills, strategies, and technologies that make life around the office just plain better. This year we\’re proud to offer expanded session content and more ways than ever to network with peers and product insiders. Join us at Sage Summit and experience the energy.

November 17–20, 2008 | Denver
Start Date: 2008-11-17
End Date: 2008-11-20

November 17th, 2008 | Tags: denver, ERP, sage software, vendor event | Category: Uncategorized, sage software, vendor events | Leave a comment

Title: Vendor Event: Unstructure - The HCL Global Meet
Location: The Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resort, Orlando, FL
Link out: Click here
Description:

WELCOME TO THE HCL GLOBAL MEET 2008

Welcome to the 4th edition of the HCL global meet.The last three Global Meets have been enormous successes, generating superlative quality of thought. The last Global Meet hosted over 350 global business leaders including 70 CXOs sharing the platform to discuss issues critical to business and technology. The success of the last global meet has inspired us to evolve the event to a more powerful forum called UNSTRUCTURE.
Start Date: 2008-11-16
Start Time: 00:00
End Date: 2008-11-18
End Time: 00:00

November 16th, 2008 | Tags: hcl, orlando, system integrator, vendor event | Category: System Integrators, hcl, vendor events | Leave a comment

(Photo: Main show floor for Dreamforce 2008 at Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.)

Over 9,000 attendees made it to the annual San Francisco pilgrimage to hear the high priest of SaaS kickoff the event.  This year’s theme focused on the future of Cloud Computing, a focus on success, and  how much Salesforce loves its customers.  Key product, technology, and partnership announcements from the November 3rd to 5th event include:

• Force.com expands usage to new product and services. Force.com sites allows customers to publish Force.com data and apps to any site, basically supporting customer built web apps. SFDC will take care of domain, URL, RSS management, etc when customers run their Web apps on Force.com.  Other expansions include Force.com for Amazon and Force.com for Facebook.  On the Amazon front,  SFDC also will support applications being built using Amazon web services, in effect creating a mega cloud.   Facebook support allows developers to tap into the Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect.

  POV: Movement to expand the platform into new B2C facing markets give SFDC credibility in new social media markets as well as taking the Cloud wars to the consumer.   Consider this a continuation in the battle for domiance of IDE’s in the cloud.

• CODA showcases its financial package on APEX for the North American market. While Coda2Go was launched at Dreamforce Europe in London last May, attendees at Dreamforce 2008 in SanFrancisco had a chance to see first hand how the 30 year old vendor had completed its rewrite.  With enterprise financials built on this new platform, Salesforce.com customers now have more choice in financial solutions within the ecosystem.

  POV: Like many mid-market vendors, CODA had the opportunity to bet on the next platform and chose a SaaS approach over an on-premise middleware platform.  Most mid-market vendors bet on a Microsoft VS.NET “Rainbow” Stack, IBM Websphere,  or Progress Software.  These middleware platforms allow companies to spend 10 to 15% of budget on tools and technology instead of a staggering 33% that many would spend if they built their own middleware.   CODA’s decision is market leading for the industry and is reflective of its groundbreaking historical bets on HP3000 in the 70’s, VAX (DEC) in the 80’s, and AS/400’s (IBM) in the 90’s.

• Glovia, a Fujitsu Company, builds order management on Force.com. Customers seeking lead to billing solutions in order management can now turn to the Glovia solution for order management, inventory, fulfillment, and billing.  Glovia takes the order from Salesforce.com and brings it into the order maangement system giving it visiblity from prospect to invoice.  Enterprises can also check status via the web or on a mobile device via Salesforce mobile.

  POV: Salesforce.com’s ecosystem strategy allows other vendors to build key back office end to end processes.  As more companies add to the ecosystem, SalesForce will continue to gain market relevance against enterprise vendors struggling to move to a true multi-tenant onDemand delivery model.

The bottom line - SaaS platforms continue to morph into cloud computing

Recent decisions by CODA, Glovia, and a host of software vendors show that the transition from on-premise middleware platforms to cloud-based platforms has begun.  Application development and delivery professionals seeking new delivery models can benefit from these new platforms.  Force.com is gaining momentum and given its history will emerge as one of the top 3 platforms for both customers and software vendors.  The real question out there - what will vendor lock-in look like in the world of cloud computing?  Will it be like the mainframe lock-ins 40 years prior?

Your POV.

Are you considering a SaaS deployment?  Will you move to the cloud?  Are you a software vendor looking at ditching your on-premise middleware platform? Feel free to share with me your thoughts.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.

(Photo: Entrance into the show floor for Dreamforce 2008 at Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA. Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.)

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 12th, 2008 | Tags: cloud computing, CODA, event report, force.com, Glovia, middleware platforms, R "Ray" Wang;, SaaS, SalesForce.com, SFDC | Category: CODA, Glovia, R "Ray" Wang;, SalesForce.com, SasS, event report, middleware platforms | Comments (1)

Conversations and polling at recent user group meetings confirm a common sentiment that user groups should play a role as client advocates with the vendors.  Information dissemination, benchmarking, product issues, training, and maintenance fee reductions rise to the top of the list in this 235 person on-going survey.  While not explicit in all charters, here’s a full list of expectations user group members seek from their user group:

• 85% - Communicate vendor news and updates.
• 73% - Benchmark performance.
• 72% - Address product issues, bugs, enhancement requests.
• 68% - Deliver training and educational sessions
• 65% - Fight for maintenance fee reductions.
• 63% - Influence product road maps.
• 59% - Share product and technical knowledge.
• 51% - Facilitate peer networking opportunities like user group meetings
• 40% - Provide recruiting opportunities.
• 35% - Liase with software vendor executives
• 32% - Negotiate license discounts

The bottom line - Get involved and make a difference.

Companies join user groups for both professional and social reasons.  User groups command true power in influence a vendor’s direction while bringing common issues for discussion and sharing.  Recent actions by SUGEN - the SAP User Group Executive Network in making some progress on the topic of maintenance fees and improving the vendor-client commitment show how publicity and impact can shape influence.  The key is for user groups to leverage the power of the users and clients to publicly and privately create checks in the balance of power with the vendors.    Go make a difference and contribute your time to your user group today!

Your POV.

Do you feel your user group has given you value?  What are you looking from your user group?  Feel free to share with me your experience.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 10th, 2008 | Tags: enterprise apps, Monday's Musings, R "Ray" Wang;, role of user groups, SUGEN, user groups | Category: Monday's Musings, enterprise apps, user groups | Comments (1)

Title: UK and Ireland SAP User\’s Group Annual Event
Location: London West Novotel, London, UK
Link out: Click here
Description: SAP UK & Ireland User Group Conference 2008

Learn, Evolve, Develop

Novotel London West, Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th November.

With over 70 speakers, multiple breakout sessions and an associated exhibition, the 2008 SAP UK and Ireland User Group Conference promises to be the largest and most informative in the Group’s 20 year history. With education and product update sessions from senior executives at SAP, and presentations from your peers about the challenges they face and the solutions they have implemented, the conference is an ideal forum to learn, evolve and develop.

By providing a mix of presentations, workshops, and informal networking opportunities, the conference represents an excellent opportunity for you to learn, network and exchange views with your peers to enable you to get more out of your SAP systems.

Taking place at the Novotel London West, Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th November, the SAP UKI User Group’s annual conference and exhibition is the UK & Ireland’s premier SAP related event bringing together SAP professionals and business managers from across the UK, Ireland and Europe and is an event not to be missed!

With over 70 speakers and an associated exhibition, the focus of the event is to help you get more from your SAP system, thus better exploiting your investment. We aim provide delegates with the opportunity to:

* Learn – from your peers

* Evolve – your use of SAP to increase ROI

* Develop – your skills

Building on the success of 2007 this year’s 2 day conference features a comprehensive 70+ presentation programme including seminars, case study type presentations and an increased number of workshops. The programme will be posted in July, in the meantime newcomers can view last year’s programme here.

The conference also features an exhibition, with over 40 exhibitors offering advice, products and services.

Please join us at this unmissable event and be eligible for discounted rates until 31 July 2008 – Register Here
Start Date: 2008-11-10
Start Time: 00:00
End Date: 2008-11-11

November 10th, 2008 | Tags: Conference, End User, SAP User Groups, UK and Ireland | Category: SAP, user group events | Leave a comment

Foresight 2008 is the only virtual forum designed to provide project-focused professional services firms with the tools they need to navigate current market challenges, increase profitability and win more work contracts.

Get information on everything from improving utilization to increasing revenues and retaining customers and learn tips and tricks from our lineup of world-class experts and industry leaders.

Foresight 2008 – Professional Services Forum is a unique interactive conference that offers attendees access to experts, peers and resources in a single location.

Registration is FREE and you control your level of participation. Drop in for one session or participate all day!

Turn today’s challenges into opportunities you can implement tomorrow. Foresight 2008 - Professional Services Forum. Register today!

Foresight 2008 Keynote Speaker: Ray Wang, Forrester

Top 10 Ways Services Firms Can Harness Change To Create Profit

11:00 a.m. – Noon

Ray Wang, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Forrester. With his understanding of the overall ecosystem of solutions, technology and system integrators, Ray provides strategy and guidance for clients navigating through the vendor selection process. In 2008 Ray was recognized by the Institute Of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) as Analyst of the Year.

AE Keynote Speaker: Kim Kennedy, McGraw Hill

AEC Outlook

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Kim Kennedy, Manager of Forecasting for McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics, the research and consulting business unit within McGraw-Hill Construction. She has been a member of MHC Analytics for ten years, but has more than 25 years of professional experience in construction economics, macroeconomics, consumer, and labor economics.

Consulting Keynote Speakers: Gail Steinel & Jeanne Urich

Turning a Volatile Market into a Growth Opportunity

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Gail P. Steinel is the former global managing partner and founding member of Arthur Andersen’s business consulting practice from 1984 to June 2002 where she managed 10,000 people in 85 countries. From July 2002 through February 2007 she was Executive Vice President with BearingPoint, Inc., a management and technology consulting firm that provides application services, technology solutions and managed services to companies and government organizations, where she had responsibility for overseeing the global commercial services business unit. Currently Gail is the Owner of Executive Advisors, which provides consulting services to chief executive officers and leadership seminars to companies.

Jeanne Urich is a management consultant specializing in Service organization improvement for small to large technology companies. She has been a corporate officer and leader of the Worldwide Services Organizations of Vignette, Blue Martini and Clarify. In each of these roles, she led the growth of their Professional Services, Education, Account Management and Alliances organizations and was responsible for dramatically increasing Services revenue, profit and utilization while maintaining a balanced relationship with system integration partners.

AE Keynote Speaker: David Burstein, PSMJ

Controlling Overhead To Strengthen Your Firm

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

David Burstein, PE. Director of Client Services, PSMJ Resources, Inc. David is a consultant with PSMJ Resources, Inc., a leading provider of consulting services to the design and construction industry. David has three decades of design firm experience in a variety of management positions including president of two large engineering companies. As a PSMJ consultant, he has helped dozens of design firms achieve breakthrough improvements in their businesses.

Consulting Keynote Speaker: Joe Kornik, Consulting Magazine

New Economy, More Competition. Time for a Strategy Refresh

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Joe Kornik is Editor-in-Chief of Consulting magazine where he oversees the editorial operations and mission of the magazine. Mr. Kornik is also responsible for the magazine’s Web site (www.ConsultingMag.com) and all live and virtual events, including the Consulting Summit – the largest annual gathering of management consultants in North A

November 6th, 2008 | Tags: arhictecture, construction, foresight 2008, professional services, project based solutions, R "Ray" Wang;, speaking engagement | Category: R "Ray" Wang;, project based solutions, revenues, rimini street, speaking engagement | Leave a comment

PEOPLE WHISPERS: MOVES, PROMOTIONS, AND MILESTONES

Congratulations to all!  Thanks for your emails and alerts.  If you’ve got a change or know of a promotion, keep dropping me a line!

Bruce Cameron is now President of CDC Software. The former executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing was promoted from within.  He now reports to Peter Yip, CEO of parent company CDC Corp.

Jocelyn Eisenberg has started her own analyst relations firm at Eisenberg Analyst Relations Services.

Garland Hall has been appointed SVP of Product Support at Deltek.  Garland joins Deltek as of October 6th and brings experiences from EnterpriseDB, Composite Software, and webMethods.  As a direct report to Kevin Parker, Garland will manage the global customer support operations.

Klaus Kreplin, the head of SAP’s NetWeaver Product and Technology Unit retired from SAP in October.

Allen Lovett joins Compiere as EVP of Field Operations.  Allen will drive go-to-market stratgy for global expansion in sales and professional services.  Lovett comes from senior experiences at Sawis Communications, Oracle, Siebel Systems, and Upshot.

John Papandrea joins SAP as a SVP of the Healthcare IBU from Deloitte.

Hannah Smalltree became Editorial Director, Enterprise Applications Media Group at TechTarget in July 2008.

Sergio Segal became a consultant in Competitive Intelligence at SuccessFactors in June 2008.

Borys Stokalski, VP at Infovide-Matrix has become President, Mazovian Chapter at PTI (Polish Information Processing Society) in October.

Michael Van der Breggen has been promoted from Operations Director to Vice President at Atos Origin.  He will lead the company’s ERP services in North America as of October 29th.

Ben Wan became Board of Advisor at Motally in August 2008.

*Updated Nov 10th*

John Wookey joins SAP leading on Demand initiatves for the Enterprise.  He starts November 10th in Palo Alto, cA.  John formerly ran Oracle’s Fusion Application intiative and left Oracle October 2007.

.

CORPORATE WHISPERS

Got a scoop or something to share? Please post or send on to rwang0@gmail.com and we’ll keep your anonymity.

1. Healthcare Information Systems are still all the buzz.  The VC’s I’m talking to hint that a big name like a McKesson, Cerner, Epic, or Medi-tech may make the move or be the target.  One could even expect the acquirer to be a Big 4 vendor.
2. SaaS Integration vendors may be the next big area for M&A.  As customers struggle for seamless hybrid integration, vendors are looking for the best integration tools.

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 5th, 2008 | Tags: Apps Strategy, Atos Origin, CDC Software, Compiere, Deloitte, Deltek, Eisenberg Analyst Relations, Enterprise apps strategy, Enterprise Software, Infovide-Matrix, job moves, Motally, promotions, SAP, TechTarget, Wednesday's Whispers, whispers | Category: Atos Origin, Compiere, Deloitte, Enterprise Software, Infovide-Matrix, Motally, SAP, Shai Agassi, TechTarget, Wednesday's Whispers, job moves, maintenance fees, whispers | Leave a comment

As competition intensifies for new license deals and users are under pressure to be cautious with new spending, all parties should expect increasing pressure for quality customer references.  Customers seeking references should focus on the following areas of relevance:

• Industry - expect to get down to the micro vertical level
• Market size - focus on number of employees and revenues
• Geographical - address local as well as global requirements
• Role - consider individuals in similar roles or account for different roles for a different perspective

Its customary for the vendor to provide their reference lists.  Keep in mind, many of these references are receiving monetary and non-monetary favors for their time.  For vendor supplied references, customers should ask seven key questions to gauge the motive and incentives of these references:

1. Did your organization conduct an open vendor selection process?
2. If you were not representing this vendor, which product would your organization have purchased?
3. Is your organization part of a vendor specific reference program?
4. Are you earning points or credits for other vendor related services such as training, conference passes, professional services, etc.?
5. Does your organization receive prioritized functionality requests?
6. Who is your executive sponsor?  Is that person available to regular customers?
7. Have you received travel compensation for today’s activities?

The bottom line.

As an industry analyst, we often encounter vendor references that are genuine.  However, from time to time, we have had to deal with vendor provided customer references who have vested and biased interests.  In one MDM related example, 3 out of 5 of the vendor’s references did not conduct an open vendor selection process.  2 out of 5 vendors told us that the product was working well even though we had received inquiries to the contrary from other parts of their organization.  It pays to do your due diligence. Make sure you understand what incentives and motivations are driving the reference to spend time talking with you.

Your POV.

Have you had a great vendor reference only to find out that the reference had stretched the truth? Feel free to share with me your experience.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 4th, 2008 | Tags: Apps Strategy, Customer References, Tuesday's Tip, Vendor Selection, Vendor Supplied Customer References | Category: Apps Strategy, Enterprise apps strategy, Tuesday's Tip, Vendor Selection, contract negotiations, enterprise applications, enterprise apps | Comments (2)

Seven Recession-Proof Packaged Apps Strategies

Monday, November 17, 2008, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Eastern time (19:00-20:00 UK time)

Presented By:

Paul D. Hamerman

Vice President, Principal Analyst

Forrester Research, Inc.

R “Ray” Wang

Vice President, Principal Analyst

Forrester Research, Inc.

Register

Who should attend: Application Development & Program Management professionals

Description:

As the global economy enters into a recession, enterprises must not only respond to this change but also anticipate and prioritize investment strategies in packaged apps. Forresters analysts provide seven proven strategies to weather the upcoming downturn.

Agenda:

* Organize for sustainable change.

* Identify opportunities in commoditized and differentiated processes.

* Align technology strategy with business drivers.

* Reexamine your vendor relationships.

* Don’t delay. Start today.

Vendors mentioned: Epicor, IFS, Infor, Lawson, Microsoft, Oracle, Rimini Street, SAP

Related Research:

Why You Need A Long-Term Apps Strategy

by R “Ray” Wang, November 27, 2007

Does Your Apps Strategy Support Your Corporate Business Drivers?

by R “Ray” Wang, March 20, 2008

Applications Strategies: Reducing Vulnerability In Times Of Economic Uncertainty

by Paul D. Hamerman, March 14, 2008

Technical requirements:

An Internet connection with a browser is required for the visual presentation. For the audio component, a separate phone line is required.

If you have any problems accessing the teleconference presentation, please call the Client Resource Center at +1 866.FORRESTER (367.7378) or +1 617.613.5730 and identify yourself as a teleconference attendee.

November 3rd, 2008 | Tags: apps strategies, enterprise apps, R "Ray" Wang;, recession proofing | Category: Apps Strategy, ERP, Enterprise Software, Enterprise apps strategy, Forrester Research, HCM, MDM, R "Ray" Wang;, enterprise applications, enterprise apps, event report, force.com, long term apps strategy, maintenance fees, muda | Leave a comment

(Photo: The show floor from IBM IOD 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.)

IBM’s third annual Information On Demand event emerges as part of the “Must Attend” list of Enterprise Software pow wows.  More than 7000 attendees were treated to 600 technical skill building sessions and 120 business leadership sessions.  This year’s theme focused on the need to create an Information Agenda to sustain a competitive advantage and achieve business optimization.  Some interesting perspectives from the event:

• Business optimization growth is twice as fast than business automation growth. IBM makes the case that workforce productivity, customer profitability, financial risk insight, and other optimization applications gain more traction than automation apps like ERP, HR, Financials, and CRM. POV: The era of automation emphasis is coming to an end.  After years of depositing data into systems, enterprises seek value from all the information in their ERP, CRM, or HR system.  Users expect more than automation from systems and want actionable insight designed for roles that are proactively delivered.

• IBM is positioned for business optimization via its acquisitions in Information On Demand. The thesis - IBM is delivering information assets via DB2, FileNet, and Informix.  Business value in this trusted information can be unlocked via InfoSphere and then realize optimized business performance via business intelligence (i.e. Cognos). POV: Delivering an Information Agenda requires a tightly integrated stack.  This requires significant integration of canonical data models, business processes, meta data, and semantic information.  While IBM has made progress in bringing together its acquisitions, at this point in time no vendor has truly delivered on this from a software basis.  Considerable amounts of professional services help is still required for success.

Customers See Value In an Information Agenda, now that they know what to call it…

As I was there to give talks on integrated data management strategies - Track 2787: The ROI of Instance Consolidation and Track 2792: The Business Value of Integrated Data Management, it was refreshing to find an information focused audience.  Here are some interesting conversation snippets and observations:

• Customers desperately seeking access to “real-time” and “near-time” data from legacy apps.
• Everyone wants more device delivery choices.
• The stack war will be Blue vs Red in the next 3 to 5 years.
• Operational business intelligence critical for actionable insight.
• BI is not a luxury during a downturn but a necessity for success.
• Data archiving plays an interesting role in data optimization and meeting compliance requirements
• MDM continues to gain traction as deal volumes have picked up in Q3 and Q4.  This could be the “last big spend” before 2009 as a VP of Apps at a large CPG firm expressed.

Your POV

Have you created your own information agenda?  Does this term resonate with you?  Has your organization shifted from treating data as a commodity to valuing information as an asset?  Post a comment or privately reach out to me at rwang0@gmail.com .

(Photo: View from Mix @ THE Hotel during the IBM Cognos reception - IOD 2008 Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.)

Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

November 2nd, 2008 | Tags: 2008, business optimization, event report, IBM, IBM Cognos, IBM Data Management, IBM ECM, Information Agenda, Information On Demand, InfoSphere, R "Ray" Wang; | Category: Apps Strategy, IBM, R "Ray" Wang;, cognos, event report, vendor events | Leave a comment

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Location: Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA
Link out: Click here
Description: Get Inspired

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