Ebiz-Ecomm

SAP in Colombia

2009-12-14T17:12:00.000-08:00

BANCOLOMBIA TO ACHIEVE SIMPLICITY, INNOVATION AND SECURITY WITH SAP® SOFTWARE

SAP NEWSBYTE - December 14, 2009 - Bancolombia, a leading company in the financial services sector in Colombia with more than 18,000 employees, is finalizing its SAP® software implementation project with the aim of improving its business processes and optimizing its relationship with its customers. By implementing the enterprise resource planning (ERP) application SAP ERP and the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application, the bank aims to become a worldwide leader in financial services.

“There are major challenges ahead of us,” said María del Pilar Londoño Correa, INNOVA technical leader (CARGO) of Bancolombia. “We want to be competitive, but to do this we need to offer truly innovative solutions to our customers to meet their needs. By offering innovative solutions, we will obtain excellent cost-effectiveness while maintaining processes that are increasingly simple and closer to the user. To do this, together with SAP, we believe we are achieving our goals.”
To hear more from Maria del Pilar Londoño Correa as she speaks about the SAP project, watch a video from SAP TV: "Bancolombia Getting Closer to Its Customers With SAP."

Source://http://www.sap.com/about/newsroom/news-releases/press.epx?pressid=12402

NEW SAP® SOLUTION HELPS COMPANIES DELIVER ON THEIR SUSTAINABILITY PROMISES

2009-12-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

SAP® BusinessObjects™ Sustainability Performance Management Application Provides the Clarity Businesses Need to Cascade and Execute Sustainability Strategies Across the Enterprise; Integrates With Existing Systems to Streamline Reporting and Analysis of Sustainability Data

WALLDORF, Germany - December 10, 2009 - Although the business priority given to improving sustainability performance is at an all-time high, many organizations have found it difficult to manage accountability and transparency of sustainability initiatives across their businesses. With the new SAP® BusinessObjects™ Sustainability Performance Management application announced today by SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), every business can now more easily set sustainability goals and objectives, measure and communicate performance, and reduce data collection costs and errors.

Building on the success of the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio, the new application helps organizations focus on improving economic, social and environmental performance rather than spending time on data collection and report compilation. The software provides a holistic view of an organization's sustainability indicators and features an easy-to-use interface that streamlines internal and external reporting. It helps turn data into actionable insight that can be cascaded and executed on throughout an organization, making it easier to track compliance with sustainability strategies across the business. The application features a library of key sustainability performance indicators and is the first solution to be certified by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Certified Software and Tools Program. Like all SAP BusinessObjects solutions, the software is designed to integrate with a range of SAP and non-SAP solutions. It can also be used as a stand-alone solution.
“Sustainability is increasingly mission-critical across the corporate world,” said Dr. Stephen Stokes, vice president of Sustainability and Green Technologies, AMR Research. “It is becoming a key element of business strategy, with the potential to deliver new levels of efficiency and operational performance, innovation and organizational transformation. Managing and reporting an organization’s sustainable performance via transparent and high quality data collation, analysis, optimization and modeling is a new basis for defining and communicating operational excellence.”
A Robust Solution for Communicating and Improving Sustainability Performance
As stakeholders increasingly expect businesses to move from basic reporting of sustainability metrics to being accountable for their improvement, organizations are finding that meeting these demands can be complex, slow and costly. But accountability does not necessarily drive performance improvement and profitability; it must be aligned to corporate objectives and strategy, and ultimately, execution of those objectives. The new SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management application helps make voluntary reporting easier while also applying a performance management framework to sustainability information to help drive improvement and profitability across the enterprise.
“At Lexmark we strive to promote sustainability in our business practices,” said John Gagel, manager, Sustainable Practices – Environmental, Health and Safety at Lexmark. “But, as a global company, it can be challenging to track sustainability metrics across our business. As a co-innovation partner with SAP during development of the sustainability performance management application, we were able to define our sustainability needs and ensure they were addressed in the software. The application will help us streamline how we monitor and manage our sustainability performance and reduce the cost and complexity of our many sustainability disclosure obligations. Most importantly, it will enable us to move beyond measuring and reporting to incorporating sustainability in a more strategic way within our business.”
Flexible Data Collection
A key feature of SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management is its ability to automatically collect key performance indicator (KPI) data from a variety of sources, allowing customers to move beyond tedious and error-prone manual data collection and spreadsheet-based recording. With a powerful range of functionality, the application leverages SAP's world-leading analytical tools and complements the successful roster of existing SAP sustainability products, including the enterprise resource planning (ERP) application SAP® ERP; the SAP® Environment, Health, and Safety Management application; and the SAP® Carbon Impact on-demand solution . The application integrates tightly with these and other SAP solutions, such as SAP® Business Suite software, making data extraction across the enterprise easy. The software can also operate as a stand-alone application or integrate with non-SAP systems, facilitating sustainability reporting and performance management activities regardless of a customer's back-end systems. It also allows sustainability data to be entered manually, guided by workflow, data request, validation and approval processes. Regardless of how data is gathered, audit trail functionality provides transparency and helps enforce high-integrity reporting.
“Solutions like SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management can help companies more proactively manage social, environmental and economic risks and opportunities,” said Kathy Nieland, partner and U.S. sustainability leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. “This enterprise technology gathers and analyzes information from across the business to help enhance strategic decision-making and business agility. With its enterprise integration, it can help companies identify business inefficiencies, leading to improved financial and sustainability performance.”
Defined Reporting Protocols and Central KPI Library
Companies often need to model and manage internal and external sustainability disclosures based on multiple sustainability reporting protocols, each requiring the same KPIs with slightly different characteristics. Drawing upon SAP BusinessObjects' significant experience linking KPIs to risk and compliance, SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management helps customers tailor execution and reporting on sustainability initiatives to their industry and business context. Customers can select from a central KPI library that includes a variety of metrics, including those based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. Business users can also create and update their own sustainability KPI's with multiple tiers of sub-indicators or calculations. Because they are stored in a central library, KPIs can be easily shared, reused, searched and filtered.
“The Global Reporting Initiative aims to promote the transparent and reliable exchange of sustainability information,” said Ernst Ligteringen, CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). “SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management is the first application to be certified by the GRI Certified Software and Tools Program, which assures the correct use of GRI copyright-protected content. SAP's new solution will support sustainability reporting based on GRI standards, benefitting internal management of key sustainability issues and providing stakeholders the information they demand.”
Powerful Performance Analytics
The powerful analytic functionality built-in to SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management helps give a holistic, at-a-glance view of the sustainability metrics of a business, helping users measure, refine and showcase return on investment from sustainability efforts for maximum business impact. The application takes sustainability data and turns it into actionable information and insights, enabling customers to aggregate results and examine performance across multiple dimensions. Planning workbooks support target and benchmark setting for different organizations and sustainability indicators, while graphical reports, dashboards and scorecards help provide stakeholders clear insight into a company’s sustainability performance.
“To truly be seen as sustainability leaders, businesses need to look beyond carbon footprinting and start proactively managing the full spectrum of sustainability opportunities, including economic, social and environmental obligations,” said Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer and executive vice president of Sustainability Solutions, SAP AG. “The new SAP BusinessObjects Sustainability Performance Management application is the first off-the-shelf system that supports a holistic view of sustainability. Until now, it’s been extremely difficult to get the complete, actionable information needed to operationalize sustainability goals and strategies. In my role at SAP I’ve seen that firsthand. SAP is not only the developer of this ground-breaking software — we’re also implementing it ourselves to help drive sustainability strategies throughout our global organization and become a clear enterprise.”
In 2009 SAP announced an increased strategic focus on sustainability, which includes both managing its internal operations in a sustainable way and delivering solutions that support its customers' sustainable business practices. Details of SAP's sustainability efforts, solutions and product roadmap may be found in its online sustainability report.
About SAP
SAP is the world's leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With more than 92,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol “SAP.” For more information, visit www.sap.com.
(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, and related applications.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
Copyright © 2009 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

Top 5 HR Modules for ERP

2009-12-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

5 Top HR Modules for ERP Systems

By John Edwards

A growing number of businesses are adopting ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems in order to give their departments accurate and accessible shared data. HR isn't being left out of the loop. In fact, most major ERP vendors now offer their customers HR modules that help automate an array of tasks while generating crucial data for enterprise planning and optimization. Here's a look at five top solutions, based on features and usability

1. Infor HCM (Human Capital Management): Designed for use with Infor's ERP, Infor HCM is a Web-enabled offering that brings a variety of capabilities to the table — perhaps even more features than the average business needs. The module has support for multiple languages, currencies, tax definitions, benefits,security configurations and platforms. It consists of three basic components:

Resource Management: Features here include benefits administration, payroll, FSAs (flexible spending accounts) andcompensation.
Work-Force Management: This component aims to help HR departments cost-effectively handle complex work-force management challenges. It includes scheduling, time and attendance, absence handling and performance support.
Talent Management: This part of the module provides work-force development capabilities that are focused on recruitment, learning, employee performance and competency management. Succession-planning capabilities are also provided.

Verdict: This is a well-rounded, highly capable module that's suitable for just about any business. Infor HCM takes advantage of Web technology to provide an ERP HR module that can be instantly updated and easily scaled.

2. Sage Accpac HRMS (Human Resource Management System): As a part of Sage Software Inc.'s Sage Pro ERP, Sage Accpac HRMS provides support for a variety of HR tasks, including benefits, training, recruiting and compliance. The module offers a flexible design that lets users select their own database platform, including SQL or MSDE (Microsoft Desktop Engine).

Sage Accpac HRMS also includes powerful reporting and analysis tools that provide customized insight on almost any HR issue. Hundreds of standard report templates are included. An integrated database is designed to feed a steady flow of information to managers and staff.

Verdict: This solution is a good choice that gives users a voice in its design and operation. It’s tailored for midsize manufacturing businesses.

3. SAP ERP HCM: SAP AG's highly regarded ERP offers SAP ERP HCM, a versatile and extremely scalable HR module. The solution is designed to give companies in virtually all industries a full selection of HR tools.

The software can automate virtually all fundamental, and most advanced, HR processes, including employee administration, payroll and reporting. The product supports compliance with both global and local regulations. Other features include talent management, performance measurements and real-time insight into just about any HR trend.

Verdict: SAP ERP Human Capital Management sets a goal to which other ERP HR module vendors can only aspire. On the other hand, the product is overkill for most SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses). In any event, it's truly the Rolls-Royce of ERP HR modules.

4. Oracle HRMS: Oracle Corp.'s HRMS is designed to automate practically every HR-department function. The company described its mission as, "The complete recruit-to-retire process." A single integrated data model aims to supply a fast, immediate and accurate view of HR-related activities, including recruiting, payroll, benefits, performance management, learning, compensation, time management and real-time analytics.

Oracle's HR product is comparable in many ways to SAP's module in scope and breadth, although Oracle advocates would claim that their favorite software is more flexible and easier to use.

Verdict: Oracle HRMS is thorough and highly capable, but not suitable for smaller businesses.

5. Microsoft Axapta Human Resource Management III: Compatible with the Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP and building on HR support provided by Axapta versions I and II, this module supplies features that support thecareer development of individual employees — a capability overlooked by many other HR modules.

The software aims to help businesses create professional development plans focused on employee's goals and skills. Features include a "competence framework" with a development process that incorporates personal interviews, training curriculums, skills matching, skill-gap analysis and other components. The software's various processes are collaborative and allow follow-up from employees and managers to improve dialogue between the two groups.

Verdict: Microsoft Corp. isn't exactly renowned for its innovative application software, but Microsoft Axapta Human Resource Management III is a pleasing exception to the rule.

Source://http://www.hrworld.com/features/top-hr-modules-erp-062608/

SAP Basis

2009-12-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

SAP Consultant

2009-11-28T12:18:00.000-08:00

Becoming a SAP Business One Solution Consultant.

Kehinde Eseyin (Systems Support Manager)

Two fundamental issues are involved in becoming an SAP Business One Consultant. The first is the desire to be a consultant and secondly, the choice of system to consult for - SAP Business One. After making up your mind to become an SAP Business One Consultant, the next question to ask yourself is "What really do I want to do as an SAP Business One Consultant?"

There are a number of areas of specialization as an SAP Business One Consultant. These include Solution, Sales, Support, Development and Integration. My advice is that "specialize first in the area of your interest and strength and then diversify/update your expertise as required later".

The concern here is the solution consultants. The solution consultants are mainly charged with the responsibility of implementation and training which entails a lot of other tasks (It's a topic for another posting)

(Source:http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/sap-library/becoming-an-sap-business-one-solution-consultant-9580)

SAP Advertisement

2009-11-23T11:51:00.003-08:00

INTRO to SAP

2009-11-23T11:51:00.001-08:00

Corefino Offers CFO Community New Accounting Solution Aimed at Fraud Prevention

2009-11-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--Taking the accounting solution industry’s boldest stand to date on offering a packaged audit-ready financials fix for curtailing fraud or honest mistakes, Corefino CEO Karen Watts challenged corporate boards, and Chief Financial Officers in particular, to review improved frameworks for cutting down on the rampant fraud tied to financials preparation.

Armed with David Callahan’s Best Selling Book, “The Cheater’s Culture: Why More Americans are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead,” Watts says that current accounting solutions are clearly vulnerable.

“It’s not the fault of CFOs and the executive team – they have been given little choice to date, and the big ERP giants have locked them into expensive, insular technologies with ongoing spends and without assured controls. Once you capitalize millions paying for onsite software installations, then months training your corporate employees on these systems, you end up pretty much stuck with both,” Watts said. “This traditional accounting approach is ridiculously expensive and does not provide sufficient controls. The faster CFOs patch this hole in the financial controls and their pocketbooks, the better off they will be,” she said

Corefino’s ‘triple play’ internet accounting solution alternatively provides an off-premise; audit-ready financials solution with a comprehensive Best Practices outsourced approach – similar to the heavily-adopted outsourced payroll solutions now in general practice. Operating as a value-added-reseller of proven Software-as-a- Service, SaaS accounting software solutions, and deploying its own custom accounting team in a scalable, factory process style and modular approach, Corefino gives would-be cheaters no place to hide.

“I feel very comfortable saying that while determined cheaters are geniuses at hiding, our Corefino customer CFOs sleep a lot better at night,” Watts said. “When you have an independent, external team compiling financials that has no vested interest and no opportunity to profit from the numbers reading one way or the other – it greatly eliminates the motivation to cheat.”

The Corefino Triple-C Platform™ is a collection of more than 500 Best Practices and business processes that have been built out over a four-year period and are continually updated/improved. Corefino’s three-part solution is available on a monthly subscription basis, and the company handles all of the technology, data integration and ongoing compliancy change needs.

(source: DonPanek, http://www.erpdirectory.com/)

‘Bill Gates of Belgium’ Fights SAP With Free Software

2009-10-30T09:48:00.001-07:00

By Matthew Campbell and Stephanie Bodoni

Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- To find the latest threat to business-software makers like SAP AG and Oracle Corp., go to an unlikely location: a 150-year-old farmhouse in Belgium.

That’s where closely held Tiny Sprl, run by 30-year- old Fabien Pinckaers, develops free business applications that are picking up customers during the recession.

The economic “crisis has been very good for me,” Pinckaers said in an interview at the farm in Grand- Rosiere. “Restructuring is very good for enterprise resource planning.”

Free programs such as Linux first challenged Microsoft Corp. in software that runs personal computers. Linux has gradually gained enough acceptance that government agencies and even some corporations are willing to try such programs for some of their most important tasks: applications that run billing, payroll and purchasing.

That’s been the province of SAP and Oracle, whose products can carry list prices of thousands of dollars per user. Tiny, Openbravo SL and other open-source software providers write programs that are often given away and can be modified by users, not just their authors. The providers make money by charging for maintenance and services.

Open-source applications and related services will drive $19 billion of revenue away from traditional, proprietary suppliers in 2012, rising from $7 billion now, according to researcher Gartner Inc.

“It ain’t hippie idealism anymore,” said Brent Williams, an analyst at Benchmark Co. in New York.

Tiny’s Business

Pinckaers, who business magazine Trends said may be “the Bill Gates of Belgium,” predicts revenue will rise to 10.5 million euros ($15.6 million) in 2011 from 600,000 euros in the first half of this year. Tiny’s client list includes France’s postal service and L’Ecole Nationale d’Administration, an elite French university.

Tiny’s Open ERP software manages purchasing, human resources and other administrative tasks. Requests for the software have increased by about 20 percent every two months since January, Pinckaers said.

Like the Linux open-source operating system, created in Helsinki, Pinckaers’ seven-year-old Tiny may build influence from a headquarters far from Silicon Valley. Pinckaers chose the company’s farmhouse in rural Belgium for its proximity to the Universite Catholique de Louvain, which has a large computer- science department. Tiny has about 75 employees.

Pinckaers said he is open to a takeover of Tiny “not today, because I still have a lot of things to do, but in four or five years.” Meanwhile, Tiny will arrange 4 million euros of venture-capital investment by the end of the year, he said.

‘Feeling the Pinch’

Certainly, open-source is a small part of the software market, and these programs sometimes don’t have all the features that can be found in proprietary applications made by traditional suppliers.

Still, some analysts said SAP, the world’s biggest maker of business management software, is starting to feel the pinch. Walldorf, Germany-based SAP this week cut its sales forecast as clients in emerging markets and Japan spent less than it anticipated. Software and related service revenue will fall between 6 percent and 8 percent in 2009 before some items. In July, it had predicted the drop would be 4 percent to 6 percent.

“When there is an alternative to paying for a license, people will look at it very seriously,” said Jonathan Crozier, an analyst at WestLB Equity Markets in London. “That’s catching up a bit with SAP.”

RedHat Revenue

The phenomenon started in operating systems, where RedHat Inc., the biggest seller of software based on the open-source Linux program, has picked up corporate customers including Whole Foods Market Inc., Banco Pastor SA in Spain and Union Bank in the U.S. RedHat’s second- quarter revenue rose 12 percent as it attracted clients away from Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Inc.

“Prior to the fourth quarter of last year we were seeing some sporadic, slow but solid growth in certain areas of open source,” said Laurie Wurster, a Gartner analyst in Milford, New Hampshire. “Now, open-source producers are getting more interest from companies that wouldn’t even have considered them in the past.”

Oracle didn’t respond to a call from Bloomberg News seeking comment. SAP isn’t being hurt by open-source applications, Chief Executive Officer Leo Apotheker said on a conference call this week after giving the forecast.

“There is no negative effect from open-source software on our business,” he said.

Market Openings

SAP supports open-source software in “certain domains,” so “you’ll find many customers running our software on open- source and we certainly welcome that,” Apotheker said. “For example, we do it for our midsize offering All-In-One. So I think open software is one of the supply chain elements of any software that the customer can run.”

Big clients who tend to stick with the products they have may make proprietary-software vendors slow to move to open- source software, saidDave Stepherson, who helps manage about $650 million at Hardesty Capital Management in Baltimore.

“What holds it back is, a lot of it, just inertia and simplicity,” said Stepherson. “When you have a system in place that doesn’t work as well as you’d like, but it works, uprooting that is not too easy to do. It’s also not widely done.”

It may also be difficult for established software companies to adapt, said Ken Allen, a portfolio manager at Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group Inc., the seventh-biggest institutional holder of Microsoft shares.

“Like many types of disruptions, it’s hard for the incumbent companies to harvest them as they’d like,” leaving openings for new market entrants, he said.

-- With assistance from Simon Thiel in London. Editors: Robert Valpuesta,Cesca Antonelli.

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Campbell in London atmcampbell39@bloomberg.net; Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg atsbodoni@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 30, 2009 05:06 EDT

ERP Package Selection

2009-10-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

Choosing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is something that many companies have to do at some time or another, and when they do they find that it is not an easy task. ERP systems are complex pieces of software which manage many components of a business, and finding the right package can be a minefield. Still, there are some pointers which can make the job easier. The choice of an ERP package can be made using either industry specific criteria or functional criteria, or a mixture of both. There is also budget to pay attention to. This article will look at these points and discuss some other considerations needed to be borne in mind when choosing an ERP system, such as the useful role that an ERP consultant can play.

When choosing an ERP system, great care must be taken to ensure that the system deals with all the functions of the company. These can include things like inventory management, accounting, freight tracking and customer after-sales service. In some companies, some of these functions will be more important than others, and it is essential that the most important functions are handled by the ERP package that is chosen. There is a flip side to this, in that some ERP packages will be extremely wide-ranging in the number and scope of business functions they deal with, and so may not be suitable for some companies. ERP packages are expensive pieces of software, and paying for software modules that deal with business processes that a company doesn't have or deems unimportant can be costly.

As well as choosing a package based on the business process that the package covers, there is also the option of looking at how specific the package is for a certain industry. Some packages are designed expressly for certain industries, such as banking or construction, while others are simply more suited to various types of business. Choosing a package that has been designed for use in your particular industry is one way of ensuring that a suitable system is chosen.

In order to make a good choice, the role of an ERP consultant should not be ignored. As with choosing a particular type of ERP package, a consultant should be chosen for his knowledge in a particular industry such as yours, or for his knowledge in choosing and implementing ERP systems for functions that are important in your organization. An ERP consultant should also be able to advise on the type of training that is needed to ensure staff can use the system effectively. The role of an ERP consultant is covered in more detail at http://www.erpsoftwareworld.com

Budget is always a consideration in any expensive corporate purchase, and an ERP system is no exception. As with all things, buying too cheaply can cost more in the long run, if the ERP system chosen does not do the job effectively and ends up costing a huge amount of time and resources in order to make things work. Choosing a system within budget that is also effective is also a decision that can be helped by the services of an ERP consultant.

Choosing such a complex piece of software as an ERP system will always be difficult. But by bearing the above points in mind, the choice should become a little easier. Take time to research the best ERP vendors in the market, and hire the services of a consultant to help you with the final choice.

Carl Formby owns and operates http://www.erpsoftwareworld.com a website filled with information on ERP Software

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Formby

ERP market 2009

2009-10-19T21:55:00.001-07:00

Six Predictions For the ERP Industry in 2009

Eric Kimberling (ERP and Business Consultant) posted 12/9/2008 | Comments (3)

As the holidays continue through the end of the year, many of us are finishing year-end activities, planning our budgets for 2009, and enjoying time with friends and family. This is also a good time of year to think about where the ERP industry is headed in 2009.

Next year will be unique. The global economy is projected to stay soft throughout the first half of 2009, which will no doubt impact ERP vendors and their customers. As we wrote in arecent blog entry, the soft economy is already affecting vendors' software and maintenance pricing.

Based on current economic conditions, continuing industry trajectories, and newly emerging trends, Panorama has compiled its six top predictions for 2009:

1. Continuing growth of the SMB segment. Because of both the soft economy and the continuing growth of small- to mid-size businesses, ERP will continue its widespread adoption of ERP. Due to ERP's ability to automate business processes and allow small businesses to do more with less, it will continue to become more widespread in this segment. However, expect SMBs to proceed with caution and in a cost-effective manner.

2. Rationalized costs. The days of implementing ERP at any cost may be over, at least temporarily, hopefully for good. Because capital and IT budgets are under pressure, CIOs can no longer afford to implement ERP without reigning in total cost of ownership. As outlined in a recent blog entry, this is already causing vendors to more aggressively price their solution offerings to win new business.

3. More benefits realization, less new implementations. A pattern we are seeing with our client base is more of an interest in stabilizing and optimizing current ERP systems rather than engaging in a replacement of the systems. Because companies are becoming more cautious in their capital spending and in some cases simply don't have the funds to invest in an entirely new system, many CIOs are looking for ways to leverage their current ERP systems to generate more measurable business benefits that they can take to their executive team. This trend is underscored by the large increase in Panorama's ERP Benefits Realization service offerings.

4. Continued adoption of software as a service (SaaS). Numbers 1 and 2 above are driving more companies to look at SaaS offerings such as NetSuite and Salesforce. Generally speaking, SaaS offerings require less up front investment than traditional ERP implementations. However, they can also provide less flexibility, so CIOs need to carefully evaluate tradeoffs as part of their ERP software selection.

5. Emergence of open source. Budgetary pressures will also tempt companies to give open source ERP a closer look. Open source allows companies to own and customize the software's source code, providing a great deal of flexibility at a lower initial cost. However, as with SaaS, there are tradeoffs: such flexibility can introduce costly complexities and ongoing software maintenance is generally less robust than with an off-the-shelf ERP solution. These tradeoffs need to be considered during the ERP software selection process.

6. Higher adoption in specific industry verticals. Evolving government priorities and a new US administration in January will likely increase ERP adoption in certain industry verticals. The US federal government is expected to grow significantly in the foreseeable future, which will likely increase ERP spending in the government sector. In addition, green energy, labor, legal services, and other industries are expected to benefit and grow from changing priorities in the US, and will likely look to ERP solutions as viable options for scaling for such growth.

These are the significant trends we expect to see in 2009. What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment below with your insights, or click here to take the poll about companies' plans for ERP software in 2009.

Eric Kimberling
Panorama Consulting Group
Insight. Momentum. Results.

H1N1 flu - Helath update

2009-10-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Severe H1N1 infection in females 'striking': study

Many of the Canadians who died or were sent to hospital earlier this year with H1N1 virus were young adults, female and aboriginal, a new study suggests.

The study, published in Monday's online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at 168 patients with confirmed or probable swine flu.

Of the group, 24 or 14.3 per cent, died within the first 28 days of becoming critically ill, Dr. Anand Kumar, an intensive care specialist at the Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg and his colleagues found.

"Our data suggest that severe disease and mortality in the current outbreak is concentrated in relatively healthy adolescents and adults between the ages of 10 and 60 years," the study's authors wrote.

The ages in the mortality pattern were similar to that of the 1918 H1N1 Spanish flu pandemic, they said.

Other findings included:

- 32.2 was the average age of patients.

- 67.3 per cent were female.

- 29.8 per cent were children.

- 25.6 per cent were First nations, Inuit, Metis or aboriginal Canadians.

- 81 per cent received mechanical ventilation.

- 12 days was the average length of stay in ICU and on a ventilator.

The most common other illnesses that patients had were a history of lung disease or smoking, obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

Aboriginals 'cause for concern'

"The increased fraction of the aboriginal community presenting with severe 2009 influenza A (H1N1) infection is notable but not unique," the study's authors said, pointing to the three to nine per cent mortality in aboriginal communities from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, compared with less than 0.75 per cent in nonaboriginal communities then.

"Although mortality was not substantially greater among aboriginal Canadians in this report, the number of patients with severe disease and knowledge of prior illness patterns in this community is a cause for concern," the researchers said.

The tendency of females to develop severe infection was "striking," and has not been observed in other studies of the H1N1 pandemic, they said.

The reason is unclear, but the role of pregnancy has been noted in previous influenza pandemics. In the latest study, 7.7 per cent of the patients were pregnant.

Mexican patients died waiting for ICU bed

In most infectious diseases such as sepsis and septic shock, it's mostly males that are affected and have a higher mortality, the team said.

It's hoped that describing the risk factors, typical clinical features and response to therapy will help in recognizing, diagnosis and managing H1N1 infections.

The study included cases from most regions of Canada but many were from Manitoba's outbreak, which involved an aboriginal population.

Overall, a second study appearing in the same issue of 58 patients admitted to ICU in Mexico City with swine flu-related disease showed similar findings.

Mexican ICU patients also tended to be relatively healthy adolescents and young adults. An average of 12 days of mechanical ventilation and "rescue therapies" such as specialized ventilation and inhaled nitric oxide, were needed.

The Mexico mortality rate was twice that of Canada's, and four Mexican patients died waiting for ICU beds.

"The investigators from both Mexico and Canada noted that the health care systems struggled to meet the demands created by the increased patient volume, a sobering observation given the absolute number of excess ICU admissions was modest," Dr. Douglas White, and JAMA editor Dr. Derek Angus, both of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a journal editorial.

The editorial authors suggests several ways for hospitals to respond to the unique needs of the sickest H1N1 patients, such as:

- Regionalizing care to preserve resources at other hospitals for other patients.

- Developing telemedicine consultations for doctors in outlying hospitals to check with experts.

- Make temporary staffing changes at hospitals to ensure doctors who are experienced in handling these cases are always present.

Last week, researchers in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand reported similar findings on the ages of the sickest H1N1 patients in those countries during the spring.

By CBC News, cbc.ca, Updated: October 12, 2009 11:56 AM

History of Internet

2009-10-12T09:20:00.001-07:00

2009-09-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have set an Oct. 22 meeting to formally propose a new "net neutrality" rule aimed at ensuring that network operators treat the flow of Internet content without discrimination, the Federal Communications Commission agency said on Thursday.

At a meeting schedule for Oct. 22, the staff is slated to propose incorporating two new principles into four existing principles the FCC issued several years ago. Analysts widely expect a 3-2 vote with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the other two Democrats on the FCC panel in favor of issuing the rules for public comment.

The net neutrality rule would prevent network operators from blocking consumer access to any lawful Internet content, applications and services. Users would also be able to use any nonharmful devices.

Genachowski said on Monday that the two new principles would prohibit operators from discriminating against any Internet applications or content and would require operators to disclose their management practices for Web traffic.

The rule would probably force U.S. phone companies to open their wireless networks to rival Internet services like eBay Inc's (EBAY.O) Skype and Google Inc's (GOOG.O) voice services.

That could result in mobile customers cutting their phone bills by opting for minimum voice plans and doing without text-messaging plans if they use mobile voice and text services from Skype and Google.

The new rule is being considered as the FCC examines why Apple Inc (AAPL.O) rejected the Google Voice application for use on its popular iPhone, sold by AT&T Inc (T.N).

The proposal, if adopted, would be a victory for consumer advocates and big Internet companies like Google at the expense of telecom operators like AT&T, Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N). (Reporting by John Poirier; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source://http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2444717720090924

Roots of Ecommerce

2009-09-23T17:32:00.001-07:00

Internet Good Or Bad?

2009-09-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is a news from 2007

In an attempt to "reclaim the Internet," Prince is preparing to file lawsuits against YouTube, eBay and The Pirate Bay, for allegedly encouraging copyright violations, according to one of his representatives.

The rock star has hired Web Sheriff, a British-based company that specializes in hunting down pirated content on the Web, to launch a legal campaign against companies that wrongfully profit from the artist's work, according to John Giacobbi, Web Sheriff's president.

Prince plans to file suit in both the United States and the U.K., and has hired a top Swedish law firm to take action againstThe Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent tracking site, Giacobbi said on Thursday. Prince has chosen a legal course because sites like YouTube and eBay have left him no other effective way to protect his copyright on their sites, according to Giacobbi.

Source://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9778087-7.html

What do you guys think? Is internet promoting piracy?