Years of publication: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999   September 2002 September 30, 2002 Fourth Shift's evolution Within SoftBrands' DemandStream With a set of seemingly complementary products and via a strategy of focusing on customers, astute acquisitions of more complementary software companies and a careful deployment of all resources around the world including product development, sales and customer support, SoftBrands hopes to rise from the ashes of its ill-fated predecessor, AremisSoft. September 28, 2002 Legacy Single Sign-On: Novell, Evidian, IBM, PassGo, or Computer Associates? As the complexity of enterprise systems increases, users are often forced to remember more and more passwords. As the demand on users increases, many users choose to write down their passwords, and by doing so, jeopardize security. September 27, 2002 PeopleSoft Internationalizes Its Mid-Market Forays         Part 2: Challenges & User Recommendations Despite the challenges, PeopleSoft has raised the bar in providing solutions for smaller enterprises, and Tier 2 and Tier 3 vendors might be in for a tough battle to defend their turf, especially as they are concurrently trying to expand and modernize their products with ever diminishing resources and wary prospects. PeopleSoft is undeniably a tenacious and persistent fighter able to endure the long hauls. September 26, 2002 PeopleSoft Internationalizes Its Mid-Market Forays There has been an intensifying hullabaloo in the mid-market, with all Tier 1 players delivering solutions tailored for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and incumbent Tier 2/Tier 3 vendors defending their turf. PeopleSoft expands its forays outside the US with its recent announcements. September 24, 2002 Frontstep Ups The .NET Ante         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations Frontstep needs to promulgate its strategy of helping its manufacturing customers and their business partners automate and streamline business processes inside and outside the four walls of the enterprise, such as on-line collaboration with customers, suppliers, distributors, and employees, to make everyone’s internal operations more efficient. In a market with stringent IT budgets, Frontstep has to demonstrate how its CRM, ERP, and SCM products deliver actual savings. September 23, 2002 Frontstep Ups The .NET Ante While Frontstep has been tenaciously delivering a broad umbrella of products all under the ".NET roof", much work still remains for the company to counteract the onslaught by Tier 1 vendors and mid-market juggernauts and to return to its erstwhile glory. September 20, 2002 Who to Blame for Project Failure? Look Up - Not Down, Not Left, Not Right. Projects do fail. They fail from many different reasons. But the person at the top of the organization can stop or fix most of these problems before they derail the project. That person is the only one with the power to do so. September 19, 2002 Architecture-Centered Information Systems In The Manufacturing Domain - Part V - Applying the Methodology Architecture bridges the semantic gap between the requirements and software. Application software systems must be architected in order to deal with the current and future needs of the business organization. Managing software projects using architecture-centered methodologies must be an intentional step in the process of deploying information systems - not an accidental by-product of the software acquisition and integration process. September 18, 2002 Geac Hopes To See System21 Shine Again Like 'Aurora'         Part 3: Challenges and User Recommendations One is only to hope that the Geac’s renewed interest in alliances and acquisition will be to the point of effectively enhancing prosperous product lines as required by its large installed base. September 17, 2002 Geac Hopes To See System21 Shine Again Like 'Aurora'         Part 2: Market Impact Geac appears to have at least learned some hard lessons and it should not fall again in the trap of its former rampant acquisition strategy in a number of unrelated, diverse fields. Further, Geac's strengths today remain its geographical spread, restored financial health, retained level of products’ diversity, and its savvy of industry business process in the chosen vertical sectors. The company seems to have become highly attuned to the needs of the mid-market, with many loyal long term customers currently enjoying considerable service & support attention. September 16, 2002 Geac Hopes To See System21 Shine Again Like 'Aurora' By stabilizing its financial situation and by focusing on customer service beyond reproach and on its major product’s collaborative enhancements, in part through acquisitions, Geac hopes to overcome a lingering general feeling that it had passed up an opportunity to be a top-notch applications vendor. September 13, 2002 Architecture-Centered Information Systems In The Manufacturing Domain - Part IV - Moving From Planning to Implementation Architecture bridges the semantic gap between the requirements and software. Application software systems must be architected in order to deal with the current and future needs of the business organization. Managing software projects using architecture-centered methodologies must be an intentional step in the process of deploying information systems - not an accidental by-product of the software acquisition and integration process. September 11, 2002 Architecture-Centered Information Systems In The Manufacturing Domain - Part III - Steps in the Architecture Process Architecture bridges the semantic gap between the requirements and software. Application software systems must be architected in order to deal with the current and future needs of the business organization. Managing software projects using architecture–centered methodologies must be an intentional step in the process of deploying information systems – not an accidental by–product of the software acquisition and integration process. September 10, 2002 Will Glovia Glow Again Through Its Hub And VARs?         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations While the Fujitsu/Glovia relationship has worked well in Japan, a difficult market for many other ERP vendors to penetrate, it may prove to be quite a different case in other markets. Further, until recently, Glovia’s middle and top management team had long been in a state of flux and often poached by recently higher-flying competitors in the markets it attempts to regain. Further, one cannot help feeling that Glovia’s knowledge of its target market has always been deeper than its market visibility and share. September 9, 2002 Will Glovia Glow Again Through Its Hub And VARs? While Glovia continues its revamping as a holistic B2B e-business provider for manufacturers and service companies beyond core ERP, its ongoing management reshuffling, its fledgling channel and traction for multiple products will be challenges to be tamed. September 7, 2002 Lose the Starry-Eyes, Analyze:An Ideal Customer for Relevant INFIMACS This is an example, using Relevant Business Systems, of how you can use the TEC ERP Evaluation Center's WebTESS tool to locate vendors that consider your company their ideal candidate. September 6, 2002 Architecture-Centered Information Systems In The Manufacturing Domain - Part II - The Architecture Process Architecture bridges the semantic gap between the requirements and software. Application software systems must be architected in order to deal with the current and future needs of the business organization. Managing software projects using architecture-centered methodologies must be an intentional step in the process of deploying information systems &#151; not an accidental by-product of the software acquisition and integration process. September 5, 2002 What Makes Process Process Process manufacturers have had difficulty in selecting ERP and SCM products which meet their needs. This management note places these unmet needs in the context of the business characteristics which serve as their root causes. September 4, 2002 Architecture-Centered Information Systems In The Manufacturing Domain - Part I - Introduction to Software Architecture Architecture bridges the semantic gap between the requirements and software. Application software systems must be architected in order to deal with the current and future needs of the business organization. Managing software projects using architecture-centered methodologies must be an intentional step in the process of deploying information systems &#151; not an accidental by-product of the software acquisition and integration process. September 3, 2002 Stand Up, Sit Down...Don't Fight,Fight,Fight Can you relate to the following software demo situation? Jennifer, the sales engineer, is at the keyboard. She’s on a roll. She’s been setting the stage to show how her price matrix capability will eliminate costly errors. This is all-important to the prospect. She has the audience’s full attention and is steadily moving them toward her objective. Suddenly Robert, the account executive, interrupts from the back of the room. “Jennifer, I think this would be a great time to show how the information you’re working with updates the data warehouse and is immediately available for sales analysis purposes.” Everybody shifts their attention from Jennifer and the all-important price matrix capability to Robert and the equally important data warehouse function. In an instant, the momentum Jennifer has been building dies.   August 2002 August 31, 2002 Do You Know How to Evaluate Your Strategic Technology Provider? Project teams constantly face a barrage of new products and technologies, and have a difficult time differentiating marketing slides and grand promises from deliverable products when making strategic IT acquisitions. The solution is to create a structured, repeatable process for evaluating technology solutions and the vendors that provide them. August 29, 2002 Enterprise Applications Battlefield Mid-Year Scoreboard         Part 4: Other Vendors, CRM, SCP & User Recommendations Application vendors find themselves in a precarious situation where, concurrently with dismal revenue inflow, there is a need for bigger investment in the development of their products. Vendors unable to keep abreast of technology demands of a vertically focused solution that provides tangible returns in ever-smaller project chunks are in a danger of becoming has-beens. August 28, 2002 Enterprise Applications Battlefield Mid-Year Scoreboard         Part 3: IBM IBM still needs to convince users that it is nimble enough to handle the smaller projects prevalent in today’s cost-conscious market, which may be a concern that is aggravated rather than alleviated by the acquisition. August 27, 2002 Enterprise Applications Battlefield Mid-Year Scoreboard         Part 2: Microsoft The results from providers of strategic infrastructure that have more technology irons in the fire have typically proven better lately, if not spectacular, with one hoping these would even re-invigorate spending in the enterprise arena. August 26, 2002 Enterprise Applications Battlefield Mid-Year Scoreboard While it is apparent that software giants are in a better position to endure any economic adversity, no single vendor can be lulled into complacency for very long. Consequently, there will be more baffled investors, but also somewhat encouraged small vendors with inimitable value propositions. August 23, 2002 Beware of Legacy Data - It Can Be Lethal Legacy data can be lethal to your expensive new application – two case studies and some practical recommendations. August 22, 2002 IT Project Risk Assessment Information technology project risk often comes from non-technical aspects of the initiative. Assessing the impact of technology on people, management systems and other initiatives is essential to assure project success. August 21, 2002 Adonix Grows Roots Against The Odds         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations Adonix often comes ahead of larger global players in terms of functional fit, pricing, and understanding of the local requirements in the distribution area. The company still faces challenges presented by limited financial resources to adequately fund multiple key strategic initiatives including brand marketing, undeveloped global channel and brand recognition, and formidable competition within the market of Adonix’ future expansion focus (particularly the North American market). August 20, 2002 Adonix Grows Roots Against The Odds         Part 1 Proving that a lack of size can be compensated with a savvy value proposition, Adonix, until recently a quiet French ERP provider, keeps on delivering pieces of its strategy to further establish itself internationally, despite a harsh and hostile environment. August 18, 2002 A Definition of Data Warehousing There is a great deal of confusion over the meaning of data warehousing. Simply defined, a data warehouse is a place for data, whereas data warehousing describes the process of defining, populating, and using a data warehouse. Creating, populating, and querying a data warehouse typically carries an extremely high price tag, but the return on investment can be substantial. Over 95% of the Fortune 1000 have a data warehouse initiative underway in some form. August 16, 2002 Microsoft Paints CRM Landscape On Lately A ‘Still Nature’ Business Applications Scenery         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations Microsoft’s ambition will be its greatest challenge, as the company is concurrently experiencing an almost disruptive technology transition from Windows to .NET, using Internet rather than PCs. Microsoft Business Solutions is now up to its gills with soul-searching dilemmas, possibly with more issues than it would wish to be handling at the moment. August 15, 2002 Microsoft Paints CRM Landscape On Lately A ‘Still Nature’ Business Applications Scenery While most of its applications co-opetitors have been licking their wounds and bracing for a long summer drought, fat cash cushioned Microsoft has been putting together the pieces of its CRM (and likely the overall enterprise applications) strategy mosaic August 13, 2002 The Automotive OEMs Might Soon Contract “BRAIN” Damage         Part 2: The Future and User Recommendations While business for BRAIN North America continues to be positive, developments in Germany will affect its future. August 12, 2002 The Automotive OEMs Might Soon Contract “BRAIN” Damage Part I While BRAIN North America may have created a notable customer base due to its products’ functional appropriateness for the lower tiers of the automotive industry, its German parent’s impending insolvency might, in the worst-case scenario, leave all of them in the lurch. August 9, 2002 Enterprise Energy Management Software - The Key to Effective Energy Utilization Energy purchasing has become increasingly complex as a result of deregulation. The deregulated market provides more suppliers and more options for supply contracts. Managers who buy energy need to have more information about projected operational energy demand in order to get the best energy prices. They need a software system. August 8, 2002 Scala Shows Far More Than A Bit Of A Backbone         Part 3: Challenges and User Recommendations Although the value proposition offered by Scala should bode well to creating increased demand and acceptance of the Scala offering in the global SME market, there will be many challenges to overcome in order to continue to thrive in this ferocious competitive environment. August 7, 2002 Scala Shows Far More Than A Bit Of A Backbone         Part 2: Market Impact Scala is a serious challenger in the SME market, especially in emerging markets like Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and China (possibly the local market leader therein), given that the company reported growth and stable financial performance in 2001 while many of its peers have seen corresponding decline. August 6, 2002 Scala Shows Far More Than A Bit Of A Backbone         Part 1 Scala seems to be telling any competitor that two can play the game in the global enterprise market. Employing offense as the best defense, the company is determined to attack the satellite divisions of its bigger competitors, particularly those of SAP. August 5, 2002 Two Highly Focused Vendors Team For Their Markets' Good For every vendor, focus often results with more value to its targeted customers. Two highly focused vendors that also remain profitable and growing even in these difficult economic times, Ross Systems and Prescient Systems, are thus seemingly poised to offer enriched combined value proposition to their respective markets. August 4, 2002 Supply Chain Planning – Issues for Continuous Chemical Companies The continuous chemical industries typically share an objective of running at near 100% utilization. This and other realities yield unique requirements for a Supply Chain Planning (SCP) system. This article discusses some of these unique needs. August 2, 2002 Why Most Balanced Scorecards are Subverted Business and IT managers have failed to get at the root cause of Balanced Scorecard ineffectiveness. Getting the most from corporate data will continue to be elusive until business management strategy and data management architecture are aligned. August 1, 2002 Integration is the Name of the Game in Software Systems This article, originally published in Engineering Times, on how companies are employing ERP is based on an interview with Ben Spencer, TEC’s Senior Director of Knowledge Bases and Content Development.   July 2002 July 31, 2002 SAP Learns The Ropes Of Fashion/Outfitting With a heavy heart, in 1999, SAP had to go back to the drawing board, to do a thorough redesign of its erstwhile ill-reputed Apparel & Footwear Solution (AFS). It appears that the effort was worthwhile. July 30, 2002 SalesLogix and ACT! Officially Branded As Best Software         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations The company must clearly articulate its plans and the timeline for integration for each of its products. Otherwise it may face confusion and/or anxiety amongst both its current and potential customers as well as within its VARs. July 29, 2002 SalesLogix and ACT! Officially Branded As Best Software Having garnered a powerful broad enterprise applications portfolio, Best Software is challenging the competition and telling the market it will not easily be overlooked. July 26, 2002 The Intranet Has Come a Long Way: Where is it Going Next? The intranet was born from the marriage of two opposing business initiatives. The word processing department was cutting costs by eliminating the printed telephone directory and the information systems department was trying to find any reason for playing with HTML. Well, maybe not exactly, but not too far from the truth. What lies on the horizon for this collaboration technology? July 25, 2002 Team With Business Management to Drive Out IT Cost IT complexity drives cost and to a great extent, it is business management that drives IT complexity. Until IT architecture and infrastructure are simplified and configured into an adaptable platform, system design and construction will be fraught with wasteful work and non-essential components. July 24, 2002 Is ROI King In Evaluating IT Investments?         Part 2. Measuring the Impact of IT Investments If the underlying business assumptions change, the cash flow projections may be critically flawed but the KPI’s can still be relatively reliable indicators of the impact of an IT project. In the long run, IT project KPIs may be the best indicators for IT managers to use in evaluating the results of their IT investments. July 23, 2002 Is ROI King In Evaluating IT Investments?         Part 1. Should We Make the Investment? IT managers should recognize that cash flow measurements are being increasingly used to evaluate IT investments, even though initial estimates of cash flows from IT projects are often hard to determine because underlying business assumptions can change. IT veterans all know that reconciling IT investments to the bottom line has been problematic. July 22, 2002 Through Knowledge Base Technology Selections Deliver Value A major consulting firm recently unveiled an E-Procurement selection tool that helps its clients select technologies that enable their business objectives. The tool combines the consulting firm’s knowledge of various E-Procurement solutions with TEC’s decision support technologies. July 19, 2002 Can 'Intuitive' And 'ERP' Words Be Associated?         Part 2: Challenges & User Recommendations By deliberately steering clear of too ambitious expansionist policies that have hindered so many smaller software companies in the past, and by focusing on a handful of core markets, Intuitive has managed to keep itself on healthy track. July 18, 2002 Can 'Intuitive' And 'ERP' Words Be Associated? While Intuitive Manufacturing Systems, still largely a stealth small ERP provider, may have the ‘Intuitive ERP’ trump to attract SMEs internationally, a bevy of competitors has also been engaged in delivering their panaceas to the increasingly crowding market segment. July 17, 2002 Yantra - Leader in Distributed Order Management, But Wait There’s More Yantra appears to be ahead of the pack in applications for distributed order processing and related needs, but it is far from a household name. For Yantra to progress to the position in the market justified by its product offerings, marketing gaps need to be addressed. July 16, 2002 Intentia Braces For Its Ongoing Roller-Coaster Ride         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations To continue to expand beyond its European roots and succeed in other markets, Intentia must continue to focus on marketing and sales, both direct and indirect, engaging a number of resellers and executing an aggressive, enticing marketing program, although not at the expense of profit margins. July 15, 2002 Intentia Braces For Its Ongoing Roller-Coaster Ride         Part 1 Intentia remains solid, with a broad product portfolio footprint and a slight increase in revenue, despite vacillating financial results. The company still needs to do a much better marketing job to achieve stronger global brand recognition well beyond its esoteric industries/geographies stronghold pockets, as one would expect from a company with such an offering. July 12, 2002 The 'Joy' Of Enterprise Systems Implementations         Part 4: User Recommendations System integration service provider selections and project planning should involve the same amount of due diligence as business IT strategy definition and software evaluation. July 11, 2002 The 'Joy' Of Enterprise Systems Implementations         Part 3: Causes of Failures This part discusses the causes of ill-fated implementation July 10, 2002 Improving Your Demo-To-Win Ratio - Bridge Building Ask yourself this simple question: “Have I ever lost a deal to an inferior product?” If your answer is yes, I’ll guarantee that one of the prime reasons for your defeat was because your competitor was a more effective Bridge-Demonstrator. July 9, 2002 The 'Joy' Of Enterprise Systems Implementations         Part 2: Implementation Key Success Factors Enterprise systems, in fact, are devised to operate by codifying a set of business processes and employees have to learn the whys, wheres, and whos of the business process (workflows) rather than hows of the software screens. July 8, 2002 The 'Joy' Of Enterprise Systems Implementations         Part 1: Inexorable Statistics We take the liberty to expand further on the findings of a report, which was recently released by a renowned research organization, and which pinpoints enterprise applications implementations’ dissatisfactions in no uncertain terms. One may expect even more bad news in the future given the intricacy of collaborative inter-enterprise business. July 5, 2002 Fast-path Implementations - Are They Good or Bad? Over the last few years the market has seen a plethora of fixed-scope and fixed-price applications, pre-packaged vertical solutions with industry templates, limited education and training, implementation tools, attractive support programs and hosting services with catchy names, all aimed at making it faster, simpler and cheaper for enterprises well under $500 million to use them. Is this approach good or bad for the user? July 3, 2002 IFS To Be At Customers' (Web) Service         Part 2: Market Impact & User Recommendations Look for IFS’ increased visibility within its market segments of focus, as shown by its continued growth. The company with its broadened product offering and anticipation of recent market trends, is now in the rear mirror of Tier 1 vendors. July 2, 2002 IFS To Be At Customers' (Web) Service IFS invested heavily in both product development and worldwide growth infrastructure for a few years, now with that infrastructure in place, the company’s financial position has improved. This balancing of expenditures to promote global growth and improved cash flow has long been IFS’ mixed blessing conundrum. As the bigger vendors will intensify their mid-market aspirations, IFS continues to increase its marketshare worldwide, particularly in mid-market. July 1, 2002 Appointment Scheduling - Achieving the Positive Ripple Effect         Part 3: An Illustration Reducing wait time to just 17 hours per week would reflect a gain of approximately 32,160 miles per year by each trailer.   June 2002 June 29, 2002 OKENA Brews Up a StormSystem that Secures All Applications OKENA's announcement of their product line StormSystem indicates that they intend to grow and expand their innovative intrusion prevention system with highly integrated new add-ons. Having seen unprecedented success in obtaining funding and customers in one of the worst economies ever, Relevant Technologies expects OKENA to be a leading contender in an intrusion management market that has yet to boast a distinct leader. June 28, 2002 Appointment Scheduling - Achieving the Positive Ripple Effect         Part 2: A Solution Integration of the appointment scheduling system with other systems is necessary for maximum benefit. June 27, 2002 Appointment Scheduling - Achieving the Positive Ripple Effect         Part 1 Accurate appointment scheduling can provide great benefit to all in the supply chain through improvements in efficiency, visibility, resource and capacity utilization, and product flow. June 26, 2002 Announcing Agilisys (Formerly SCT’s Process Manufacturing & Distribution Business) - Finally Fully Focused On Process Manufacturing The new independent company will certainly benefit from having control of its own financial destiny, being able to make decisions based upon its own needs and objectives rather than being a small part of the much larger entities needs and objectives. June 25, 2002 PeopleSoft Building Muscles To Overcome The Rough Patch         Part 4: Challenges and User Recommendations It appears that a real magic bullet to attract smaller enterprises is yet to be produced, although the company has successfully addressed marketing and selling to both large and smaller enterprises. All in all, although on the right track, PeopleSoft has to be careful that it does not overstretch itself and lose focus going forward. June 24, 2002 PeopleSoft Building Muscles To Overcome The Rough Patch         Part 3: Target Markets, Alliances, & Competition In PeopleSoft’s case, the fact remains that it is still the best-attuned offering (in terms of pricing, vertical extensions, customizability, professional service approach, etc.) to the needs of large, service-oriented enterprises, or for ‘greenfield’ sites. However, to put things in the right perspective, one should bear in mind that PeopleSoft’s license revenue in 2001 was still less than the corresponding revenue in 1998, back when the company was only a HRMS/ERP player. June 22, 2002 CRM and Technological Solutions: Be the Customer In CRM, and now e-CRM, its not about the technology, but about focusing on the locus of importance around which CRM applications grew; namely, the customer. Ignore him at your peril. June 21, 2002 Datatex and Dan River Apparel Fabrics - Ten Years and Counting It was precisely ten years ago, in early 1992, that Apparel Fabrics took possession of Datatex’s TIM package (Textile Integrated Manufacturing) and began the process of implementing an ERP system that had been specifically designed to meet the needs of a textile processing firm. June 20, 2002 PeopleSoft Building Muscles To Overcome The Rough Patch         Part 2: Market Impact With a large investment in architecture made early, PeopleSoft has so far resisted the downturn in the market and has gained ground by making its core applications a compelling choice. However, the company has tempted the fate with touting that its product architecture would make it bulletproof to the weak economy, making the market reward it at that stage for being the poster child of a success in the tough environment. One should not be surprised with the market’s harsh knee-jerk reprisal once the pure-Internet magic was dented with the latest tamed results. June 19, 2002 PeopleSoft Building Muscles To Overcome The Rough Patch         Part 1 The year 2001, which was an exceptional year of financial performance for PeopleSoft, including record total revenue, record profit, and more than $500 million of generated cash, might have become its liability as well, as it might be quite difficult to repeat. June 17, 2002 Development of an Internet Payment Processing System This article describes the author's experience with the development of the first Yugoslav Internet payment processing system. The system's architecture is very similar to the Three Domain (3D) model that started to emerge later. This success story is worthwhile sharing with a wider audience. June 14, 2002 Is Enterprise Market Consolidating? Exactly! After seemingly the successful acquisition of Macola last year, Exact Software continues to build its SME market share by acquiring Kewill ERP. June 13, 2002 The Old ERP Dilemma - Should We Install The New Release? If you have an older ERP system, and you have decided to continue to pay maintenance, you should be getting periodic releases from the vendor. The frequency of these releases varies, but for each new release, you have a decision to make. Should you install the new release or not? June 12, 2002 Epicor Claims The Forefront Of CRM.NET-ification.         Part 2: Market Impact and User Recommendations Epicor’s ability to enhance its products and its determination on executing product and technology strategies deserves commendation. Current users are advised to follow Epicor's new product introductions and keep an eye on its future product strategy. The positive sign is the company’s more manageable and narrower focus, as demonstrated by its most recent results. June 11, 2002 Epicor Claims The Forefront Of CRM.NET-ification         Part 1 By harnessing .NET possibly more zealously than its creator Microsoft’s Great Plains and Navision enterprise counterparts, and while difficult market conditions continue to persist, Epicor might be showing us that ‘a brave heart and wise mind’ can keep it in the mid-market leadership race amongst aslew of formidable opponents. June 10, 2002 What’s All This Benchmark Stuff, Anyway? Vendors love to quote benchmarks in their product literature, press releases, and any place they think someone will use the numbers to make a buying decision. But what do the benchmarks mean, and which ones really matter? June 8, 2002 The Yin and Yang of Electronic Commerce This note identifies the major corporate functions that engage in E-Commerce activities and the kinds of information flows that result from E-Commerce activities. June 7, 2002 SAP Keeps Traction On Some Tires Of Its Omni-Wheel-Drive         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations SAP’s viability and its business applications market’s leadership remains unscathed, as the company remains rock-solid and will be the leader for a long time to come. While SAP has espoused one of the most compelling and promising collaborative-Commerce vision to-date, the ideal enablers of collaboration – it still has to prove to the market it can integrate and deliver, and satisfy the small and medium-size customer with quick implementations and nimble responses to problems. June 6, 2002 SAP Keeps Traction On Some Tires Of Its Omni-Wheel-Drive         Part 1 Although SAP’s recently announced tamed results for Q1 2002, which fit within the current market milieu, may add to some challenges moving forward, particularly seen from sharply reduced license revenue, and while some may question SAP’s justification of assimilating its two former subsidiaries, SAP has meanwhile become much more alert and diverse to spar with difficulties. June 5, 2002 Manugistics Indulges In The Open M&A Season.         Part 2: Market Impact, Challenges, and User Recommendations Experience teaches us to be wary of the outcome of mergers and acquisitions as the market has witnessed both success and disaster stories. While we believe that the above mergers might be synergistic in the long run, some growing pains, integration issues, and discontinuation of redundant products are always to be expected. June 4, 2002 Manugistics Indulges In The Open M&A Season Does Manugistics’ acquisition of a small ERP vendor confirms a further degree of integration and convergence between ERP, SCM and CRM applications in 2002 and beyond, with SCM and CRM moving towards the transactional aspects that have until lately been the prerogative of ERP? June 3, 2002 The Art And Science Of IT Architecture Design To assure flexibility and lasting value, information system designs and product selection must be guided by an architectural plan for infrastructure and applications systems. The Art of architecture design is in extracting business requirements; the Science is translating them into technology solutions. June 1, 2002 Standardizing on One ERP System in a Multi-division Enterprise In an enterprise with multiple operating divisions, should the enterprise standardize on a single set of software? Recent broadening of major ERP products’ scope and the advent of Web-based product architecture may tempt corporations to consider deploying this concept. Although the enterprise can generate many benefits from standardization, they may also create other issues that often result in disruptions.   May 2002 May 31, 2002 Anatomy of a Technology Selection Dell Computer Corporation spent millions preparing to deploy an ERP system before realizing that the solution to one set of issues created a more severe problem. Note based on discussion among Michael Dell, Kevin Rollins, and Morten Topfer of Dell Computer Corporation and Dell’s Platinum Counsel of customers. May 29, 2002 Infinium Returns To Its Core Competencies To Succeed         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations Despite solid horizontal ERP functionality, product flexibility, and very good customer service, Infinium's challenge remains its lack of mind share and brand awareness outside of its hospitality stronghold. May 28, 2002 Infinium Returns To Its Core Competencies To Succeed         Part 1: Recent Announcements 2000 and 2001 were difficult times for Infinium resulting in a substantial decrease in revenue and significant restructuring. After a thorough soul-searching exercise at the end of 2001, the company entered 2002 with product offerings that are going back to its roots, and with a determination to sustain success within three key target markets. The result is a renewed employees' and the market's enthusiasm for the company moving forward. May 27, 2002 Cincom Sticks to CONTROL of ETO and MRO         Part 3: Challenges and User Recommendations <b>Cincom Manufacturing Business Solutions</b> will have to address inevitable challenges in order to continue to thrive in a ruthless competitive environment with a limited opportunity and functionality that cannot easily be leveraged in many other diverse sectors. Many larger vendors with more resources and leading-edge technology have invaded Cincom's stronghold, and have also been closing the functional parity gap. May 24, 2002 Cincom Sticks to CONTROL of ETO and MRO         Part 2: Market Impact Cincom's latest product release covers many new bases, is architecturally adequate and remains a well-attuned offering for ETO and MRO enterprises. While it is a competitive product that will create buzz in its markets, the road to success is by no means guaranteed. May 23, 2002 Cincom Sticks to CONTROL of ETO and MRO         Part 1: Recent Developments Cincom's latest product release covers many new bases, is architecturally adequate and remains a well-attuned offering for ETO and MRO enterprises. While it is a competitive product that will create buzz in its markets, the road to success is by no means guaranteed. May 22, 2002 The Next Big Thing or Integration-The Interaction Server         Part 2: Possible Solutions Web Services is a no-brainer as a standard mechanism for providing access to enterprise applications and data; this will allow businesses to create words out of alphabet soup (ERP, SFA, CRM, EAI, EJB, COM, BFD). Nothing about Web Services, however, addresses the front-end complexity of dealing with multiple channels, such as supporting disconnected devices and asynchronous interaction models that are required by wireless and mobile connectivity. May 21, 2002 The Next Big Thing or Integration-The Interaction Server         Part 1: Background and Evolving Problem Software Technology evolves in phases. The fundamental assumptions of the current era change dramatically, rendering existing solutions inadequate. This creates an "inflection point", where new assumptions are the catalyst for innovation, and new solutions are the end result. May 16, 2002 Inventory Reduction: Effectively Turning Excess Into Cash In virtually all manufacturing companies, there is a direct correlation between inventory levels and overall business performance. In fact, CEO's and CFO's believe that their companies consistently carry 25 to 40 percent or more inventory than is needed. May 15, 2002 Microsoft 'The Great' Poised To Conquer Mid-Market, Once and Again         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations Microsoft's reticence to comment on any timelines of product integration and operations mergers, to our belief, stems from their genuine inability to foresee it at this stage. Still, although the indications that the business will continue to be as usual are strong, Microsoft may eventually decide to streamline its diverse, likely redundant, product mix, staff, and channel. Once Microsoft figures it out and gets a much clearer picture, it should emerge as a mid-market leader making its competitors scramble to better its value proposition. May 14, 2002 Microsoft 'The Great' Poised To Conquer Mid-Market, Once and Again         Part 1: Recent Acquisition Announcement Having garnered cash amounting to the GDPs of many developed countries, software giant Microsoft has treated itself with another 'billion plus' acquisition of its long-term partner and recent competitor, Navision, a business application provider for the mid-market. Will this move fill the gaps of earlier Great Plains' acquisition and further alienate Microsoft from a slew of other enterprise applications partners competing in the same space. May 13, 2002 Siebel Rallies Its Integration Alliance Troops         Part 2: Market Impact The era of Siebel's uncontested supremacy in the CRM market seems to be nearing the end. However, Siebel's idea of its Universal Application Network seems innovative and should help the needs of the higher-end of the market, whose paramount concern have been the enormous costs of integration and the general lack of responsiveness by enterprise application vendors to address this issue. May 10, 2002 Siebel Rallies Its Integration Alliance Troops         Part 1: Recent Announcements Siebel is finally taking 'the bull by the horns' by acknowledging the integration challenges its customers face, and by addressing that issue. An often troubling aspect of CRM implementations in the past is that the only way IT departments can achieve a full view of the customer is by integrating front-end, customer facing applications (e.g., contact management) with back-office systems, such as billing applications and financial ERP modules. May 9, 2002 INFIMACS Boasts MRP Relevant To MROs Through incrementally adding functionality tidbits that are crucial to its target market and that are not easily emulated by its competitors, Relevant continues to have a fair shot at delivering a viable solution to project-based discrete mid-market manufacturers such as aerospace contractors, contract manufacturers of electronic components, and MRO organizations. May 8, 2002 Incident Handling and Response Capability: An IT Security Safeguard         Part 2: Establishing the Capability As long as human intervention is part of network operations, there will always be vulnerabilities and an Incident Response capability establishes a force to minimize the effect of system security breaches. May 7, 2002 Incident Handling and Response Capability: An IT Security Safeguard         Part 1: Are You Ready to Support an Incident Response Capability? The Internet has few boundaries, thus each business is required to build and implement their own safeguards. Unfortunately, most IT department's requests for security technology and training are turned down, UNTIL a system security incident occurs. This could be a costly mistake. May 6, 2002 Lawson Enforces Its Stronghold         Part 2: Market Impact Now that is it publicly traded, it is poised for reaching over $400 million revenue mark in calendar 2002. Lawson has maintained significant mind and market share in the service industries sector, and is a recognized competitive force to keep the likes of PeopleSoft, Oracle and SAP on their tiptoes. May 3, 2002 Lawson Enforces Its Stronghold Part1: Recent Announcements Lawson Software, has gone past a successful IPO, and continues with new wins and with rounding up of its focused offering, while also belonging to the elite of enterprise applications vendors that have seen license revenue growth and profit in recent optimism-scant times. May 2, 2002 iProcess.sct Enters Golden Gate Opportunity SCT Corporation is selling its Process Manufacturing and Distribution Solutions Division to two California-based investors. SCT is thus joining the fray of companies taking the divestiture route to profitablility, a prominent recent example being CA's sell-off of its interBiz division. May 1, 2002 CA Unloads interBiz Collection Into SSA GT's Sanctuary         Part 3: Challenges and User Recommendations The varied product portfolio now under the SSA GT banner will take serious pondering and soul-searching and may likely act as a distraction from SSA GT's primary BPCS product strategy. While SSA GT's gallant attempt to regain credibility in the industry is noteworthy, it still has much more catching-up to do, with the market keeping a close eye on its execution.   April 2002 April 29, 2002 CA Unloads interBiz Collection Into SSA GT's Sanctuary         Part 2: Market Impact SSA GT believes it is on a path to regain a leading position in its target markets by solving industry-specific business challenges and creating a heterogeneous application environment that works seamlessly with other back-office applications. April 25, 2002 CA Unloads interBiz Collection Into SSA GT's Sanctuary         Part 1: Recent Announcement What are the prospects of SSA GT, now that the revived ERP vendor has recently acquired interBiz with its plethora of application products from its long archrival as a Computer Associates' division? Will the "two to one is odds" adage prove to be true in this merger of two veterans? April 23, 2002 Boutique Vendors Can Bring Big Value What is a boutique vendor? It tends to be small and highly focused. It is typically very strong in its chosen area. It will often prove to be the solution with the greatest source of value. These qualities make it worthwhile to expend the effort of looking at boutique vendors that focus on your situation. April 22, 2002 Mid-Market ERP Vendors Doing CRM & SCM In A DIY Fashion         Part 2: Market Impact Tier2/Tier 3 vendors are prepared to endure the onslaught of the likes of SAP, Oracle, and PeopleSoft, as well as of proverbial mid-market leaders such as J.D. Edwards, Baan, Intentia, QAD, IFS and Epicor, and newly formed mid-market juggernauts like Microsoft Great Plains, Best Software (formerly Sage Software), and Navision, to name some. Frontstep and the Syspro Group lead the way. April 19, 2002 Mid-Market ERP Vendors Doing CRM & SCM In A DIY Fashion         Part 1: Recent Announcements While the ERP mid-market has seen more vibrant intra-market merger & acquisition activity during 2001, it appears that 2002 will, for some more tenacious Tier 2/Tier 3 vendors, be the year of delivering products under their own steam as to counteract the onslaught by Tier 1 vendors and mid-market juggernauts. April 18, 2002 Stalled Oracle Fumbling For A Jump-Start Kit         Part 4: Challenges and User Recommendations Only time will tell whether Oracle will have used these slower economic times to get its act together and to position itself for a much-needed surge of new projects in the future. The market should regard Oracle's new mindset evolution as well as its new customer placating moves favorably, despite inevitable controversy. April 17, 2002 Stalled Oracle Fumbling For A Jump-Start Kit         Part 3: Market Impact Oracle remains a true IT powerhouse with fingers in many pies other than databases, such as application servers, and development tools, which ranks it as an enterprise infrastructure provider, together with SAP, IBM at a higher and, and Microsoft at the lower end of the market. However, Oracle may be getting very uncomfortable with how its protracted disappointing revenue results (possible the worst in a decade) jeopardizes its No. 2 position in the applications market. It seemed all but inconceivable over a year ago that PeopleSoft could be so close to snatching the No. 2 position from Oracle. April 16, 2002 They're Us, But We're Not Them! e-Commerce initiatives that are launched without a clear vision of how customers are engaged and what they experience carry significant risk of failure. Of equal importance is a clear understanding of the degree to which web-based customer interactions are integrated across the organization. April 15, 2002 Stalled Oracle Fumbling For A Jump-Start Kit         Part 2: Event Summary Continued Oracle continues respond to the changing requirements of the market, by addressing the need for Wireless Internet support, application servers, and expanded ASP support, while using new pricing models to maintain and expand its existing customer base. April 12, 2002 Stalled Oracle Fumbling For A Jump-Start Kit         Part 1: Recent Events While Oracle's declining revenue and profit continue across main businesses, SAP and Siebel have been extending their leads in respective enterprise application markets, while PeopleSoft has been anticipating turning on the overtaking flashing indicators. April 11, 2002 Outsourcing Security         Part 3: Selecting a Managed Security Services Provider As the final article in a three-part series on outsourcing security, the following article provides guidelines for selecting a dependable managed security services provider. April 10, 2002 Ross Systems' Focus Yields More Value For Process Manufacturers For a vendor, focus is good, as it often results with more value to its targeted customers. A highly focused vendor can also remain profitable even in difficult economic times. One example of a vendor delivering more by covering less is Ross Systems. April 9, 2002 Outsourcing Security         Part 2: Measuring the Cost Evaluating the cost of outsourcing can be challenging because most organizations cannot fully estimate the financial impact of such a decision. April 8, 2002 SAP Tries Another, Bifurcated Tack At A Small Guy As the battle for the mid-market intensifies and each Tier 1 vendor is exhibiting its bag of tricks for small-to-medium enterprises, SAP is trying a twofold strategy of promulgating its mySAP.com offering for the higher-end of the mid-market, while offering a recently acquired product to appeal to complexity-adverse smaller enterprises. April 5, 2002 Outsourcing Security         Part 1: Noting the Benefits Without effective security, companies risk losing money and customer trust. With good security, companies have the power to maintain stakeholder value, customer loyalty, and competitive advantage. Faced with the complexity of providing effective security, many companies are turning to outsourcing. April 4, 2002 ROI Systems MANAGE-s Well Past 2000         Part 2: Impact and Recommendations Expanding incrementally, with goals that are carefully balanced with providing excellent customer support, close attention to the bottom line, and leveraging a tried-and-true business model, partnerships and technologies has been ROI Systems' formula of success. It is now in a position to move forward with its plans for further needed product enhancements, staffing expansion and company growth, at a time when many of its peers continue to struggle. April 3, 2002 ROI Systems MANAGE-s Well Past 2000         Part 1: Recent Developments ROI Systems' strategy in terms of enhancing its MANAGE 2000 product and its geographic coverage has apparently been paying off, which comes as a welcome news these days when many of its peers that have traditionally touted more glitzy products are facing the moment of truth. Its recent solid financial performance puts the company in the position of being able to move forward with its plans for further needed product enhancements, staffing expansion and company growth, at a time when many of its peers continue to struggle. April 2, 2002 The Benefits of Focusing on a Niche and Serving it Well: EcFood - A Dot-com Making It ecFood is a strategic sourcing vendor focused on the industrial food market. Its recent financial results prove that being highly focused can bring value to the target market and success to a "dot-com".   March 2002 March 29, 2002 Fault Meets Performance -- Comprehensive Infrastructure Management         Part 2: The Solution Seamless integration of real-time problem detection and historical trend analysis helps companies keep their IT infrastructures delivering peak performance. March 28, 2002 QAD Seemingly Nearing The Corner Recently reported financial results for fiscal 2002 might indicate QAD is nearing the turnaround point, with improved value proposition and cash situation to spar with the economic slowdown and the fierce competition from the bigger vendors and many of its peers. March 27, 2002 Your ERP System is Up and Running-Now What? Congratulations! In your role as middle market CEO, COO, CFO, or CIO you fought the good fight and sponsored your company's ERP project. First you survived the ERP software selection process. Then you lived through the boot-camp tough implementation phase. So your ERP system is up and running-now what? March 26, 2002 Fault Meets Performance -- Comprehensive Infrastructure Management         Part 1: The Problem Customers, suppliers, partners and other business needs dominate IT decision making, so when these business partners complain about slow applications or interminable downloads, IT listens – or else. Catching and correcting the innumerable faults and performance problems that bring down IT environments is more important than ever. March 22, 2002 Process PLM Vendor Sequencia Adds Portfolio Management Sequencia extends its Process Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) offering with portfolio management, leading the impact of the solution into the executive suite. March 21, 2002 Liberty Alliance vs. WS-I; J2EE vs. .NET; Overwhelmed .YET?         Part 2: Comparison, Challenges, & Recommendations The battle for the dominance in Web services has so far largely been a war of words without the clear winner yet (and not any time soon). While interoperability seems to currently be the motivation for bigger players to suspend hostilities and focus on standards adoption, the desire for domination will tempt them to weave dependencies on their products into their strategies. March 20, 2002 Liberty Alliance vs. WS-I; J2EE vs. .NET; Overwhelmed .YET?         Part 1: Latest Announcements On one hand, some archrivals (e.g., Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle) are becoming strange bedfellows, while, on the other hand, the others (e.g., Microsoft and Sun) remain set on irreconcilable differences between their technology camps. What are users to do when torn between the hype/promise of Web services and the fear of being outrun by events? March 19, 2002 Stratyc's Laser-Sharp Focused Tools Retrofit Legacy Systems When a technology vendor focuses on a tightly defined market of, the value received by its customers is typically greater. Stratyc seems to be the case in point. March 14, 2002 Not all SCM Products Are Created Equal In this article, we examine capabilities of five top Supply Chain Management software vendors in several key areas of functionality: material procurement planning, manufacturing planning and scheduling, distribution and transportation management, and inventory management and warehousing. March 13, 2002 Adonix Expands X3 And Its ''French Connection''         Part 2: The Future Adonix often comes ahead of larger global players in terms of functional fit, pricing, and understanding of the local requirements in the distribution area. March 12, 2002 Adonix Expands X3 And Its ''French Connection''         Part 1: Recent Announcements While Adonix, until recently a quiet French ERP provider, may have the trumps to create more buzz internationally, the road to success will by no means be an easy ride. March 11, 2002 Facing A Selection? Try A Knowledge-Based Matchmaker         Part 4: User Recommendations This tutorial identifies the significance of researching technology vendors to both buyers and vendors/VARs. Buyers require research to determine the short list and vendors/VARs can use research to assess the viability of opportunities before committing time and money to a sales effort. Since a 'one-size-fits-all' product is still not a viable solution for most clients, the ability of technology products to meet clients' needs depends on client requirements. The Catch 22 for both buyers and vendors/VARs is to pinpoint the right match in this ongoing 'dating game'. March 8, 2002 Microsoft Throws .NET At SMEs, With CRM As Bait While Microsoft might be honest today with its claims of staying away from the true enterprise-level CRM applications space, no one can be sure that its appetite will remain in check for very long. March 7, 2002 Facing A Selection? Try A Knowledge-Based Matchmaker         Part 3: Comparing Three ERP Vendors This part illustrates how selecting the right ERP product depends on each client's requirements. Epicor, QAD, and Ramco Systems' rank can change with different sets of client requirements. March 6, 2002 Facing A Selection? Try A Knowledge-Based Matchmaker         Part 2: A Timesaving Solution Since a 'one-size-fits-all' product is still not quite a viable possibility, almost every product can win provided a certain set of requirements. The Catch 22 for both buyers and vendors/VARs is to pinpoint the right opportunity in this ongoing 'dating game'. An RFP/RFI selection process can streamline the initial phase of an ERP selection process while addressing many of the buyer's vital questions. March 5, 2002 Facing A Selection? Try A Knowledge-Based Matchmaker         Part 1: Problem Overview Since a 'one-size-fits-all' product is still not quite a viable possibility, almost every product can win provided a certain set of requirements. The Catch 22 for both buyers and vendors/VARs is to pinpoint the right opportunity in this ongoing 'dating game'. An RFP/RFI selection process can streamline the initial phase of an ERP selection process while addressing many of the buyer's vital questions. March 4, 2002 Programs, Processes and Practices: Planning Implementations and Evaluating Systems No company has ever fully evaluated the entire product that they are buying, time does not permit such a complete evaluation. Few people really track how well the software is used after it is installed. March 2, 2002 Vendor Review: SecureWave Protects Microsoft Operating System Platforms The traditional approach to network intrusion management is to detect an intrusion, analyze it, and then works toward eradicating it. By buckling down your host security, securing the input/output devices, and intercepting Trojan executables, SecureWave can prevent intrusions from happening up front. March 1, 2002 Managing Risks, Managing Measures: Decision Support Methodologies in Business         Part 2 : Decision Aids Though many academic methods exist, few actually reach the audience they need to reach because of the barrier between academic and business languages, as well as the ability to produce workable and usable tools. This article summarizes what I believe are the methodologies most used in Business, and some of the tools that are commercially available.   February 2002 February 28, 2002 Managing Risks, Managing Measures: Decision Support Methodologies in Business         Part 1: Guidelines Poor measurement methods can take off millions or more from bottom lines, and contribute at least in part to project failures, corporate inefficiencies and poor technology selections. Industry wide, they have contributed to tens of billions of dollars of unnecessary costs. How do you avoid these expensive mistakes? February 27, 2002 IPSec VPNs for Extranets: Not what you want to wake up next to In general VPNs are ill suited to building multi-company extranets, for any situation that extends across organizational boundaries, or where there is unbalanced trust between end points. This article discusses the basic requirements for a true extranet solution. February 26, 2002 SAP Remains Vital Amid Ailing Market And Internal Adjustments         Part 2: Continued Analysis and User Recommendations SAP's focus on delivering a portal as an overlaying personalized user interface may proved to be a crucial bet, as an intuitive portal might prove to be a simple an effective way to integrate information from disparate systems. February 25, 2002 SAP Remains Vital Amid Ailing Market And Internal Adjustments         Part 1: Recent Announcements Recently, SAP announced solid results for Q4 2001, in contrast to the current soft market. Although not all troubles seem to have been left behind, as can be seen from reduced license revenue, and while some may question SAP's justification of merging its two subsidiaries, a positive sign is that SAP has meanwhile become much more nimble to spar with any disturbance factors. February 22, 2002 Baan Resurrects Multi-Dimensionally         Part 4: Challenges & User Recommendations Baan's viability is no longer an issue. Baan's rejuvenated management team has done a praiseworthy job of bringing the company back to health while concurrently unveiling a new product release that can compete with the other products in the market. Challenges however remain. February 21, 2002 Baan Resurrects Multi-Dimensionally         Part 3: Market Impact Baan remains one of only a handful of vendors that are capable of providing full application suites on scaleable platforms that can be globally deployed by larger enterprises. February 20, 2002 Andersen/Enron Affair Precipitates ''Big Five'' Divorces While the current focus of the public is on the future of Andersen and the entire accounting practice, the implications on the consulting industry will be deep as well. February 19, 2002 Baan Resurrects Multi-Dimensionally         Part 2: Alliances & Support Baan and IBM have formed an alliance, IONA is certified for the OpenWorld Network Alliance, and Baan has a program for a smooth migration path for existing customers. February 18, 2002 Baan Resurrects Multi-Dimensionally         Part 1: Recent Announcements Having stemmed the tide of losses and returned to profitability in 2001, will in 2002 market witness Baan's return to former ERP stardom given the company's recent product enhancements, new partnerships and customer base retention/expansion initiatives? February 16, 2002 Thanks to a Smart Little Company called Lexias, CIOs Can Now Empower their Users to Assist in eBusiness Security Despite advances in security technologies, securing confidential and proprietary information has become more challenging than ever. In an attempt to keep pace with the on-slaught of security woes, new technologies are often unleashed and implemented before due diligence and real understanding of these technologies occurs. New products are selected in haste resulting in the deployment of products that might not be the most optimal ones to get the job done. February 15, 2002 Ross Systems – A Bright Spot On A Difficult Enterprise Application Landscape <b>Ross</b> is among a very small group of vendors who have decided to build product exclusively for the process market. The resultant financial success should buy it time to address its lack of SCM/SCP, e-collaboration, and CRM products. February 14, 2002 PeopleSoft's Buying Momentum Goes On. Pageant Participants, Line Up Please!         Part 2: User Recommendations Having stashed almost $1.7 billion in cash, <b>PeopleSoft</b>’s thirst does not seem to be quenched by the recent buy-back of Momentum Business Applications, an R&D firm it created and spun off in 1998. While the speculations about the next acquisition candidate abound, many supply chain companies have been dolling themselves up hoping to catch one of the most eligible bachelor’s eye. February 13, 2002 PeopleSoft's Buying Momentum Goes On. Pageant Participants, Line Up Please!         Part 1: Market Impact The year 2001 was an exceptional year of financial performance for <b>PeopleSoft</b>, including record total revenue, record profit, and more than $500 million of generated cash. Its acquisition of Momentum complete, PeopleSoft is poised for further expansion. February 9, 2002 Feds Buckle Down on Customer Information Security In an effort to improve the state of consumer privacy, Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision, on January last year announced that they have put together joint guidelines to safeguard confidential customer information. The guidelines, that took effect last July, implement section 501(b) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) initiated by the Senate Banking Committee, and passed into law on November 4, 1999. This announcement had significant implications for online banking institutions. February 8, 2002 The Old ERP Dilemma: How Long Should You Pay Maintenance? After a company has decided to keep an existing ERP system, the next decision is how long should they continue to pay the vendor for maintenance. February 7, 2002 Wet Quarter Postpones Amazon's Desiccation While Kmart Drowns It is all about a viable and innovative business value proposition, immaculate execution, low costs, and customer satisfaction, and not about the company’s name or the nature of its operation (clicks vs. bricks) – should be the motto of the story of the two pertinent giants Amazon and Kmart. February 5, 2002 Made2Manage Offers New Functionality And A VIP Treatment         Part 2: Market Impact During last two years, Made2Manage had mobilized its resources to evolve from a vendor of traditional ERP software to a provider of 'one-stop-shop' enterprise business applications. February 4, 2002 Made2Manage Offers New Functionality And A VIP Treatment         Part 1: Announcements By unveiling the multi-site functionality while concurrently providing technologically advanced solutions, Made2Manage is poised to survive the ongoing market shakeout.   December 2002 December 31, 2002 MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way         Part 3: Challenges and User Recommendations While the benefit of obtaining .NET-based product is evident, the downside is also that due to the companies’ dissimilar technologies in the past, MAPICS will now be burdened to look after both its AS/400 and Frontstep’s Progress based old customers, whose only common trait at this stage might be anxiety. December 30, 2002 MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way         Part 2: Market Impact MAPICS has recently departed from its traditional practice of 'pushing' the sale of the plethora of its components onto customers. Going forward, it will rather try to solve challenges for its customers and/or prospects in their quest of becoming world-class manufacturers. December 28, 2002 The Essential Supply Chain Supply Chain Management (SCM) once viewed as a way to obtain a competitive advantage, is now perceived as a logical and necessary extension of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The reasons: First, traditional ERP systems lack the advanced planning tools necessary for companies to respond to an increasingly competitive business environment. Second, advances in computing power and data transmission enable disparate entities to communicate efficiently and at a low cost. Finally, vendors have observed the complementary nature of SCM and ERP and are engaged in consolidation of their product suites. December 27, 2002 MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way MAPICS’ acquisition of Frontstep is a real positive given that Frontstep had already spent ~$60 million to deliver its entire product line, which includes ERP, CRM, and SCM, on a single technology platform, a notable feat. The combined company will have solutions that have been implemented in more than 10,000 customer sites worldwide in only a handful of industries of focus. Now the work of battling Tier 1 vendors and mid-market juggernauts begins. December 25, 2002 Why CRM Is So Hard and What To Do About It: Data is key to making CRM work Making a CRM investment work is a two-step process that begins with unifying disparate systems by creating and managing standardized, reusable business definitions mapped to the different CRM system schemas throughout the organization. December 24, 2002 Should You Modify an Application Product When it comes to modifications to an application product, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Enter the modification process cautiously, with your eyes open. December 23, 2002 Best Software To Hold Competition At Bay         Part 4: Challenges & User Recommendations The downside, as a rule, is the painstaking integration effort yet to be devised for a number of remaining products in the Sage’s/Best’s family and to be subsequently exerted, as there is always a large time bracket from concept to actual materialization. Further, integration is never a simple feat. December 22, 2002 Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) in Process         Part 3: Process PLM Requirements A Process PLM system must accommodate rapid, global deployment of the system. This need drives specific requirements to minimize both the start-up and the long-term cost of ownership of the system. This article, third in a series details those requirements. December 21, 2002 CRM Analytics Brings More Profitability Targeting your best customers and personalizing your relationship with them, implies an in-depth understanding of their behavior. December 20, 2002 Best Software To Hold Competition At Bay         Part 3: Market Impact As the small-to-medium enterprises (SME) market battle rages, Best Software seems to be taking appropriate steps to establish itself as a more visible/audible force to be reckoned with. It does not intend to remain a tacit mid-market powerhouse any longer. December 19, 2002 Best Software To Hold Competition At Bay         Part 2: Strategy Best Software's top objective is to encourage customers to stay with the company for the life of their business. December 18, 2002 Best Software To Hold Competition At Bay Having garnered an astutely broad enterprise applications’ portfolio, Best Software recently unveiled its 'customer and/or partner for life' strategy to fend off any intruder to its US market stronghold, especially Microsoft Business Solutions. December 17, 2002 Ross Systems Shows Poise in 'Big Easy' Ross Systems has come a long way as seen by TEC at the recent Rossworld user conference. The company’s progress is impressive, but is Ross attempting to tackle too many requirements at once? December 16, 2002 Is SSA GT Betting Infini(um)tely On Acquisitions?         Part 4: Challenges and User Recommendations. User companies will need serious convincing that SSA GT will not 'stabilize' or even discontinue some brands. Moreover, even in the cases where the company has been showing close attention to its customers’ wish lists, its crucial tenet of operation is profitability and setting realistic goals (the ROI justification works for the vendor as well). It does not appear very realistic to expect the equitably due attention to over a dozen products. December 13, 2002 Is SSA GT Betting Infini(um)tely On Acquisitions?         Part 3: Complementary Products At a first glance, one can even notice that the complementary nature of some SSA GT products and Infinium products may indeed provide a ‘kick for a buck’ proposition. Further, it appears that SSA GT understands and listens closely (via Global Guide Groups) to the needs of conservative ERP customers that are unwilling to ditch a good functional product even at a cost of its technological antiquity. Further, it has a track record of strong functional development that preserves the customer’s current investment. December 12, 2002 Is SSA GT Betting Infini(um)tely On Acquisitions?         Part 2: Market Impact Like the previous two acquisitions, this one too seems aimed at enlarging SSA GT’s customer base, market share, and, more importantly, its predictably recurring support revenue and consequently larger R&D pool. December 11, 2002 Is SSA GT Betting Infini(um)tely On Acquisitions? What are the prospects for SSA GT’s mostly iSeries-based empire in the making, now that the revived ERP vendor has recently acquired three former competitors with their plethora of application products, and that it does not seem to be nearing the satiation point yet? December 10, 2002 Integrated Security: A New Network Approach         Part 2: The Shift Toward Integration This part describes the key elements and benefits of an integrated security solution in comparison to current security solutions. December 9, 2002 Integrated Security: A New Network Approach The challenge is to ensure that the right people gain access and the wrong people do not, making the role of information security even more critical to enabling today’s businesses. An integrated security approach offers the most effective security posture. December 8, 2002 Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) in Process         Part 2 Process PLM Motivation This part of the series on Product Life Cycle Management in Process explores the business motivations by review business strategies. December 6, 2002 Thriving and Surviving in a Turbulent World         Part 2: Planning and Its Results This article outlines the planning and results of an adaptive management process for manufacturing executives, who employ demand and supply chain planning technology. December 5, 2002 Epicor Picks Clarus' Bargain At The Software Flea Market         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations The wealth of product names and a still somewhat unwieldy slew of products, presents sales and marketing confusion for Epicor, both internally and externally across the globe. Therefore, as Epicor has a myriad of products in its portfolio that could benefit from integration with Clarus and/or CRM.NET, it must clearly articulate its plans and the timeline for integration for each of its products. December 4, 2002 Epicor Picks Clarus' Bargain At The Software Flea Market Taking advantage of its rival Microsoft’s either reticence or satiation, Epicor recently acquired its long-term partner Clarus for an almost next to nothing price to provide mid-market with a solid add-on e-procurement and, eventually, SRM value proposition too. December 3, 2002 Thriving and Surviving in a Turbulent World We can aspire to survive and even to thrive in a difficult environment if we are disciplined, bright enough and have the right tools such as a Demand and Supply Chain Planning suite to support and optimize our decisions. This article outlines an adaptive management process for manufacturing executives. December 2, 2002 KPI's: Key Project Impeders Paying attention to the human nature factors of a project will not overcome poor software selection or poor software design. However, being aware of these factors can minimize project delays, frustrations of team members, and not delivering expected results. Learn about some of these factors and how they can be avoided. December 1, 2002 Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) in Process         Part 1 Proven in Discrete, Ready to Blossom in Process Process industry companies could benefit from many of the PLM concepts that have accrued to discrete industries. But PLM has had minimum penetration into the process industries. Why?   November 2002 November 27, 2002 Cincom Asserts Expertise In CRM For Complex Manufacturers         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations While Cincom's solutions, services, experience and results should resonate well with in the complex manufacturing segment, it competes against a slew of companies with stronger brand names (not impeded by Cincom’s conservative tacit nature) and/or financial resources. November 26, 2002 Cincom Asserts Expertise In CRM For Complex Manufacturers Cincom’s latest CRM product release offers a compelling value proposition for many ‘to order’ manufacturing enterprises. While it is a product that may raise the bar in its target markets, the competitive offering is not exactly a pushover. November 25, 2002 Focus on Corporate Governance Requires a Business-Oriented Selling Approach If you are selling products or services that are critical to your prospect’s success or for that matter, their very survival, your proposal will likely be elevated to the board of directors level for final approval. How do you sell at the board level? November 23, 2002 Vendor Analysis: Kaspersky Anti-Virus Products Examined Kaspersky Labs is no newcomer to anti-virus products. Headquartered in Moscow, Russia, with offices in Pleasanton, California and Cambridge, England, Kaspersky Labs has successfully branded itself as a leader in multi-platform anti-virus products. Though many IT decision makers neglect to protect their UNIX systems from viruses, research done by Kaspersky Labs indicates that Linux may be just as prone to viruses as Microsoft operating systems. November 22, 2002 MAPICS Moving On Pragmatically         Part 4: Competition and User Recommendations Production management remains MAPICS’ strongest spot, and, therefore, it has often been implemented only in manufacturing divisions of large global organizations that use a Tier 1 ERP product for corporate financials and/or HR applications. Therefore, executing the ambitious initiatives with its modest albeit solid resources compared to the above competitors will be a notable challenge. November 21, 2002 MAPICS Moving On Pragmatically         Part 3: Challenges MAPICS remains at a critical point in time, where immaculate execution without much space for missteps will determine its future. Despite notable functional and technological initiatives, the biggest challenge for MAPICS and its affiliate channel remains the management of still dual flagship ERP product lines. November 20, 2002 MAPICS Moving On Pragmatically         Part 2: Market Impact For the last several months, MAPICS, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPX), a global provider of extended ERP applications for world-class mid-sized manufacturers, has embarked on a painstaking process of producing a strategy going forward that would pragmatically blend the company’s traditional values and success factors with new approaches to stay in tune with market trends. November 19, 2002 MAPICS Moving On Pragmatically While the existing loyal client base and seasoned affiliate channel remains MAPICS’ trump card in these difficult times, the recent moves of a unified product branding combined with addressing issues of its world-class aspiring manufacturing customers should be the way to more effectively sell to and beyond the current prevailing IBM iSeries client base, which is the must for the long-term viability. November 16, 2002 Who's Who? Sorting Out the e-Logistics Players         Part 3: New Solutions There is a wide range of new 'e-gistics' players emerging to address today’s transportation and logistics challenges, and different solutions will be appropriate for different kinds of situations. November 15, 2002 Logistics.com Becomes The Newest Of Manhattan Associates         Part 2: Strengths, Challenges, and User Recommendations Logistics.com needs to tie its execution modules into the plant/warehouse-level applications in order to give a customer a full solution. Manhattan cannot deliver the full fulfillment job without the transportation part. Tying their products together is what it will take to make this acquisition work. November 14, 2002 Logistics.com Becomes The Newest Of Manhattan Associates Will the acquisition of Logistics.com help outstanding Manhattan Associates round out what might not have been accomplished with its earlier acquisitions? November 13, 2002 Increasing the Value of Your Enterprise Through Improved Supply Chain Decisions         Part 3: Conclusion There remains no shortage of experts and solutions that purport to have the keys to improving your supply chain. However, executives who bear bottom line responsibility for the performance of the enterprise would do well to evaluate every potential new program from the perspective outlined here. November 12, 2002 Increasing the Value of Your Enterprise Through Improved Supply Chain Decisions         Part 2: Financial Metrics If the key financial metrics for creating corporate value relate to costs, capital charges and consumption, and profitability, then the corporate capabilities or competencies required to drive those metrics must include controlling supply chain costs, managing supply chain cycle time, and optimizing responsiveness to the marketplace. November 11, 2002 Increasing the Value of Your Enterprise Through Improved Supply Chain Decisions Improving the decision process around inventory and supply chain flexibility will drive sustainable, measurable benefits in the near term that are disproportionate to the effort required. November 10, 2002 Who's Who? Sorting Out the e-Logistics Players         Part 2: Traditional Solutions Rather than leveling the playing field, traditional solutions, which are expensive, long-term oriented contract-based, have typically widened the gap between the Fortune 500 companies and everyone else. November 8, 2002 CRM For Complex Manufacturers Revolves Around Configuration Software While pundits have been debating whether the configuration software deserves to be a CRM module on its own, it is certainly a part of the much broader CRM class of products, which typically includes front-office applications for sales force automation (SFA), marketing automation, and field service/call center management. November 6, 2002 Microsoft Lays Enforced-Concrete Foundation For Its Business Solutions         Part 4: User Recommendations Despite the plausible product roadmap, any organization evaluating MBS products should keep itself informed, and consider existing functionality only. MBS, at this stage, will likely not appeal to companies that need more complex CRM capabilities or must manage customer relationships through diverse lines of business (LOBs). November 5, 2002 Microsoft Lays Enforced-Concrete Foundation For Its Business Solutions         Part 3: Challenges MBS is both a threat and an opportunity for the most nimble vendors, and mid-market CRM vendors might have acquired another lease of life extension in the medium term to redefine their value proposition, especially given that some have recently secured new funds and/or found solace in a partnership with IBM. November 4, 2002 Microsoft Lays Enforced-Concrete Foundation For Its Business Solutions         Part 2: Market Impact Stampede 2002 has radiated moderate optimism within VARs and other attendees, in a sharp contrast with many other user or industry conferences where we have felt a generally somber, anxious, or at least subdued mood. Small wonder for this isolated ebullience, given that, despite the current soft market, both MBS and most of its partners are still operating well, are discussing closing new accounts, and even expanding. November 1, 2002 Microsoft Lays Enforced-Concrete Foundation For Its Business Solutions While most of its applications co-opetitors have been licking their wounds and dreading another financial quarterly report, cash amassed Microsoft has recently shown a flair for aptly devising and executing a strategy for its Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) division portfolio, to its partners and customers delight and to dismay of its archrivals.   October 2002 October 31, 2002 Who’s Who? Sorting Out the e-Logistics Players         Part 1: The Situation Sure, you’ve sold it, but now you have to ship and deliver it: E-commerce comes to transportation and logistics. This article outlines some of the latest developments in this fast-moving field, and provides some background and context to help companies better understand the alternatives available to them today. October 30, 2002 Find The Software’s Fatal Flaws To Avoid Failure For any business, software needs exist which will prove difficult to satisfy. Application packages will have fatal flaws where they do not meet these needs. When evaluating software, start with the potential fatal flaws and continually look at the details surrounding them. October 29, 2002 PowerCerv Finally Overpowered By The '02 Hurricane Season         Part 2: Strengths and User Recommendations Although ASA seems to have obtained an intriguing complementary product offering and a modest client base for almost next-to-nothing cost, it has to quickly articulate a clear and assuring message to the market that it can and will execute a strategy for enhancing PowerCerv product lines for a foreseeable future. October 25, 2002 PowerCerv Finally Overpowered By The '02 Hurricane Season PowerCerv, a long languishing mid-market enterprise applications vendor, having been unsuccessful in its repeated attempt to revitalize itself under own steam, has eventually resorted to bailout by a more financially stable adopted parent. October 24, 2002 6 Immediate Business Improvements Offered by an Online SRM System:         Part 3: Other Points to Consider Maintaining an effective supply chain is clearly an integral part of a manufacturing company’s livelihood. Using Web-enabled tools, the enterprise is able to transform the procurement function of its supply chain from a cost center to a powerful business unit. October 23, 2002 6 Immediate Business Improvements Offered by an Online SRM System:         Part 2: Online SRM Online SRM helps to reduce the time spent on transactional details and put more emphasis on strategic activities. October 22, 2002 6 Immediate Business Improvements Offered by an Online SRM System Manufacturing and distribution companies rely heavily on their ability to ship product and meet commitments to customers. Yet though the supply chain is the lifeline of their business, most purchasing departments are severely handicapped in their efforts to streamline supply chain execution. October 21, 2002 Data Conversion in an ERP Environment Converting data in any systems implementation is a high wire act. Converting data in an ERP environment should only be undertaken with a safety net, namely a well thought-out plan of execution. This article discusses the guidelines for converting data when considering manual or electronic alternatives. October 19, 2002 How Supply Chain Projects Morph Into Black Holes For all but a few astronomers, black holes are unknown in the realm of ordinary experience. Analogs do exist, however, in the more terrestrial domain of business process reengineering and take the form of supply chain management implementations. Real-life examples offer insights that may help prevent your supply chain project from collapsing into oblivion and taking your enterprise with it. October 18, 2002 Continuous Data Quality Management: The Cornerstone of Zero-Latency Business Analytics         Part 2: One Solution Most enterprises fight fires with axes, fire hoses, trucks, and hordes of firemen, but the CDQM approach is a smoke detector. It’s far less expensive to put a fire out when it’s just smoldering, rather than to extinguish a blazing house fire and then remodel the entire house. October 17, 2002 Continuous Data Quality Management: The Cornerstone of Zero-Latency Business Analytics No matter how well an enterprise implements a CRM, ERP, SCM, Business Intelligence, or Data Warehouse project, poor data quality can destroy its utility and cost real dollars. October 16, 2002 Agilisys Continues Agilely Post-SCT         Part 3: Challenges and User Recommendations Still, although it is indisputably better that Agilisys had not stayed any longer under a parent that did not quite fathom its direction, and had even imposed a heavy overhead burden on it to be part of that company, and hindered its growth, the company faces both new and many old challenges. October 15, 2002 Agilisys Continues Agilely Post-SCT         Part 2: Market Impact Agilisys is also leveraging its former parent's pedigree on professional services and outsourcing, the 'Concept to Customer' and 'Early Upgrade Program' being good examples of the company’s focus on customer engaging product implementations and customizations. October 14, 2002 Agilisys Continues Agilely Post-SCT From Agilisys' fresh start illustrated in new account wins, a profitable quarter, and new product enhancements; the market should expect at least a continuation of the past but more likely its improvement. October 11, 2002 Hosting Horrors! What you should ask before committing to a Web Hosting Company... October 10, 2002 Merger Mania At Its Extremes         Part 2: Challenges & User Recommendations While the merger is justifiable it does not provide the new entity with much room for mistakes. SynQuest also needs to quickly figure out the best combination of its disparate products and technologies and articulate a clear and assuring message to the market that it can deliver a strategy for the planning, executing, and adaptive management of supply chains in a foreseeable future. October 9, 2002 Merger Mania At Its Extremes Other than for the peculiarity of a ‘love triangle’, the merger of SynQuest, Viwlocity and Tilion might be a harbinger of SCEM’s annexation by the realm of SCM, in which case, with a similar phenomenon of ERP absorbing MRP over a decade ago, history would repeat itself. October 8, 2002 Technology Vendor - Can You Afford Credibility? For Technology vendors, credibility is the ability to sell. Credibility is vital, is hard to build, and easy to lose. Building credibility doesn't have to be costly. This article touches on the concepts you can employ to build your credibility. These concepts are the basis for a seminar presented by The Credibility Forum. October 7, 2002 J.D. Edwards Finds Its Inner-Self Within Its 5th Incarnation         Part 4: Challenges and User Recommendations J.D. Edwards is leaner, meaner, much more aggressive and with a winning attitude than it has been in the past. It is not easy to regain momentum in a down economy, and kudos to J.D. Edwards for seemingly succeeding in doing exactly that. October 4, 2002 J.D. Edwards Finds Its Inner-Self Within Its 5th Incarnation         Part 3: Market Impact In a nutshell, J.D. Edwards seems poised to deliver applications within its traditional verticals that are wide-ranging, integrated, and modular (loosely decoupled) at the same time, which is apparently a clearer message and a better business model for the company. With a new management team the company seems to have found its soul, as it has finally pinpointed the right offering for its target market (both geography, customer size, and vertical segments wise), and it also seems to be exuding an air of confidence without arrogance, which had rarely, if ever, been seen in the past. October 3, 2002 J.D. Edwards Finds Its Inner-Self Within Its 5th Incarnation         Part 2: FOCUS Announcements Continued While significant new product deliveries have happened under the company’s own steam, J.D. Edwards has not departed from its traditional policy of congenial partnering with other prominent software providers. October 2, 2002 J.D. Edwards Finds Its Inner-Self Within Its 5th Incarnation By espousing its namesake 5th generation of products that preserves flexibility and provides much more of its own ‘must have’ collaborative applications (i.e. SCM and CRM), J.D. Edwards may start looking forward to the future with its new winning attitude. October 1, 2002 Fourth Shift's evolution Within SoftBrands' DemandStream         Part 2: Challenges and User Recommendations In addition to putting the problems of blending two former independent organizations together behind, the company is still entangled in figuring out how best to bring different technologies and industrial experiences to bear. Further, the new company is left with multiple products whose brand recognition is quite low given recent re-branding effort that may be even more impeded by SoftBrands/Fourth Shift/evolution brand confusion (not to mention the plethora of hospitality products).   January 2002 January 30, 2002 Gosh, They Kill Partnerships, Don't They? There is nothing new in the fact that software partnerships do not last long. While Commerce One would face serious consequences if there were a breakup with SAP, the bigger and better party would not be unscathed either. The partners may, therefore, stay together, for the children's sake. January 29, 2002 The 'Old ERP' Dilemma: Replace or Add-on Replace or Add-on to an aging ERP system is a dilemma faced by many companies today. This article discusses the trade-offs involved in making that decision. January 28, 2002 J.D. Edwards' CEO Retires Again; This Time For Good? Having seemingly paved a solid ground for its successor, it is likely that this time J.D. Edwards founder and CEO Ed McVaney might not have to come back from oblivion like in 2000 January 26, 2002 Identix Leads Biometric Authentication Perhaps the most exciting product released at last Comdex, was the Identix DFR-300 Fingerprint Scanner. Implemented in Compaq, Dell, and Toshiba laptops, the hardware fingerprint scanners are packaged with BioLogon™ for Windows 2000™ and features biometric identification and authentication, BIOS level security, single sign-on and multi-factor security. January 25, 2002 PeopleSoft Annuncio-es Continuation Of Its Shopping Spree While PeopleSoft has added yet another bit of weight to its applications portfolio with the acquisition of Annuncio, potentially earning thereby the ability to manage marketing campaigns and track individual customer's interactions across online and off-line channels, one is to wait and see how quickly and easily the company will assimilate a number of smaller products it has recently bought. January 24, 2002 Supplier Logistics Management (SLM)         Part 3 This continues the coverage of the fundamental issues targeted by supplier logistics management. Fully utilizing the compliance benefits that SLM offers allows companies to redirect employees from tactical operations to those more strategic. January 23, 2002 Supplier Logistics Management (SLM)         Part 2 Supplier Logistics Management (SLM) offers the opportunity for considerable improvement in efficiency as well as cost reductions. SLM enables companies and their suppliers to successfully synchronize information. January 22, 2002 Supplier Logistics Management (SLM)         Part 1 Supplier Logistics Management is leveraging technology and supplier relationships to gain competitive advantage. January 21, 2002 SAP To Take Care Of All Suppliers SAP's first major product delivery that leverages recently the recently endorsed technology foundation, allows it to offer a collaborative solution. This does not mean that the amount of time and resources required to implement and manage the supplier enablement process can be underestimated. January 19, 2002 Bootcamp for the Pros; Why Ernst & Young Will Lead Security Auditing Standards Original News & Educational Review Course Summary Ernst & Young, has put together the quintessential course for security engineers looking to improve their ability to protect their organization's website, systems, and network. Dubbed eXtreme Hacking, and carrying a price tag of $5,000 a slot, this course is for anyone but hacks. With an impressive course book that fills a two-inch thick binder, leading Ernst & Young security engineers take you step-by-step through all the ways that bad guys try to subvert your mission critical servers and network configurations. Using dual-bootable NT-Linux laptops, and an accompanying network setup for practicing subversive attacks and exploits, attendees will leave the course with an entire new bag of tools and tricks that help them understand how bad guys identify target IP addresses, collect information about the systems they plan on compromising, and exploit weaknesses without being noticed. The idea is to learn how to figure out what the weaknesses are in your organization's network before the bad guys do. January 18, 2002 User-Focused Design Principles Shape the Customer Experience Welcome to the customer experience. We all have them. Some are good, others bad. A variety of factors - the user interface (UI), customer support, marketing messages, etc. - shape these experiences. All of these things collectively create our view of a product, service or provider. January 17, 2002 Lawson Software Braves IPO And Reports Strongly Against The Odds Lawson Software has to a degree spiced up the end of a bland IPO year, and has also joined the elite of enterprise applications vendors that have seen license revenue growth and profit in 2001. January 16, 2002 J.D. Edwards On The Mend; This Time Might Be For Real         Part 3: User Recommendations In anatomic terms, J.D. Edwards has been showing some muscles on top of its solid but unexciting ERP skeleton and XPI-based connective tissue, chords and cartilages. January 14, 2002 Vendor Analysis: Interliant's Security Vulnerability Assessment A security vulnerability assessment service is a risk management process. Interliant's security vulnerability assessment service enables its clients to understand what risks their online transaction systems and network infrastructure face. Relevant Technologies has taken an in-depth look at Interliant's security vulnerability assessment service to find out what their tactical strategy is in helping organizations minimize risk, how this strategy evolved, and what IT decision makers can expect to gain from using their services. January 13, 2002 J.D. Edwards On The Mend; This Time Might Be For Real         Part 2: Market Impact A small-to-medium enterprise simply wants to manufacture and deliver a product in a most efficient way and by utilizing minimal necessary resources, therefore, smaller companies consider planning and execution as one process. J.D. Edwards has resolved many pieces of the puzzle. January 12, 2002 PSI AG To Become More Germane Globally Via Relevant Partnership Will the alliance of the two globally less-known vendors result in a formidable combined offering worldwide for some highly contested and yet potentially lucrative project-based and asset-intensive industries? January 11, 2002 J.D. Edwards On The Mend; This Time Might Be For Real Although not quite yet out of the woods, by having product flexibility 'in the bag', and by providing now much more of its own 'must have' collaborative applications (e.g. SCM and CRM), J.D. Edwards might again start looking forward to the future. January 10, 2002 It Isn't the Fall, It's the Sudden Stop Skillful management of transitions is essential for IT professionals. It is not simple and it not recognized when it is done right, but when done wrong, the noise of the sudden stop rings in everyone's ears for a long time. January 7, 2002 Oracle Mends Its Ways To Bounce Back Despite its inclination to traditionally thrive on a moderate amount of controversy and to fly a number of trial balloons, Oracle, has also been a practical company, often modifying its strategy and adopting a tack that would work better. Thus, while Oracle's declining revenue and profit are painfully noted, the company has been taking some long overdue moves to appease its customers and to play fair with the competition. Time will only tell, however, whether Oracle has used these slower economic times to get its act together and to position itself for the its future revival. January 6, 2002 OKENA Pioneers Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention Intrusion prevention has evolved as a smarter alternative to intrusion detection. Pioneer OKENA has mapped application behaviors into rules, and is using these behavior rules to prevent intrusions up front. This second-generation approach offers substantial bottom line savings, and frees up IT resources for other tasks. January 4, 2002 SSA GT Beefs Up BPCS V8 Through Partnerships' Spree         Part 2: Market Impact SSA GT has mostly achieved its most imminent and important goal of enticing existing BPCS customer base to stay on their maintenance contracts. Vendors vying to be replacement solutions for the BPCS ERP system could be in for a bigger hurdle than expected. January 3, 2002 SSA GT Beefs Up BPCS V8 Through Partnerships' Spree With a flurry of alliance making activities, SSA GT is executing a strategy to save the company from oblivion by extending the value proposition to existing customer base. SSA GT seemingly intends to achieve its all-round product portfolio and implementation approach through in-depth strategic partnerships with specialized application providers. There are significant differences however between SSA GT's and other vendors (for example, Baan's or Ross Systems') comeback approaches. January 1, 2002 PipeChain Adds Pragmatism Onto Simplicity By being able to address the needs of all stakeholders across the tiers of the supply chain network, and with the marketplace/private trading exchange (PTX) tool as well, PipeChain can connect trading partners at various levels of the supply chain and deliver a value proposition of information connectivity and collaboration.
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