Simplicity: What’s Next in Business Software

Vendors must figure out a way to simplify the delivery and usability of their software for today’s enterprise users and buyers.

There is a widening gap today between what software users experience in their work environment and what is available on the Web. As the line between work and home life blurs, people expect the applications they use at work to be as clear, simple and user-driven as the applications they use to run their personal lives.

Companies today are much smarter about purchasing software. They’re insisting on solutions that have a faster time-to-market, higher ROI and better end-user adoptability. Enterprise vendors must embrace the philosophy of simplicity in business software or risk being sidelined by innovative, emerging vendors in the near future.

Why Enterprise Software is So Complex

Traditionally, business software had been purchased senior executives focusing on automating business processes and solving performance issues without a priority of making the solution user-friendly or “fun” for their end-users.
Take an enterprise vendor like SAP, Oracle or Microsoft, their job was to sell to a top IT manager. The pitch? “Our product will solve your business problem by giving you control over your business processes.” Reading between the lines, the sales message was also, “It will be easier to keep your users in a box and control them as well.”
Nowhere in the list of selection criteria was “easy to use,” “makes it easier for users to do their everyday work,” or “an enjoyable experience for users.” Enterprise software was conventionally understood to be complex, so these requirements couldn’t factor into the decision-making process.

The top IT manager making the buying decision wasn’t terribly concerned with implementation times, either. Again, conventional wisdom accepted that deployments and time to value was measured in years. Integration was a big concern so it was critical that the vendor would have a large team that would deliver whatever integration or customization services that would be needed. This gave rise to the multi-billion dollar market for implementation services.

So enterprise buyers were often forced to choose between a solution that was extremely expensive and took a long time to implement, or a product that was inexpensive and could be implemented quickly. The scary truth is that buyers most always chose the more expensive option.

Software companies figured out this purchase process dynamic very quickly. Vendors realized they could raise their prices and actually increase demand because buyers associated a high price tag with high-value solutions.

A Divergence Between Users and Megavendors
But the enterprise software world has changed dramatically. There has been a great divergence between the offerings of traditional vendors and the needs of today’s business software buyers.

The “consumerization” of enterprise software is rapidly underway. In today’s Web 2.0 and Internet-driven world, consumers download applications and use them on their own. Their expectations are that the software they use at work will be equally powerful, simple and engaging.

It is easy to see evidence of this divergence by looking at the market for email. Microsoft Outlook is typically purchased by the organization and given to the user. It is very complex and difficult to use. Compare that experience to using any of the personal email products – Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, or others. These applications enable access to email from any computer on the planet via a simple interface. They have fewer features but are far easier to use than Outlook.
Today’s software users are driving the success of enterprise software deployments – because they determine if and how a product will be used – not IT, and not necessarily senior executives. The experience is very different for users than it used to be.

In QlikTech’s field, business intelligence, the traditional tools for analyzing a company’s performance were business intelligence or corporate dashboard systems. Most were created during the era of “Big ERP” – and were designed to follow those same traditional buying process. Likewise, these products were very difficult to use, took a long time to implement and expensive. Again, they served as a form of corporate control.
But there’s been a sea change of solutions that make it possible for users to quickly access specific information on their own. It’s the same Web 2.0 dynamic which allows people to communicate with colleagues in any number of ways without needing Outlook.

Vendors of the “Simple” Revolution
The revolution in user demands for enterprise software simplicity is driving a stake in the ground between innovative emerging vendors and the traditional “stack” vendors. Platform megavendors understand the trend towards simplicity and pay lip service to supporting user demands but the reality is that they simply can’t. Despite their attempts to offer new, simpler products, the fact is that their business models are predicated on keeping software complex.
It is the “Innovator’s Dilemma:” If they make new products that are simple to implement and easy to use, they will lose their massive streams of services revenue. Their sales models are based on selling big deals. A switch to simplicity will crater their businesses.

It isn’t just happening in major ERP application markets. Even in our market - business intelligence - best-of-breed leaders such as Cognos, Hyperion, Business Objects and Proclarity have all been acquired in the last few years by megavendors. The acquisitions serve the megavendors need for long implementation times and the major revenue stream which accompanies it. The objective of these mergers is to protect their entrenched businesses, not to improve ROI for customers or improve the user experience.

Hallmarks of “Simple” Software
As the chorus of enterprise demands for more simple solutions becomes louder, there are several characteristics which software vendors need to emulate in order to best serve customers today.

• A Robust Offering
  “Simple” is not synonymous with “lite.” The functionality, interoperability and robustness of any Web 2.0 application must be similar to that of traditional offerings. The key is to leverage Internet-powered technology and new business model efficiencies to deliver a user-friendly, enjoyable software experience.
• A Focus on the User
  For decades, enterprise software vendors have been focusing their sales efforts on the wrong buyer: the top IT executive. This buyer’s main concern is whether it is possible to install an application on 30,000 laptops in a timely and secure manner. Another big consideration on whether to upgrade to a new version of a product is how much of the release is “new.”
  Office 2007 was aimed at this buyer. Microsoft created the suite with an “over the shoulder” criteria in mind: if a buyer looked at a user’s screen over his or her shoulder, it would look significantly different from prior versions of Office. As anyone who uses Office 2007 can attest, this is certainly true. But the functionality and usability of the suite changed to the point that many longtime Office users cannot use the new icon-driven menus. By ignoring the needs of the user and focusing solely on the “big deal” sales process, Microsoft hampered the adoption of Office 2007.
• A Revamped Value Chain
  The innovative vendors who are delivering simple software applications are building their entire business behind this concept. It’s not just about making the product less complicated for the user, it is also about making the business of the software business less complicated. If you focus only on the software, then you’re only solving part of the problem. It is critical to pick partner vendors and service providers who also believe in delivering simple solutions.
• Fast Sales & Implementation Process
  For the innovative vendors operating in this new “simple” software space, a fast sales and implementation cycle is critical. The products are designed to be easy for users to use but they also must be quick to deliver value to the business. At QlikTech, we operate on an average-32-day sales cycle and take 1-2 weeks to implement the product. This speed enables us to return as soon as two weeks later to offer follow-on products and services.
• A Relentless Pursuit of Simplicity
  After the business is aligned, it is all about the software. “Simple” vendors must have a relentless focus on making the products more usable and faster to deploy. In QlikTech’s history, there have been temptations to lose our “simple” focus, perhaps by adding a feature that is difficult to implement or partnering with a traditional vendor. But we chose the “simple” path at each fork in the road and have realized tremendous success for our vendor partners along the way. By building our whole company around this philosophy, the simple approach becomes self supporting.

Simplify or Die

For traditional enterprise vendors, the “simple” revolution in business software isn’t like asking kids to eat their broccoli. It isn’t something they should do to improve their health; it is something they must do to stay alive.
In five years, we will not see the traditional vendors that buried their heads in the sand and didn’t accept this new reality. They may still be hanging on but their days will be numbered.

Today’s college grads are joining the workforce without knowing a world without high-speed Internet access. They’ve never used an application that couldn’t be used via a Web browser. They’ve never bought a physical music CD. They can access their friends within seconds via Facebook, IM, texting, email, telephone or any number of other vehicles.
With each heartbeat, user expectations get higher and higher. Traditional software executives can sit around pining for the old days of the business or they can accept reality and start making “simple” changes which will ensure their company’s survival in the future.

By Anthony Deighton, he is Senior VP of Marketing for QlikTech. Source - Sandhill

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Are you Listening !

Just recently I saw a movie - tare zameen par(http://taarezameenpar.com/). Well I should say that sometimes I do wonder that why I have to see a movie when almost more than half the world population has already seen it. I guess I will blame it to my laziness or my laggardness. 

Nevertheless I must advocate for this film, it was true spectacle. Few days ago I posted a referred note on my site about how good the movie was and also how important it is for us to start changing the way we foster our children or at least make an attempt in doing so. From an Indian prospective it is really tough and even I don’t shy in saying that it is getting tougher day by day for our children. With over 700 suicides committed by school children, languished by studies, exams, peer pressure, etc. within last one year, are we talking studies, schools or are we talking war?

I wonder that my school days was tough, but when I see today’s studies I feel lucky. Given the situation of today’s “unwanted” competition in schools, I could have not even managed to complete or pass it.

“What is our parents role”, “what teachers are doing”, “man what a peer pressure”, “this is a wrong system” and so on. These are just words. No teacher or parent or society will change unless we “cumulatively” make an attempt or an effort in doing so. By opining this, no means I am trying to discount the power of one. We have great examples like Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and many more. Coming back to the point, now it’s a high time that we should do something for our kids. Let them blossom the way they like. I know by saying this you may wonder what about our values that we all want to give to our kids, and the aspirations of “my kid will become a.........”.

Just think for a moment that by “my kid will become a..........”, aren’t we making our kids into donkeys that will take the burden of our aspirations. Or should I reiterate what Aamir Khan said “if you are so much into competition then breed horses not kids”.

It will be a long way till I may start to understand of what needs to be done. But I think I can say one thing and that is “listen”. Listen to your kids, what they want to say, how they feel, what they want or want to become, etc, etc.

I know I am asking a very tough thing here, aren’t I.

We listen, or rather “try” to listen to our colleagues, wife/husband, mother/father, news, commentary, bosses, even people like me writing blogs at midnight, and NOW I am asking you to listen to your kids.

I am not an expert in child psychology and by no means have an intention to become one. But as a marketer, I notice people around me, on the roads, in the shops, in numerous organizations; no one seems to be listening. Bosses are not listening to their team; team is not listening to their boss, sales are not listening to what their customer needs, etc., etc.

People just want to either do what they want to do or blindly follow others. No middle path of listening and then doing. With all the possible tools for communication are we listening?

While there are organizations that listen to what employees want; sales listen to what customer wants; marketers listen to what market wants; parent listen to what their children wants; teacher listens to what their students wants, and these are the organizations, people, parents, teachers, shops that stand out and makes a difference.

Isn’t it. Just think about your last good experience when you went to a shop, a restaurant, for a client meeting, teacher you liked the most, barber you regularly go to, etc.

Isn’t they all were listening………….Just think about it……and LISTEN !!!

Have a Good Weekend.

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Cincom Introduces Configuration Management Software for Microsoft Dynamics

Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator Helps Complex Manufacturers Create Effective Sales Configuration.

Worldwide software provider Cincom Systems (www.cincom.com/q2o) today introduces Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. With the new configuration, users of Microsoft Dynamics CRM can win more customers, while still being able to fulfill the orders accurately and on time.

Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator captures the product, services, and business knowledge needed for guided selling, complex product and sales configuration, and proposal management. It enables complex manufacturers to capture and deliver critical application, product, pricing, and process knowledge to the point of sale -- ensuring the optimal fit between the manufacturers' product offerings and customers' needs.

Manufacturers with engineer-to-order or configure-to-order products have successfully streamlined sales, design, and proposal processes by using Cincom to deliver critical product and sales knowledge to the point of sale and reduce "quote-to-cash" time significantly.

"Cincom is aggressively committed to expanding its channel program," says Gregor Newland, channel manager. "Microsoft Corp. industry partners are always on the lookout for software technologies that will benefit their clients, especially those that utilize the Microsoft Dynamics platform."

"Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator is a leader in flexibility and true knowledge management, and now this functionality is combined with the power of Microsoft," continues Newland. "This allows partners to better enable their clients to improve crucial front-office processes such as guided selling, product configuration, estimating and bidding, and quotation and proposal management."

Easy integration with Microsoft

To the end-user, the interoperability between the two products is seamless. Two simple buttons appear on the Microsoft toolbar marked "New Configured Opportunity Product" and "Reconfigure Opportunity Product." These buttons open a web-based version of Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator for Microsoft Dynamics and lists all of the products that can be configured. The "new" button adds a new product to an opportunity after going through Cincom's configuration application. The "reconfigure" button does the same but for a product that has already been configured at least once. Products configured in the Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator are stored and routed in the Microsoft Dynamics applications.

For more information about Cincom's Sales and Product Configurator and other solutions for complex manufacturers, visit www.cincom.com/q2o.

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Gaining Market Share Key to Industry Survival

Improving quote-to-order process proven method

In the last 20 to 30 years, the focus in manufacturing has been on improving quality and efficiencies. How can we get better products out the door faster?

But trends have changed in recent years. The focus has shifted from how to build products more efficiently to a more effective approach to capturing market share.

For the first time in our history, supply is outpacing demand in many industries. Sales-per-employee is going up consistently. However, excess plant capacity is also going up, which means that while companies are more efficient and effective than ever in order to compete in the global market, there is more competition than ever competing for the same customer base.

It doesn’t matter how efficient you are if you can’t keep the customer base. Our industry’s focus needs to shift toward how you can gain market share.

One way to do this is to have your customers view you as easier to work with than your competitors. A simple strategy to accomplish that is by improving your quote-to-order process.

Improving quoting processes

According to analysts, complex manufacturers that address quote-to-order processes can cut delivery lead-times and order processing costs by 20 percent to 50 percent; improve product margins, product quality, and customer satisfaction; and reduce unplanned order changes.

Quote-to-order is not just important; some argue that it is the defining manufacturing business process of the 21^st century, the one that separates the winners from the losers. Streamlining the quote-to-order process within a complex engineered-products environment such as specialty vehicles or special machinery may be as critical to survival as outrunning an angry grizzly bear in the forest.

What we find common in complex manufacturing is that, what the customer wants, what the sales organization quotes, and what manufacturing builds – while they should be one and the same – are oftentimes vastly different. This situation causes a significant amount of upheaval and extra costs per order to get the customer what they want.

The more difficult it is to validate, process, design, source, and build an order, the more opportunities there are for error and for everyone – including the customer – to change the order. One company that sells more than 1,000 units per year has more than 200,000 changes.

At multiple levels, change orders are expensive, requiring time and resources to process while increasing the chance for errors. The cost of change skyrockets as it gets closer to delivery. This complicates build schedules, engineering, and manufacturing, and the total cost of change is seldom recovered with special prices. While some companies find changes profitable, the vast majority never fully recover the costs of change and see their margins erode.

Rather than shaping its business to the customer’s expectations, [complex manufacturers] train the customer to match the company’s limitations – a dangerous approach that a keen competitor will eventually exploit.

The difficult sales process

The problem starts with the sales process, when the features and options are selected and articulated by the customer. If the options selected are incompatible and dependent upon other options, customers end up with quotes that are invalid or functionally not optimal. This is exponentially made worse by manually turning invalid quotes into orders with invalid configurations leading to unexpected change orders, unanticipated schedule delays, unsatisfied product outcomes, and unforeseen price changes. Many managers dismiss these issues as unimportant or uncontrollable. World-class companies that want to stay ahead of the market are addressing these issues head-on.

What causes these broken processes?

• Winning the business is the first challenge.
• Validating orders is also difficult and time-consuming.
• Getting the design right in engineering.
• Scheduling the shop floor.
• Purchasing materials.
• Controlling inventory.

All of these events can be helped or harmed by the quote-to-order process. Your customers realize this, so they pay close attention to how easy you are to do business with. They know that your quote-to-order process is a reflection of your overall competence and that the easiest company to work with is probably the highest quality and most competitive.

Quote-to-order integrates the entire enterprise, linking

• sales and marketing
• contracts
• pricing
• engineering
• planning
• product development
• production
• supply chain
• inventory

Because quote-to-order shapes the customer experience, ignoring it or paying it less attention than it deserves can undermine your business. Yet many companies are oblivious to their situations. Rather than shaping their businesses to the customer’s expectations, they train the customer to match the company’s limitations – a dangerous approach that a keen competitor will eventually exploit.

Many companies can enjoy a significant business benefit by ensuring valid and accurate quote specifications, then electronically translating those specifications into the format needed by manufacturing and engineering – without having to re-key the information. One company stated in their annual shareholder meeting that its dealers are 80 percent more effective since improving its quote-to-order process. They also anticipate inventory turns increasing from the current level of five to something closer to eight or ten.

Other companies have experienced a 60 percent reduction in manufacturing while others reduced their order-entry error rate from double digits down to zero. By gaining access to the quotation before the quote is turned into an order and knowing the win/loss rate, companies are able to predict their revenue, costs, and purchased parts requirements before the orders are placed.

Today’s goal for complex manufacturers is to outpace the competition. Improving your quote-to-order process is a relatively easy first step in reaching this goal. Try it and your customers may just “thank you.”

By Jim Hessin, Cincom Systems

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SMEs Making Profit in Economic Slowdown

While IT biggies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro etc. may face depressed profit margins in the wake of the recession, smaller IT firms and freelancers are on their way to become millionaires thanks to the online services market

The economic slowdown is repeating itself in the U.S. now, and companies are in the process of chopping off hundreds of jobs and cutting down employee salaries. Case in point – recent job cuts by IBM and TCS. TCS reportedly sacked over 500 employees, citing poor performance, and IBM is believed to have shown the door to more than 1,500 employees.

So, before any further frenzied move, many techies are quitting jobs to turn entrepreneurs in the hope to become freelance IT millionaires. And in this situation, the virtual work places like Elance.com, Rent-A-Coder, oDesk and GetAFreelancer.com, come to their rescue.

“We began our outsourcing business in 1998. We joined Elance in 2000 after we lost our main customer, 3COM, due to the recession in the U.S.,” commented Yuriy Bannov, founder and co-owner of Sibers, a programming and web development company located in Siberia. “At that time there were just five of us.” The company has completed over $1.1 million in Elance projects.

Xicom, Synapse, Transform are some the clients of Elance who have earned $2 million, $3 million and $450,000 respectively till date. In 2007, Elance had 150,000 projects posted worth $75 million and a million registered users.

“Small businesses are an important and growing driver of the U.S. economic growth and dynamism,” said Fabio Rosati, CEO, Elance.com. “As the costs associated with doing business globally continue to decrease, small businesses will make no distinction between domestic and international commerce.”

In a slow economic condition, opportunities are abound for such freelance contractors. Small and mid-sized businesses and individuals also prefer outsourcing work like designing a logo, website, maintenance of applications or websites and designing works, through such platforms.

The reasons are simple — there are no large companies willing to take small outsourcing tasks worth $2,000, $5,000 or $10,000. The other reasons are the rising rupee — which is forcing large and mid-sized companies to increase their billing rates to protect margins. Slowdown in hiring and salary hikes due to a slowdown in contracting of large projects is also a reason.

By Adyasha Sinha, Global Services

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