CRM News: Enterprise Resource Planning

When B2C and B2B Worlds Collide
January 20, 2012

Having spent more than 20 years in the tech industry, I've seen many trends (and related buzzwords) come and go. One trend that I continue to see each year is the "consumerization of IT." While it hasn't always been referred to by that label, consumer demand has manifest itself across a variety of sectors in the industry, from PCs and email to the cloud.

Zuora and the Future of ERP
November 16, 2011

There was a guest post on the Forbes Magazine blog last month that I can't get out of my head: "For Enterprise IT, Time to Move Beyond SAP." For the record, I am an ERP dilatant -- I know about it but don't follow it with the same passion that I follow CRM.

ERP's Disruptive Moment
October 26, 2011

At Dreamforce, Zuora, like many other emerging companies allied with Salesforce.com, decided to hold a user group meeting. As long as the customers jointly held by Salesforce and Zuora were in town, the logic went, why not have them in for a day of education, listening and a pep talk from the boss? It was a fine idea.

Seeing Clouds Everywhere
June 10, 2011

I'm still surprised by the range of companies and nonprofit organizations moving to the cloud, and pleased to hear about the business benefits they are gaining from their decisions. An illustration of this growing movement is a series of webcast interviews I recently conducted of CXOs from a variety of "mainstream" small-and mid-size enterprises on behalf of SAP.

Failed Oracle ERP Project Leads to Legal Spat
June 06, 2011

A legal dispute between Oracle and erstwhile client Montclair State University illustrates that despite the steady evolution of ERP technology and implementation methodologies, these projects can still turn ugly. Montclair has accused Oracle of violating the terms of its agreement to build a new Web portal for the school.

Subscription Billing, Renewed
May 11, 2011

avsdYesterday Zuora, the billing and payment solution company for subscription businesses, did a smart thing, at least I think so. At NetSuite's user meeting, SuiteWorld, Zuora chief Tien Tzuo announced that his trademark product is now pre-integrated with NetSuite's financials. But that wasn't what's smart, only the thing that enabled the thing that is smart.

Microsoft Convergence
April 13, 2011

ATLANTA -- This might be remembered as the Convergence where Microsoft finally began to converge. More specifically, it is the convergence where accounting and CRM met in the cloud. The big news coming from Convergence is the announcement that Microsoft AX, one of the company's three ERP systems, is moving to the cloud.

OpenERP Aims to Bring ERP to the SMB Masses
January 18, 2011

OpenERP has rolled out version 6.0 of its open source ERP product. It is the first upgrade of OpenERP in close to two years, with significant enhancements to its business applications. Going forward, the company has committed to more frequent releases of its major versions and point releases.

Oracle Woos SAP User Base With Financial Analytics App
January 11, 2011

Oracle is debuting a business intelligence module -- for SAP users. Oracle Financial Analytics for SAP is designed to help SAP users wring more value out of their financial systems. While they are at it, Oracle no doubt hopes, these users may opt to migrate more of their operations to the Oracle platform.

Microsoft's Mandate for Change
November 17, 2010

I spent part of last week in the Seattle area at a small meeting Microsoft organized for analysts. The purpose was to brief us on product positioning and plans, and much of the meeting was covered by non-disclosure. Consequently, I am at a loss for how much I can divulge in this setting, at least until things are announced.

ATG Swept Up in Oracle Spending Spree
November 02, 2010

Oracle announced Tuesday that it will acquire ATG -- a provider of e-commerce applications and platforms -- for $6.00 per share, or approximately $1 billion in cash. Oracle wants to integrate this technology into its CRM, ERP, retail and supply chain lines, as well as its middleware and business intelligence technology.

Aplicor Launches Cloud Suite 7 With Jazzy New UI
October 19, 2010

Aplicor has unveiled Cloud Suite 7.0, a beta version of an integrated CRM and ERP offering. Development of the new product, which uses Microsoft Silverlight technology to power its interactive features, was based in part on feedback from the Aplicor EAC collaborative community. The end result is a wholesale rip-and-replace of all the business applications contained in the suite.

OpenERP Solves Open Source's Vexing Problem: Making Money
October 19, 2010

Belgian open source application vendor OpenERP has set up its first overseas business office in San Jose, Calif. Traditionally, the company has worked with reseller partners in the United States and 54 other countries worldwide. After four years, though, OpenERP has begun an aggressive expansion. It plans to have 1,000 partners around the world by the end of 2011.

6 Steps to ERP Profits
October 18, 2010

Businesses decide to invest in ERP systems for a number of reasons, but it all boils down to one main benefit: profits. ERP systems streamline data processes and eliminate waste to create the most efficient company possible, leaving more room to get things done and turn a healthy profit.

Solving the Fax-to-Order Customer Service Problem
July 19, 2010

Businesses will probably always have customers who want to place their orders by fax. When there are manual tasks involved in processing those orders, they can present a serious problem because companies may fall short in meeting expectations of the customers who place them.

The Interface Is the Analytics
May 15, 2010

Can Software as a Service applications actually accelerate the use and power of business analytics? We're going to help answer that by examining a human capital management and enterprise resource planning SaaS provider, Workday, and show how easily customizable views on data and analytics can have a big impact on how managers and knowledge workers operate.