SAP Business ByDesign delayed
April 29, 2008
Just as I am preparing to head off for meetings with SAP at their annual customer conference in Orlando and with representatives at a gathering of Business for Social Responsibility, news has come in that general availability of SAP Business ByDesign is almost certainly going to be delayed through 2009.
Details as to why the delay has occurred are thin on the ground but I am speculating this has something to do with the way in which the product has been designed. SAP has adopted what is known as a ‘mega-tenant’ design. This allows it to ensure complete separation of customer databases on data centre ‘blades.’ This is good news for customers concerned about security, but means it is more difficult to scale the service compared to ‘multi-tenant‘ designs where all customer data usually resides on a single database instance.
Competitors like Salesforce.com are bound to make a meal of this news but it need not be fatal to SAP’s aspirations in the mid-market. 18 months is a long time in software and while it gives CODA a head start in terms of deliverables, SAP is still the brand to beat. The fact SAP claims 150 beta customers is indication enough the product is in the works. My real concern though is that Peter Zencke, who led the development effort is scheduled to retire at the end of the year though he is said to be retaining a consulting role with the company.
More details to follow once I’ve had the opportunity to discuss the issues with SAP executives. That will be in the next few days.
NetSuite on BT Business: will it work?
April 29, 2008
I’m somewhat late on this not that it matters. Stuart Lauchlan has the details of a deal which sees NetSuite (and SugarCRM) get a distribution leg up using BT Business. According to Stuart, Zach Nelson, NetSuite’s CEO is bullish about the arrangement while acknowledging the difficulties of the past:
Frankly it was too early for such a venture in the market. But this is the right idea at the right time now, given the fact so many of the IT services SMBs consume are in the cloud. It was probably too early for both of us. We were just learning how to sell this thing ourselves and it was unclear then that SaaS would definitely be the future. It was unclear that the integrated suite approach would be the future. In some respects, it’s a blessing in disguise that the relationship didn’t go forward. The opportunity that we have now with BT is to have a much broader relationship. BT is well positioned and has a strong relationship with every SME in the UK.
I’m a lot less enthusiastic. BT Business is attempting to become a one stop shop for a variety of services, of which these are but two. (I know of several other deals in the works but under non-disclosure) So far, I see no signs of what I would call life though I can fully understand the allure of going with the UK’s bandwidth wholesaler. The problem is not a question of service offering maturity but BT’s culture. It’s not a marketing organization at heart, it flogs bandwidth and airtime. That’s its core business and one it understands very well. As for the rest? How many times have we seen it attempt to become something it’s not?
When I see the current crop of BT TV adverts, they give me no clue that they’re in the apps business. They continue the belief that the company’s focus is elsewhere.
Given what I know about NetSuite pricing (all the reports are silent on this point) and the need for it to be implemented in the tradition of other mid-range applications, I really can’t see this partnership working. But then I have been proven wrong more times than enough in the past so never, say never.
Zoho’s serious move on Excel
April 28, 2008
I’ve written a brief review cum opinion piece about Zoho’s announcement that it’s added limited support for Visual Basic macros and pivot tables to its spreadsheet service. I’ve also posed a question to Simon Hurst about this over at IT Counts (private registration, sorry) where I ask whether in his opinion these new additions represent the kind of game changers that could help tip Zoho towards the mainstream and pose a threat to Microsoft.
I’m genuinely excited about this. While I personally hate messing around with pivot tables I know they’re beloved by my professional bretheren who see them as a way of doing some funky analysis. I’m thinking about it beyond analysis.
Just as we had Winforecast, until it became part of the Sage stable, Zoho could - and I emphasize could - become the bones of a reporting and analysis engine for the many finance applications that are starting to emerge. Some will say that baking analytics into the application is enough. I disagree. At least for now. Accounting data serves many purposes and right now, the emphasis is on user specific requirements. That’s fine except we should never forget that regulatory purposes need attention. If Zoho can become a reporting engine then it means someone, somewhere can make a very nice living by providing that service. Just an idea.
My del.icio.us bookmarks for April 28th
April 28, 2008
These are my del.icio.us bookmarks for April 28th:
- Microsoft Says Yes With Mesh - You need your brain in high gear to fully comprehend what Steve Gillmor's trying to say here. The effort is worth it
- Morgan Stanley’s March Internet Trends Report: Social Applications Dominating - If you have any interest in consumer trends in social applications and how they're likely to impact the future then Mary Meeker's analysis is well worth the reading. The sections on mobile usage are interesting.
- QIK | Streaming video right from your phone - I missed this but Jeff was doing a great job
- Influential Marketing Blog: Innocent Drinks Introduces Their First “Annual Grown Up Meeting” - Innocent Drinks continue to innovate
- Community Managers and Managing Communities | Venture Chronicles - Interesting take on the issue of community management
- What Twitter brings to the party | Outside the Lines - CNET News.com - Part 2 and a good discussion to get people thinking about the value Twitter brings
- Twitter: Where Nobody Knows Your Name | Kara Swisher | BoomTown | AllThingsD - Opening salvo in the deate about the extent to which we're navel gazing
- Social Networking Needs CMO Lead - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy - Worth considering the implications for professional sites
