NetSuite announced that Matrixx Initiatives has accelerated its financial processes, improved business analytics and visibility, and reduced its IT costs since implementing NetSuite OneWorld. Matrixx, headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey, is the maker of Zicam brand cold remedies. After it was acquired by H.I.G. Capital in 2011, Matrixx faced a costly upgrade to its outdated Oracle JD Edwards client/server enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Rather than undertake a painstaking upgrade, it evaluated several other solutions and selected NetSuite over Microsoft Dynamics GP and Sage 300 ERP (formerly Sage ERP ACCPAC). The company has reportedly significantly reduced its software licensing costs and eliminated its in-house servers and the need for a full-time information technology (IT) employee to perform data backup since transitioning from JD Edwards.

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At long last, Research in Motion (RIM) on January 30 launched its new mobile platform, BlackBerry 10, kicking off a series of events around the globe. The company is also changing its name to BlackBerry. With this move, RIM (now BlackBerry) is taking advantage of its legendary brand. Read the rest of this entry »

If you think you know it all about business intelligence (BI) and analytics, think twice, because Situational Intelligence is here. This week, during DistribuTECH 2013 in San Diego, California, Space-Time Insight, a provider of innovative intelligence offerings, announced the latest release (4.0) of its product suite. Read the rest of this entry »

Talent management provider Lumesse announced the launch of CourseBuilder 6M—the new version of its software-as-a-service (SaaS) e-learning authoring platform, which allows for content creation for mobile devices. The release supports multi-language and multi-device access to content and therefore ensures that learners can switch between devices during the learning process. Read the rest of this entry »

Established in 2002, Socialtext, a Bedford Funding portfolio company (which also owns Peoplefluent), was one of the first companies to deliver social networking software to businesses. Socialtext’s enterprise social networking products—including microblogging, blogs, wikis, profiles, and social spreadsheets—provide more efficient and simpler ways for employees to share vital information and work together in real-time. Delivered in the cloud or securely behind the firewall as an appliance, Socialtext customers can be provided with flexible deployment options that meet their security requirements.

After the recent partnership with Badgeville for gamification capabilities, this week Socialtext announced its distribution partnership with Winvale, one of the premier government-focused solutions providers in the United States. After multi-year success implementing the Socialtext software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform with government agencies, the offering will now be available through Winvale’s General Services Administration (GSA) Schedules.

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The year 2012 ended with a major win for (and perhaps a sigh of relief from) Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division. Namely, in December 2012, Siemens’ JT data format, a lightweight data format that makes it possible to view and share digital 3D product information in real time throughout all phases of a product’s lifecycle, was approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as an International Standard. Read the rest of this entry »

IFS’ win streak continued with Atlas Pipeline Mid-Continent Holdings, LLC (“Atlas Pipeline”), active in gathering and processing natural gas for transportation to commercial, industrial, and residential markets, recently choosing IFS Applications as its new enterprise solution. The oil and gas industry is one of IFS’ core markets. Based on a single product line, IFS Applications delivers component-based business solutions that manage the entire lifecycle of contracts, projects, assets, and services. Read the rest of this entry »

The IBM Connect 2013 Opening General Session peeked into what the future will bring for IBM’s clients and partners. The company will launch a new suite for human resources (HR), and new versions of the IBM Connections social business platform and the Customer Experience Suite.

A series of applications meant to create collaborative work environments (i.e., community builder, video conferencing, activity streams, document sharing, whiteboard collaboration, etc.), will be central to the HR software solution. Read the rest of this entry »

Given that in mid-2012 Plex Systems, the first software company to build a full-fledged cloud-based manufacturing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, was sold by Apax Partners to Francisco Partners and Accel Partners, it was not too surprising to hear about the early 2013 appointment of technology industry veteran Jason Blessing as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO). Such appointments and company stewardships typically come at a time when a company is entering its next growth phase or is being taken to the next level. Read the rest of this entry »

Autodesk has been making significant investments to enhance its portfolio of visualization and computer-aided engineering (CAE) software, primarily by acquiring niche software vendors. In an effort to achieve more depth in its visualization portfolio, Autodesk has acquired PI-VR, a privately held German software vendor that focuses on 3D visualization technology. This acquisition is in line with Autodesk’s Digital Prototyping approach that combines design, visualization, and simulation of products in a cost-effective manner. Read the rest of this entry »

There was a new LANSA case study released yesterday that really grabbed my attention. LANSA is a Chicago-based developer and IT services provider that is primarily known for its solutions for legacy systems users who generally want to upgrade their systems but are not ready to shake the entire company up with an implementation of brand new software. Companies may feel that after many years their existing system is tuned to the company’s needs and works like a well-oiled machine, whereas there’s no guarantee a new system would work at the same level. Also, new upgrades and development tools of legacy systems can sometimes be so advanced that making a replacement with a new software is unnecessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Neolane has introduces a series of enhancements for its marketing analytics platform. The solution was designed to help marketers plan, target, execute, and measure personalized messages across channels. According to the press release, new enhancements eliminate the need to rely on the expertise of data scientists or information technology (IT) staff while permitting marketers to usebig data directly. Read the rest of this entry »

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations are mainly business projects rather than IT projects, so a lion’s share of efforts and, consequently, costs of ERP adoptions belong to the business side—for example, business process changes and master data preparation. However, ERP systems can’t just be acquired and started to be used overnight, so a system’s deployment itself and its fine tuning to certain business processes and practices is still a significant part of a deal. These processes are often interchangeable so it’s difficult to draw a fine line between system-related or business-related tasks—in some areas we have to change the system setup while in others we optimize processes because the software requires it. Sometimes clients need to modify both in parallel. Read the rest of this entry »

Kentico successfully completed the TEC Certification process for its Enterprise Marketing Solution (EMS) version 7. Evolving for nearly a decade now, Kentico’s Web content management (WCM) solution has progressed significantly. The company’s well-rounded offering and attainable pricing (designed for a variety of scenarios) has helped it expand its client base.

If you’re evaluating WCM applications, you should download this free certification report to find out more about Kentico’s offering. You can also evaluate the product for your own requirements using TEC Advisor free of charge. Read the rest of this entry »

IFS’ win streak from late 2012 seems to be flowing into 2013. On January 16, 2013, the global enterprise applications company announced that Vantaa Energy Ltd., one of Finland’s largest urban energy companies, has selected IFS Applications 8 to streamline its business processes.

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