Top 10 Reasons For Having A Project Kickoff - Part I You are about to embark on an important project. Whether the project is software or hardware related, it is a good idea to hold a project kickoff meeting. Don't miss this excellent opportunity to get across important communications and establish the tone for the project. This article discusses the 10 objectives of a project kickoff meeting, how to achieve them, and templates for presenting them. In Part I, the first three reasons are discussed but you will be left on the edge of your seat in anticipation of Parts II and III.
December 30, 2003
The Many Faces of PLM
Part Two: The Future of the PLM Suite The future of the PLM Suite will include more applications that cover product-related functionality and further expand the benefits available. As the PLM Suite matures, companies will benefit from increased functionality and increased integration between business processes. The ultimate expression of this more mature solution will result in a broad suite of focused, integrated applications that leverage a core of unified, structured product data - the PLM Platform.
December 29, 2003
The Many Faces of PLM
Part One: Event Summary Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software solutions, like many of the application suites that have come before it, are a collection of different offerings that serve a common theme and contribute to overlapping value propositions. Like previous application suites, there is strategic value in approaching PLM as a set of inter-related requirements as opposed to just a collection of function-specific requirements. This is a report on the observations from the 2003 Product Development Manager’s Association (PDMA) Conference.
December 27, 2003
PSA -- Still An Evolving Market What started out as a set of applications to better manage customers' projects, astutely allocate staff and monitor their utilization rates has become an important foundation for coordinating a full range of business activities amongst increasingly virtual teams both within and outside the four-walls.
December 26, 2003
PLM Is An Industry Affair - Or Is It? The question, 'Do vertical industry needs play a significant role in a PLM software selection?' should be a simple question to answer. Instead, it is a question best answered with a series of questions.
December 25, 2003
A CFO's Guide For Managing IT In the post Y2K era, many companies have turned to the CFO to oversee the IT function with the CIO or head of IT reporting to the CFO. IT may look organizationally like accounting, but the issues a CFO will face in managing IT will be complex and involve an organizational approach that is focused on the unique aspects of managing IT.
December 24, 2003
Using PKI to Protect Your Business Information Interconnection between vendors, suppliers, customers and employees through ERP and CRM tools, has become a competitive edge. Like ERP and CRM infrastructures, a Public Key infrastructure has become an enabler of business objectives. PKI provides a systematic approach to information security.
December 23, 2003
Software Piloting: How Do You Fly This Plane Piloting the software is one of, if not the most, critical event in the project life cycle. If done well, the pilot will uncover issues before they become problems, instill confidence in the users that the software is ready for prime time, and make the 'go live' uneventful and a cause for celebration
December 21, 2003
The PLM Program
An Incremental Approach to the Strategic Value of PLM Companies that took an early adopter approach to PLM are beginning to show significant reductions in new product introduction lead times and to benefit from meaningful cost savings by executing a series of focused, high return projects
December 20, 2003
The Strategic Importance of Asset Management
Part Three: A New Framework Managing assets needs to be done in a truly proactive approach, one that ties the management of physical assets to the corporate objectives. The initial momentum to begin the sequence comes from the vision of a future state. This needs to clearly represent the corporate objectives and goals, and expressing how asset management can play a part in achieving these goals.
December 19, 2003
The Strategic Importance of Asset Management
Part Two: Implications The changing attitudes, understandings of physical assets and market conditions bring a broad array of implications for those responsible for asset management. The majority of these can be explained as "new accountabilities." Many of these are accountabilities leveled at, or within, corporations themselves. However many will also be directed at the individuals taking or overseeing these decisions, often with daunting consequences for failure.
December 18, 2003
The Strategic Importance of Asset Management
Part One: Changing Attitudes This note is intended to provoke thought regarding some of the dramatic incidents that occurred in the field of asset management in 2003, as well as address some of their more immediate consequences and ramifications of changing societal attitudes regarding the failure of physical assets. In particular it examines the impact of these events on issues such as the selection and implementation of enterprise management software, the use of call centers and the outsourcing of asset management functions. There is also an overview of the evolution of asset management throughout the world that has brought us to this point.
December 17, 2003
Support for Old Releases-Good for the User but Is It Good for the Vendor? The decision to support older releases is like any other business decision, it is all about the money and profitability. If the vendor can make money at providing support for older releases, it is good business for the vendor. The decision may be sugar-coated with pronouncements about doing what is good for the customer, but both the vendor and the customers know that the first consideration must be the money.
Sales and Operations Planning
Part Three: Game Plan Guidelines Effective game plans lead to improved firm performance and bottom line results. Metrics include reductions in stock-outs, delivery lead-time, missed shipments, partial shipments, expediting efforts, and improvements in customer service. This is an excerpt from the book Managing Your Supply Chain Using Microsoft Navision.
December 12, 2003
Sales and Operations Planning
Part Two: Common Scenarios The nature of an S&OP game plan depends on several factors, such as the need to anticipate demand and the item's primary source of supply. Consideration of these factors can be illustrated with four common scenarios. This is an excerpt from the book Managing Your Supply Chain Using Microsoft Navision.
December 11, 2003
Sales and Operations Planning
Part One: Identifying and Forecasting Demand An effective sales and operations planning game plan results in fewer stock-outs, shorter delivery lead-times, higher on-time shipping percentages, a manageable amount of expediting, and improved customer service. Several guidelines are suggested to improve a firm's sales and operations planning process and the effectiveness of each product's game plan.
This is an excerpt from the book Managing Your Supply Chain Using Microsoft Navision.
December 9, 2003
Supplier Parks - Back to the Future As supply chains become increasingly integrated and synchronized, we are witnessing the evolution of the business/production models (in some industries) that merge virtual integration with elements of the older vertically integrated enterprise. This has profound consequences, in particular for suppliers to OEMs.
December 9, 2003
Attributes of Sarbanes-Oxley Tool Sets
Part Two: Information and Communication, Monitoring, and Startup Tips An earlier article, Audit Considerations for Enterprise Software Implementations, included a brief discussion of the use of computer-based tool sets and repositories to facilitate compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Here we examine this issue in more detail. Of particular interest are the key characteristics that you should look for when selecting such tool sets. Read on to see how these tool sets can assist your company in meeting the new audit challenges facing corporate America.
December 9, 2003
Michael Treacy Focuses on Double Digit Growth This new book, Double-Digit Growth was one of the most useful and optimistic books to come along in some time. Growth is the whole point of business. Yet many so-called leaders don't seem to have plans to fulfill their purpose. This should be read by all business execs-no matter what your sector.
Attributes of Sarbanes-Oxley Tool Sets
Part One: Control Environment, Risk Assessment, and Control Activities An earlier article, Audit Considerations for Enterprise Software Implementations, included a brief discussion of the use of computer-based tool sets and repositories to facilitate compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Here we examine this issue in more detail. Of particular interest are the key characteristics that you should look for when selecting such tool sets. Read on to see how these tool sets can assist your company in meeting the new audit challenges facing corporate America.
December 6, 2003
FRx Poised to Permeate Many More General Ledgers
Part Four: Competitors and User Recommendations With Integration Designer and Forecaster, FRx has taken critical steps forward in creating value for its customers and resellers. FRx should expend the marketing effort required to insure all its customers, prospects, and affiliates fully understand the value proposition of its products.
FRx Poised to Permeate Many More General Ledgers
Part Two: Market Impact Since FRx already has integrations built to over forty leading general ledgers (and now a scalable tool kit available to accommodate virtually all others), the idea was for users to leverage the investment they have already made in their GL and to add increased functionality as their needs become more sophisticated.
Microsoft Keeps on Rounding up Its Business Solutions
Part Two: Challenges and User Recommendations While smaller businesses must be attuned to what their larger customers and trading partners require, and thus consider the Microsoft Business Network (MBN) as a relatively simple and inexpensive way to support those customers' demands, MBN is only a small part of the trading relationship equation.
December 1, 2003
Microsoft Keeps on Rounding up Its Business Solutions
Part One: Event Summary While the recent initiatives by Microsoft Business Solutions to piecemeal bolster its product lines' SCM capabilities should benefit users, a lot more cohesive SCM strategy is needed for Microsoft to truly permeate the SCM mid-market.
November 2003
November 29, 2003
Great Product: Too Bad The Architecture Doesn’t Fit During the process of product selection a great deal of attention is given to the functional capabilities of the software being evaluated. While this aspect is obviously important, ignoring the technical mechanisms by which the software actually operates can be fatal to a project. In this document we explain how to avoid the pitfalls.
November 28, 2003
Mid-size Companies Have Full-size IT Issues Information technology product selection is one issue that does not scale up or down with the size of the enterprise. The breadth and seriousness of issues that must be managed by the Information Systems Departments of mid-size companies are the same as those of larger corporations with more people and funding resources to apply to them.
November 26, 2003
Business Basics: Unscrubbed Data Is Poisonous Data Most business software system changes falter--if not fail--because of only a few root causes. Data quality is one of these root causes. The cost of high data quality is low, and the short- and long-term benefits are great.
November 24, 2003
Stand Out in the Crowd It pays to clearly and compellingly differentiate your products from those of your competitors. How will Microsoft Business Solutions differentiate its products from Best Software's?
Emptoris "Procures" Zeborg's Spend Management Expertise
Part Three: Challenges and User Recommendations The combined company's possibly biggest challenge remains a lack of awareness of the need for sourcing/spend management. While many people have realized the power of e-commerce on the consumer side, there is still plenty of education to be conducted by all the SRM vendors to prove how much leverage their applications can bring to corporate buyers.
November 19, 2003
Emptoris "Procures" Zeborg's Spend Management Expertise
Part Two: Market Impact The Emptoris acquisition of Zeborg is both a wise offensive and defensive move since it combines the resources of two companies that should focus on arguably growing e-sourcing/spend management opportunities. The companies have quite complementary product offerings, industries of focus, and excellent customer references.
November 18, 2003
Emptoris "Procures" Zeborg's Spend Management Expertise
Part one: Event Summary Emptoris, an upbeat provider of strategic sourcing software for the global 5000 companies, announced its acquisition of spend management specialist Zeborg. However, despite a good fit, enlarged customer base, and improved cross-selling opportunity, some challenges and product gaps will have to be overcome.
November 17, 2003
Autodesk to Bring Microsoft Business Solutions Closer to PLM While the recent joining of complementary forces by Microsoft Business Solutions and Autodesk will make many heads turn, a lot more detail and clarifications are needed for the alliance to establish itself as an ERP-PLM superpower in the mid-market.
SCP and SCE Need to Collaborate for Better Fulfillment
Part One: How SCP and SCE are Addressing WMS Warehouse management and transportation management have emerged as two of a few rare remaining fertile areas where companies still have ample opportunity to redesign and optimize. At the same time, these areas are less time-consuming and more oriented towards return on investment (ROI) in terms of incrementally improved operating costs and fulfillment capabilities.
November 12, 2003
Client References - Still A Valuable Part of Vendor Selection? With application software vendors focusing their sales effort more on the top executives or C-levels (CEO/CFO/COO/CIO) of companies, and less on IT, the establishment of an application software selection methodology in advance of a software purchase becomes crucial. The value in making client reference checks is a critical part of that process.
November 11, 2003
Lawson Software-IPO and Several Acquisitions After
Part Five: Challenges and User Recommendations Lawson has yet to show that its strategy and technology can "travel abroad," especially to Europe where it needs to put down some deep roots if it is to fulfill its global ambitions. A measly portion of its total revenues comes from sales outside of the US-a proportion that has been static for the past several years. On the other hand, it may point out how successful the company has become in the US in the past decade. What is puzzling is why that success has remained local.
November 10, 2003
Lawson Software-IPO and Several Acquisitions After
Part Four: Strengths Continued Lawson, contrary to many other players, seems to be compensating its narrow foothold with a strong vertical dimension. Lawson will continue to concentrate its internal sales efforts on its traditional vertical markets and to additionally rely on partners to address and develop for particular industry needs. Look for Lawson's opportunistic expansion into another service industry market and for its abstaining from manufacturing in the foreseeable future.
November 8, 2003
Lawson Software-IPO and Several Acquisitions After
Part Three: Market Impact In several aspects, Lawson Software could be regarded as an enterprise applications market anomaly. For one, at its peak in fiscal 2002, the company boasted annual revenues of nearly $430 million, but it still has only a slender (less than 10 percent of revenues) presence outside of its US domestic market. Further, it remains a major force in enterprise applications software, yet it does not cater the functionality to manufacturing sectors, and the vastness of its sales are thus derived from just a few service-oriented vertical markets-primarily health care and retail.
November 7, 2003
Lawson Software-IPO and Several Acquisitions After
Part Two: Retail and Professional Service Initiatives Lawson is sticking to its focus on selected vertical markets, but going forward the tenets of that focus will likely be more finely tuned. Namely, the vendor has lately accelerated development, in part through a number of appetizing acquisitions, of its traditional vertical functionality to ensure continued success in its target industries.
November 6, 2003
Lawson Software-IPO and Several Acquisitions After Lawson Software, almost two years since a successful IPO amid adverse conditions at the time, has had its share of difficulties while rounding up its vertical offerings via a slew of focused appetizing acquisitions. While the last two quarters have seen license revenue revive and profits, certain ongoing challenges will have to be overcome so that Lawson can see again its best days of a few years ago.
November 5, 2003
Ramco to Its Customers-Let's Get Personal!
Part Two: Commitment and Recommendations Will Ramco be able to deliver on its vision of personalized, assembled applications? Time will tell, but the indications are good. Ramco faces a crowded and consolidating enterprise market, but has shown patience and realistic expectations for its growth.
November 4, 2003
Ramco to Its Customers - Let's Get Personal! Ramco Systems returned to Las Vegas for its annual user group meeting in North America in October of 2003. We review the progress that Ramco has made on its promises to customers at the last user conference, the customers’ reactions to the progress, and where Ramco and its customers will go from here.
November 3, 2003
Be Bold with Benefits but Subtle with Pains While prospects often justify their purchases because you show them how your software solves their pain, they do not appreciate being told how bad they really operate. How can you be bold about your benefits and subtle about the prospects' pain.
November 1, 2003
Rapid Prototyping Or Simply Over-hyping Having to install an entire suite of software before the strike of Y2K may have made rapid prototyping impractical. However, because we now have the luxury of taking on projects with narrower scopes and a return to popularity of the 'best of breed' solutions, rapid prototyping should be considered as a viable approach for implementation. Accordingly, it is important to understand what can make rapid prototype projects successful, thereby possibly enabling your organization to achieve expected results more quickly.
October 2003
October 31, 2003
Can You Add New Life To an Old ERP System? Getting ERP transaction data into a summarized form that is useful to knowledge workers is one way to extend the value of your ERP system. This article discusses the advantages that can be gained by moving ERP and other transaction data to a data warehouse.
The Hidden Gems of the Enterprise Application Space Given ever-shorter product life cycles and companies' ever-increasing reliance on third parties to increase customer satisfaction, the need for some form of supplier relationship management (SRM) category of software should not be questioned.
Evaluating Enterprise Software - Business Process or Feature/Function-Based Approach? All the above, Perhaps?
Part Two There is certainly room to ask the fundamental question of whether the traditional practice of RFI/RFP-based selection processes has been adequate for the task of selecting complex systems. The record indicates there is much room for improvement. In essence, for complex selections like in the case of enterprise applications, the human-machine combination has to work together to drive the solution.
October 25, 2003
Evaluating Enterprise Software - Business Process or Feature/Function-Based Approach? All the above, Perhaps? Owing to learning from the past experiences and to the help of specialized selection service providers, selecting an enterprise package has to a degree, become a routine occurrence in the life of an IT organization. Recently however, there has been much noise created by some pundits and vendors belittling the supposedly "archaic" way of selecting software through functions and features. Contrary to that, they would rather sell "business processes" or "solutions," further confusing the already overwhelmed customer. The nagging doubts and questions like "Have we been selecting software the wrong way all this time?!" naturally abound.
Has Consolidation Made the PLM Market More Agile?
Part Two: Market Impact The advent and growth of vendors targeting the needs of discrete manufacturing industries proves that the PLM market in this sector has been hot. Agile Software has made a name for itself by providing the tools that support the collaborative exchange of product data, appealing to companies that rely on contractors for the manufacture of its products. For companies whose BOMs change frequently, this integrated capability set has been extremely important, and Agile has thrived in the PLM selection situations requiring extensive external collaboration.
October 22, 2003
Has Consolidation Made the PLM Market More Agile? While the race for the pole position in the still evolving, moving-target PLM market started several years ago, it has been quite accelerated by Agile Software's fourth acquisition in 2003. Particularly with the most recent Agile-Eigner announcement, the two players have apparently decided to leapfrog many direct competitors by joining complementary forces.
October 21, 2003
Audit Considerations for Enterprise Software Implementations
Part 2: Applying Controls and Audit Emphasis Whether audit expertise is provided by an internal staff or an independent, outside agency, calling in an audit specialist is as normal as calling in a kicking specialist in a penalty or field goal situation in football. Particularly when you consider the majority of an enterprise software implementation is all about testing, the present of an auditor as a functioning member of the project team makes perfect and logical sense.
October 20, 2003
Audit Considerations for Enterprise Software Implementations
Part 1: Project Planning and Management Thanks, in part, to the fallout from the financial scandals of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and others, the corporate spotlight is being refocused on the audit function. However, by waiting until systems are live and in production before applying an audit regimen, you may miss an excellent opportunity to establish effective controls at the outset, when the enterprise software is being implemented. Read on to learn where and how, as an executive sponsor, project manager, or team member, you can instill audit procedures that can continue throughout the life of the software.
Surado! A Rising Mid-market CRM Provider Our quest for quality and well-priced mid-market CRM software solutions, takes us this week to review Surado Solutions Inc. developers of Surado CRM Solutions. Surado positions itself high in many functional areas, against many mid-market software vendors such as SalesLogix, Epicor, Microsoft CRM, Kana, and Commence Corporation.
October 15, 2003
Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep
Part Five: Challenges and User Recommendations MAPICS remains a stable company, with a strong financial position, depth of manufacturing knowledge, a strong customer service record, and a developed affiliate channel, which has also broadened its product offering. Combined respective MAPICS and Frontstep customers and partners should be encouraged by the progress of Frontstep’s assimilation. However, there will ultimately be inevitable rationalization within the maze of likely redundant product sets.
October 14, 2003
Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep
Part Four: Market Impact Continued While competitive costs (low and flexible software license pricing and implementation costs) and outstanding global service (proven fast implementations and customer loyalty) will remain important requirements for success, particularly in the lower end of the market, vertical focus will be the key factor for survival.
October 13, 2003
Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep
Part Three: Market Impact Much has changed, while much has remained the same at MAPICS during 2003. With the February finalization of the Frontstep acquisition, MAPICS has become quite a large enterprise applications provider, which positions the vendor near (if not at) the top among vendors that focus on the mid-size discrete manufacturing market.
Analyzing MAPICS’ Further Steps After Frontstep The former staunch IBM AS/400-based ERP supplier to mid-market manufacturing companies, MAPICS, has become quite a larger vendor and with a wider choice of products due to the recent acquisition of Frontstep and its entire product line, which included ERP, CRM, and SCM, on a single Microsoft .NET-based technology platform. However, as the customers from both camps have been uncertain of their provider's strategy, given that a bigger size brings about the need to rationalize multiple products within the same marketplace, after a few months long period of buried heads and brainstorming sessions, MAPICS has lately been engaged in explaining its rationale, as to set many customers' minds at ease.
October 9, 2003
The Different Evolutionary Stages of ERP and PLM The product development life cycle - innovate, conceptualize, plan, design, procure, produce, deliver, service, and retire - naturally includes multiple people, operating in multiple departments, and typically from multiple companies, each with locations in multiple countries around the world. Solving inherent difficulties that result from managing this complexity are the raison d’être for PLM solutions.
October 8, 2003
Trends Affecting Manufacturers and ERP
Part Three: Four More Trends The evolution of ERP systems has been driven by the emergence of new business practices and information technologies. These have been supported by the growing maturity of the manufacturing profession, and by the evolving development of commercially available software packages. This is an excerpt from the book, Maximizing Your ERP System.
October 7, 2003
Trends Affecting Manufacturers and ERP
Part Two: Three More Trends The evolution of ERP systems has been driven by the emergence of new business practices and information technologies. These have been supported by the growing maturity of the manufacturing profession, and by the evolving development of commercially available software packages. This is an excerpt from the book, Maximizing Your ERP System.
October 6, 2003
Trends Affecting Manufacturers and ERP The evolution of ERP systems has been driven by the emergence of new business practices and information technologies. These have been supported by the growing maturity of the manufacturing profession, and by the evolving development of commercially available software packages. This is an excerpt from the book, Maximizing Your ERP System.
October 4, 2003
chinadotcom in the "Process" of Acquiring Ross Systems
Part Two: Challenges and User Recommendations Initial indications are that this is a strategic investment by chinadotcom that will allow Ross Systems to expand its product footprint and capitalize on its process industry expertise. Given the market opportunity for all types of manufacturing in China, chinadotcom will have to resist the temptation to expand a highly focused Ross’ software product to new, unsupported verticals.
October 3, 2003
chinadotcom In The "Process" of Acquiring Ross Systems Mid-market process ERP vendor Ross Systems is being acquired by its Chinese distributor, chinadotcom. Unlike some recent acquisitions that are based on the consumption of weaker players to pilfer a customer base, this acquisition appears to provide both parties with solid strategic benefits. This may be an acquisition made of the right reasons - to capitalize on a market growth opportunity.
October 2, 2003
Mobilizing Change
Part Two: The Case for Action Method The case for action is intended as a living document, to be updated and referenced by the business and the project team. It should be referenced during the implementation to ensure that the focus and anticipated outcomes are still on track. After implementation, it is a tool to use to assess the success of the project.
October 1, 2003
Mobilizing Change It's not news that people are resistant to change. Inertia, one of the rules of the universe, applies to people as well as to objects. Many organizations, seeking to improve performance, have come unstuck by under-estimating the amount of resistance that will be offered by people. This article presents a method of mobilizing change that takes the resistance to change into account.
SSA GT to EXE-cute (Yet) Another Acquisition
Part Three: Impact on SSA GT Even in the cases where the company has been showing close attention to its customers' wish lists, its crucial tenet of operation is profitability and setting realistic goals. The return on investment (ROI) justification works for the vendor, particularly when its CEO has a strong accounting background. It does not appear very realistic to expect the equitably due attention to over a dozen products, though, as only the enhancements that will result in marketing value to SSA GT will pass.
September 27, 2003
SSA GT to EXE-cute (Yet) Another Acquisition
Part Two: EXE Like the previous few SSA GT acquisitions, this merger too seems aimed at enlarging SSA GT's customer base, market share, and more importantly, its predictably recurring support revenue and consequently larger R&D pool. Both companies have notable customer bases with a wide geographic spread (particularly in emerging markets that have been much less affected by the recession).
September 26, 2003
SSA GT To EXE-cute (Yet) Another Acquisition While SSA GT's intended acquisition of EXE Technologies should enable many of its customers to better execute the operations within their warehouses and supply chains through deployment of the EXceed SCE suite, the market is wondering when SSA GT, whose buying appetite seemingly will not let up any time soon, will exceed its "overstocking" point.
September 25, 2003
QAD Pulling through, Patiently but Passionately
Part Six: User Recommendations While hardly any vendor is safe these days including QAD, the gloomy past seems to be far behind. The company has notably broadened its offering and seems to at least keep abreast of current collaborative requirements (if not staying ahead of the curve).
September 24, 2003
QAD Pulling Through, Patiently But Passionately
Part Five: Challenges QAD still has to create greater market recognition and additional revenue. QAD admits it has been struggling to offer complete "across the board" functionality for larger companies, although the system supports multiple currencies and global tax management, and it is tailored to financial practices and requirements in major geographic markets, while the eB2 release features improved financial reporting and inter-company accounting.
September 23, 2003
Poor Data Quality Means A Waste of Money Data quality sounds like a motherhood and apple pie issue, of course we want our data to be right. However, very few enterprises get serious about it. Maybe that's because the cost of data quality is hidden. That cost can be huge.
September 22, 2003
QAD Pulling Through, Patiently But Passionately
Part Four: Market Impact Continued QAD has long shifted its focus from being a mere ERP vendor dedicated to the industrial mid-market to fully leveraging the Internet in the applications it provides to manufacturers and distributors to link their back-office systems to those of their business partners via private trading exchanges.
QAD Pulling Through, Patiently But Passionately
Part Two: Company Background QAD, a notable player in the upper middle of the discrete manufacturing market, embarked a few years ago on reinventing itself by delivering applications that would optimize complex order fulfillment processes across multiple enterprises and divisions. Another major product enhancement feat at the time was the QAD/Connects architecture, which was both an open architecture concept and a set of connectivity tools.
September 18, 2003
QAD Pulling Through, Patiently But Passionately QAD has been pulling through the downturn with a real strength (especially in terms of new licenses, and with a strong balance sheet and declining debt), a result of its persevering focus on manufacturing, which it recently coined in the slogan "A passion for manufacturing".
Living And Thriving With Channel Master Customers Channel master business is good. Everyone likes increased volume. But the impact of this business can be bad for the bottom line. How can manufacturers meet the demands of the channel master and preserve their business?
September 15, 2003
Battery Power Shakes Up Made2Manage
Part Two: Challenges and User Recommendations The time for existing Made2Manage customers and partners to act is now. The new owners’ motivation in buying the product and vendor must have been the install base and that is you. Showing interest and being vocal about your needs is your part in keeping the relationship the way you want it.
September 13, 2003
Battery Power Shakes Up Made2Manage While Made2Manage's decision to go private under a wealthy Battery Ventures' wing, which was supposedly committed to invest in the acquired technology was prudent at the time of announcement; subsequent events might be showing us a different side of the buyout medal. Although the draconic exodus of former executives and subsequent layoffs may at the end of the day result with some benefits for the customers (e.g., the vendor's stability and improved delivery of product functionality and quality) albeit within the vendor's future sweet spot. While the target market remains small and midsize manufacturers, that more granular sweet spot is yet to be determined and vocally unveiled by the new management.
September 12, 2003
Build versus Buy - A Long Term Decision With the software industry offering greater options and depth of function , we do not hear the idea of a company building their own software very often, but the option is still discussed and is valid in some situations. When it is discussed, the enterprise often fails in fully evaluating the entire array of plus and minus points.
September 11, 2003
If Software Is A Commodity - Can You Still Win Some Competitive Advantage? An application product can never provide competitive advantage by itself, it is a function of how and how much is implemented. A good implementation of a commodity software product can give you a short-term advantage until the competition catches up.
September 10, 2003
IBM is Serious About SMB In the battle for market supremacy, IBM wants to win by reducing Microsoft's market potential. IBM has selected the infrastructure as its battlefield. Both companies are heavily investing to attract best-of-breed channel partners that will be instrumental to a successful small and midsize business (SMB) strategy.
September 9, 2003
Customization Drives Complexity - Why It's Hard to Design, Sell, and Produce "Simple" Products It seems counterintuitive, but the process of selling, designing, and producing what appear to be "simple" products becomes surprisingly complex when manufacturers introduce high levels of customization. How can manufacturers of configured products address this complexity to streamline their processes, reduce cost and increase customer responsiveness?
September 6, 2003
Solomon Stands the Test of Time Despite Changing Masters
Part Four: Challenges and User Recommendations Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) announced the availability of Microsoft Business Solutions Solomon 5.5, which includes several new features and enhancements in the product's Foundation Series, Financial Series, Project Series and Service Series of modules. This part covers the vendor’s challenges and makes user recommendations.
September 5, 2003
Solomon Stands the Test of Time Despite Changing Masters
Part Three: Product Differentiators Of all the MBS' products, Solomon is apparently the purest in terms of a standard Microsoft technology stack, and without any proprietary additions. Furthermore, its sharp focus solely on Microsoft technology from ground up, coined in ''the power of one'' motto (one OS platform - Windows XP/NT/2000, one database platform - MS SQL Server, one development environment - MS Visual Basic, etc.), also presents an attractive, risk-adverse option for penny-pinching mid-market customers. Solomon IV has consequently been very competitive in speed of implementation, feasibility of customization, total cost of ownership (TCO), and price/performance ratio.
September 4, 2003
Solomon Stands the Test of Time Despite Changing Masters
Part Two: Market Impact MBS Solomon, due to its distinct differentiators and weaknesses has been blessed in disguise with possibly the most distinct niche and the least overlap (gray area) with the other MBS ERP products (i.e., MBS Great Plains, MBS Navision, and MBS Axapta).
September 3, 2003
Solomon Stands the Test of Time Despite Changing Masters It appears that several of Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) Solomon's truly differentiating traits, which could not have been easily or quickly replicated by its seemingly more robust brethren products within the MBS division, will have been a good enough reason for Microsoft to continue to bolster the product rather than to consider any other less popular options (e.g., stabilization and replacement) to offer to Solomon's loyal customer base and resellers, some of which will have even feared the possibility.
September 2, 2003
Can Auditing and Project Management Co-Exist in an ERP Environment? It is hard to recall the last time an ERP implementation team included an auditor as an active member. This article explores key points in a project's lifecycle where the audit function should be involved and the deliverables to be expected.
Scala and Microsoft Become (Not So) Strange CRM Bedfellows
Part Two: Market Impact Continued Microsoft's foray into the CRM arena has not been a bed of roses, despite its indisputably large marketing muscle and R&D investment, its strong channel, traditionally attractive pricing policies, and the aura and experience within the market segment. Microsoft CRM remains both a threat and an opportunity for the most nimble mid-market CRM vendors. Microsoft’s entry with CRM evangelism through an array of seminars nationwide has bolstered the market’s awareness of the
