
SAP and SuccessFactors Acquisition Q&A
This Saturday SAP announced its $3.4B acquisition of SuccessFactors and even though in the recent months they had dropped some hints they were looking to make an acquisition very few had SuccessFactors being the likely candidate. I would expect a lot more information and clarity to come out in the coming months but thought I […]

Why Workday is a Major Threat to SAP
If you asked a majority of people who will be SAP’s biggest competitor in the coming years my guess is the names Oracle and Salesforce would be the two most commonly mentioned. If I had to place a bet I would say the right answer is Workday for a number of reasons which I will outline below.

Vindicated by SaaS
<Shameless chest-thumping below. You’ve been warned.> In 2008 I said: I am a strong believer that in 4-5 years most software developed will be SaaS, and that in 10 years it will be the predominant method of “consuming” software by large enterprises. Today IDC says (as cited by Joe McKendrick @ ZDNet): By 2012, IDC […]

SAP Business ByDesign Video – Plain and Simple, Making Fun of …Wow, ERP!
We’re just having an intense internal debate in the Enterprise Irregulars group whether SAP’s Business ByDesign (ByD) is late to the market and what it all means, when hot off the press here’s a promotional video, that’s not so much ByD advertising but a SMB / SME SaaS 101, and a very good one at […]

NetSuite, Manufacturing, Ecosystems and a Better Way to Compete
We’ve covered NetSuite substentially @ CloudAve – to the point that I’ve run into trouble with my title: I already used NetSuite vs SAP … Round #n. A Game Changer? so what should I call this one? NetSuitevs SAP Round #n+1? 🙂 All right, let’s get serious: NetSuite launched a Manufacturing Edition today. Dennis Howlett […]

NetSuite vs SAP … Round #n. A Game Changer?
In my recent Suites post I said there were exactly 1.5 (one and a half) integrated full business solutions (SaaS Suite, SaaS All-In-One, SaaS ERP, SaaS SMB ERP – take your pick or create a new one) offered as a service. The one in that equation was NetSuite, and the half is SAP’s Business ByDesign. […]

FUD in the House of SaaS – More on Suites
Recently I wrote about the evergreen Best-of-breed vs. Integrated All-in-One Suite debate again, arguing: Call me “old school”, but I also believe in the value of having one tightly integrated system for most business needs, and I believe it’s true not only for large corporations but much smaller businesses. I don’t have CIO’s to back […]
Edgy Marketing: Great Plains and SAP Guy vs. NetSuite Guy (Mac vs PC)
You’ve seen Great Plains and SAP, now in the Grand Finale they come together to match up against Mac .. I mean the NetSuite Guy: (Disclosure – Ben and I are attending NetSuite’s SuiteCloud conference and the company covers our expenses.)
Edgy Marketing: SAP Guy vs. NetSuite Guy (Mac vs. PC parody)
You’ve seen the Great Plains version, and I’ve told you to wait for the SAP version…. here we go: Fun aside, SAP’s Business ByDesign is coming… (most likely) … in the second half of the year. I can’t wait to see a SAP video. (Disclosure – Ben and I are attending NetSuite’s SuiteCloud conference and […]

Are Suites Really Sour? The Best of Breed vs. Integrated Suite Debate.
The evergreen Best-of-breed vs. Integrated All-in-One Suite debate is back again. This will be a somewhat long post, so let’s sit back and start with some entertainment first. Episode 2, “Suites Are Sour” is from the mini-series SuiteMates, which I admit I find hilariously entertaining, albeit rather pointless. Why? It’s run by supply chain solution […]
The Sleek and the Geek @ SAP
Need more proof that being co-CEOS is an awkward situation? Watch this SiliconAngle video between 0:20 and 0:35 🙂 Of course you can watch the whole thing… and read these reports of the press event: Oracle Who? SAP Co-CEOs Slam Oracle – They Are The Old Way SAP State of The Union: The CEOs Talk […]

SAP’s On-Demand Portfolio: Powerpoint for Now
John Wookey has a tough job. The former Oracle Exec, currently EVP @ SAP, the Enterprise Software leader is supposed to charter SAP’s foray into On-Demand – in a company whose bread-and-butter is clearly in installed applications and which still largely considers a threat to its traditional lucrative business. He spent the first 6 months […]
The Cat is Out of the Bag (Again): The Hidden (?) Business Model in SaaS
Forget software: it’s all about (your) data. Hyper-growing Financial Management system provider and Quicken / MS Money challenger Mint recently raised eyebrows announcing their plan to sell anonymized aggregate customer data. Some reviewers were screaming, we saw bombastic titles like Personal Finance Startup Mint Wants To Sell Your Money Trail – but in reality the […]

Business ByNetSuite vs Business ByDesign, Take Two
NetSuite, provider of Web-based integrated business systems for the SMB market is going after bigger fish: the leader in Enterprise Software, SAP. The aptly named Business ByNetsuite program guarantees at least 50% savings to current SAP R/3 customers relative to – watch this! – the annual maintenance fees they are now paying to SAP. Yes, […]

NetSuite Goes After SAP – But Where is Business ByDesign?
Ben recently reported on how NetSuite is going after Salesforce.com, by announcing their Renewforce program. Today NetSuite is going after bigger fish: the leader in Enterprise Software, SAP. The aptly named Business ByNetsuite program guarantees at least 50% savings to current SAP R/3 customers relative to – watch this! – the annual maintenance fees they […]