Archive for September, 2010

News Analysis: New HP Leadership Indicates Interest In Enterprise Software

Published on September 30, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Two Seasoned Software Veterans Join Hewlett-Packard

On September 30th, 2010, Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced two significant changes in its leadership structure.  Former SAP CEO Léo Apotheker was named as CEO; and Kleiner Perkins partner and former Oracle COO, Ray Lane was named as non-executive Chairman.  These two appointments signal a seriousness to shake things up for the better at HP because:

  • Cloud computing and consolidation forces hardware companies such as HP to seek higher margins. Most hardware vendors face single digit margins in their core business.  To bolster margins, many vendors acquired system integration and BPO firms.  For example, HP purchased EDS and Dell acquired Perot Systems.  The next logical step requires the hardware vendors to get into software (see Figure 1).  Software margins hover from 10% to 50% depending on the market.  Expect a hardware vendor such as Cisco, Dell, or HP to acquire a cloud based company such as Salesforce.com or Rackspace to move into the software business.  HP should go on the SaaS/Cloud offensive if they want to deliver rapid innovation to customers and break the cycle of dependence on packaged apps vendors such as Oracle and SAP.  HP can challenge Oracle through a complete cloud stack of SaaS, Paas, DaaS, and IaaS by investing in white spaces in the solution road map with verticals and other pivot points that have not been well served.  In addition, expect forms of SaaS BPO to emerge as clients seek best of breed SaaS and hybrid deployments.
  • Oracle’s acquisition of Sun follows the 1970′s IBM playbook and HP will compete with Oracle in the long run. Oracle’s going after the “golden age of computing”.  The impact — the tech industry reverts back to the beginning of a 40 year innovation cycle.  For example, mainframe time sharing manifests as SaaS/Cloud.  AS/400 and integrated computing evolves into appliances or cloud in a box.  Oracle’s strategy takes silicon to software and signals a need to deliver turnkey verticalized, integrated offerings.  Should HP continue to just serve in the commoditized infrastructure market, Oracle will beat HP in joint accounts for thought leadership and mind share.  Oracle’s going after the high end server market and the verticalized appliances market.  HP must have something to offer business leaders other than faster, better, cheaper boxes.  Software solutions are admission to the party.  HP could and should partner more closely with SAP in the short term to double up and battle Oracle.

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News Analysis: Deltek Pays $60M For INPUT, Solidifies GovCon Ecosystem

Published on by R "Ray" Wang

Deltek Expands Core Vertical While Diversifying Profit Streams

Project Based Solutions (PBS) vendor Deltek plans to close its $60 million acquisition of INPUT, a government contracting market research and business development firm, on October 1st, 2010.  The transaction will add $26.2M in annual revenue, 160 employees, and a rich government contracting ecosystem.  Analysis of the Herndon, VA, based Deltek’s eighth acquisition since 2005 reveals that:

  • INPUT adds market insight and opportunity information to the customer base. INPUT’s solution delivers opportunity information and identification, pipeline development, and capture and proposal management across the public sector market place (see Figure 1).  INPUT’s teaming capabilities, greater reach and membership, and centralized market intelligence matched to opportunities will enhance today’s existing GovWin capabilities (see Figure 1).

    Point of View (POV):     INPUT provides the information, analysis, opportunity identification, and community stewardship for the government contracting industry.  Deltek gains a key asset that allows government agencies to find potential contractors.  Private sector contractors add the ability to find teaming partners, track competition, and manage the contracting sales pipeline.  The merger expands the reach of GovWin and adds much needed lead information to Deltek’s project initiation, project execution and delivery, and financial management capabilities.

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Event Report: Oracle Open World 2010 – The Wrap Up

Published on September 26, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Oracle Continues To Demonstrate Benefits From An Effective M&A Strategy

A quick poll of 61 attendees at Oracle Open World 2010, revealed that 57.4% (35/61) of Oracle customers were positive, 29.2% (19/61) were neutral, and 10.8% (7/61) were negative about Oracle’s application strategy to date.  A continued stream of product enhancements and releases may be one cause for the positive sentiment.  Delivery of Fusion Apps by Q1 2011 may also have lifted any previous negative sentiment from last year’s poll.  Additional feature and product release highlights from Oracle Open World 2010 include:

  • CRM On Demand Release 18 gains integrated sales and marketing. The latest release focuses on features that bridge marketing processes to sales. For example, key data integration tools for customer data improve the quality of common profiles for both customers and prospects. Campaign automation tools allow marketers to launch 1:1 marketing and lights-out campaigns across multi-channel and multi-stage campaigns using visual business process flows (see Figure 1). Analytics take advantage of the Hyperion multi-dimensional warehouse to integrate business intelligence between sales and marketing. Response management capabilities create personalized landing pages, web forms, and microsites.   Meanwhile, Partner Relationship Management (PRM) enhancements include improved deal registration and capabilities to capture partner enablement. The improved Insurance Edition adds a Producer Success Model and expands the broker demographic profiles. Adaptive planning streamlines business planning and delivers trend analysis across multiple time periods for simulation and comparison.

    POV:     The new release plugs a significant hole in covering prospecting to lead management to closed revenue business processes. However, buyers comparing best of breed marketing automation solutions such as Eloqua, Market2Lead, Marketo, Silvepop/Vtrenz, and Unica will find that major functionality gaps still exists. Despite the gap, those customers seeking an On Demand integrated sales and marketing suite will find that Release 18 sets the stage for a level of integration often lacking in best of breed suites and Salesforce.com.  Business benefits include a unified revenue pipeline that will improve close rates and reduces sales and marketing costs. More importantly, those customers on Release 18 gain an easier migration path to the Fusion CRM applications arriving in January 2011. Customers seeking Social CRM features will have to wait for future releases or go to competitor products.

  • JD Edwards Enterprise One customers gain key adapter to Supply Chain and Order Management Analytics. With Oracle BI Applications Release 7.9.6.2, Enterprise One customers can integrate to Oracle’s Supply Chain and Order Management Analytics.  Key features include the ability to assess inventory levels, predict backlogs, identify potential product fulfillment needs, improve accounts receivable (A/R) and daily sales outstanding (DSO) issues.

    POV:     Improved insight into order and inventory data will allow organizations to improve inventory management, order fulfillment, and reduce collection times.  This new adapter continues Oracle’s strategy to embed Oracle Business Intelligence Apps into the core JD Edwards product.  Financial analytics have already been delivered.  Buyers can expect Manufacturing Analytics, Procurement and Spend Analytics, and Projects Analytics to arrive in future releases.  In general, customers will find the analytical capabilities a significant improvement over existing JD Edwards offerings.
  • Apps Unlimited announcements show continued investment in R&D. PeopleSoft customers gain a visual company directory through PeopleSoft Enterprise Company Directory 9.1 and an upgraded PeopleSoft PeopleTools 8.51 with a new PeopleSoft Test Framework that provides contextual menus and menu inclusion of user search results.  Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management 8 release delivers full web enablement, OBIEE integration, and a new governance platform.  Oracle BI Applications Release 7.9.6.2 adds full localization and translation to 28 supported languages, integration with Informatica PowerCenter 8.6.1 HF11 for ET and support for IBM DB2 9.1, 9.5 and 9.7; Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008; and Teradata v12 and 13.

    POV:     Despite the big shift in R&D resources towards the Fusion Apps teams, Oracle keeps up its promise to deliver customer requested features.  Larry’s strategy appears to provide a greater synergy and return on R&D investments when compared to other competitors.  However, customers must continue to hold Oracle accountable to investments in the short-term and long-term Apps Unlimited product road maps.  In fact, objective analysis on Oracle’s R&D investments by many influencers including Martijn Linssen show Oracle with the least relative investment in R&D when compared to competitors such as IBM and SAP.  Oracle could be the most efficient, but over the long haul, Oracle will have to invest more or explain why the organization is more efficient.  At the end of the day, customers want to know how much of their maintenance dollars go back to their product.

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Event Report: Oracle Open World 2010 – Beyond The Day 1 Hype

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

(Photo: Copyright © 2010 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.)

Oracle Day 1 Focused On Showcasing Both Software And Hardware Prowess

The Day 1 keynote kick-off from Oracle’s CEO, Larry Ellison, touched on the wide spectrum of Oracle’s broad software and hardware portfolio.  Despite an over-emphasis on hardware and appliances, Oracle also pre-announced the launch of Fusion Applications.  A closer analysis of the announcements show:

  • Fusion Apps unveiled and announced for GA in Q1 2011. Joking about the length of time its taken since the halfway to fusion event on January 19, 2006, Larry Ellison finally announced the availability of Fusion Apps.  The seven products include Financial Management, Procurement and Sourcing, Human Capital Management (HCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), and Project and Portfolio Management (PPM).  Oracle’s engineering team built 20,000 objects, 10,000 business processes, and 100 modules from scratch (see Figure 1).  Fusion Applications meet 8 of the 10 criteria for next generation social enterprise applications. Oracle intends to target the best of breed SaaS products such as Concur, Salesforce.com, Success Factors, Taleo, and Workday.  At this point, no pricing information has been provided but Oracle has promised like to like upgrade parity for existing customers.

    Point of View (POV):     Fusion Apps highlight a new level of design.  The apps infuse Web 2.0 paradigms with enterprise class sensibilities.  Role based screens present relevant tasks, alerts, and analytics.  Adoption will depend on the customer’s existing landscape.  Oracle customers generally fall into 3 categories: Die Hard Red Stack Believers, Best of Breed Customers By Accident, and Net New Greenfield.  Expect Net New Greenfields to consider the full Fusion App suites as they compare existing Apps Unlimited products and SAP.  Best of Breed Customers By Accident will most likely be drawn to the 100 modules to be delivered on demand and on premises.  Die Hard Red Stackers most likely have upgraded to the latest Fusion Middleware and will consider product replacements and module adoption.  Fusion Apps remains fairly horizontal and those customers with rich and stable vertical capabilities will most likely hold off for future releases.  Customers should keep an eye on the middleware pricing associated with Fusion Apps.

Figure 1.  Scenes From Oracle Open World And Screen Shots Of Fusion Apps

(Photo: Copyright © 2010 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.)

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Vendor Events: 10 Oracle Open World Tips For #OOW10

Published on September 18, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Put These Tips To Work And Have A Great Oracle Open World

Oracle Open World is on the list of enterprise Grand Slam must attend tech events.  This year rolls in the JavaOne and the Sun folks into one big tent.  Expect up to 70,000 attendees, support staff, and partners in full force. Here are 10 tips to make it easier as you navigate through the sea of people:

  1. Register at participating hotels to avoid the big registration lines at Moscone Center
  2. Use the tunnel between Moscone North and South to move around the convention centers.  Beats taking an escalator up and around and back down
  3. Bring/buy a light extension cord/power strip.  There is never enough power outlets at Moscone, so use this time to make a friend and open up some slots
  4. Don’t miss the Sunday Keynote!  This is where the big news on Oracle Fusion Apps will be released and set the stage for other big announcements
  5. Bring a light jacket for the night. It fogs over and gets cold and you will need one for the party!
  6. Don’t count on Moscone’s Wifi.  They enhance it but you will find it very sluggish.  Bring a mifi card and make sure it’s Sprint or Verizon.
  7. Want to crash the big partner parties?  Wear a sports jacket? Why? It makes you look official.
  8. Worried about the long lines for bathrooms.  Use the hotels.  Intercontinental, Marriott, St. Regis, or W Hotel are close by as well as Yerba Buena Garens
  9. Book your restaurant reservations early.  Can’t find a slot.  Leverage your hotel concierge.
  10. Come to the Oracle Open World Preview Event. And hear the Future of Enterprise Software and Oracle, The End User’s Point of View, and Oracle Optimization.
  • Inhi Cho  – Vice President Product Strategy – IBM Software Group
  • Dennis Howlett – Market Influencer and Blogger – ZD Net
  • Debra Lilley – Vice President -UK Oracle User’s Group
  • Vinnie Mirchandani – Deal Architect – Author of The New Polymath
  • Seth Ravin – CEO – Rimini Street
  • Frank Scavo – President – Strativa
  • Floyd Teter – Vice President – Oracle Applications Users Group
  • Thomas Wailgum – Journalist – CIO Magazine

You must register to attend!  Password is Insider.  First come first serve! 50 slots left.

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Research Report: Next Gen B2B and B2C E-Commerce Priorities Reflect Macro Level Trends

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

Recessionary Forces Challenge Organizations To Not Only Right Channel, But Also Personalize

Organizations with e-commerce initiatives face a flurry of competitive forces that challenge existing assumptions put in place a decade ago.  On the operational efficiency front, organizations must battle reduced product margins, shorter product life cycles, greater pricing transparency, and increased friction in multi-channel sales.  From a strategic differentiation point of view, organizations must enhance product offerings with services, improve the customer experience with loyalty top of mind, and tailor personalized experiences that support self-service options and mobility.  In addition, as customers have shifted their buying behaviors, social channels gain importance in how organizations engage their key stakeholders.

E-Commerce Evolves To Meet Next Gen Requirements

Given the landscape, organizations must adjust to less control of their business than the prior decade.  The rules have changed.  Buying behaviors have evolved.  Consequently, organizations must relearn and reengage to revive their e-commerce initiatives.  They should establish trust, not obfuscate through half-truths.  They should focus on influence, not attempt at regaining control.  Consequently, e-commerce must play a key role in the transformation of the customer’s buying experience.  In fact, next generation e-commerce initiatives must address 12 shifts such as (see Figure 1):

  1. Ownership. Governance transitions from a siloed role to part of the overall buying experience.
  2. Approach. Organizations shift from top-down messaging to bottom-up advocacy.
  3. Business requirements. Efforts focus on completing industry vertical specialization.
  4. Marketing style. Initiatives target bolstering brand trust.
  5. Channel management. E-commerce re-integrates back to the overall buying process as a significant entry point to customer lifetime value.
  6. Business process. Functional excellence grows into end to end perfect orders.
  7. Personalization. Improvements in technology enable tailored buying experiences.
  8. Business analytics. Business intelligence moves from basic reporting to real-time decision support.
  9. Social media. Non-existent programs evolve to address one of the greatest trends of the decade.
  10. Product margins. Organizations must evolve to grow profitable revenues.
  11. Product life cycle. Decreasing product life cycles require better inventory management and demand planning.
  12. Deployment options. Multiple options exist and organizations have more opportunities to experiment with try and buy SaaS alternatives.

Figure 1.  E-Commerce Evolves To Meet Next Gen Requirements


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