Thursday, March 30, 2006

Clarifying Oracle's Fusion Strategy (AMR)

Oracle first unveiled its Fusion strategy about 15 months ago at the event that celebrated the conclusion of its PeopleSoft acquisition. Since that time, Oracle’s marketing team has valiantly struggled to refine and clarify the Fusion message, while the internal landscape has been constantly changing. The Fusion name is now also being used for the middleware suite, the overall software architecture, and as a code name for the next generation ERP product. Meanwhile, management has acquired 10 or 11 additional software companies.

Free ERP (Line56)

Here's a list of free enterprise resource planning (ERP) products that could be of big interest to small companies

Saturday, March 25, 2006

SAP Service Marketplace (SAP)

The SAP Service Marketplace contains a variety of internet portals that enable true collaboration among SAP, its customers and partners. These portals offer target group specific content.

Monday, March 20, 2006

SAP MDM Value (Line56)

Rubbermaid explains why good master data management is a requirement for best-in-class manufacturing

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Lawson's ERP upgrade adds SOA capabilities (InfoWorld)

Lawson Release 9 includes improved BI capabilities and BPM tools

More Industry Consolidation as SSA Global Acquires Provia (Gartner)

SSA Global Technologies' purchase of Provia Software indicates market consolidation is in full swing. SSA Global extends its customer base, but the product gains are minimal.Event

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Software for the Software Company (Line56)

Hosted applications specialist NetSuite has debuted a set of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) functionality, topped by dashboards, specifically for software companies.

SAP Safe Passage (Line56)

Arizona Electronic Power Cooperative discusses reasons for going with SAP over rival enterprise applications vendors

Agents in the Supply Chain: New Technology Offers Planning Promise (AMR)

Lift the hood on most supply chain applications, and you tend to find the same linear programming-based engines. ILOG, the France-based leader in linear programming, is most often the brand of choice.
As a mature technology, it is worth asking what alternatives are around, and if these present real opportunities for distinction in the market. While still in an early phase in terms of application development, agent technology offers one such alternative, with often faster, more reactive, more realistic planning, decision support, and simulation.

Monday, March 13, 2006

SSA Buys Provia (Line56)

Good acquisition following questionable acquisition, says analyst; SCE complements SCM, other enterprise applications

SSA Global Technologies, the company best known for buying a string of enterprise applications vendors (including Baan as well as plenty of others), has now acquired warehouse management specialist Provia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

SAP/R3, Oracle (PeopleSoft), MAPICS, move over. There's a new guy in town. (xperia)

Gene Bonett's company Xperia took the mainframe portion of Apparel Business Systems, the premiere package for apparel developed in the 1970's by Paul Harkins and others, and brought it to the AS/400 platform and with continual enhancements from his 30-person firm of analysts and programmers created a very successful software business for himself. Based in Allentown PA, about 75 miles from Wilkes-Barre where I live, Bonett has taken this leading edge package designed for apparel manufacturers and importers and has recently created a generic ERP package from it with many of the avante garde features that were the hallmark of its success in the apparel industry.

Xperia Takes on Tier One ERP Vendors in the SMB Market (itjungle)

Where do small- and mid-sized businesses find ERP systems when they have outgrown the ones they have or can't afford to maintain the ones they have? There are niche ERP software vendors that know the requirements of a specific industry and have applications that are not very modern; there are large ERP application makers with reputations for not being very supportive or very cost effective for midrange shops. Getting the right fit of function and finances is not easy, but a software company called Xperia Solutions thinks it has what OS/400 shops need.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Dassault Systemes to Expand PLM Scope With MatrixOne Purchase (Gartner)

Dassault Systemes (DS) has focused more on engineering aspects of product life cycle management (PLM) than product management. This deal will provide more PLM balance, but sales, service and software issues must be addressed.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Agassi wants Microsoft more visible than SAP (InfoWorld)

SAP moves ahead with integration of its R/3 ERP system with Microsoft's Office suite

Monday, March 06, 2006

Microsoft To Shift ERP Pricing (CRN)

In a huge shift, Microsoft is moving to per-user pricing for ERP. The goal of the planned transition from per-module pricing is to put its wares on a comparable footing with SAP and Oracle offerings, sources said.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Dassault buys US rival MatrixOne

Dassault Systèmes, the French software group, yesterday agreed to buy MatrixOne, a loss-making US competitor, for $408m in cash.

SAP in China (Line56)

Search for improved profit margins drives enterprise apps giant further east

SAP employees in Germany vote against workers' council (InfoWorld)

Vote may have been swayed by SAP cofounder who warned of possible relocation if council were approved

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Dassault Acquires MatrixOne (Line56)

Consolidation in the product lifecycle management (PLM) space, and emergence of a bigger vendor


Buzzword: PLM

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Warehouse Intelligence (Line56)

How Hanson Logistics uses Provia to offer customers detailed information about inventory, orders, and movement