Archive for June, 2010

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Research Report: Rethink Your Next Generation Business Intelligence Strategy

Published on June 28, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

BI Solutions Must Address The Information Management Matrix

A confluence of changing business requirements and on-going vendor consolidation leads many organizations to rethink their business intelligence (BI) strategies.  Many buyers face decisions to move beyond departmental solutions or to stay with an integrated apps based BI solution.  Meanwhile, some buyers must decide whether or not an integrated platform provides the right balance between business impact and cost of technology.  Additionally, most organizations seek support for new data types and new deployment options.  As BI continues to evolve from fragmented and historical reporting to pervasive, predictive, and real-time decision support, an organization’s success increasingly depends on the support for a expanding information matrix of (see Figure 1):

  • New and traditional data types. A proliferation of data types from social, machine to machine, and mobile sources add new data types to traditional transactional data.  Examples include content, geo-spatial, hardware data points, location based, machine data, metrics, mobile, physical data points, process, RFID’s, search, sentiment, streaming data, social, text, and web.
  • Visualization and reporting paradigms.  Users expect more than the traditional charts, gauges, and dials.  Web 2.0 innovations show how Rich Internet Applications (RIA) through tools such as AJAX, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight can create interactive BI experiences.  New and old paradigms include ad-hoc query builders, business performance management (BPM) systems, dashboards, production reports, scorecards, and advanced visualizations.  New visualization types include matrix charts, network diagrams, bubble charts, tree maps, word trees, tag clouds, phrase nets, and others.
  • Approaches and styles. Analytical techniques continue to improve as data volumes explode.  New and traditional approaches include advanced analytics, business activity monitoring (BAM), BI workspace, decision support systems, low latency BI, meta data generated BI apps, non-modeled exploration and in-memory analytics, scenario analysis, and OLAP.
  • Deployment options. With data coming from so many different sources, users are seeking new deployment options.  Common solutions in the BI portfolio include BI appliances, BI in the Cloud, BI specific DBMS, Mobile BI, open source BI, on-premises packaged BI apps, private BI clouds, and SaaS based BI.

Figure 1.  The Information Management Matrix Drives Next Gen BI


Explosion In Semi-Structured And Unstructured Data Challenges Existing Solutions

Along with new business requirements, the old world of structured data must make way for a plethora of new data types in unstructured data.  More importantly, solutions must support a growing number of industry vertical standards in semi-structured data.  Unfortunately, no single vendor can support all the data types that fit into the following three categories (see Figure 2):

  • Structured data. Structured data remains the most understood type of data.  Traditional sources comprise of data in transactional systems such as ERP, CRM, SCM and other database management systems.  Solutions conduct analysis via OLAP and traditional apps centric and database centric BI systems.
  • Semi-structured data. Common examples include flat files in record format, RSS feeds, XML documents, and data in spreadsheets.  Industry-specific XML data standards and cross-enterprise data-exchange standards such as ACORD, EDI, HL7, NACHA, and SWIFT will continue to grow as BI goes vertical.  On the document print stream front, new systems should support ASP, Met code, and PCL.
  • Unstructured data. Sources include natural-language text from e-mail, blogs, SMS, social networking sites, text fields, audio, video, and images.  Unstructured data represents up to 80% of today’s data sources.  Enterprises are challenged in discovering and organizing unstructured data for the real-time delivery of information to the right user.

Figure 2.  Data Types Fall Into Three Main Categories


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News Analysis: Infor Bets On Microsoft

Published on June 25, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Infor Takes A Bold Stance By Standardizing Their Technology Stack

On June 23rd, 2010,  Infor announced that the Alpharetta, GA, based software solutions provider would align its future tools and technology platform with Microsoft.  Infor intends to use and integrate Microsoft server-based products to improve time to market for future product development.  In addition, Infor announced Infor ION for apps interoperability, data management, and data sharing.  Key takeaways about the new Microsoft based Infor technology stack focus on (see Figure 1):

  • User experience. Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 plays a key role in the unified graphical user interface for its applications.  Sharepoint 2010 will serve as the key portal.  In areas requiring dynamic graphical interface elements and rich internet applications, Infor plans to use Microsoft Silverlight.

    Point of View (POV):     Sharepoint gives Infor’s product teams and customers more than just portal capabilities.  Some key features include a number of business connectivity services, business performance management (i.e. dashboards, scorecards, and KPI), digital asset management, enterprise search, excel services, health monitoring, managed metadata, records management, and Visio services.  Sharepoint also improves collaboration with social computing services such as blogs, presence, wiki’s, and RSS feeds.
  • Middleware technologies. On the database side, Infor will select Microsoft SQL Server as the preferred database.  Subsequently, Microsoft Reporting Services will play a key role in the long term Business Intelligence (BI) strategy.  Authentication, security, and access control will come from Microsoft Single Sign-On service.  Where possible,  Microsoft Windows Server will serve as the preferred on-premise operating system.

    POV:     The middleware in the Microsoft Tech stack has substantially improved.  For example, SQL Server 2008 R2 Core Editions comes with dynamic chart integration to Sharepoint 2010, self service BI through Power Pivot and Office Excel 2010 that supports instant sort on 100 million rows of data, backup compression, data compression with UCS-2 Unicode support, and a basic but high-scale complex event processing with SQL Server StreamInsight.   With Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF), Infor and customers gain industry standard tools to deliver user interface page flows, human work flows, business rule-driven workflows, document-centric workflows, composite workflows for service oriented apps, and even system management workflows.
  • Approach to integration. Infor’s investment in OpenSOA results in a simplified approach.  Infor ION intends to connect applications, analyze information, network business collaboration, and organize business processes across the legacy and new Infor portfolio.

    Point of View (POV):     Infor ION builds on the lessons learned from the original OpenSOA strategy.  Given the diverse portfolio, integration will require interoperability among BizTalk and WebSphere to be successful with existing customers.  If successfully launched by the end of 2010, ION will give Infor a key tool in bringing new functionality to the existing base with minimal migration costs.

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Research Report: How SaaS Adoption Trends Show New Shifts In Technology Purchasing Power

Published on June 21, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

SaaS Adoption Surveys Often Overlook Audience Composition

Over the past year, analyst firms, tech media, and even mainstream business media have happily showcased positive news about SaaS adoption.  The common theme remains clear – SaaS adoption moves beyond the tipping point in 2010.  Cloud adoption will reach a tipping point in the next 12 months.  All this bodes well for customers and SaaS providers as organizations now embrace SaaS as an acceptable deployment option in their apps strategy.  Unfortunately, recent SaaS/Cloud adoption surveys continue to provide confusing and sometimes contradictory data about adoption.  Close examination of these surveys reveal that not all adoption surveys are equally created.  The unspoken question, who’s answering the surveys?

SaaS Decision Making Firmly In The Hands Of The Business Buyer

Anecdotally, business users drive SaaS decisions, while IT leaders remain skeptical.  To validate this hypothesis, Software Insider conducted a quick survey of 100 Global 2000 organizations.  Starting with the most senior IT leaders, the question was posed, “Are you using SaaS in your organization for major business processes?” (see Figure 1).  Of the 46 organizations who responded, the procurement leaders were then asked the same question (see Figure 2).  After comparing survey results, the following conclusions emerged:

  • IT leaders aware but hesitant on SaaS adoption. A little under a quarter of IT leaders (23.91% or 11/46) responded that they were using SaaS applications.  Key applications deployed include CRM, strategic HCM, expense management and project based solutions (PBS).  Delving deeper into these verbal and in-person interviews highlighted a desire to learn more about SaaS.  As one CIO at a major food and beverage concern stated, “The business heads keep showing up with these SaaS apps and then want us to integrate them.  We need to get a handle on all this!”  Key concerns included, “I don’t know if we can integrate all this in the future”, responded the CIO of a large Fortune 500 retailer and “I think we need better governance and security”, remarked the Director of Enterprise Apps for a Top 25 banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) entity.
  • Procurement leaders reveal surprising adoption by business leaders en masse for SaaS solutions. Conversations with the procurement managers highlight how business users have taken matters into their own hands.  Every one of the surveyed organizations (100% or 46/46) had an existing SaaS contract, contradicting the IT leaders who did not respond that they ran SaaS solutions.  In fact – these contracts ranged from five seat deals to 2000 seats at one organization.  As the procurement head at a large professional services firm indicated, “The teams will buy whatever they need now.  IT has no clue!”.  “Business has to go around IT because they are too busy keeping the lights on”, retorted a procurement manager at a global 10 pharma.  A procurement manager for a large multi-national manufacturer stated, “Our main issue with SaaS is finding enough solutions that will support our needs.”
  • Business leaders take charge but fail to communicate with IT leaders.  The key finding – lack of coordination among business, IT, and procurement.   Amazingly, the 35 IT leaders who stated they did not run SaaS apps for major business processes still may not know about the CRM, HCM, Project Based Solutions, and Finances deployments in their organization.  When some of them were shown the results, these leaders expressed amazement and surprise.  Organizations should be alarmed but not surprised by this lack of coordination between business and IT.

Figure 1.  IT Leader Responses Show Muted Adoption

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Personal Log: Welcome To The Newest Altimeter Partner, Marcia Conner!

Published on June 9, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Altimeter Adds Enterprise Collaboration

I am pleased to announce that Marcia Conner has joined us as a Partner for Enterprise Collaboration.  With over two decades of deep practitioner experiences in building collaborative cultures, social business, and workplace learning, Marcia brings a highly respected and sought after point of view to the Enterprise Strategy team.
As organizations explore a wide range of disruptive technologies, their success hinges on building the right culture of learning, collaboration, and adoption. Marcia’s research will focus on answering the key questions of how social tools can connect people within the enterprise, where outmoded education practices can made way for modern realtime learning from experts and peers, and which technologies will foster a vibrant multi-generational collaborative culture.

One of many examples of her thought leadership is her latest book, The New Social Learning: Transforming Organizations Through Social Media. Available August 2010, this book lays out a new approach to harnessing the brainpower and experiences of colleagues working across the globe as easily as if they were side by side.  Marcia conducted industry analysis over the emerging enterprise microsharing industry, and published a vendor selection report, influencing the buying process.

We’re looking forward to collaborating with Marcia on multiple fronts. Jeremiah and I see tremendous synergies in how Social CRM meets Enterprise 2.0. Her experience with government agencies creates great opportunities with Alan Webber. Her ongoing focus on mobile learning and a vision for learning labs provide an intersection with Michael Gartenberg and Deb Schultz. Collaboration plays a key role in enabling frictionless supply chains and the research Lora engages in. Marcia’s work with driving change maps well with Charlene’s work in Open Leadership.
As we bring more partners and associates on board, expect to see this continued level of collaboration and opportunity to put research into action.

Marcia’s insights and research can be found on her blog at http://learnativity.com and on Twitter @marciamarcia

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Event Report: Top 10 Questions To Ask At The Microsoft TechEd/STB Analyst Summit

Published on June 6, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Clients Now See Microsoft As The Neutral Vendor, Hence All The Questions

Just less than 3 years ago, Microsoft was still perceived as part of the “evil” empire.  Business leaders worried about the complicated and expensive licensing and pricing structures.  IT leaders bemoaned the lock-in and proprietary and often buggy software.  But in a reversal of fortune, customers now worry about Google lock-in, fret over Oracle’s quest to dominate IT through M&A, wonder how hardware vendors will become software providers and vice versa, and remain in shock as Apple’s proprietary and closed approach over takes Microsoft’s market cap.

In conversations with 71 business and IT leaders, the perception on Microsoft has definitively shifted.  In fact, more than 74.6% (53/71) see Microsoft as the neutral and trusted supplier.  With an aging and retiring workforce that grew up on IBM and SAP, the next generation of IT leaders increasingly will exert their leadership and run to their comfort zone of Microsoft and Oracle.  (Note: Don’t expect this to last as the next generation of IT leadership comprises of millennials and digital natives who will try to move everything to open source and the cloud.)  Consequently, Microsoft’s technology offerings receive a renewed interest and reinvestment among customers, partners, and critical OEM’s.  Among this group, many are attending TechEd 2010 in New Orleans, LA.  Key questions they will be asking include:

  1. When will Azure have a viable business model for partners, OEM’s, and customers?
  2. Is Silverlight really ready for prime time or should organizations still leave one foot in the door with HTML 5 or Adobe Flash?
  3. What true social features will Microsoft deliver in Sharepoint, UC, and Office?
  4. After wasting a decade with Windows Mobile can Windows Phone 7 really beat out iPhone?
  5. What will the rise of NoSQL databases and in memory computing mean for SQL Server?
  6. Will Office Web Apps emerge as a significant challenger to Google’s App strategy?
  7. How quickly can Microsoft convince other apps vendors to adopt the STB platforms?
  8. Will Internet Explorer ever become W3C compliant?
  9. What’s Microsoft doing to win over the Web 2.0 crowd?
  10. What partner ecosystems will Microsoft have to rely on to gain leadership in the Cloud?

What’s your question?

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News Analysis: Microsoft Licensing Update – May/June 2010

Published on by R "Ray" Wang

Keeping Up With The Latest In Microsoft Licensing

Given the vast array of Microsoft products and licensing categories, an organization may often feel overwhelmed by Microsoft’s policies.  While there may be some complexity, these series of posts are designed to provide up to date commentary and analysis on new programs as they become available.  Feel free to reach out in the comments section with any questions, comments, and clarifications on the analysis.

Product And Program News

  • Enrollment For Application Platform (EAP) Updates. What is it?:  The new updates include SQL Server 2008 R2, Visual Studio 2010, and SharePoint Server 2010.  SQL Server prices for EAP go up with Standard receiving a 25% hike and Enterprise Editions a 15% increase.  Customers who buy Visual Studio products with Software Assurance (SA) receive Microsoft Development Network (MSDN) subscription benefits.  SharePoint Server for Internet Sites is updated for SharePoint Server for Internet Sites Enterprise.  Who’s impacted?: Customers who are standardizing application platforms on products such as BizTalk Server, SharePoint Server, SQL Server, and Visual Studio .  When’s it effective?: This program begins May 3rd, 2010.

    Point Of View (POV): EAP is a program for customers interested in standardizing on the Microsoft Server Platform.  Price savings for new licenses range from 15% on Standard Edition to 40% on Premium Editions.  Overall, the program makes sense because it allows customers unlimited usage with annual or three year true up terms that create a flexible approach towards standardizing on Microsoft.  Other benefits include rights to the latest version of products and the flexibility to deploy unlimited incremental units.  Customers also receive 100 percent Software Assurance (SA) coverage on footprint for included products.  While the price increase on SQL Server is definitely not welcomed, this may be the time to look at Software Assurance (SA).  The new version does come with additional features such as data compression, Master Data Services, StreamInsight, and PowerPivot.

    On the Visual Studio front, customers will notice the replacement of the Visual Studio Developer Tools group with Visual Studio Ultimate with MSDN, Visual Studio Premium with MSDN and Visual Studio Professional.  Ultimate and Premium versions now count towards the minimum requirements.  Users also receive access to Visual Studio Test Professional, Visual Studio Team Explorer Everywhere.  Finally, the new plan replaces the Visual Studio Test Load Agent with Visual Studio Load Test Virtual User Pack.

  • Office 2010 and “Wave 14″ Products Launch. What is it?: Office 2010 suite, Project 2010, Sharepoint 2010, Visio 2010, and the updated ECAL suite are now in the Volume Licensing channel in the May 2010 price list. Who’s eligible?: All customers. When’s it effective?: This program starts in the retail channel (FPP) when products become General Availaiblity (GA) in June 2010.

    POV: Movement to the Volume Licensing channel makes sense as Office 2010 and “Wave 14″ products represent a core customer purchase.  Keep in mind only Office Professional Plus 2010 and Office Standard 2010 qualify for Volume Licensing.  Office Home 2010 and Office Professional 2010 do not qualify.

  • Forefront Protection 2010 For SharePoint Available May 2010. What is it?: Forefront Protection is added to the Volume Licensing Price List. Who’s eligible?: All customers in standalone purchase, Forefront Protection Suite, and part of the Enterprise CAL suite. When’s it effective?: The program begins May 2010.

    POV: Forefront has improved and new security partnerships keep users from uploading or downloading content that may contain security breaches, malware, out-of-policy content, to SharePoint libraries.  Users should do a quick cost comparison before moving this into the Enterprise CAL suite as standalone purchases in some cases may prove to be more flexible during the initial trial phase.

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News Analysis: Deltek Offers To Buy Maconomy For $72.7M

Published on June 4, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Acquisition Consolidates Two Market Leaders In The Project Based Solutions Market

Deltek announced on June 3rd that they would acquire Maconomy for  $72.7M ($3.39/share (DKK 20.50)).  Maconomy is a leading project based solutions (PBS) software company with ~35.6M in revenues (2009) based in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Deltek is a 265.8M revenue (2009) PBS software vendor based in Herndon, VA.   This acquisition is significant because the combined companies:

  • Improve geographic coverage. Maconomy employs over 220 employees with 600+ customers in 58 countries.  eltek reaches 12,000 customers around the world across its portfolio of product lines that includes Costpoint, GCS Premier, Vision, and its Enterprise Project Management suite. Deltek also offers govWin, an online network dedicated to solving common business problems for government contractors.

    Point of View (POV):     Maconomy’s customers mostly originate from EMEA.  Less than 12% of Maconomy’s revenues come from the US.  Maconomy built good partnerships in Eastern Europe. South Africa, Canada, and India.  Meanwhile, Deltek has a strong base of business in the US public sector and was beginning to move towards greater international expansion.
  • Address a range of PBS vertical industries. Maconomy’s products focus on professional service organizations with about 46% of its revenues coming from consulting and 26% of its revenues coming from marcomm.  Deltek dominates the architecture and engineering space along with government contracting.  The company has shown success in key verticals such as construction services, public sector, and transportation services.

    POV:     Deltek can boast that 80% of the Engineering News Record 2009 Top 500 Design Firms are customers.  Maconomy’s products X1 and PeoplePlanner demonstrate a strong professional services focus.  Together, they have an opportunity to expand into research organizations, legal services, and audit/tax firms.

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