The traditional advice given to companies is that it is best to standardize on a commercial software vendor for the core of the applications portfolio. Nevertheless, we are now seeing some clients push back against this advice and developing more of their own software in-house.
In this post, we trace the history of the commercial software industry and why the buyers in some cases are rebelling. We conclude by offering new guidelines on when to choose custom development over packaged solutions.
In enterprise technology, digital transformation is a hot topic. But what does it really mean? This post provides a simple definition of digital transformation, breaks down the main types of digital transformation, and recommends an approach for developing a digital transformation strategy.
Just as social networking and smartphones took hold first in the consumer world and then moved into business, we can also expect artificial intelligence to begin to move into business applications in a natural way. Nearly every large, and many of the smaller, business software providers are moving in this direction. This post provides three examples of enterprise software providers embedding artificial intelligence in their products, giving organizations a way to benefit without having to invest large sums to develop their own AI systems
Developing an IT strategy for some organizations can be difficult because of the presence of a legacy system. Legacy systems that are old, out-of-date, and difficult to maintain are a huge obstacle to innovation. As a result, business leaders become increasingly frustrated by their inability to roll out new mobile apps, connect with customers, analyze business performance, or become a digital business.
Big data analytics can be a highly technical subject, but as consumers we come face to face with it every day. Based on our experience as consumers, it is evident that the “big guys” know how to use big data. But what about small to midsize companies? The good news is that business analytics and even big data are becoming more readily available to smaller businesses. This is the result of three big enablers.
Traditional providers of ERP systems typically sought to expand their functional footprint to include complementary applications outside of core ERP. Now cloud ERP vendors are adopting a similar strategy, bringing significant benefits to buyers.
Earlier this month, the jury reached its verdict in the Oracle v. Rimini Street lawsuit, a closely-watched case involving third-party maintenance (3PM) in the enterprise software industry. Assuming the jury’s verdict stands up against potential appeals, the case sets an important precedent for how 3PM providers should operate to ensure they are not violating the intellectual property rights of the software owners. We expect customer use of third-party maintenance will increase as a result of this verdict.
Infor is doing interesting work in its CloudSuite initiative to offer industry-specific solutions deployed on the cloud. But it faces two challenges. First, it must convince a greater share of its 70,000 customers to upgrade to its latest versions. Then, if it does convince them, Infor will need to have the implementation resources trained and available to support those customer migrations. This post sums up the status of these initiatives with recommendations for Infor customers.
Over the past several years, we’ve been seeing a subtle shift in our consulting work at Strativa. Years ago, clients would ask us to facilitate an ERP or CRM vendor selection, a business process improvement project, or various types of IT assessments. Our consultants still do those types of projects. But today, increasingly, clients are asking us to help them in a more holistic way.
When an organization decides to look for a new ERP system, consultants and vendors often refer to that effort as an “ERP selection project.” But after many such projects, we have come to the conclusion that the whole process is misnamed. This post describes how ERP selection projects must encompass much more than picking the right vendor.