A Software Insider's Point of View

Single Instance ERP Harder And Harder To Justify
The holy grail of an ERP implementation used to be the single instance deployment.  However, market forces, a move to adopt new disruptive technologies, slow pace of innovation from incumbent vendors, and high maintenance fees have changed many organization’s perspectives.  Add a slew of rapidly changing business requirements [...]

PEOPLE WHISPERS: MOVES, PROMOTIONS, AND MILESTONES*
As always, thanks for your emails and alerts. If you’ve got a change or know of a promotion, keep dropping me a line! If you need a referral, and we’ve worked together in the past, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via Linked In.
Paul Alessi is now a Buyer [...]

Apps Users Seek Third Party Maintenance For Cost, Value, and Service
Updated surveys from inquiries, client conversations, and user group meetings show a 113.8% increase in interest in third party maintenance (3PM) services from Q3 2009 to Q1 2010 (see Figure 1).  Key factors stem from (see Figure 2.):

Continuing cost pressures. Budgets continue to be at [...]

PEOPLE WHISPERS: MOVES, PROMOTIONS, AND MILESTONES*
As always, thanks for your emails and alerts. If you’ve got a change or know of a promotion, keep dropping me a line! If you need a referral, and we’ve worked together in the past, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via Linked In.
Roger Bottum became VP of Marketing [...]

Keep In Mind Basic Rules Still Apply Regardless Of Deployment Option

The proliferation of SaaS solutions provides organizations with a myriad of sorely needed point and disruptive solutions.  Good news - business users can rapidly procure and deploy, while innovating with minimal budget and IT team constraints.  Bad news - users must depend more on their [...]

PEOPLE WHISPERS: MOVES, PROMOTIONS, AND MILESTONES*
As always, thanks for your emails and alerts. If you’ve got a change or know of a promotion, keep dropping me a line! If you need a referral, and we’ve worked together in the past, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via Linked In.
Eliot Axelrod became Senior Account Exec [...]

Competition Intensifies For The Small And Medium Organization’s Software Budget

Software vendors such as Oracle and SAP can no longer rely on their large enterprise customers for double digit year-over-year growth.  In fact, their customers have not only reached a saturation point in being able to consume new solutions, but have also faced demands to cut [...]

Location: Virtual Conference
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2009-10-20
End Date: 2009-10-21
Description: Everything you need to drive business innovation—
without leaving your desk.
Interact. Engage. Learn. All in the comfort of your office.
This year, Virtual Inforum brings best-in-class business solutions, educational sessions, and expertise to you—transporting the Solutions Expo, Networking Square, Auditorium, and Resource Center conveniently to your desktop. [...]

PEOPLE WHISPERS: MOVES, PROMOTIONS, AND MILESTONES*
Congratulations to all!  Good to see that the job scenarios have improved as a number of individuals made organizational changes and promotions.  As always, thanks for your emails and alerts. If you’ve got a change or know of a promotion, keep dropping me a line! If you [...]

Labor Day (US Holiday) traditionally marks the end of summer BBQ’s, the beginning of the fall conference season, and yes, the time to begin a review of your software maintenance contacts that expire end of year.   As clients prepare for this seasonal ritual, a few trends in 2009 should set the stage for negotiations:

Continued [...]

On August 13th, Swedish-based ERP vendor, IFS (OMX STO: IFS), announced its intention to purchase MultiPlus Solutions AS from Qurius International Holding B.V.  IFS, a $383M vendor (2008 revenues), paid an undisclosed sum for the NOK 45.9M or $7.48M (1 NOK = 0.162878 USD ) Norwegian-based project based solutions (PBS) vendor.  Despite the small [...]

Infor announced two new maintenance options for its customers today. These actions represent a proactive approach to provide its customers with new ownership models.  The key offerings include:

Flex Upgrade: customers move to the latest application version, no change to existing maintenance and support costs, little or no license fees
POV: Support and maintenance fees should often [...]

Infor surprised many software industry veterans this morning with its acquisition of SoftBrands. Why?  Well, Infor competitors have been spreading FUD that the company was out of cash, the company was in severe debt, and the company could not execute any more acquisitions.  Well, this acquisition puts a kabash on such talk.  In fact, having [...]

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!  If you need a referral, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via Linked In.
Bronwyn J. Allen became Director, Analyst Relations at Fujitsu America, Inc. [...]

A common question asked by readers of this blog is when should vendor contract negotiations be led by a domain expert and when should this be led by a procurement professional?  As the complexity of the technology topology increases, expect a multitude of domain experts in roles such as application specialists, business process experts, enterprise [...]

Now with most of the craziness of Q4 behind us, its time to unveil the Software Insider Indices:

SII Top 30 Enterprise Business Apps Vendors provides a snapshot of an ongoing vendor ranking by revenue.  Some vendors are private and of course not on this list, unless there’s a reasonable estimate.
SII Top 5 SaaS Business [...]

Almost every inquiry over the past 3 months has ended up with at least one question about what vendors are doing to help their clients amidst an economic recession.  As blogged in the October 12, 2008 posting on “5 Steps to Restoring Trust in the Vendor - Customer Relationship” the issue of credibility and trust [...]

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!  If you need a referral, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via Linked In.
Fayyaz Alam was promoted to Vice President IT Production Services at [...]

Thursday, February 19, 2009, 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. Eastern time (18:00-19:00 UK time)
Presented By:
R “Ray” Wang
Vice President, Principal Analyst
Forrester Research, Inc.

Cost:  Please check the registration page
Who should attend: Business Process & Applications professionals, CIO’s, Application Delivery and Program Management Professionals.
Description:
Declining sales, shrinking operating margins, and labor force reductions, drive Business Process & Applications professionals to [...]

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!
Jeff Abbott, Oracle’s former Vice President for Global Accelerate Strategy and Programs has left and joined Infor.  Prior to joining Oracle, Mr. Abbott held senior [...]

FORWARD AND COMMENTARY
In the second update to the industry’s only business process-focused assessment of its kind, we evaluated eight leading order management hubs in a 152-criteria evaluation. The Forrester Wave provided head to head comparison of which order management hub solution would best support the 20 steps in a perfect order.  Importantly, the end [...]

(Photo: Jim Schaper Conducting the LV Philharmonic.  Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.)
Inforum’s  attendees were treated to a wonderful pre-keynote string quartet and a booming opening inspirational from both the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra and the rock band Innovation.  As the orchestra took a bow, Infor’s CEO Jim Schaper, emerged from the [...]

Title: Events: Inforum 2008
Location: Venetian - Palazzo Hotels & Sands Expo, Las Vegas, NV
Link out: Click here
Description: Inforum 2008:
More focused. More connected. More than ever…
The most valuable learning and networking opportunity of the year for members of the Infor community.
There\’s an energy that runs through an Infor gathering: a restlessness, a constant focus on raising [...]

Vendor Financing Options Provide a Key Weapon in Battle for Tech Spending
On June 28th, 2008, Infor and IBM Global Financing (IGF) announced a worldwide customer financing program for Infor customers. With the worsening global crunch on credit, this program provides Infor’s customers with:

Access to a line of credit for key tech investments. Similar [...]