The ERP Arena Update:

By Suren:

So what been happening in the ERP Arena over the past 2 weeks, well there is quite a lot of interesting events that have unfolded and are still unfolding as you read this article.

SAP and ORACLE are at it again.

We all know that the TomorrowNow saga wasn’t over by a long way. It was just ruled out for sometime but now the court hearing is getting close and many analysts believe this could be the final hearing. If Oracle does succeed in its damage claim of $1B then, SAP’s operating cash flow is going to take a hit; the figure seems to be approx 20%, not to mention the sunk cost of legal administration fees and punitive damages already incurred.

SAP’s & Capgemini Cloud services

SAP has certified Capgemini U.S LLC as their first vendor for their capabilities to deliver and manage SAP® applications via Capgemini’s cloud delivery platform. This could be interesting since other giants like IBM; Accenture will be after SAP for this certification very soon. Once they go for this, then they’ll be all out beginning to convince clients worldwide about the benefits of Cloud computing, give them best rates for this service and move the whole ERP Industry towards cloud computing around the next 10 years itself.

So if you are a consultant I would recommend that you up skill yourself with cloud computing technologies such as hosted solutions SAP has to offer like BusinessByDesign, NetSuite Cloud software, Streamwork etc.

Sybase & SAP

If you have been a regular reader of my site you know that SAP took over Sybase sometime back for circa $5.8bn (£3.63bn),but then the questions was what was SAP’s product strategic for it.

Well just as expected it has come to light that SAP were looking to enter the game of Mobile Apps platform that will be closely integrated with their back-end business solutions. Sybase announced a new version of its mobile application development platform that is tightly integrated with SAP’s back-end business data.

Sybase’s Unwired Platform version 1.5.2 has a SAP connectivity plug-in which allows developers to directly access SAP data sources and develop mobile applications for SAP and other business applications which perhaps are also tightly integrated with SAP. SAP and Sybase were always developer partners for their integrated solutions so; it was just a matter of time for something of this sort to happen.

Hope you found this informative, will keep you posted on new happenings as they unfold. For comments mail me at ssurenlk@msn.com

GREEN ERP !!

By Suren

Many of you have probably heard the term "Be Green". First Green Planet, Green Energy, then came Green House Manufacturing and now, Green ERP??!! The first question in everyone’s mind would be how can we expect an ERP System to be green and in turn contribute to our planet’s green environment?

Well, I did some reading on this and this is what I have come to unearth (green talk). I am sure you have all at some point of time seen those IBM Ads that talk about how a green system could help the environment; well this was my starting point.

Though people term it as Green ERP what it really means is how the ERP provides different industry specific solution that provides the information necessary for the management to help with their strategic green initiatives. Some of the best industry solutions that the ERP Vendors would need to look at to be able to term their ERP as Greener than others, would be industries associated with transportation and manufacturing.

Simply put, the better functionalities available in the system to be able to track and monitor the logistical operation with a financial view point, will help identify those processes that are not value adding and at the same time have a high consumption of non-renewable resources, and by identifying and eliminating these will help towards the achievement of being a more green company.

Some examples (without going into too many details):

1. Take for instance a manufacturing company that often only ships goods, however if their production takes more time than anticipated, they would have to airfreight them adding to more fuel consumption per unit of the good transported as opposed to sea freight, so there you go with an ERP they could plan better and meet their deadlines and in turn contribute to the environment, evidence of Green ERP!!

2. By using an ERP systems functionality to select the best routes possible for a transportation company, will help reduce their fuel consumption, this was actually practiced by a well known company that helped it reduce their fuel bills by upto 30% and thereby contribute to their global green strategy.

3. In the service sector perhaps by identifying the resource requirements of personals involved will help to better plan their time, so if its identified that the service personal has no need to travel anywhere for a particular day, maybe the management could ask him to work from home, this would save on his/her travelling time and thereby help reduce whatever little fuel he/she might use in getting to work. After all, the energy saved at work by that person working from home is also likely to contribute to a green initiative, and did you know, studies show that employees working from home put it more productive hours than they would at office.

4. With the new software solution model architectures such as “SaaS”, means that hosted solution by the ERP Vendor will help the client’s costs in terms of energy and related costs associated with having to maintain their own server rooms, infrastructure etc. When looking at these implications at a larger scale it does seem to point out that there is a green impact that software model architectures like these have.

5. Not to forget the paperless office that an ERP System can bring to an organization. Less paper means more trees saved which in turn helps in lowering temperatures, filtering dust, and absorbing ozone, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, and by of course releasing oxygen, and there we go a direct connection on how an ERP can be Green!!

The above list is not exhaustive; there are many more examples that can be given, but for now this is it, perhaps in the future I shall posts more!!

Have a nice day!!

Your comments, suggestions and questions are welcomed at: ssurenlk@msn.com