One of the major themes at the recently held SuiteWorld 2013 conference was that NetSuite has been aggressively building a cloud partner ecosystem, the Autodesk alliance being one resounding example. During the conference, automated mobile workforce management (WFM) and optimization solutions provider ClickSoftware Technologies announced that it has partnered with NetSuite to build the ClickSoftware SuiteApp using NetSuite’s SuiteCloud Computing Platform.

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The “little” SAP Business One solution is an unsung hero of sorts at SAP. Indeed, more than 38,000 customers worldwide in nearly 30 languages and over 630 partners are often ignored as less newsworthy by market observers. The business management solution for small businesses (with 10–20 users, on average) can be deployed on premises or in the cloud, and is accessible via mobile devices.

During the SAPPHIRENOW 2013 conference, SAP announced the general availability of the 9.0 version of the SAP Business One running on Microsoft SQL Server (which is the product’s original database). With more than 50 new features, the latest version offers enhanced capabilities for warehouse management, infrastructure, and inventory management, as well as improved systems performance.

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NetSuite is on a roll with whopping growth and expansion (16,000 customers, 2,000 employees, and 700 partners) and is even now talking about profitability, positive cash flow, and a hefty cash position (contrary to the popular belief that cloud software vendors are not profitable in general). The company’s third SuiteWorld annual conference brought about 5,000 attendees, which is significantly higher than the 3,000 and 1,200 attendees respectively for the previous two years’ events. While retail and multi-channel e-commerce was the main theme at SuiteWorld 2012, SuiteWorld 2013’s main theme was that manufacturing is ready for cloud computing too.

NetSuite for Manufacturing
This week’s release of NetSuite Manufacturing Edition brings to the marketplace a solution for manufacturing and product-centric companies that includes a portfolio of capabilities such as production routings and scheduling, financials for manufacturing with standard cost and work in progress (WIP) accounting, inventory management with available-to-promise (ATP), and supply chain integration. While previously NetSuite mainly targeted outsourced offshore manufacturing, NetSuite Manufacturing Edition now caters to manufacturers that make their own products. The offering is still a fairly generic discrete manufacturing solution, but it is likely that NetSuite will make it more vertical, in part based on tuck-in acquisitions and partner offerings.

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At SAPPHIRE, the SAP company, SuccessFactors, announced a series of new upgrades as part of its human capital management (HCM) offering. Aiming at businesses that want to go beyond basic human resources (HR) functionality, SuccessFactors also enhanced its talent management tools. Read the rest of this entry »

SYSPRO recently announced that Freedom Smokeless, a manufacturer of e-cigarettes, has selected SYSPRO ERP software to facilitate growth. According to the California-based company, SYSPRO ERP will be a cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation in the company’s new factory, where the software will manage manufacturing and facilitate bar code scanning, inventory controls, and product traceability.

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Deacom, Inc., a provider of DEACOM, a broad enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for process manufacturers, announced recently that Cloverdale Foods Company, a food manufacturer of high-quality processed meats, has licensed the DEACOM ERP system to streamline its manufacturing operations. Cloverdale has an aggressive plan for growth in mind and recognized that it would need a new ERP system in order to handle increased demand. Read the rest of this entry »

Kronos Incorporated and SuccessFactors, an SAP company, have partnered to combine SuccessFactors’ cloud and talent management technologies with Kronos’ workforce management capabilities.

Together Kronos and SuccessFactors will be able to support labor rules and pay policies stemming from Kronos Workforce Central, which focuses on time and labor tracking, advanced scheduling, analytics, and complex absence management. Also, talent management will be ensured by SuccessFactors’ extended capabilities for compensation, learning, onboarding, and performance and goals. Read the rest of this entry »

Siemens PLM Software has announced the release of the latest version of its widely used digital manufacturing solution for manufacturing engineering, Tecnomatix 11. The latest release offers a more advanced digital manufacturing solution that promises to deliver smart, fast, and lean manufacturing, including Manufacturing Process Management (MPM).

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Oracle has released new mobile functionality for PeopleSoft Campus Solutions addressing institutional expectations to brand, customize, and extend the smartphone application for its students. 

The mobile enhancements were developed using Oracle’s Continuous Delivery Model, which protects higher education institutions from disruptive major upgrades by delivering features packs that provide new functionality for immediate needs. Read the rest of this entry »

The HTML5 Moodle Mobile app is now available on Google Play (Android) and Apple iTunes (iOS). Based, on the iOS app “My Moodle,” the newly designed app has been developed to address security, working offline, speed, branding, and customization requirements.

The mobile app will not support all Moodle functions, as Moodle wants to take the time that is necessary to develop secure Web services, properly. Read the rest of this entry »

E2open, a provider of strategic cloud-based solutions for collaborative execution across global trading networks, seems to be on a roll of late. After its recent big wins at Yanfeng Visteon and HP, the company has announced that Konecranes, a provider of lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools, has selected E2open as its collaborative execution platform, and that the program has gone live with Konecranes’ supply base.

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NetSuite continues to round out its exacting capabilities for retailers and distributors. Having acquired the Retail Anywhere cloud point of sales (POS) system in early 2013, on the eve of the SuiteWorld 2013 conference NetSuite has acquired OrderMotion Inc., a provider of order management solutions based in Burlington, Massachusetts, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition of OrderMotion’s cloud-based Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) Order Management capabilities adds to NetSuite’s own cloud-based order management system, furthering NetSuite’s focus on this increasingly important and complex business challenge and critical functionality—omnichannel order fulfillment.

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Similar to the Ariba LIVE conference last year, one of the main themes at the Ariba LIVE 2013 conference was again that Ariba, now an SAP company, is making it easier than ever for companies to connect to the Ariba Network and collaborate. Accordingly, Ariba and Dell Boomi announced that they are teaming up to deliver pre-packaged integration as a service offering for selling organizations.

Designed to simplify and speed up integration to the Ariba Network, the Ariba Integration Connector, powered by Dell Boomi Integration Packs, aims to enable companies to collaborate more efficiently. The first available connector, which integrates with Intuit QuickBooks, was officially unveiled at Ariba LIVE 2013. Additional connectors to enable sellers who own Microsoft Dynamics GP and Sage 50 (a.k.a., Sage Peachtree) to integrate with the Ariba Network are planned to be released later this year.

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Abas-USA recently announced that Carolina Color Corporation has chosen abas Business Suite for its future planned growth and business. Carolina Color provides accurate matching services and eco-friendly, proprietary colorant solutions for unique customer applications.

Carolina Color reportedly started an enterprise resource planning (ERP) selection process in 2007 to replace a homegrown system. Read the rest of this entry »

On the heels of recent tuck-in acquisitions, Dassault Systèmes has made yet another industry-specific acquisition, again for an undisclosed amount. This time it’s SIMPOE, a France-based provider of plastic injection molding manufacturing simulation software.

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