E2open is a leading provider of cloud-based solutions for collaborative execution across global trading networks—more than 33,000 trading partners in 69 countries currently participate in the E2open Business Network. On November 15, 2012, E2open announced the availability of the newest version of E2 Cloud Connectivity, the foundation layer of the E2open Business Network. Read the rest of this entry »

TEC is pleased to announce that K8 by Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS) is now TEC Certified for evaluation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) for distribution.

TEC Certification is designed to help organizations evaluate enterprise software solutions so they can make more informed buying decisions. For a product to be certified, the vendor must complete a detailed research questionnaire and deliver a formal product demonstration to show our analysts the product’s support for a specific set of real-world business processes. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether pandering to their voting blocks, politicians in this election cycle often say that most innovation takes place in small businesses. Indeed, how many times have we heard a statement to the effect of “The entrepreneurial spirit is a critical part of the global workforce and gross domestic product”? Yet small to medium business (SMB)-driven innovation often gets overlooked, as large companies have much more marketing muscle and public interest. The same holds in the enterprise software space, where Google, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, salesforce.com, Facebook, NetSuite, etc., first come to mind as the major technology innovators.

Not many think of Intuit Inc., a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and midsized businesses, as a tireless innovator. Perhaps many folks think that good accounting (well beyond a pocket calculator and spreadsheets) is not that innovation intensive? Yet, over the last several years, Intuit has met the challenges of innovating in an increasingly social, mobile, and global world, as the Gen Y workforce is coming into the accounting world with similar expectations of consumer-like simplicity for business software users. Brand new Intuit customers don’t usually think of going to, say, Staples or Best Buy, and buying a CD of accounting software and uploading it onto their PC. They live their lives on their mobile phone, tablet, and the Internet. That is where business software customers of the future will be. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the major announcements at the recently held Workday Rising 2012 conference was that Workday will develop its own talent acquisition suite from scratch and deliver it  in early 2014. This is a major departure from the vendor’s signature policy not to announce any vaporware. But, during the Workday Technology Summit (which preceded the conference), Workday executives said they needed to make the announcement out of consideration for their existing customers as to what to do about their recruiting software plans. To be fair, Workday has always delivered its solutions as promised on time. Read the rest of this entry »

Marketo has introduced Marketo LaunchPoint, described as the “most complete marketing ecosystem.” The platform invites marketers to pick and choose from 65 best-of-breed marketing solutions. The offering includes online advertising, events and webinars, content marketing, top-of-the-funnel conversion, lead-data enrichment, social media, sales tools, analytics and big data, lifecycle marketing, and services solutions.

Of course, Marketo LaunchPoint integrates with Marketo Nation, the zone where people, ideas, and technology intertwine in an attempt to achieve marketing goals. As Mr. Robin Bordoli, VP partner ecosystem at Marketo, explains, “Marketers now have one complete place to discover, learn, and try the most trusted solutions they need to drive revenue.”

CareZone, a company that develops a solution designed to host communities that share personal information securely, released a new calendar component as part of its offering. The company started out just as social platforms took off, with the purpose of “applying technology to human problems.” CareZone is a solution that relies on a cloud infrastructure, so individuals can store and manage private information while staying connected to their families and caregivers. Read the rest of this entry »

Out of more than 12,000 companies and subsidiaries that depend on NetSuite to run their critical business processes in the cloud, about 2,800 customers use NetSuite for running their e-commerce Web sites. More than 10 years ago the vendor introduced an e-commerce offering, which has recently evolved into a commerce-as-a-service (CaaS) offering. For the post-iPad and Facebook world it has been redesigned to deliver the type of device-agnostic commerce expected of ever-more demanding consumers. Read the rest of this entry »

C2C Systems has announced a cloud option for ArchiveOne Enterprise, its e-mail archiving and management platform. The offering includes centralized support for private and hybrid cloud storage services. E-mail archiving retains a central function within organizations, with effects on aspects of business ranging from decision making and data management to litigation and legal discovery.

As most organizations accumulate large amounts of e-mail data, the limitless storage capabilities of the cloud appear to be a natural option. In response to the inherent security concerns posed by the cloud, the press release states, “The ArchiveOne Enterprise model minimizes cloud security concerns by giving IT control over the software implementation and access.”

SAP announced its latest business solution, powered by HANA, called SAP 360 Customer, during the SAPPHIRE NOW – SAP TechEd event being held in Madrid. The solution aims to move beyond traditional customer relationship management (CRM) and provide organizations with the neccesary capabilities for improving one-on-one customer interactions in real time. Read the rest of this entry »

The co-located SAPPHIRE NOW and SAP TechEd event in Madrid was the place for SAP to annnounce its plans to deliver six new mobile applications for the recent release of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, as well as forthcoming support for Windows 8 apps development within the SAP Mobile Platform. The Windows 8 apps are planned to be available for download from both Windows and SAP Stores. The applications are:

• SAP WorkDeck
• SAP Manager Insight
• SAP Learning Assistant
• SAP Interview Assistant
• SAP Customer Financial Fact Sheet
• SAP GRC Policy Survey

Stay tuned for more on these business apps.

Lozeau, a retail company providing cameras, video cameras, accessories, and services, recently selected Commsoft to meet its enterprise resource planning (ERP) needs. Commsoft was chosen from among ten vendors of viable solutions during a selection process headed by TEC’s selection services group.

Lozeau looked to the expertise of TEC’s team for assistance throughout the software selection process and in the vendor contract negotiations. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to better understand the current state of the accounting and financial software market and determine the major trends and issues organizations are experiencing with regards to accounting and financial applications, TEC recently conducted a poll, asking end-user respondents to answer five questions about their current accounting and financial software systems and the criteria that is important for them to consider when purchasing future systems. Read the rest of this entry »

Arena Solutions provides cloud-based bill of materials (BOM) and change management software for small and midsize hi-tech manufacturers. Its suite of cloud applications, including BOMControl, PartsList, and PDXViewer, enable engineering, manufacturing, and their extended supply chains to speed prototyping, reduce scrap, and streamline supply chains. Engineers looking to streamline BOM creation and management will find important new functions in the fall 2012 release of Arena Solutions’ cloud-based BOMControl system. Read the rest of this entry »

During the KronosWorks conference in Las Vegas, Kronos introduced Workforce Tablet, a new app designed for the Apple iPad. The solution—available in the Apple App Store—provides real-time access  to the Kronos Workforce Central suite. Read the rest of this entry »

At the recently held Workday Rising 2012 conference, Workday unveiled big data analytics for its users in human resources (HR) and financial departments. Workday plans to deliver big data capabilities (with no hardware required) to map and process external data sources and streams. Read the rest of this entry »