Senior supply chain analyst Bob Eastman was at the Epicor Customer Conference, Insights 2013, in Nashville last week.

Epicor invited Bob to share his insight into current technology trends in the supply chain space. Check out that conversation on YouTube.

In this almost 9-minute video, Bob talks about the acceleration of the business cycle and some of the enabling trends (such as cloud and mobility) that address the challenges the speed of business presents to the supply chain.

Bob also discusses the pursuit of supply chain excellence—how strategy and technology must go hand in hand—and identifies three key requirements for success today: visibility, sales and operations planning, and metrics.

TEC principal analyst P.J. Jakovljevic will be talking about key trends that are driving cloud ERP in a panel discussion on May 14 (3 pm), as part of SuiteWorld 2013.

The event will be moderated by blogger and influencer Vinnie Mirchandani. P.J. will be joined by fellow experts Phil Wainewright, Dennis Howlett, and Brad Kugler in discussing how technologies such as social networks, mobile devices, and advanced analytics are changing the way companies relate to their customers, engage with employees, and bring innovative products and services to market.

SuiteWorld 2013—an event for NetSuite users and partners—takes place May 13–16 in San Jose, California.

We are pleased to announce the launch of TEC’s first buyer’s guide of 2013: CRM for Medium and Large Enterprises. Download your free PDF copy now.

This buyer’s guide provides in-depth insight from TEC CRM analyst Raluca Druta on a how a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) system can help medium and large enterprises better understand and address their customers’ needs and challenges. With three points of contact with prospects and clients—i.e., sales, marketing, and customer support—such a system presents three different opportunities for positive interactions with and influence on their customers. Read the rest of this entry »

TEC’s Aleksey Osintsev will be presenting at the Glovia Customer Event in Las Vegas, Nevada, which happens next week, February 18 and 19. If you’re at the event, be sure to say hello to him.

Aleksey will be talking about the current ERP market, and will explain TEC’s methodology to show how the glovia G2 ERP solution measures up against the competition.

We’ll have highlights from his presentation available for you online after it’s been delivered.

TEC analysts speculate about developments to come in a variety of enterprise software spaces in the year ahead. (See also P.J. Jakovljevic’s sneak peek at 2013 and Bob Eastman’s look at what’s in store for supply chain.)

Josh Chalifour, Director of Knowledge Services, on enterprise information management:
Across the enterprise software market, cloud-based delivery models are a vector of concern. Demand however has been slow to pick up for these models in enterprise information management spaces. Between 2010 and 2011, we saw demand hover at just over 20 percent of the inquiries we receive from end-user organizations. In 2012 demand moved incrementally higher, to about 26%. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s what TEC analysts have to say about some of the more significant enterprise software developments of 2012.

Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst, on cloud ERP:
For the ERP software space, 2012 was a year of extensive appraisal of the suitability of cloud-based ERP software to the manufacturing industry. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) concept is being clarified, and lessons are being learned by manufacturing companies around the globe. New vendors are offering various cloud-only ERP solutions for manufacturing, while many traditional vendors have developed cloud or SaaS versions of their existing applications, or new cloud systems that parallel the older on-premise ones. Even more significantly, manufacturers are giving cloud deployment serious consideration as part of their IT strategy for the future.

From what I saw during 2012, businesses are starting to realize that perhaps they should not be lemmings in following the crowd to the cloud. Read the rest of this entry »

TEC’s business intelligence analyst, Jorge García, will be presenting at Salon BI 2012 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, this Tuesday, November 6 (9:35 am).

Jorge will be talking about three areas that are receiving a lot of research and development attention and dollars—augmented reality, motion-based technology, and voice-recognition technology—and their applications to the BI space.

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Industrial lubricants manufacturer IRMCO selects ProcessPro Premier ERP software
Industry tags: manufacturing
“This case is a textbook example of an improperly selected ERP system that needed to be replaced. The manufacturer, which operates in a process-based production environment, has finally found an appropriate system that is specifically designed for this type of manufacturing: ProcessPro Premier. The company’s previous system was primarily focused on discrete manufacturing, and it required multiple workarounds and manual business processes. Certainly, the resulting business information wasn’t sufficiently integrated and the system wasn’t very convenient. ProcessPro Premier is supposed to fix all these issues, as well as bring new features that weren’t previously available.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst.

Overview: ProcessPro Premier
Compare ProcessPro Premier with other leading ERP solutions.

Internet marketing firm selects KeyedIn Solutions
Industry tags: Internet marketing, project portfolio management, project management
“Single Throw, an Internet marketing company, has selected KeyedInProjects to support the company’s growing project portfolio. Single Throw needed a solution with project management capabilities to manage hundreds of projects and integrate with third-party solutions. KeyedInProjects is a flexible, scalable, and full-featured application suite for project management, PPM, program management, and professional service automation (PSA). According to Elayne Attara, VP of operations at Single Throw, KeyedIn Solutions have ‘enabled better organizational structure and better communications,’ which will result in ‘better service delivery across the board.’” — Ted Rohm, TEC Analyst Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Mid-sized refractory products manufacturer selects EnterpriseIQ ERP from IQMS
Industry tags: manufacturing
“The reasons why Riverside Refractories Inc. decided to replace its existing ERP system aren’t unique—the old legacy system’s inflexibility and inability to support manufacturing needs in the changing business environment had started impeding the company’s operations. The company selected an ERP solution from IQMS—its EnterpriseIQ ERP package designed for medium-sized businesses. This software was preferred over others for a few major reasons: ease of use and a ‘comfortable’ user interface; flexibility and capability to run on multiple hardware types; and a reasonable cost. And the last reason the company mentions is pretty interesting: lack of the usual sales pressure. This example clearly shows the importance of intangible and subjective factors during the software selection process.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst

Overview: IQMS EnterpriseIQ
Compare IQMS EnterpriseIQ head-to-head with other leading ERP solutions.

SYSPRO ERP selected by Hardy Machine and Design
Industry tags: manufacturing
“This company, which engineers, designs, and fabricates precise machine metal parts for clients in various industries, decided to replace its existing software because it lacked processes for cost tracking and had poor scheduling capabilities. After evaluating multiple systems, Hardy concluded that SYSPRO ERP was the best choice. Among other selection factors it cites three major ones: underlying cutting-edge Microsoft technology, a full range of functionality focusing on the metal machining industry, and a local software reseller to provide back-up and support.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst

“SYSPRO ERP replaced the Exact JobBOSS and Sage Peachtree combination at Hardy, specialists in oil and gas, aerospace, and health care industries, as the combined software was not providing good job cost data for individual jobs and had weak job scheduling capabilities. SYSPRO ERP outcompeted four ERP products for the new contract, one of which was SAP Business One by SAP Americas Inc. Hardy reported selected SYSPRO ERP because SYSPRO seems to be on the ‘cutting edge’ of Microsoft offerings; the software offers a full suite of capabilities focused on Hardy’s industries, and the local SYSPRO reseller offers excellent backup and support.” — P.J. Jakovljevic, Principal TEC Analyst Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS and GO-LIVES

Agricultural equipment manufacturer selects Abas ERP
Industry tags: manufacturing
“Canadian company Cadman Power Equipment Ltd., a manufacturer of special agricultural machinery and irrigation equipment has conducted an ERP selection project, and ERP from abas Business Software emerges the winner of this competition. The company was looking for a system as a single ERP package, without having to turn modules on or off, that would cover all the necessary operations. User interface had to be easy to navigate and quick to learn. Finally, the company wanted to purchase directly from the ERP developer,side-stepping integrators and VARs. Abas ERP was the best fit for these and other criteria.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

Overview: abas Business Software
Compare abas Business Software with other leading ERP solutions!

Industrial electronics assemblies manufacturer chooses Epicor ERP to support its operations
Industry tags: manufacturing, electronics, high-tech
“IO Electronics, a UK-based assembler of comprehensive electronic components for various industries, such as defense and aerospace, petrochemical, automotive, and a few others, has an ambitious business growth plan that would require an adequate ERP-class software. The company selected the Epicor ERP system, with a long-term perspective. Unlike the existing inflexible system that has been in place for 10 years and which is limiting the company’s operations in many aspects, Epicor ERP will provide all required functionality and, as important, the flexibility and technical capability to grow along with its rapidly expanding business. Another notable consideration in selecting Epicor over five other ERP software vendors was the multiple additional features it offers within a standard package.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

Overview: Epicor ERP
Compare Epicor ERP head-to-head with other ERP solutions!

Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Swiss investment bank UBS selects cloud-based Oracle’s Fusion Human Capital Management
Industry tags: Finance and Banking
“With extensive worldwide operations, UBS provides its clients with wealth management, asset management, and investment and (in Switzerland) retail banking. A cloud-based HCM solution indeed can be a good option, technically. Traditionally there have been concerns revolving around security and data ownership, which is especially the case for a Swiss financial institution. But as a long-term Oracle customer, USB has elected to deploy cloud-based application across all its operations in over 50 countries to cover about 65,000 employees. I believe the vendor’s reputation was another significant factor in this decision.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

City of Hayward, California selects Tyler’s Munis ERP
Industry tags: Public Administration and Defense
“Hayward’s 25-year-old ERP system was overdue for replacement. The old system cannot meet today’s requirements and lacks much functionality. After scrupulous research and comparison, Hayward settled on the Munis ERP system from Tyler Technologies. The city will deploy multiple modules: financials, HR management, utility billing, content management, and self-service for vendors, clients, and employees. The software vendor will also provide the city with improved everyday business processes in order to increase overall service levels for Hayward residents.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

Kimberly-Clark Professional selects PROS Pricing to support sales
Industry tags: manufacturer of tissues, personal care, and health care products
“Apparently, PROS’ SAP integration capabilities were very important to the manufacturer (a SAP ERP user), as was the vendor’s pricing data science. To increase revenue via optimized pricing was the driving factor here. In addition, PROS has a lot of experience in the paper industry, and it understood the client’s business. The parties were reportedly quite sincere while talking about the project team too. In general, PROS very much promotes a partnership approach, as evidenced by its over 96% renewal rates.”—P.J. Jakovljevic, Principal TEC Analyst

• TEC article (Jan 2012): Two Vendor Execs Discuss the Current B2B Pricing Market (and Its Future)

Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Accuride Corporation selects cloud-based Plex Online ERP
Industry tags: Manufacturing
“This Indiana-based automotive components manufacturer and supplier has performed a significant multi-year ERP software evaluation and selection project, resulting in the selection of the cloud-based ERP system from Plex Systems. A single application is to replace seven separate ERP systems, or over different 200 applications, that are running in the head office as well as its subsidiary manufacturing facilities. This implementation is important for Accuride, as it simplifies its IT structure.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst

• See the Plex Online profile
• Compare ERP software now!

Jordan’s Furniture retailer selects Coda Financials as its financial management solution
Industry tags: Wholesale and retail trade
“This famous and venerable (over 80 years old) furniture retailer with multiple locations across New England uses a 20-year-old ERP system, and realized that its financial module does not meet the needs of the current business, and costs too much, as well as being operable in constant patching mode only. Therefore they decided to have a look at the market in order to choose another application with a focus on budgeting, planning, real-time tracking, and flexible reporting. Coda Financials was the choice of this thorough selection, and besides the functional capability of the software, ease of collaboration with the Coda team was also an important factor.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC  Analyst

• See the Coda Financials profile
• Compare financial packages now!

Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Ventura Manufacturing selects IQMS
Industry tags: Manufacturing, Assembly
“Ventura Manufacturing, Inc. has adopted IQMS’s manufacturing ERP software after reviewing multiple top-tier ERP vendors. Venture Manufacturing is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, and provides component assembly for furniture and automotive customers. Ventura will also run IQMS’ EDI module and customer/vendor portals, and plan to implement the IQMS quality modules. The ERP system will replace Ventura’s previous in-house developed system, which reportedly lacked data integration and was missing tools to support the growing complexities of its business.”—Ted Rohm, TEC ERP Analyst

• IQMS profile
• Compare ERP systems now!

Six London boroughs select Oracle ERP
Industry tags: Public administration and defense
“Application sharing is an ongoing trend for European governmental structures, and particularly in the UK. Six boroughs of London have agreed to pool their resources and benefit from lower costs and economies of scale. The latest version (version 12) of Oracle’s E-Business Suite won the deal. But in contrast with several cases involving UNIT4 wins, separate boroughs are expecting to use the same ERP system technically, but each in its own way, so the winning system needed to support this requirement. At the same time, boroughs will be able to easily exchange or share certain data if required.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst

• Oracle E-Business Suite profile
• Compare ERP systems now!

Read the rest of this entry »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS & IMPLEMENTATIONS

Seaspan selects IFS Applications to support its shipbuilding projects
Industry tags: manufacturing
“Seaspan is an association of companies primarily involved in multiple sea transportation businesses. Many such activities are project-based, which is IFS’ focus. No wonder that IFS was selected to provide an ERP system for Seaspan’s shipbuilding and repair facilities. Plus, it has a long track record of projects in the same industry, which is definitely a point in the vendor’s favor. Seaspan has also specifically mentioned that integration with its existing CAD system was a very important factor.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

• Profile: IFS Applications
• Compare IFS Applications side by side with other engineer-to-order ERP solutions

GIS Federal chooses Deltek First GovCon Essentials
Industry tags: US government contractors (GovCon)
“This win is yet another proof that Deltek really has hardly any competition in this space. Deltek is differentiated by its deep GovCon functionality that hardly anyone can match combined with an easy-to-implement, easy-to-use software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model. The vendor is reportedly selling its Deltek First GovCon Essentials solution like gangbusters since it was introduced at the Insight 2011 conference. Well over 200 customers have already purchased the solution in a little more than a year. It’s been quite a success story and validates Deltek’s move to the SaaS model.” — P.J. Jakovljevic, TEC Principal Analyst

• TEC blog post (Apr 2012): Deltek Providing Clarity for Government Contractors

Read the rest of this entry »

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Oracle buys Skire
Industry tags: capital management
“Oracle is buying to acquire all the assets of Skire, a provider of capital program management and facilities management applications both in the cloud and on-premise. With this acquisition, Oracle expects to complete a set of management tools for all phases of project management, having a complete enterprise project portfolio management platform. Finally software vendors are tying together all the different aspects of the project lifecycle into a single platform to provide extensive coverage.” — Jorge García, TEC BI Analyst

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS

Kinnerton Confectionery selects Aras Enterprise PLM
Industry tags: PLM, CPG, food & beverage
“Reportedly, this customer had been kicking the PLM tires for several years. Aras was selected over Siemens Teamcenter after the prospect was able to validate that the malleable open source system was going to work for its users.” — P.J. Jakovljevic, Principal TEC Analyst

• Profile: Aras Corporation

Nautech Electronics selects Epicor ERP after 6-month selection project
Industry tags: manufacturing
“Nautech Electronics is a New Zealand company that operates in the market of electric and electronic equipment design, manufacturing, and installation. Because the legacy ERP software it uses is limited in many areas, the decision was made to switch to a new ERP application. The company picked Epicor’s solution for its capabilities in bill-of-materials (BOM) management, SCM, and extensive and comprehensive reporting and data intelligence. In addition, there was an ‘extra something,’ according to Richard Scott, IT manager. That ’something’ includes both additional features and user interface usability.” — Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

• Overview: Epicor ERP
• Compare Epicor ERP side by side with other leading ERP software Read the rest of this entry »