Big boys’ backyard !!

By S.Suren

The backyard I am referring to is India. It has been recognised as one of the fastest growing SAP subsidiaries and given the future plans that SAP has, such as to increase the customer base to upto 15000 in 2010 from its present number of 3000 odd, industry analyst are definitely keeping a close eye on proceedings there. Its stated that the increase in customer number from 2006 to 2007 is a 100% increase.

Not forgeting the other Big boy "Oracle", their last quarter of 2007 has been good and industry experts are focusing this to be a continuing trend into this year too. 2007 saw an increase of 28% from their 2006 revenue. Given the abundant supply of IT Graduates in India, a simple ad for a software engineering vacancy could see 35000 applicants, showing the potential of the region, something that many MNCs have come to make use of and at the same time contributing to leverage this driving aspect of India's Booming economy. See how ORACLE has done in India.

With analyst forecasting that 2008 would be the year of the ERPs, expect something this year, the earlier signs you get the better position you'll be able to predict where to place yourself and the oppurtunities to create.

I'll be posting up-to-date info and do my best to give you a head start on on whats shaping up based on my research findings.

All the best...hope you found this article useful !!!

Have a nice day !!

MSN : ssurenlk@msn.com

Birth of SAP AFS !!

Hi All,

Upon request from some readers and being in the AFS Domain myself, I shall also update this site with relevant information on SAP AFS.

Starting off I will be posting a few articles I had already posted on some other AFS sites, so please bear with me if you have already read these.

Many people wonder how SAP AFS IS was conceptualized. There needed to be some sort of an activity that spurred the development of the SAP AFS Industry Solution.

This initiation was taken by Dr.Peter Zencke in January 1996. Dr. Peter Zencke, a mathematician and economist, joined SAP in 1984. As a member of the Executive Board of SAP AG since 1993, he has led major development areas for SAP R/3 and SAP industry solutions.

In January 1996, he called on the SAP Munich development group to develop an industry solution to cater to the needs of the apparel and footwear industries and this was to be delivered by December 1997 and voila the SAP Apparel and Footwear Solution was born.

The new solution was developed in conjunction with such industry leaders as Reebok International Ltd and VF Corp and today this solution is being used by more than 60+ SAP AFS Customers worldwide.

There you go, thanks to initiative taken by people like Dr.Peter Zencke that SAP Continues to dominate in the world of ERPs and consistently spring out solutions for emerging industries.

Hope you found this post informative and interesting.

Have a nice day!!

S.Suren

MSN : ssurenlk@msn.com

Too much of buzz around SCM!!

In this article I thought I’ll discuss about the basic of SCM. Generally people refer to this terms as mainly related to those components of a system that deal with the supplier, i.e.purchaisng, stock transfers etc, however this concepts spans way beyond just those on the supplier side, it emcompases all the components involved with in the coordination and movement of goods from supplier to end customers, where manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing functions are also likely to be carried out.

It mainly concentrates on the exchange of information within the different parties in the supply chain network.

The ability to perform the above in the most efficient manner will determine the benefits that can be achieved with a lean and well organized supply chain. Some of the main components you would find in a SCM solution would be as follows :

• Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
• Transportation Management (TM)
• Supply Chain Event management (SCEM)
• Warehouse Management (WM)
• Planning
• Order Management
• Production
• Purchasing Management
• Demand & Supply Management

With the increasing importance of technology in SCM a lot depends on the ability of the various different technologies used throughout, to integrate and support each other well and most importantly in the context of the industry and environment they co-exist in.

A good SCM system will help bring about the following benefits:

• Improved GP through the reduction in the cost of good sold.
• Improved Stock Management through
• Reduced inventory holding costs
• Reduced Stock Out situations
• Proper use of a JIT System
• Proper planning of purchase related activities.
• Ability to be flexible as per the demands of the markets.

All this will lead to better customer service, thereby ultimately leading to Increased bottom-line profitability too.

Hope this gave you a brief on what SCM is and its main components.

S.Suren

The Business Model that worked…

It is a known fact that large ERP vendors work with many different partners in order to have a wider reach, but if this is the case why have only a few ERP Vendors succeeded more significantly that the rest.

SAP for instance follows an approach where if there are entering a new industry for the first time, during the project they setup partnerships with the relevant parties within that domain experience to build a team of experts who can then move onto other projects within the industry, and with this structure and the increase in demand for the consultants in these new domains came the opportunities for independent consulting.

Whereas other vendors have always been stuck with the model where they feel that whenever they do move into a new industry with a solution, they need to keep that within their expertise and therefore setup a structure where they would have a direct influence in the operations of that entity.

Independent Consulting…

There are many ERP Vendors who have been rigid about their policies when it comes to independent consulting on their products, though in revenue terms it would be the right thing to do, the intangible benefits of this tend to have a direct impact on the support and selection of implementation teams available for potential clients.

With more independent consultants around, the product is promoted through these individual sales representatives and the product specific knowledge is made available more widely, this is something that I am sure that many SAP Consultants around the world would agree with.

The popular saying is that “IT has shrunk the world” and if ERP Vendors want to bring their consultants closer, they will need to work on that line….and we are seeing some large ERP Vendors already on the move with doing this.

Have a nice day!!

S.Suren

The ERP Life Cycle that was forgotten !!

By S.Suren

With increasing information needs comes increased complications, this is just normal in any industry. ERP not being any exception to this, comes with its sets of complication with these complication came many different project life cycles, software development methodologies etc etc. But one thing that is slowing disappearing into the mist (so to speak) is the standard ERP Life Cycle Chart, yes this life cycle too is subject to change, but its the best among the ones out there that describes the basic (no one can deny) phases of an ERP Project Implementation.

So....here it is :



Have a nice day !!!

Ladies & Gentlemen !! , Please Welcome ...……. !!!

By. S.Suren

We all know that Business Objects is now part of SAP, and that Crystal Report was taken over by business objects some time back. Now with SAP having its own query methods in the application and with Crystal report being regarded as one of the best report writing software, its only about time I guess that we would see some elements of crystal report being built directly into SAP to cater to reporting requirements.

Its already out that SAP & Business objects (who’s founder and CEO just resigned - article) combined effort can be seen during the first quarter of this year, with the increasing importance of Business Information Warehouse solutions in the present day business environment to be successful, it makes it more interesting to keep out on the future offering of large companies that have taken over business intelligent best of breed software’s, such as Business Object (now part of SAP), Hyperion (now part of Oracle) and COGNOS (now part of IBM).

So be on the lookout, I’ll keep the site updated with the latest info...

Have a nice day !!

SAP Eyes SMEs !!!

By S.Suren

In this posts I thought I'll discuss on how SAP is looking to show its dominance in the Small and Midsize Enterprise solution market.

SAP currently has 3 Solutions catering to the needs of companies in the SME Segment. Namely:

SAP Business One (also known as SAP B1)- This solution is meant for companies with 10 - 100 employees and a revenue of $5 million to $100 million and those companies that do not need all the requirements of a complete ERP. However, SAP Business One is deemed to be a fully fledged integrated business management solution catering to all the different processes that a company in this segment would need to monitor and have control upon. I have had the pleasure of working with this and should say it has a "Drag & Relate" function which I would call a master piece, and this has been patented by SAP.

SAP Business One allows small and midsize businesses to grow beyond the piecemeal approach to business software, which prevents many businesses from managing effectively across their entire operations. It features an embedded customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities to ensure seamless integration among sales, service and other customer-facing activities. SAP Business One comes with industry specific solutions too and further enhancements are catered to with the installations of tried and tested add ons.

mySAP All in One (also known as mySAP A1) is designed to meet the needs of small and mid-market businesses, and specifically those with sophisticated business processes and ambitious development plans. This solution is targeted at companies with revenue of $100 million to $250 million and less than 2500 employees. Its the mySAP Business Suite scaled down and preconfigured for specific indsutries.SAP All in One takes extracts from the functionality of mySAP ERP suite and is integrated with all of its internal modules using best in class practice as per micro industry verticals.

mySAP A1 mainly caters to the higher end of the mid-size companies. It has more functions to cater to the complexities and customizations that would be needed in relation to particular unique practices of companies in this end. It is assumed that the implementation of mySAP All in One would normally take 3 to 4 months as per the industry solutions available. This has proven to be one of the most successful solutions provided by SAP , proven by its Market Leader position in the Magic Quadrant as published by Gartner.

SAP AG global strategy with the mySAP All in One solution is to partner up with channel partners who would be using their industry specific expertise in providing consulting and support services for mySAP All in One for their particular industry.

The final and the newest member to the family is :

SAP Business ByDesign (better known as SAP A1S) - This solution is catered to suit the requirements of midsized companies with 100 - 500 employees. Another important thing to note is that SAP A1S is the first to embrace the SaaS (Software as a Service) delivery model, its important as a up-to-date consultant that you know these terms well, as this is what is going to make up the future.

I should say as my personal opinion that SAP Business ByDesign does have an appeal to it, with its interface and the various ERP Logistical functions it caters too. Its not a surprise that other consultants who got to work on it first hand were quite enthusiastic about it. At present there are many installations and projects bring carried out with this new solution in parts of Europe and in selected industries. SAP AG have some aggressive plans with this new product and sure enough interested parties will be hot on their tracks, and me not being an exception will keep posting with the latest info.

Remember 2010 and 2014 are the magic target dates ... all the best!!

Hope you found this post interesting and informative, your comments and suggestions are welcome at ssurenlk@msn.com.

Have a nice day !!

Industry Awareness

A few years back is was generally the case where a consultant in one particular field could easily move into other industries and learn the process and implement it, this was an accepted way of consulting too.

However with the increasing trend in industry specific solutions by ERP Vendors and specialist knowledge needed in this industry to be recognized as a good consultant, clients in these industries have become more demanding on who they choose as their consultant, going for those with the most domain experience. This trend is very much catching up seeing the dawn of yet another new business model with ERP vendors working with partners who specialize to be the consulting service provider.

Therefore it is recommended for those mainly in logistics to be more aware of the type of domain you want to specialize in and read about it. I strongly believe that anything done with passion and interest can and will never be irrelevant, enjoy what you are in and be updated; it’ll all come in handy.

I’ll be happy to assist in anyway, feel free to drop me and email!!!

Have a nice day!!

S.Suren

Working Together !!

By : S.Suren

As we are all aware in the present day business take-overs in the ERP Industry has been a term used most often.

However we should also keep in mind that there have been companies working together to enhance their services in areas where they felt a lone effort was not feasible.

Some companies working together and their projects :

SAP and IBM working on a product codenamed Atlantic to be released in the final quarter of this year. Its an application that will allow users to access SAP business suits applications via IBM Desktop softwares.

ORACLE takes over BEA - As of now, it is too early at this time to comment on what they are likely to produce together, but its only rational to assume that given BEA's Middleware solutions, ORACLE is likely to use this in a Enterprise Application Enviornment, my example would be where the Vendor Payment system would access information from a Vendor Rating program perhaps.

SAP and Business Objects- The product to released very soon, however the release dates and information on the product are being kept on a low profile.

SAP & WIPRO - Wipro is said to act on the design requirements of SAP Interactive forms and also perform implementation services for the SAP Interactive Forms by Adobe.

IBM & Cognos - Here we can expect integration of COGNOS products in providing value information for users across companies that have IBM's Information Management Technology.
Given the important of BI in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) this new deal is going to come in very handy for IBM.

Hope you found this post useful, thats all there is as of now, however shall keep the site updated when more news flows in. Your input and suggestions are also welcome, mail ssurenlk@msn.com.

A Previous related posts : Take-Over Syndrome

Have a nice day !!

A Year that was....Events of 2007 @ SAP !!!

By S.Suren

Hi ,

In this posts I thought I'll list some of major events at SAP in 2007.

Resignation of Shai Agassi - President of SAP’s product and technology group Shai Agassi steps down from his position. He now is involved with a project named "Project Better Place" a venture focusing on electric vehicles and working on alternative energy issues. Read More

Launch of Business ByDesign - With the increasing important being placed on SaaS (software as a service) in the industry, SAP launched its own version of SAP which caters to this need. Business ByDesign is a hosted solution and is now presently being implemented in certain European companies. Read More

TomorrowNow lawsuit - The allegations by ORACLE on SAP's TomorrowNow's team of having systematically stole software as part of a concerted effort to beat Oracle. This has led to major confusions and problems within the department seeing many resignations of top officials in the department. The hearing for this has been postponed to 2009. Read More

SAP's Acquisition of Business Objects - SAP always projected the image that the company in organic growth, however with the intense competition in the market and the important of working with partners in the relevant field to gain market share in new areas, SAP adopted Oracle's approach of growth. SAP went on to acquire Business Objects for $6.78 Billion, this some say was in response to Oracle's acquisiton of Hyperion. Read More

There were smaller acquisitons made by SAP during the year too, one of which was YASU, a company in Hyderabad, that specilises in Business Process Management, which goes on to show that there is likely to be a series of acquisitions to follow to keep the leader in its position.

Hope you found this article informative and interesting.

Have a nice day !!

S.Suren