Archive for October, 2010

Event Report: PDC10 Focuses Developers On Cloud And Devices Opportunity

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

Microsoft Bolsters Developer Tools To Inspire Innovation

At the October 28th, 2010 Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, CEO Steve Ballmer presided over 3 key announcements that affirm the software giant’s ambitions to retain and grow the mind share and market share of worldwide developers (see Figure 1).  In fact the 3 main announcements foreshadow Microsoft’s convergence in the five pillars of consumer tech:

  • IE9 showcases advancements in hardware acceleration and user experiences. Dean Hachamovitch demonstrated how hardware acceleration and site-centric design can transform the web experience.  A comparison of Google Chrome vs Microsoft IE9 showed significant performance gains with IE9 at 60 frames per second (FPS) on HTML5 versus 40 FPS on the latest version of Chrome.  The hardware acceleration definitely improves the audio, video, text, and canvas experience.  The new browser supports HTML5 semantic tags, CSS3 2D transforms, and F12 capabilities.

    Point of View (POV):     IE9 transforms the browser market.  Early demos show how quickly developers can build rich HTML5 experiences.  Hardware acceleration and site-centric design will drive all future development capabilities as new devices such as tablets, surface computing, and mobile innovations enter the market.  Of equal importance, Microsoft shows support for open standards in HTML5 while also betting on Silverlight for more complex apps that can simultaneously build in HTML5 and video.  Unfortunately, a few beta users have reported stability issues on IE9.  As with any early release, expect improved stability over the next 1 to 3 months.
  • Windows Phone 7 attempts to gain traction. Launched one week ago, Scott Guthrie highlighted the key features in the WP7 platform.  Adoption remains fierce with over 1000 applications and games uploaded into the integrated market place.  During the Brandon Watson demo, attendees saw integrated experiences to XBox Live, a native Facebook application, and an exclusive Amazon Kindle app.  Developers can build on Visual Studio Express, take advantage of OData support, and concurrently use Expression Blend with Visual studio to design digital assets and apply animation time lines.  Visual Studio Express and Expression Blend will be available to developers at no cost.

    (POV):     WP7 shows promise in bringing Microsoft’s mobile efforts out of the doldrums.  With Palm facing a brain drain post-HP acquisition, WP7 enters a competitive 4-way race among iOS4, Google Android, and RIM’s OS6 WebWorks development platform for mind share.  However, Microsoft’s taken the lessons learned from a decade of catching up.  By improving developer productivity through better tools, closer partnerships with device manufacturers on standards, and development of a market place, buyers and partners should not count Microsoft out.  Early reports indicate that developers can build more quickly on WP7 than Android. Additionally, the industry can expect the tablet wars to heat up as these markets converge.  Of note to iPhone users, many early users of WP7 on AT&T’s network claim that they have less dropped calls than Apple’s iPhone.  Software Insider expects AT&T to start publishing dropped call results by device and OS.

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Monday’s Musings: A New Format Starting Next Week

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

Take Note. A First Person Point Of View Coming Soon.

Telling the story from the first person point of view is part of the fun in the analyst job.  On a one-on-one basis, I’ve done this in our advisory calls and at events.  However, I’ve spent most of this blog’s life writing in third person.  Starting next week – we’ll change it up on Mondays and give you an unfettered point of view.  We’ll share with you the conversations with customers, partners, and key executives.  In the meantime, you can still expect research report quality blog posts all the other times.

Your POV.

What would you like to hear about?  What stories are key for you?  Would love to hear your comments on the blog or send me an email to rwang0 at gmail dot com or r at softwareinsider dot org and we’ll keep your anonymity.

Reprints

Reprints can be purchased through the Software Insider brand.  To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact r@softwareinsider.org.

Disclosure

Although we work closely with many technology providers, we want you to trust us.  For the full disclosure policy please refer here.

Copyright © 2010 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.

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News Analysis: Charles Phillips Takes Over As CEO of Infor

Published on by R "Ray" Wang

Enterprise Software And Investment Banker Veteran Joins Third Largest Enterprise Apps Vendor

Today’s announcement that former Oracle President Charles “Chuck” Phillips has taken the helm as CEO of Infor continues the executive management shuffle impacting the enterprise software space.  Based in Alpharetta, GA, Infor serves 70,000 customers in 125 countries worldwide and employs over 8,000.  Some key takeaways from today’s announcement include :

  • Infor gains a seasoned executive. At Oracle, Charles Phillips played a key part in Oracle’s mergers and acquisition strategy.  Prior to Oracle, Chuck was the managing director for enterprise software coverage at Morgan Stanley.

    Point of View (POV):     During Phillips’ tenure, he was responsible for the sales, marketing, and service functions.  Customers found him effective because he invested time to understand their concerns, put action plans in place, and kept his word.  Chuck’s background in investment banking will play a key role in Infor’s goal to IPO in the next 12 to 18 months
  • Jim Schaper will continue to drive strategy. As the guiding force in Infor’s original strategy and M&A execution, Schaper stays on as Chairman.  Jim also remains a senior operating partner at Golden Gate Capital, Infor’s major investor.

    (POV):     Jim’s played a key role at Infor in executing the original roll-up strategy.  Now at $2.2B in revenues, he and the board smartly brings in a CEO who can take the company to the next level.  The move will be good for customers, partners, and employees.

More…

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News Analysis: Oracle and IBM Partner On Java

Published on October 11, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Collaboration Puts Java In A Safe Place

On October 11th, 2010, both Oracle and IBM announced an alliance to collaborate on the future development of Java.  A quick assessment shows that:

  • Oracle and IBM intend to drive Java innovations. Oracle initiated a call to IBM to discuss collaboration efforts around Java.  As a result, Oracle and IBM intend to allow developers and customers to build and innovate based on Java investments and the OpenJDK reference implementation.  Both tech giants agreed to reiterate their commitment to the Java Community Process (JCP) as the official standards body.   The scope of the alliance includes the OpenJDK project, the open source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) specification, the Java Language, the Java Development Kit (JDK), and Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

    Point of View (POV):     As fierce competitors and close partners, the largest research and development investors in Java have agreed to jointly collaborate and develop Java SE.  Both Oracle’s “Red Stack” and IBM’s “Blue Stack”depend on Java for success.  The result – Java developers and customers gain stability and confidence that the future of Java remains secure.  Rivals can expect an Oracle IBM alliance to drive innovations in web apps, cloud standards, and mobile innovations.

The Bottom Line:  Java Now Back On Equal Competitive Footing With .NET

Oracle’s acquisition of Sun left many Java watchers uncertain about the future of Java.  In some ways, today’s olive branch announcement is akin to “Mideast Peace” and allows the Java ecosystem to thrive and compete head on with Microsoft’s .NET ecosystem.  With the Java and .NET wars moving into the cloud, mobile, and appliance market, today’s announcement shows common sense and logic remains paramount among even the fiercest of rivals.  In addition, the alliance takes IBM out of the Apache Harmony efforts with Google, which could result in either a Java fork for Android or Android on Open JDK.

Your POV.

Does this announcement surprise you?  Did you expect Oracle and IBM to collaborate?  Are you breathing a sigh of relief on the collaboration?  You can post or send on to rwang0 at gmail dot com or r at softwareinsider dot org and we’ll keep your anonymity.

How can we assist?

Buyers, do you need help with your apps strategy and vendor management strategy?  Trying to figure out how to infuse innovation into your tech strategy? Ready to put the expertise of over 1000 software contract negotiations to work?  Give us a call!

Please let us know if you need help with your next gen apps strategy efforts.  Here’s how we can help:

  • Providing contract negotiations and software licensing support
  • Evaluating SaaS/Cloud options
  • Assessing apps strategies (e.g. single instance, two-tier ERP, upgrade, custom dev, packaged deployments”
  • Designing innovation into end to end processes and systems
  • Comparing SaaS/Cloud integration strategies
  • Assisting with legacy ERP migration
  • Engaging in an SCRM strategy
  • Planning upgrades and migration
  • Performing vendor selection

Reprints

Reprints can be purchased through the Software Insider brand.  To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact r@softwareinsider.org.

Disclosure

Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us.  Both IBM and Oracle are clients of Insider Associates, LLC. For the full disclosure policy please refer here.

Copyright © 2010 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Research Report: How The Five Pillars Of Consumer Tech Influence Enterprise Innovation

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

Most Enterprise Software Vendors Fail To Deliver Innovation

Despite hundreds of billions wasted on failed research and development projects, most market influencers would agree that enterprise software vendors have produced a dearth of innovation over the past decade.  Vendors often cite UI re-skins, major functionality additions, integration of acquisitions, technology re-platforms, and weak attempts at faking cloud computing as innovations.  In fact, let’s call it what it is.  Only a handful of enterprise software vendors have truly innovated.   Many enterprise software vendors are fast followers.  Most are innovation laggards living off fat maintenance revenue streams.  Ask any product strategist where they gain their inspiration and they will all cite advancements in consumer technology; and not peer enterprise competitors.

Innovative Enterprises Push Forward Mostly On Their Own

During this year’s Information Week 500 event, conversations with over 50 leading business technology leaders highlighted the growing gap in innovation.  These next gen leaders demonstrated how they were turning to consumer tech advancements to influence their custom development efforts; and/or seeking emerging vendors with innovative offerings.

For example, Bill Martin, the CIO of Royal Caribbean showed how design thinking coupled with real-time analytics and on-board mobility could improve the cruise experience on the largest ship ever built.  Shawn Kleim, Director of Development at WetSeal, provided proof points on mobility and social convergence in driving retail sales and eCommerce in the highly competitive teen apparel market.  Dave Bent, Senior VP of eBusiness services and CIO of United Stationers, proved how a company could deliver cloud services to partners and create competitive advantage across a value chain.

A number of CIO’s showcased how they were taking advantage of the cloud with SaaS apps and private clouds. Others discussed their efforts to optimize costs using third party maintenance to pay for innovation.  The common lessons learned – most did not expect to gain market advantage from their existing and legacy vendors.  Innovations came from the consumer tech side and next generation solution providers.  Consumer tech advancements influenced business driven technology advancements.

Software And Tech Vendors Rush To Incorporate The Five Pillars Of Consumer Tech

Ten elements drive key design points for next generation apps.  These design points showcase how advancements in consumer tech now permeate the enterprise.  Design thinking concepts drive dynamic user experiences, business process focus, and community connectedness.  Based on existing research, deep dives into major vendor road maps, and validation with clients, five pillars of consumer tech have emerged as the foundation for future inspiration in the enterprise (see Figure 1):

Figure 1.  Five Pillars Of Consumer Tech Will Influence Enterprise Software Throughout The Next Decade

More…

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