Plex Systems Inc., provider of Plex Online, a cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) offering for manufacturers, recently announced the results of the survey entitled “2012 ERP Study: Implementation and Usage Trends for SaaS/Cloud vs. Traditional Systems.” Conducted by the Manufacturing Performance Institute (MPI) on behalf of Plex Systems, the study assessed implementations of ERP systems, satisfaction with those implementations, and the extent to which ERP systems have benefitted organizations.

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The Plex Systems team was in town recently. TEC’s P.J. Jakovljevic and I took the opportunity to sit down with the new Plex CEO, Jason Blessing, as well as V.P. of Corporate Strategy Jim Shepherd, and V.P. of Marketing Patrick Fetterman. 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 »

SOFTWARE SELECTIONS

Jeanswest selects Manhattan Associates
Industry tags: Fashion/retail
“Manhattan Associates once again shows the strength of its SCALE platform; Jeanswest was in much need of a supply chain solution that could help them streamline logistics across and between three continents. Jeanswest will now be able to better manage its operations across its branded stores and distribution center, while establishing a more efficient framework to support its extended supply chain.”—Philippe Reney, TEC Research Analyst

• Manhattan Associates: TEC profile

Another instance of UNIT4-based ERP shared service goes live for several UK local authorities
Industry tags: Public administration and defense
“Since I am already a bit familiar with UNIT4’s shared-services projects and have spoken to few key people from client’s side, I realize how challenging they can be. The issues have less to do with the technology (which is impressive), or the hardware, than with challenges that are internal to the clients themselves, whether it be political/economic hurdles, or even end users’ and top management’s psychological readiness to use shared back-office software. In view of all this, my congratulations to UNIT4’s team and, certainly, to the local authorities in the UK that made this project a reality.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

• UNIT4: TEC profile

Standby Screw Machine Products Co. replaces five old systems with IQMS ERP
Industry tags: Manufacturing
This contract parts company, which owns two manufacturing facilities in the US and China, will replace its five disparate and aged applications with a single modern system that should help it consolidate all company data and eliminate difficulties caused by multiple systems. Another consideration was that the company wanted to acquire industry-specific ERP software that included industry best practices. Among eight vendors, IQMS was judged by Standby Screw Machine as offering the best fit for its needs.”—Aleksey Osintsev, TEC Research Analyst

• IQMS: TEC profile
• Compare IQMS to leading competitors

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Part 1 of this blog series talked about my attendance of the 11^th Vendor Shootout^TM for ERP event, which took place in Boston in mid-August 2011. I was able to experience this co-opetitive gathering of eight solution providers and several dozen end users seeking new solutions first-hand as a neutral (and yet very active) observer (for the inner workings of the event, see my article Demystifying “Vendor Shootout for ERP” events).

My blog post then mentioned the following four enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions (based on my partial attendance of their scripted demos): Infor ERP SyteLine, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Epicor 9, and Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. Part 2 of this blog series will conclude with the remaining four products that I had the chance to see at great length.

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Over the last few years I have repeatedly seen ads for the Vendor Shootout^TM for ERP event appearing in TEC’s website banners and newsletters. In addition, I would come across mentions of the event in other industry magazines, press releases (PRs), social media feeds, Web site banners, and so on and so forth.

Needless to say, I was curious (and dismayed by my lack of information) about the event that even carried the “Moderated by TEC” tagline on its official logo. Even more, every now and again various software vendors’ staff and other industry contacts would ask me about the event (probably expecting my in-depth knowledge), and I would somewhat embarrassingly have to pass them on to my selection services colleagues in the Montreal HQ office (who have been directly involved with the event).

Well, in mid-August 2011, the 11^th Vendor Shootout for ERP event took place in my neck of the woods, Boston, and I was able to experience it first-hand as a neutral (and yet very active) observer. What follows now is my report on the event and my take on several vendors’ demos that I attended. Read the rest of this entry »

With 2010 almost behind us, the Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) research analyst team takes a brief look at some of the newest software products to join its roster.

• MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy 9
• Plex Systems, Plex Online
• Sage, Sage ABRA HRMS 
• SmartOrg, Portfolio Navigator
• Vormittag Associates, Inc. (VAI), S2K Enterprise

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Part 1 of this blog series explained Plex Systems’ ebullience and growth despite a hostile and depressed environment, especially in the discrete manufacturing sector. While the software as a service (SaaS) model is now mainstream in many functional areas of business, the article concurred with Frank Scavo’s recent assertion that, for the time being, there is only one true SaaS enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for manufacturing companies: Plex Online [evaluate this product].

Part 2 then zoomed into Plex Online’s capabilities in terms of technology, customer size, international capabilities, and so on and so forth. The article ended with an analysis of Plex Online’s traceability capabilities that are critically important to medical devices manufacturers.

The final part of this blog series will peer into Plex Systems’ future, and will conclude with a brief question and answer (Q&A) session with the company’s top executives. Read the rest of this entry »

Part 1 of this blog series explained Plex Systems’ ebullience and growth despite a hostile and depressed environment, especially in the discrete manufacturing sector. While the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model is now mainstream in many functional areas of business, the article concurred with Frank Scavo’s recent assertion that, for the time being, there is only one true SaaS enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for manufacturing companies: Plex Online [evaluate this product].  Read the rest of this entry »

The software as a service (SaaS) model is now mainstream in many functional areas of business, quite outperforming its on-premise counterpart in this tough economic environment. Consider customer relationship management (CRM), transportation management, talent management, payroll processing, travel and expense (T&E) management, strategic sourcing and procurement, and many other point (or departmental) solutions in many sectors.

But what about a comprehensive multi-tenant on-demand enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for manufacturing companies? Well, the choices are still quite slim in that regard.

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