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Event Report: SAP Australian Users Group Summit 2010

Published on August 8, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang



SAUG Summit Delivered Great Networking Opportunities And Information Exchange

Over 550 attendees converged on Sydney August 3rd to 5th, 2010 for the annual SAP User Group Summit.  Members were treated to 28 session, 7 keynotes, and 4 SAP 101 educational sessions.  The smart design of the conference gave attendees ample opportunities to connect and share ideas between sessions.  Kudos to Kim Salter and team for a great event! In conversations with over 100 attendees, four trends emerged:

  • Excitement in putting Business Intelligence (BI) to work. A combination of pent up demand, SAP marketing of Business Objects, and early adopters of BW led to many interesting conversations about the future road map.  Users sought clarity on the future direction and for the most part received it around BEX support and future investments.  Many continued to wonder if SAP would clean up its master data management strategy and address the need for a stronger next generation BI platform.
  • Considerable interest in how the Cloud can be used with existing SAP investments. Several sessions on the cloud were given.  Jeff Word, President of SAP Product Strategy provided an SAP Session on Cloud Computing.  The 6th  keynote on “Ready for the Cloud and SaaS?” provided users with 10 strategies to use Cloud Computing with or without SAP.  With so much confusion on Cloud terminology, attendees wanted a reset on the definitions and categories of cloud computing.  In each conversation, cost savings and flexibility drove the interest to consider cloud options.  A good mix of both technology and business leaders instigated the conversations.  Considerable disappointment emerged when they found out Business by Design would not be available to Australia until late 2011.
  • Concern about negotiating leverage in SAP contracts. In both the CIO session and in passing conversations, the majority of attendees expressed a concern about waning leverage in contract negotiations for the acquisition of new licenses or dealing with maintenance fees.  A few attendees expressed frustration that the SAP Australia head office ignored them when their contracts were written by the corporate entities in countries abroad.  They felt that SAP should act with one face to the world.
  • Questions on when to upgrade. Many attendees expressed concern on when to upgrade.  A large number on 4.6 and 4.7 saw no need to make the shift yet despite a few key features in Enhancement Packages.  In fact, many of these users augmented the gaps with SaaS solutions today in expense management, CRM, business intelligence, and strategic HCM.

A photo collage of the event can be seen below (see Figure 1):

More…

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News Analysis: Rimini Street Countersues Oracle

Published on April 5, 2010 by R "Ray" Wang

Rimini Street Counter Suit Focuses On Ensuring Customer Rights To Third Party Maintenance (3PM)

screen-shot-2010-04-05-at-13044-amscreen-shot-2010-04-05-at-13101-am

On March 29th, 2010, Rimini Street sued Oracle for “counterclaims alleging copyright misuse, defamation, disparagement, trade libel, and unfair competition”.  The lawsuit was filed as a counter to Oracle’s February 26th, 2010 suit of Rimini Street for Intellectual Property (IP) theft.  While Oracle’s issue at hand was whether or not Rimini Street violated IP rights, the underlying issue focuses on third party maintenance rights.  Statements in the press release highlight the following:

  • Rimini Street is Oracle’s primary competition for annual support services. The third party maintenance leader now boasts 160 employees and a $150M sales backlog.  The release stated a 270 percent year-over-year growth from 2008.

    Point of View (POV): Rimini Street has recently won some large maintenance deals from Oracle.  By supporting Oracle’s Siebel, PeopleSoft, and JD Edwards customers with value based options, it’s inevitable that Oracle would face direct competition.  However, Oracle’s 95% dominant market share leaves plenty of room for Rimini Street to grow and convince customers to switch.  Other competitors such as Spinnaker, netCustomer, and some stealthy system integrators have chipped into Oracle’s lucrative maintenance business.

  • Oracle has a long history of trying to stifle Rimini Street competition. The lawsuit and press release discusses a series of actions taken by Oracle starting in September 2005 with hostile correspondence.  Other actions noted discuss interference with client work in June 2007 and June 2008.  The current lawsuit adds to the list of complaints from Rimini Street about Oracle.

    POV: Rimini Street apparently reached out to Oracle on numerous occasions to discuss how they could work with a third party auditor to confirm Rimini Street’s compliance with Oracle’s procedures.  If Oracle has not responded as Rimini Street states, it points to one data point that Oracle may not be interested in a resolution.  Because maintenance is such a big part of Oracle and other vendor’s revenues, there’s great incentive to keep third party providers away from this market.

More…

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Speaker Notes: Keynote – SAP UK & Ireland User Group Conference 2009

Published on November 25, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

Building Innovation With And Around Your SAP Environment

Location: Manchester CentralAuditorium
Date:23/11/2009
Start Time: 16:25
End Time: 17:00
Speaker: R “Ray” Wang
Company: Partner with Altimeter Group

Keynote summary:

  1. Pace of change continues to increase in market forces, work dynamics, business models, and pace of technology adoption.
  2. Innovation is essential in this market.
  3. There’s a tonne of innovation at SAP. Management and politics keep it from coming out.
  4. Users need to tap into innovations from SAP and also help SAP prioritize what should go to market.
  5. Users need to know what you want to do before you even talk to SAP.  Get your act together.
  6. Use the user group to build the linkages to SAP.  This is a better, more productive approach, especially if you are not a top 400 customer with private access.
  7. SAP isn’t bad or good. You can’t view them that way. Management is confused at the moment on leadership, direction, and innovation so figure out what you need from them early and fast.
  8. If SAP can’t do it, you don’t have time to wait for them, especially if there’s no commitment. SaaS is an option, other providers are out there.  Come back to them later when they figure it out.
  9. The pace of change is too fast. Technology adoption too slow. Companies need to keep moving in innovation.
  10. Invest in innovation even if it hurts. Find money to optimize and pay for this.  There are a number of vendors that can assist.

Members of the SAP UK &I user group who would like a copy of the presentation can contact David Stanley, Vice President of Business Development and Sales at david@altimetergroup.com for copies.   Your member number will be required for proof.

Video Highlights – Exposing SAP Innovation


Courtesy of Dennis Howlett

Video Highlights – On ESME vs Salesforce.com Chatter


Courtesy of Dennis Howlett.

Video Highlights – 5 Recent Failures of SAP


Courtesy of Dennis Howlett.

Copyright © 2009 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.

Additional coverage and related links

Event Report: UK & Ireland User Group Conference 2009

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Event Report: SAP UK & Ireland User Group Conference 2009

Published on November 24, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

SAP users in UK and Ireland remain equally skeptical about SAP

(Photos by R Wang & Insider Associates, LLC.   Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved.)

The SAP user group hosted its annual event.  Conversations with 37 clients reflect the following broad trends in the UK and Ireland:

  • SAP users remain skeptical about benefits promised by SAP due to lack of delivery over the past 5 years (See Figure 1.)
  • SAP has spent more time reaching out to customers to understand pain points
  • Knowledge gaps continue to exist between what SAP users know about SAP and what SAP sales people communicate to clients
  • A show of hands in the audience validates conversations that SAP users have not adopted NetWeaver, Duet, ByD, Solution Manager, and Enterprise Support.
  • Many customers have budget but need trusted advice as to what is possible in including SAP in their future roadmaps
  • Customers seek innovation from SAP but find a difficult time understanding what SAP has to offer
  • Many customers have turned to other providers for innovations via SaaS or cost optimization

Figure 1. What SAP Customers Want

What SAP users want from SAP

The bottom line.

SAP users and their user groups have a unique opportunity to put in the right infrastructure to engage in productive partnership with SAP.  The management team has shifted their outlook.  Early signs indicate a more customer focused approach may be on the way.  Customers seeking to innovate within their SAP investment should ask hard questions about what is in the SAP Labs portfolio.  User groups will play a key role in helping to prioritize future SAP product road map investments.  Users and their user groups should push for frameworks that monitor customer reuqests and increase transparency in the prioritization process. Customers can not allow SAP to squander any more of the 10′s of billions in maintenance fee and license fees “invested” with SAP.

Your POV.

If you get a chance, let us know:

  • Which SAP products do you use?
  • When will you migrate to BS7 or ECC 6.0?
  • What do you think about the progress on SUGEN KPI’s
  • Are you considering alternatives to SAP
  • Do you feel SAP is innovating fast, ok, or slow enough?

Feel free to post your comments here or send me an email at rwang0 at gmail dot com or r at softwareinsider dot org.

Copyright © 2009 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC. All rights reserved.

Additional coverage and related links

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Event Report: Epicor Perspectives 2009 – Continued Transformation Towards Next Gen Apps

Published on November 10, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

Perspectives 2009 highlights continued market, corporate, and product transformation

Epicor Perspectives Hall of SolutionsEpicor's Community Managers James Norwood Vice President of Product Marketing on Epicor's Roadmpa
Pool at Caesar's PalaceA Night With Tom Papas At Epicor Perspectives 2009A Night With Tom Papas At Epicor Perspectives 2009A Night With Tom Papas At Epicor Perspectives 2009

(Photos by R Wang & Insider Associates, LLC.   Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved.)

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Epicor hosted over 1500 partner, customer, and employee attendees at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV.  Conference highlights include:

  • Update on Epicor 9 adoption. Epicor has (deployed 11/19/2009 ) shipped 30,000 seats to 60 customers since GA in December 2008.  More than 890 customers have purchased the product with 590 implementations in progress.   The company hopes to be in 50 countries and 30 languages by end of year.

    POV: With over 22,000 customers worldwide, product adoption may at first appear below average.  But given the recessionary factors, Epicor has done well in taking its time to ramp up and build customer references for this next generation app.  Epicor’s success will require a future specialization into verticals and indirect partner channels.

  • Shared benefits program. Epicor launched a new program to improve implementation outcomes with shared risks and benefits.  Vendor and customers will own project scope definition and agree on outcomes and ROI.  If the project is under budget, Epicor shares the savings with the customer.  If the project runs over budget, the customer pays for half the contracted professional services hourly rates.

    POV: Epicor builds on its previous program where it targeted a 1:1 license to implementation ratio.  While there may be open issues about unintended consequences (i.e. as raised by fellow Enterprise Advocate Frank Scavo), Epicor’s intent to change the relationship is a great step towards improving outcomes for clients in the enterprise software world.

  • New eCommerce solution. Epicor launched an all-in-one eCommerce solution that covers design to delivery.  Users of Epicor Commerce can synchronize master data elements such as products, pricing, customers, and inventory levels while managing website content and delivery.  Other features include support for payment options, merchant account/gateway integration, and tax calculations via Avalara.

    POV: Commerce customers at Perspectives were expressing interest in the new SaaS-ready options as well as hosted options.  Prospects should take a close look at the Order Hub integration from retail activities to the back end ERP systems as this will prove the greatest integration value.

Feedback from 37 customers remain mostly positive

Conversations with 17 Vantage, 12 Enterprise, 5 Avante, and 3 Vista customers showed quite positive customer sentiment.  Most (15/17) Vantage customers expected to move to Epicor 9 in 2010.  Key drivers:

  • Key functionality addressed in newer release
  • Better usability
  • Newer technology
  • Greater ROI

However, only 3 Enterprise customers, 2 Avante, and 1 Vista customers expected to make the move in the next 12 months.  Key drivers for not making the upgrade include

  • Economic recession
  • Waiting for functional parity
  • Over customization of existing product

Your POV.

If you get a chance, let us know:

  • Which Epicor products do you use?
  • When will you migrate?
  • What do you think about the shared benefits program?
  • Will you look more closely at Epicor as an alternative to SAP and Oracle?

Feel free to post your comments here or send me an email at rwang0 at gmail dot com or r at softwareinsider dot org.

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News Analysis: Oracle Formally Announces Fusion Apps

Published on October 14, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

Oracle’s Fusion Apps Addresses A Broad Set Of Horizontal Modules

Oracle’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Larry Ellison announced the code completion of Fusion Apps in today’s late afternoon keynote.  Though Ellison did not give precise guidance on general availability (GA), he did hint that the product would be available, “sometime in 2010″.  The product currently undergoes extensive testing and will comprise of  key modules including:

  • Oracle Fusion Customer Relationship Management
  • Oracle Fusion Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
  • Oracle Fusion Governance, Risk, And Compliance
  • Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management
  • Oracle Fusion Financial Management
  • Oracle Fusion Procurement
  • Oracle Fusion Supply Chain Management

Some key hallmarks of Oracle’s Fusion Applications V 1. (see Figure 1) include:

  • Role based design
  • Extensive provision for proactive reporting and alerts
  • Web 2.0 like usability
  • SOA architecture for integration of legacy applications
  • Multiple deployment options including on-premise, hosting, and multi-tenant SaaS

The V1 product will not deliver out of the box capabilities to support:

  • Discrete Manufacturing
  • Process Manufacturing
  • Public Sector

Figure 1. Fusion Apps Move Towards A Social Enterprise/Social Business Apps User Experience

(Source: Oracle Corporation )

The Bottom Line – Oracle Takes A Two Prong Strategy And Seeks Domination Of The Apps Market

Oracle’s continues to prove success in its business model.  By acquiring the leading companies with significant recurring revenue streams, it can drive economies of scale to make above average R&D investments.  The result – enough innovation in existing product lines to compel customers to pay maintenance and upgrade; and the time and resources to build a next generation product.  Should Oracle successfully deliver on Fusion Apps to customers in 2010, SAP will have to play catch up in mind share as many sources state that there are no plans for a new product until 2013/2014.  Other vendors will have to leverage or partner for middleware and PaaS options in order to sustain key Web 2.0 innovations in the enterprise.

Your POV.

Is seeing believing? As an Oracle customer will this compel you to stay on Apps Unlimited or make a move to Fusion Apps?  If you aren’t a customer, will you now consider Oracle in your short lists?  Feel free to post your comments here or send me an email at rwang0 at gmail dot com or r at softwareinsider dot org.

Copyright © 2009 R Wang. All rights reserved.

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User Group Event: SAP UK & Ireland User Group Conference and Exhibition

Published on October 3, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

screen-shot-2009-10-03-at-50916-am

Title: User Group Event: SAP UK & Ireland User Group Conference and Exhibition
Location: Manchester Central (GMEX/MICC), England, United Kingdom
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2009-11-23
End Date: 2009-11-24
Description: The largest most comprehensive UK & Ireland conference for SAP users, the SAP UK & Ireland User Group Conference and Exhibition will take place at Manchester Central (GMEX/MICC), on 23rd & 24th of November 2009.

Designed by SAP users for SAP users this 2 day conference will feature the most far reaching programme of any SAP event comprised of over 80+ presentations, many by users sharing their experiences and best practice, workshops, a 75 exhibitor exhibition and a networking dinner – all included in the astounding £400 early bird fee (£385 if you book as a group of 5 or more before 30th September).

With no SAPPHIRE (Europe) in 2009, SAP will be showing their full support for this event with keynote speakers, involvement in the new Senior Executive Forum (a one day discussion forum for top executives) and numerous SAP staff available throughout the 2 days

Furthermore, for the first time this conference will include programme sessions and exhibitors catering for the specific needs of SAP Business One and BusinessObjects users too.

Register

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Speaking Engagement: Convention USF 2009 – Le Club des Utilisateurs SAP Francophones

Published on September 5, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

USF 2009

Title: User Group Event: Convention USF 2009
Location: CNIT – Paris La Défense, France
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2009-10-14
End Date: 2009-10-15
Description: La Convention en bref

Evènement incontournable de l’ecosystème SAP, la Convention USF est l’exposition dédiée aux utilisateurs SAP.

Lieu d’échange et de partage, cet évènement est une occasion unique de dialoguer autour des problématiques qui vous intéressent que vous soyez utilisateurs ou intégrateurs.

Trouvez toutes les réponses aux questions que vous vous posez lors de notre Convention annuelle.

La Convention USF c’est :

* Des ateliers retours d’expérience clients
* Des plénières sur des sujets d’actualité
* Près de 70 exposants qui couvrent toutes les thématiques liées à la solution SAP et aux processus de votre entreprise.

Mercredi 14/10 – 10h00 – Un nouvel ERP pour le 21ème siècle !

Le 14 Octobre 2009 à 10:00

Par R “Ray” Wang, Partner – Enterprise Strategy, Altimeter Group

Ray Wang est le spécialiste de Altimeter Group des applications professionnelles et des processus métiers. Il analyse les tendances du marché des ERP pour les grandes entreprises et les PME. Il propose des conseils stratégiques dans le logiciel à partir de recherches et d’évaluation des processus métiers, tels que le cycle de management de commande et la gestion continue de la relation client. Il évalue le périmètre fonctionnel des solutions d’EAI (intégration des applications de l’entreprise) et l’impact de l’architecture orientée services (SOA) sur les applications globales d’entreprise. En 2008 & 2009, Ray Wang a été reconnu comme Analyste de l’année par l’institut des relations d’analystes (IIAR).

*Le programme est susceptible d’évoluer. L’USF se réserve le droit d’annuler ou déplacer une intervention.

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User Group Event: 2009 Teradata PARTNERS User Group Conference and Expo

Published on by R "Ray" Wang

Teradata PARTNERS Event

Title: User Group Event: 2009 Teradata PARTNERS User Group Conference and Expo
Location: The Gaylord National Resort, National Harbor, Washington, D.C.
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2009-10-18
End Date: 2009-10-22
Description: Join us in Washington, D.C., for the 2009 Teradata PARTNERS User Group Conference & Expo, October 18–22, 2009, at the Gaylord National Resort.

If you attend only one conference this year, it should be this one! The Teradata PARTNERS User Group Conference & Expo is the premier business intelligence educational event designed to provide the very best opportunities to learn, grow, and increase data warehousing expertise. Learn from Teradata customers about how they have used Teradata Data Warehouses to unlock the value of their data, and transform it into actionable information for strategic decision making.

Register

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Monday’s Musings: Users Now Expect More Advocacy From Their User Groups

Published on August 3, 2009 by R "Ray" Wang

Many user groups currently meet the basic requirements…

Today’s independent and vendor sponsored user groups serve a key role in building community among a common interest group.  Typical mission and objectives often include:

  • Creating an environment to share information and best practices
  • Exposing issues and limitations with a vendor’s product and partner solutions
  • Soliciting member feedback and concerns about vendor and other solution providers
  • Leveraging collective power to influence the product road map of the vendor and other solution providers
  • Facilitating networking opportunities for a vendor’s greater community and ecosystem
  • Educating members on new capabilities
  • Creating a forum for the vendor and other providers to discuss new initiatives.

…yet market needs creates demand for stronger leadership on key issues

Comparisons of the November 2008 survey with the latest July 2009 update show that user group members seek greater assistance (see Figure 1).  In fact, rapid vendor consolidation, continual economic pressures, and high pressure sales tactics increase membership demands that user groups increasingly serve as client advocates in working with the vendors.  Key trends from the 2009 H2 191 respondent survey show sharp shifts such as:

  • ~52% increase to negotiate license discounts
  • ~50% decrease to communicate vendor news and updates
  • ~30% increase to address product issues, bugs, enhancement requests
  • ~24% increase to fight for maintenance fee reductions
  • ~22% increase to influence product road maps

Other interesting trends include:

  • ~10% decrease to liaise with software vendor executives
  • ~7% increase to deliver training and educational sessions
  • ~5% increase to benchmark performance
  • ~4% increase to share product and technical knowledge
  • ~3% decrease to provide recruiting opportunities
  • No change to facilitate peer networking opportunities
    Figure 1. Users Now Expect More Advocacy From Their User Groups

    Users demand more action from user groups

    Source: Software Insider's Point of View User Group Survey - Copyright © 2009 R Wang. All rights reserved.

The bottom line – users need to play a more active role in both good and bad times

Beyond paying the membership dues, user groups are only as successful as their active membership.   The challenge – strike a good balance in meeting membership needs and involving the membership in participating in key initiatives.  As users, now’s the time to play a key role in transforming the user groups to meet key requirements and putting one of the best checks and balances in play.   Get active, get engaged and ask key questions to find out how effective your user group is? Some key questions user group members should ask:

  • How well does the user group align with my organization’s key initiatives?
  • Is the user group business model aligned with the ability to advocate for the membership?
  • Does the user group have the leadership to publicly and privately raise issues with the vendor?
  • Do officers in the user group receive special privileges for their companies that members may not be privy to and how does that influence their ability to advocate on behalf of the membership?
  • How much say does the vendor have in the user group’s decision making?
  • How independent is the user group?  How much money is received from the vendor versus outside sponsorships?  How does that money impact decision making?

The bottom line – vendors can proactively add value by addressing shifting requirements

Strong user group leadership teams quickly respond to changing membership needs and leverage the power of the users and clients to publicly and privately create checks in the balance of power.  The goal – improve the vendor-client relationship via the influence of the membership.   Savvy vendors can address the enhancement request issue, product road maps, and performance benchmarks by:

  • Dedicating executive resources to user group initiatives
  • Increasing transparency in the requirements prioritization process
  • Creating resources to share benchmarking information
  • Reporting more frequently on progress.

Your POV.

Do you feel your user group has given you value?  What are you looking from your user group? As a user what would you like to see from your user group?  Are you a software vendor trying to design better user group programs?  Would you like advice on how your program compares?  Feel free to share your experiences here or send me a private email to rwang0 at gmail dot com or r at softwareinsider dot org.

Copyright © 2009 R Wang. All rights reserved.

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