Conventional wisdom would imply that a software company that changes its owners and CEO in the same year might be in some kind of trouble or facing stormy waters. But, Deltek vigorously claims that nothing is farther from the truth. Quite the contrary, in fact—via its 2012 acquisition by Thoma Bravo, Deltek believes it has found a dedicated and committed financial backer. In addition, there was nothing sinister in Deltek’s CEO change in late 2012. After a transformational seven-plus years with Deltek, former CEO Kevin Parker left the company under his own volition. Seven-and-a-half years is a nice run at an enterprise software company, and Parker felt that it was the right time for him to step back a bit after accomplishing a lot of the goals he set out to accomplish back in 2005 (plus, he might have begun to miss the US West Coast where he hails from).

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A few weeks ago I discussed Deltek’s journey from its founding in 1983 until its recently announced impending delisting from NASDAQ and going private under Thoma Bravo’s ownership, for the second time in its history. The article presented some opposing views on what this acquisition might mean for Deltek, its customers, and partners.

In light of the company’s recent quarterly results and the upcoming Deltek Insight 2012 user conference in mid-October 2012, this post features my conference previews discussion with Patrick Smith, Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Communications at Deltek.

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It would be an understatement to say that Deltek, the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for professional services firms and government contractors, has had an interesting journey since it was founded in 1983 by the deLaski duo of father and son. In 2005, the original founders sold their majority ownership and gave up day-to-day involvement in the company, and Deltek was recapitalized by a private equity organization called New Mountain Capital based in New York, NY. The software company went public again in November 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

ARINC reportedly considered several different manufacturing execution system (MES) options, including “standalone” product offerings specifically designed for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO)-type environments. The company also considered custom solutions, as well as upgrades to its existing legacy systems. In the end, however, the company found that Deltek Costpoint MES met its needs better than any other product offering that they considered. 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 & 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

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SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

International distributor of high-tech metals and alloys selects Epicor ERP
Industry tags: Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Warehousing
“The relatively small but geographically extensive company Datum Alloys made its choice based on a few underlying premises: a need for multicurrency operations in conjunction with local accounting standards, high-quality analytical data to support decision making process, and a wide range of out-of-the-box functionality. Datum Alloys also needed to move away from home-grown and custom-made systems in favor of commercially available software, to resolve ongoing problems of support, documentation, and development. Another important selection factor was Epicor’s built-in and flexible flow management mechanism. The company staff was impressed overall with the solution’s support level in many areas.”— Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

• Compare Epicor head-to-head with leading ERP software

Drake & Scull International PJSC selects Oracle JD Edwards ERP
Industry tags: Engineering and Architecture, Construction
“UAE engineering and construction company Drake & Scull International PJSC is planning to implement the following Oracle JD Edwards functionality: financials, SCM, project management, HCM, BI, and enterprise performance management. Unfortunately no selection criteria were communicated by the company’s representatives, but here’s the typical run-down for any industry, considering a system of this tier: functional depth, scalability, complete integration, flexibility in deployment options, and—also an important factor—the vendor’s reputation.”— Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

• Profile: JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

A. Schulman selects Infor10 ERP iEnterprise (LX)
Industry tags: Manufacturing
“Infor’s Flex Exchange program was started back in 2009, and allows existing customers to upgrade their legacy applications at preferential terms, such as reduced or no license fees, untouched maintenance costs, quick implementations, and so on. For a large company such as A. Schulman, completely replacing its ERP software is potentially extremely costly and time-consuming. As a result, A. Schulman has chosen to leverage the Flex Exchange program to replace its multiple ERP packages with one Infor10 iEnterprise application, formerly known as Infor ERP LX. The core objective of the upgrade is to promote common business practices, global data visibility, and seamless integration throughout all 30 company plants, technology centers, and remote offices.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Analyst

• Compare Infor head-to-head with leading ERP software

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TEC’s mid-2011 article, which reported on the Deltek Insight 2011 conference, indicated that Deltek has lately become the leader in market intelligence for government contractors (in addition to long being the leading provider of GovCon enterprise software solutions and professional services). By using Deltek’s market intelligence services, companies are able to benchmark their performance against their GovCon peers.

As of late 2011, Deltek has been hosting a number of in-person seminars and Webinars that are related to Deltek’s Clarity survey — the industry’s largest annual survey of government contractors (Deltek also does similar surveys for the architechture and engineering [A&E] and marketing agency space). Deltek’s third annual Clarity Report for Government Contracting, available today, unveils the results of Deltek’s annual study of top performance benchmarks in government contracting.

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Even though enterprise resource planning (ERP) for services is a growing market, its most important players still take a generalist approach when it comes to dealing with specific industries, and media and advertising is one of them. Vendors like Oracle and SAP, who decided to adapt their manufacturing offering to services, or vendors like Netsuite and Deltek, who concentrated on service companies from the start, choose to mix their existing solutions—ERP, customer relationship management (CRM), and document management software, add-ons, etc.—to create solutions for specific industries in the services market. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series started with me lamenting my inability to attend the Deltek Insight 2010 conference. However, I recently had an in-depth post-event recap instead with Deltek’s in-the-know staff members.

What then followed in Part 1 were descriptions of the major developments that transpired at Deltek Insight 2010 in terms of already released products and those that were only sneak previewed (but will be released down the track). Part 2 will analyze the corporate announcements and some new (perhaps refreshing) directions, as well as provide a glimpse of what we might expect at Deltek Insight 2011.

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The month of May is usually the high season of software vendors’ conferences, but mid-May 2010 was a bit extreme: I was invited to four major user conferences that took place on or about the same dates all over the United States (US). Given that cloning and teleporting technologies are decades away from us, I had to minimize the “damage” by at least picking two events that were relatively physically close to each other.

One event that I had to regretfully decline due to the scheduling conflict was Deltek Insight 2010. I certainly kept my eye on the event via the Twitter chatter and blogosphere (e.g., see a conference report from SPI Research’s principal Dave Hofferberth). More recently, I had an in-depth post-event recap briefing with Deltek’s in-the-know staff members and what follows now are the major developments that transpired at Deltek Insight 2010 (I attempted to put them in logical groups of announcements).

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Every June over past several years, after the high season for traveling to major vendor events subsides, and before everyone takes their summer vacations, a group of selected enterprise applications analysts have become accustomed to attending the JRocket Marketing Grape Escape(TM) event. “Grape Escape” is a signature event that showcases the intimate analyst relationships (AR) and event expertise that JRocket Marketing’s president and founder Judith Rothrock delivers to her enterprise software vendors’ client base. Read the rest of this entry »

Both the “old” Deltek (pre-2005) and “new” Deltek (from 2005 on) have not been strangers to acquisitions, but these were largely well thought-out and appetizing (“nip in”) purchases of smaller companies that had either an attractive piece of technology or install base (or both). However, in early June 2010, immediately after its Insight 2010 user conference, Deltek announced its intent to acquire Maconomy A/S, a Denmark-based provider of solutions to the professional services market. On July 6, Deltek announced the completion of its tender offer to acquire the European enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) provider.

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My attendance of RedPrairie Corporations’ RedShift 2010 user conference (for the first time ever) confirmed what I have long sensed about the company’s corporate culture and its install base. That is, the previous blog series on a few supply chain management (SCM) players has, inter alia, expressed my opinions about RedPrairie (formerly McHugh Software), and I believed that these were mostly on target.

However, the recent conference provided a few more eye-opening findings and experiences that cannot transpire through occasional conference calls and brief analyst briefings. In his keynote speech, Michael Mayoras, RedPrairie’s CEO said that the privately held company had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 20 percent in last 5 years (to estimated ~US$260 million in revenues in 2009). 

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Part I of this series analyzed the opportunities (as well as the related strings attached) stemming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), a.k.a. the Economic Stimulus Plan. The inspiration came from my attendance of the Deltek Insight 2009 user conference last May, where Deltek decided to fill a market need and interest by convening a separate “track” that was entitled “Stimulus & Beyond (Navigating the Brave New World).”

Part II of this series then analyzed why Deltek believes it can help government contractors and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms, as well as other public sector organizations in their endeavors to obtain ARRA funds (i.e., the opportunity part) and duly report on them (the strings part for transparency and accountability). Part III then expanded on the construction industry’s current challenges, its outlook, and market trends.

Although Deltek inspired this series and while the company caters to AEC firms, its focus and software capabilities are in the design or planning stage of an infrastructure object. But the entire infrastructure lifecycle management (ILM) encompasses the following phases that denote yet another three-letter acronym (TLA) – “PBO”:

• Plan: Manage project pipelines, site development, entitlements, etc.
• Build: Track budgets, contracts, changes, schedules, scopes, and quality
• Operate: Direct asset management, work orders, and maintenance management

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