Archive for the ‘India’ Category

Wednesday’s Whispers: Corporate Whispers and Monthly Market Trends – June 2009

Published on June 24, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang
CORPORATE WHISPERS AND MONTHLY MARKET TRENDS* Starting this month, we'll be splitting the trends in Corporate Whispers from the People Whispers series.  Catch the latest monthly random thoughts, trend points, and corporate trends.  Hearing from twitterati, software execs, and industry experts about: User trends
  • Recent win by SUSEN Software over SAP enhances validity of the used software market in the EU.  Other players like Used Software have battled Microsoft to open up competition in the market.  Many CIO's hope that Nellie Kroes at the EU will investigate the lack of third party maintenance options and anti-competitive behaviour in some segments of enterprise software (i.e. Oracle DB, SAP, etc.) before her term expires.
  • Hybrid deployment options continue to gain ground.  Conversations with over 101 software decision makers highlight a shift from single source vendor strategies.  Move to support hybrid deployments benefit enterprise service bus and integration providers such as Boomi, Pervasive, and Informatica.
  • Japanese CIO's finally realizing that they need to break free from their existing ERP software vendor relationships.  SaaS options now in consideration.  Recent advancements by NTT to host Zoho, Siemens' 420K employee move to Success Factors, and Flextronics 240k employee deal with Workday have shifted perception that SaaS can't solve large enterprise requirements.
  • Conversations with over 100 EMEA decision makers show a big push to move away from a single source vendor strategy.  Third party maintenance, virtualization, SaaS, Open Source, and BPO top lists of planned initiatives in 2009/2010.
  • Support for Apple Macs in corporate environments gaining significant traction.  Despite shipment gains, lack of real corporate support models (i.e. go to the Apple Store to fix your MacBook) do not engender the backing of corporate IT support departments.
Software vendor and system integrators trends Your POV Got a scoop or something to share? What are you hearing in the market?  Please post or send on to rwang0 at gmail dot com and we’ll keep your anonymity. * Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions.  However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt. Copyright © 2009 R Wang. All rights reserved.

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Trip Report: India December 2008 – Sentiments From Bangalore

Published on December 4, 2008 by R "Ray" Wang

The "New" Bangalore Airport

(Photo: The "new" modern and spacious Bengaluru (BLR) airport.  Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.)

New airport symbolic of Bengaluru's on-going transformation. Arrival into Bangalore was quite a treat with mild 75 degree (25C) weather, less humidity, and a spanking new airport built by Zurich Airport, Siemens and India's renown Larsen & Toubro for a price tag of $625 million.  The old airport was closer to downtown, but frankly not worthy of Bangalore's world class info tech reputation.  The trade off - the Bengaluru International Airport is located in Devanahalli, 35km North of Bangalore city center It's further away, and takes about an hour to get there.  Infrastructure is spotty from the newly built National Highway 7 (Bangalore-Hyderabad Highway) to MG road, there are some segments that seem like they are in perpetual construction.  On the way back, you feel the effects of the new Indian airport - great check-in flows, auto bag screening, real jetways to the planes (no more transfer buses), high end boutiques, western style food courts, and real air conditioning! Leading services providers move to deliver differentiated IP. Conversations with the leading firms highlighted continued advancement in the value chain.  These service providers have managed to rapidly transform themselves over the past 2 years.   The goal of achieving a trusted advisor status among clients remains in sight.  There were 4 key themes from my meetings with our vendor clients as well as customers visiting these Indian service providers:
  • New vendor focused centers of excellence show increased competency
  • Continued micro verticalization adds to industry credibility
  • Deeper specialization in industries, roles, geos, and market segments opens up new markets
  • Transition from selling to an IT user to earning a business leader's trust reflects new buying patterns
As with conversations in Mumbai, there is a sense of slow-down, but this is relative to the growth rates of 50% Y-O-Y growth that some firms have enjoyed during the past 5 years.  Hiring continues and ranges from replacement only to "moderate" growth of 20% The bottom line -service providers making the transition to solution providers System integrators now have the power to deliver their IP via the Cloud, PaaS, SaaS, and other mechanisms.  The result - IP can be owned and distributed directly to customers.  The more this happens, the more customers will have choice beyond the large vendors.  If successful, innovation will thrive and customers will win as these solution centric ecosystems get built out. Your POV. What are you seeing in the India market? Is your services provider becoming more strategic?  Feel free to share with me your thoughts.  You can post here or send me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com. Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.

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Trip Report: DownUnder

Published on October 4, 2007 by R "Ray" Wang
(Copyrighted 2007. Photo by R Wang. All rights reserved)

WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN UNDER FOR ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE?
Well, it's hard to beat the weather, scenery, and market in Australia and especially here in Sydney! Amidst this wonderful backdrop is an economic boom based on Financial Services, Public Sector, and Natural Resources, especially mining. In other economic news, real state pricing has hit a drop but not b/c of the US sub-prime scandal, but more along the retirement savings laws passed by the federal government which has moved a lot of money out of the real estate market. However, rents continue to rise while construction has halted.

(Copyrighted 2007. Photo by R Wang. All rights reserved)

On the technology front, there is a lot of activity supporting the 3 key industries. Enterprise apps remain hot as the country moves into the post-Y2K replacement cycle. In the context of globalization, as expected, China and India remain the talk of the country while the Aussie public sector heats up:
  • China's economic influence runs deep for natural resources. China continues to be Australia's largest importer of natural resources such as copper, coal, bauxite, iron ore, and nickel to name a few. The market is such a buzz that there aren't enough truck drivers to haul loads to ports, even with salaries hitting A$ 80,000 a year and miners are clearing A$150,000 or more with bonus. (Side note: The guy that drives the train from Rio Tinto's mine to the port in West Australia makes A$150,000 per year!). From a tech perspective, apps spending is up in the mining and exploration sector to support China's large appetite for natural resources. This means heightened interest in software replacements, upgrades, and new purchases. ERP, supply chain and TMS support, and other mining specific applications are garnering significant interest.
  • India's role continues in global delivery models for financial services. The continual labor arbitrage for services and back office functions drives the buzz with India. With most the Financial Services firms looking at these opportunities, the system integrators are playing out the global delivery models and many of the large multi-nationals are focused on business process outsourcing opportunities (BPO). From many conversations its clear that large scale ERP replacements are also on the way for Australian based financial service companies.
  • Consortia and shared services provide opportunities for the public sector. On the public sector side, IT spending for new projects continue with shared services organizations continuing to lead the way. These public service consortia have been among the early adopters of BPO. Agencies such as water, building departments, land administration among others have done a great job, especially in the rural states like Western Australia.
BOTTOM LINE FOR END USERS
End users should begin the process of mapping business initiatives to software spending requirements. Business and IT projects should focus on 4 key drivers: growth, efficiency, regulatory compliance and strategy. One suggestion is to conduct a self-assessment of long term apps strategy readiness and to be focused on building a 5 -year apps strategy that includes organizational change, process optimization, technology readiness, and solutions centric ecosystem maturity.

BOTTOM LINE FOR TECHNOLOGY VENDORS
For system integrators this means a ripe market where implementation services, apps replacement and upgrades, and outsourcing provide significant opportunities as customers look at their technology requirements in the context of business initiatives


(The personal contents in this blog do not reflect the opinions, ideas, thoughts, points of view, and any other potential attribution of my current, past, or future employers.)
Copyrighted 2007 by R Wang. All rights reserved
(The personal contents in this blog do not reflect the opinions, ideas, thoughts, points of view, and any other potential attribution of my current, past, or future employers.) Copyrighted 2008 by R Wang. All rights reserved

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Ecosystems: Systems integrators should transform to solutions providers

Published on March 3, 2007 by R "Ray" Wang
As I reflect on my current trip to India, I can't but help feel the deja vu of the Silicon Valley during the late 90's. Streams of business people come in and out of the lobby with ideas, deals, and lots of excitement. I'm typing away from the Hotel Leela in Bangalore where I just met with a client in the system integrator space. Like others, she also commented on the tremendous growth in just the past year. Among the construction cranes, cows in the street, motorized rickshaws, and the hustle and bustle of a country on the move, I have firmly experienced an outsider's perspective on India's growth.

With each trip, I notice new architectures and campuses being built or expanded for each of the SI's. India's info tech economy continues to grow and their system integrators now play a significant role in the global professional services business. As they continue to make progress and gain multi-billion in revenues, they remain on an aggressive move towards the next step in the value chain.

With that perspective in mind, opportunities exist for these highly skilled system integrators to make the transition from system integrator to solution provider. More importantly, those system integrators who have the development capabilties and understanding of various middleware platforms such as BEA WebLogic/AquaLogic, IBM WebSphere, Microsoft.Net, Oracle Fusion Middleware, and SAP NetWeaver have an opportunity to change the software environment in their next transformation. Just like Electronic Arts who builds software on Sony's Playstation, Microsoft's X-box, and Nintendo's Game Cube, imagine a world where an Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, Cognizant, and HCL deliver their own Chinese HR talent acquisition solutions or eastern european process manufacturing solution on top of NetWeaver, Fusion, WebSphere, VS.NEt, or WebLogic.

Delivering last mile solutions regardless of middleware platform potentially transforms system integrators who are channels for the big vendors like SAP and Oracle into solutions providers who view SAP and Oracle as a strategic supplier. But to get there, these SI's will require internal transformation in their capabilities. Customers must view these firms as trusted advisors across the enterprise.

However, skills shortages still abound in advanced capabilities such as change management, master data management, business process reengineering, and overall IT strategy. But with some retooling, expect the most nimble and adaptive of these system integrators to make the transformation. Clients desperately seek resources to deliver process innovation while optimizing commoditized processes via BPO. The key success factor will be the capability to deliver modular last mile solutions by industry and geographies on top of agnostic middleware platforms or SaaS deployment options.

Once that transformation has been attained, IBM and Accenture will nervously have to look in their rear view mirrors as the competition charges forward. But for now, their positions remain safe.

(The personal contents in this blog do not reflect the opinions, ideas, thoughts, points of view, and any other potential attribution of my current, past, or future employers.)
Copyrighted 2007 by R Wang. All rights reserved
(The personal contents in this blog do not reflect the opinions, ideas, thoughts, points of view, and any other potential attribution of my current, past, or future employers.) Copyrighted 2008 by R Wang. All rights reserved

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