We Blog ERP

Last Thursday, August 12, Oracle filed a lawsuit against Google for patent infringement. Oracle believes that Google knowingly infringed Oracle’s copyrights when developing the Android mobile devices. Oracle is suing Google in the Northern District Court of California over seven different patents.

Google’s Android violates several patents from Sun Microsystems, which Oracle acquired in 2009. These patents are related to Java technology. They include protection against systems performing static initialization, protection domains and more which are listed below. A spokesperson at Oracle, Karen Tillman, released a statement regarding the suit on Thursday evening. Tillman said, “In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property. This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement.” Oracle also requested a jury trial, which could ultimately lead to an injunction on the infringing software and monetary damages for profits that Google made off of Android.

Google used Java applications running on a Java-based framework for Android but failed to sign a licensing agreement with Sun Microsystems. Google is choosing to defend its actions because it lived up to its open-source standards. Google released a statement on Friday to respond to the lawsuit. Google said, “We are disappointed Oracle has chosen to attack both Google and the open-source Java community with this baseless lawsuit. The open-source Java community goes beyond any one corporation and works every day to make the web a better place. We will strongly defend open-source standards and will continue to work with the industry to develop the Android platform.”

It is likely that this law suit could drag on and that the fight could get messy. Some are speculating that the real winner from this lawsuit will be Microsoft and its new Windows Phone 7 because it might have a chance to increase sales while the Android devices are under fire.

The seven patents in question are listed below.

1. 6,125,447: “Protection domains to provide security in a computer system.”
2. 6,192,476: “Controlling access to a resource.”
3. 5,966,702: Method and apparatus for pre-processing and packaging class files.”
4. 7,426,720: “System and method for dynamic preloading of classes through memory space cloning of a master runtime system process.”
5. RE38,104: “Method and apparatus for resolving data references in generated code.”
6. 6,910,205: “Interpreting functions utilizing a hybrid of virtual and native machine instructions.”
7. 6,061,520: “Method and system for performing static initialization.”

Technorati Tags: android, google, google android, lawsuit, Microsoft, Oracle, patent infringement, sun microsystems, windows phone 7

Sybase, an SAP company that provides mobile ERP software, today released an update its Sybase Unwired Platform, a platform for producing mobile ERP applications.

The platform allows enterprise developers to easily and rapidly build applications that enable mobile devices to access business data. It includes a tooling environment, integration with a variety os different ERP solutions, and support for Windows Mobile, Windows laptops and tablets, iPhone, and Blackberry. Sybase has several global partners that produce their own unique mobile ERP applications.

Sybase partners have found varied uses for the Unwired Platform. Bluefin produced an iPhone app that provides critical sales and customer information for sales people and managers on the move. HCL Axon, a consultancy that sells services to SAP customers, is creating mobile ERP applications that extend SAP solution capabilities for industries like utilities, oil and gas, travel and logistics, and financial services.

Independent CRM consulting company Maihiro designed its CRM to Go for Mobile Business application that allows mobile sales and CRM data access from devices including BlackBerrys, iPhones, and Windows Mobiles. NEO Business Partners has a NEO Mobile Suite, a host of mobile applications for SAP ERP and CRM that allows its customers to work on service orders and notifications offline on their mobile smartphones.

Gary Kovacs, senior vice president at Sybase, says, “Sybase offers the most comprehensive expertise and platform for mobilizing SAP solutions, as well as for rapid development and deployment of custom mobile offerings in the industry. Our leading mobility platform is fueling our partner ecosystem and extending our reach globally, enabling us to successfully transform businesses through enterprise-wide mobility solutions.”

Besides the Sybase Unwired Platform, Sybase also provides its own custom mobile ERP applications that accompany standard SAP solutions, which include Sybase Mobile Sales for SAP CRM and Sybase Mobile Workflow for SAP Business Suite.

Technorati Tags: mobile ERP, SAP, Sybase

According to research from McAfee’s Trust Digital team, about 75% of IT executives plan to make internal business applications accessible by mobile device in the oncoming year. Further, 57% of survey participants said they will extend remote mobile access beyond email to CRM, ERP, and other proprietary applications. 45% will have device support for the iPhone and Android by popular request from employees, though BlackBerry support has been most prevalent in the past.

The Trust Digital survey was conducted with 150 large U.S. companies to find out how senior IT management executives plan to utilize mobile devices as a part of IT infrastructure within the next year.

The looming tidal wave of smartphone devices – Android, iPhones, iPads, and other technological tomfoolery – will hit workplaces very soon, and organizations have to prepare for it, concludes McAfee. “Heterogeneity is real and enterprises are saying, ‘I have to learn to deal with it,’” says David Goldschlag, vice president of mobile technologies at McAfee.

Additionally, the survey indicated a shift from using corporate-supplied technology to enabling employees’ personal devices. About a third of respondents reported a desire to make this change to personal smartphones. Most organizations view employee smartphone use as a cost-saver, but the issue is making the devices secure and compliant with enterprise infrastructure.

Still, by all appearances, mobile ERP looks like the inevitable future. In the contemporary business, especially over a global market, workplace mobility is crucial. More employees over a larger work cycle can be utilized through telecommuting. With a mobile device connected to CRM or ERP data, critical sales or customer information can be available while on the go. These advantages are converging with a consumer mania of smart devices that will eventually bleed into the workplace. Providing mobile ERP access as a standard practice cannot be too far off.

Technorati Tags: mcafee, mobile ERP

Let’s talk numbers. CDC Software Corporation, a hybrid enterprise software provider of on-premise and cloud deployments, recently announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. For the second quarter of 2010, Non-GAAP revenue was up $3.4 million from Q2 last year at $54.0 million and Non-GAAP net income was down $0.6 million from Q2 of 2009 at $7.8 million. They’ve had a slight decrease in their Q2 2010 Adjusted EBITDA at $11.7 million, compared to $10.6 million in the first quarter of 2010 and $13.7 million in the second quarter of 2009.

Second quarter 2010 application sales increased 73 percent to $13.5 million, from $7.8 million in the second quarter of 2009. Application sales are comprised of license revenue plus new secured total contract value of SaaS contracts. Secured Total Contract Value (STCV) is the contract dollar amount for the duration of the contracts for all SaaS contracts secured, including new logo contracts, upsell, rental, as well as all renewals received by the end of the quarter. The company’s estimates, announced in June 2010, provided that application sales during the second quarter of 2010 would increase by approximately 33-42 percent from the second quarter of 2009. The higher than expected results were due primarily to organic growth in the company’s core product lines.

License revenue from new logo sales in the second quarter of 2010 increased 131 percent to $3.0 million, compared to $1.3 million in the second quarter of 2009. New logo sales in the second quarter primarily came from the company’s Pivotal CRM, CDC Factory, CDC gomembers and China-based Human Resource Management products.

Second quarter 2010 license revenue increased by 13 percent to $8.8 million, compared to $7.8 million in the second quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP SaaS revenue(a) increased 53 percent to $2.6 million, compared to $1.7 million in the first quarter of 2010. STCV was $4.7 million, compared to $480,000 in the first quarter of 2010, due to organic growth, as well as recent acquisitions. Also, the number of enterprise deals (which includes on-premise and SaaS product lines, but excludes SaaS renewals) in the second quarter of 2010 totaled 344, compared to 249 in the second quarter of 2009 (which did not include SaaS). The number of new logo deals in the second quarter of 2010 increased to 120, compared to 108 in the second quarter of 2009.

“We are very pleased with the strong growth in application sales that included a significant increase in new logo organic sales from our Front Office, Plant Floor, China-based HRM on-premise applications and CDC gomembers SaaS solutions,” said Bruce Cameron, president of CDC Software. “We have also been seeing our SaaS applications serve as mission critical solutions for our customers, as our SaaS renewal rates averaged approximately 95 percent in the second quarter of 2010. Based upon the increase in SaaS revenue we have seen, our preliminary estimates and projections, and our projected bookings so far this year, we expect to see double digit quarter-to-quarter growth in SaaS revenue for at least the next few quarters. With SaaS revenue continuing to grow at a greater rate than our other revenue streams, and assuming modest maintenance revenue growth, we continue to expect to reach our goal of achieving recurring revenue closer to 70 percent of total revenue in the next few years.”

Technorati Tags: CDC Software, ERP, financial report Q2 2010

Today, Lawson Software, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and service provider, announced that the City of Savannah, Georgia, decided to deploy some of Lawson’s ERP applications. Savannah needed to cut costs and increase financial transparency. The city decided to deploy the Lawson Human Capital Management, Enterprise Financial Management and Supply Chain Management suites, in addition to the Lawson Business Intelligence application.

The City of Savannah is the largest city in Chatham County, Georgia, with over 130,000 residents. Savannah had an outdated system and needed to address the growth of its population with an up to date and modern enterprise-wide system. Savannah’s original IT system was fifteen years old and restricted growth. The city was looking for an experienced company to provide it with the updated ERP software, which is why it chose Lawson.

Joy Wilkinson, the ERP project manager of the City of Savannah, said, “We chose Lawson because of the depth and proven functionality of its software applications, as well as Lawson’s knowledge and expertise in the public sector. In addition, Lawson can provide both the software and implementation services under one roof, which was very important to us.” With Lawson’s ERP applications, Savannah will be able to move forward and handle the growth.

Deploying these applications will help the City of Savannah streamline human resources processes. The city will be able to save a lot of money by automating these processes and increasing financial efficiency. Productivity will be increased as well with the ERP software. Lawson’s Enterprise Financial Management application will help the city efficiently track and manage its budget and finances. Savannah will be able to view reports with the application to track financial performance and transparency across different departments. The Human Capital Management application will save Savannah’s office the time, money, and effort of doing simple administrative tasks. The Supply Chain Management application will improve supply chain visibility, resource allocation and more. Lawson’s Strategic Sourcing application will help the city manage goods, services and contracts. The final application, Lawson Business Intelligence, will provide accurate information helping Savannah to increase effectiveness.

Lawson is very confident in the ERP applications that it has provided for the City of Savannah. Brian Murphy, the General Manager of the Public Sector for Lawson, commented on Savannah’s decision to deploy Lawson applications. He said, “The city of Savannah’s upgrade to a 21^st century IT system will help provide increased financial transparency to its citizens, which in turn helps support greater accountability and more accurate reporting. By cutting across all functional business areas, the city’s new enterprise-wide system will help generate operational efficiencies and ultimately help reduce costs.”

The contract was signed on May 31, 2010. Lawson will gradually implement all of the ERP services and applications.

Technorati Tags: Business Intelligence, enterprise financial management, ERP, ERP Software, Human Capital Management, lawson, Lawson Software, Supply Chain Management

This past week, Microsoft Dynamics AX for the retail industry made its public release. The ERP solution is currently available in 16 markets, including North America, parts of Europe, and parts of Asia; in the coming months, the product will be expanded to 22 additional markets.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is intended for midsized specialty retailers. It offers functionalities for point of sale, store management, supply chain management, merchandising, business analytics, and customer service. The ERP product operates in role-defined user interfaces that provide different application overviews based on the user’s employee role in the company. It also fully integrates with other Microsoft solutions and services.

An example of Microsoft Dynamic AX retail-specific function is managing loyalty points campaigns. At the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in July, a demonstration showed how loyalty points earned by customers could be totaled by a touch screen or card swipe, which is immediately recognized in the retailer’s ERP system.

In order to address these challenges, retailers need to adopt what we call a “Connected Experience for Retail,” said Michael Griffiths, Global Directory of Product Management in a Microsoft press release. “Connected is the ability to capture customer information at the point of sale and have it populate in real time at headquarters and across the entire chain of stores to be acted upon immediately; Connected is the store associate who can provide real time visibility to a customer about product availability and location – helping build loyalty and differentiated service; Connected is a RoleTailored user experience for each employee optimized to drive speed of service, reduce training times, and drive organizational efficiency. Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail offers all of this and more out of the box. It’s more than another retail solution – it’s a new philosophy in how to deliver a retail solution, reduce complexity, and address the pain that retailers have been feeling for a long time.”

Griffiths also noted that Microsoft partners, “including Aldata, Columbus IT, Avanade, Tectura Corp., Maginus, Ideaca, and the Microsoft Dynamics Retail partner of the year, Junction Solutions,” have already met with success in deploying the ERP application for retail businesses.

Technorati Tags: microsoft dynamics AX

At the Black Hat tech security/hacker convention last week, Dasient Inc., an anti-malware security provider, released a report, “Structural Vulnerabilities on Websites: Why Enterprise Websites Are Vulnerable to Malware Attacks,” that outlines the biggest security leaks on company websites.

According to data by Microsoft and Websense and cited by Dasient, malware infection has been on the rise in recent years.

The report finds that three third-party elements make up the key security risks of malware infection: third party widgets, advertising, and outdated web applications.

Dasient finds that 75% of enterprise websites use third-party JavaScript widgets. The more of these apps that a website combines, the more opportunities there are for the site to be compromised. Even third-party providers that are legitimate can be hacked.

42% of websites were found to rely on third-party advertising, which is susceptible to malvertising. This includes a 41% of financial institutions that use third-party advertising on parts of their website where crucial financial advice was being exchanged among online communities.

A massive 91% of websites were found to be running outdated, vulnerable third party applications, which can include CMS, CRM, help desk, and other web-based enterprise software.

“In today’s online world, it is highly unlikely that enterprises will rely completely on using all their own software on their websites – they depend on third parties to supply widgets, applications and ads to offer functionality and interactivity for many parts of their websites,” says Neil Daswani, one of the founders of Dasient. “Even while maintaining high security standards for the parts of the website that they directly manage, many enterprises have much less control over the security practices of these third-party providers, offering attackers easy, backdoor access to legitimate websites. If any of these third parties become compromised or infected, the entire website can be turned into a vehicle for the distribution of web-based malware, significantly damaging the enterprises’ business.”

Number of Entries on the Google Safe Browsing Malware List

Courtesy of Google

To prevent such security breaks, Dasient recommends vetting third-party associates for security practices, proactive website monitoring, and detection and remediation Web Anti-Malware (WAM) services to automatically monitor and contain malware infections.

Technorati Tags: dasient, malware

In its report “Technology Trends 2010/2011,” IT research consultancy Computer Economics finds that ERP software, out of 19 different technology areas, has the most investment and development. The analysis was conducted between January and April of this year, and included extensive surveying of 210 senior IT managers from various businesses.

As quoted from the report: “About two-thirds of all organizations in the study have ERP systems and about half of the organizations are investing in these systems, either by expanding the capabilities of systems that are already in place or implementing an ERP system for the first time.”

Other technologies with similarly heavy investment, but less maturity, include renewal of legacy systems, unified communications, CRM systems, and mobile applications. Video conferencing has generally low investment, but a high degree of adoption. Technologies such as Windows 7 migration, social networking, and desktop virtualization have a high investment, but a smaller degree of adoption. The lowest in both investment and adoption trends are 10G Ethernet, infrastructure in the cloud, open-source applications, and RFID systems.

“Unified communications is a fast-growth, emerging technology with positive economic experience profile. On the other hand, legacy system renewal is a well-established IT initiative that seems to be attracting ongoing interest. Organizations are choosing to modernize their older applications, making them more flexible and integrated, rather than rip and replace them with new applications.”

The report also noted that companies recently tended to consolidate applications into single interfaces. While this has not so far been a major investment, application consolidation is a rising trend. 16% of those surveyed have consolidated applications and are increasing their current investment, and 20% are planning to consolidate in the future.

In recent recessionary years, ERP software has been a popular option for many companies. The idea is to increase productivity among workers wherever possible instead of hiring new ones.

Technorati Tags: computer economics, technology trends 2010/2011

SAP today announced the availability of Business ByDesign feature pack 2.5, as well as three new predefined starter packages. BusinessByDesign is an on-demand business management suite. The feature pack is now available in China, France, Germany, India, Great Britain, and the United States.

The new update includes additions such as real-time in-memory analytics, mobile device support, and a customizable user interface. On-demand deployment has also been made easier.

As listed in SAP’s public release, The BusinessByDesign starter packages are:

Customer relationship management (CRM) start package – The CRM starter package provides customers with best business practices for sales force automation (SFA), enabling them to efficiently generate leads, manage all stages of the sales process and close deals, while laying the foundation to expand to the entire order-to-cash process. The CRM starter package can be implemented in approximately three weeks at a fixed implementation price of $13,500 (EUR 9,900) and a special subscription price of $89 (EUR 79) per user.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) starter package – The ERP starter package provides customers that have outgrown accounting-only systems with the integrated financials, accounting and analytics capabilities needed to manage the next stage of growth.. The package can be implemented in approximately six weeks or less and is available at a fixed implementation price of $37,500 (EUR 24,900) and the usual subscription price of $149 (EUR 133) per user.

Professional service provider (PSP) starter package – The PSP starter package is designed to give small businesses and midsize professional services firms affordable access to the world-class business process management capabilities they need to not only manage their businesses end to end, but also to level the playing field against well-capitalized competitors. Designed to go live in approximately eight weeks, the PSP starter package is available for a fixed implementation price of $45,000 (EUR 34,900) and the usual subscription price of $149 (EUR 133) per user.

SAP intends on attracting SMEs with these new product additions (starter packages are available for as few as 10 users). However, the listed prices, especially for the ERP and PSP packages, look too hefty for businesses that tiny.

“With the general availability of feature pack 2.5 we have achieved a major milestone,” says Peter Lorenz, executive vice president at SAP. “By providing this new release, we deliver substantial innovation to support our customers’ business needs today and tomorrow. The on-demand services for SAP Business ByDesign are operated on the most modern cloud infrastructure and allow for true volume business. We also expect the new starter packages to enable our customers to quickly adopt the services and realize immediate results on their path to an integrated on-demand suite.”

Technorati Tags: Business ByDesign, SAP

Today, Deacom Inc., an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions provider, announced the availability of mobile access to the DEACOM Integrated Accounting and ERP Software System.

Deacom, based in Pennsylvania and in operation since 1995, specializes in creating ERP software for manufacturing industries, including lumber, millwork, pharmaceutical, specialty chemical, cosmetic, food and beverage, and others.

screenshot of DEACOM interface

The mobile DEACOM app, usable through any smartphone, provides access to ERP data that includes sales orders, purchase orders, production jobs, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). However, this data may only be viewed as Read-Only documents. Also, company logos can be extended onto this mobile ERP app.

Jim Read, Senior Software Developer at Deacom says, “As a configurable function of the DEACOM ERP System, Mobile DEACOM can expose as much or as little real-time data to employees, customers, or vendors, depending on your company’s needs.”

This is a part of a spate of mobile enterprise applications released in response to recent smartphone popularity. Mobile devices are increasingly prevalent in the workplace, allowing employees to telecommunicate or remain connected from any location. For global and traveling workforces, mobile ERP and CRM are especially important in that they provide access to critical information in any location.

More information about Deacom’s mobile ERP solution can be found at their website at www.deacom.net.

Technorati Tags: Deacom ERP