The company says they will deliver speed and simplicity to enterprises considering the adoption of adoption of SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA.

The solutions include preconfigured software, implementation services, best-practices content and “end-user enablement.” Each comes with a fixed price.

“The promise of SAP Business Suite powered by SAP HANA and SAP 360 Customer is to enable businesses to run faster, simpler and smarter,” said Steven Birdsall, senior vice president and general manager, SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions. “Now, through rapid-deployment, we have wrapped this innovation into an easily accessible package as well. We have helped reduce implementation barriers for a non-disruptive and practical transformation into real-time business. Rapid-deployment solutions are offering customers game-changing innovation with controlled risk.”

“These new rapid-deployment solutions support IDC’s findings that emerging technology implementations are becoming shorter, and require fewer consulting and integration services,” said Gard Little, research director, at IDC for IT consulting and systems integration research. “Delivered as a complete package with a modular approach, SAP Rapid Deployment solutions allow customers to incrementally address business needs at their own pace in a simple and pre-integrated framework that can help them unlock value quickly.”

More on SAP Rapid Deployment solutions here.

PublicTechnology.net shares a statement from prior information notice issued last week:

“The scope intends to cover existing Oracle platforms in the UK government departments and any supporting technologies, and to include upgrades and implementations of new Oracle version for these existing platforms”.

According to The Channel, Oracle partners are drooling over the FCO’s investment. Paul Kunert reports:

One Oracle partner told us government departments procure Oracle software individually and at different prices.

“There is a lot of room for negotiation and pricing is bloody messy,” he told us.

It is likely that Oracle will bid directly for the business but in line with all the noise coming out of the Cabinet Office, small biz suppliers are likely to be shoe-horned into the framework.

The framework tender is expected to be released within the next several months.

But managing a modern inventory itself requires dealing with many things like identification of the functions performed by the inventories, and establishment of the correct relationship between inventory functions and inventory levels. Thus, to keep inventories at an optimum level various strategies have to be worked upon. And inventory accounting software comes in handy for it. You have lots of options to choose from in the case of inventory accounting software. The different options before you range from a basic wholesale distribution ERP program to full-featured, professionally-developed inventory management software.

For your inventory control and management needs, you naturally want to choose the best one. But the question is how? Luckily for you, it is quite possible today to choose a professional, customizable, inventory accounting software which is affordable as well as efficient for your business.

Take for example, if you have a distribution company, then wholesale distribution management and warehouse automation are central to the company. Herein, you should look for an inventory accounting software tackling all these.

An inventory accounting software is widely applied in different industries to track a wide range of inventory types. An inventory accounting software provides the flexibility and depth of functionality required to maximize both your profit and customer service.

Precise inventory control and accurate ERP/MRP information must be at your fingertips to run your business smoothly all the time. Overstocked inventory as well as out-of-stock items can be ruinous to your bottom line and reputation. In fact, it is possible for your company to take a nosedive to bankruptcy due to inaccurate inventory control. Inaccurate inventory counts could happen due to shipment delays, lost sales and excuses.

So management in the company needs to look out beyond survival in today’s fiercely competitive business world. An excellent inventory control software solution with advanced features like kitting, serial number tracking, complete sales and purchasing functionality as well as ERP automation that is dependable and robust is critical in the quest for market leadership.

One such inventory accounting software is Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains Inventory Control which is aimed at mid-size companies. Great Plains Inventory comes with numerous features. Great Plains Dynamics / eEnterprise is developed with clear ERP work-flow. Inventory control has a connection to General Ledger and interacts with Invoicing, Sales Order Processing, and Purchase Order Processing later.

One thing which you should remember while purchasing inventory accounting software is inventories have to be priced shorter than net realizable value, barring a few exceptions. The inventories of by-products, consumable stores, non-reusable and reusable waste constitutes the exception. You can determine the historical cost of inventories using LIFO (last in first out) or FIFO (first in first out), average cost formula.

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The author writes about a number of different topics. For more information on accounting software visit http://www.managemyaccounting.com/ and also visit the article page: http://www.managemyaccounting.com/types-of-acconting-software/

The acronym refers to the foundational foursome of the open-source movement: the Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL database and, collectively, the Perl, PHP and Python programming languages.

Development tools such as Eclipse and application servers such as JBoss have also gained popularity–and trust–especially now that major vendors such as IBM, BEA Systems and Borland have adopted or supported them commercially.

But what about the next step up the software ladder? Is open source ready for ERP, business intelligence or CRM?

Ready or not, it’s happening; the first industrial-grade applications in these areas are now emerging. And CIOs will soon need to decide how to approach these fresh options in their enterprise software catalog.

As with the adoption of the LAMP players, these new open-source enterprise applications likely will find their way into the enterprise at a departmental or small-project level.

As a result, “we don’t see [these applications] on CIOs’ agenda at all,” notes Michael Goulde, an open-source senior analyst with Forrester Research. But, he warns, “CIOs should sync up with their development teams to see [where such applications] might have payback to the organization.”

However, CIOs should tread carefully on such open-source applications, advises Mark Lobel, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers who focuses on information security, including security for financial applications.

One key concern is that applications tend to reflect and embed business processes and logic, which often are key strategic assets you don’t want to share with others–and open-source licenses can require such sharing if companies aren’t careful.

Another issue is the long-term viability of open-source applications for specific functions.

Open source depends upon volunteer developers for success, but the more niche a product, the smaller the potential pool of interested contributors.

As such, grassroots support for specific apps such as ERP or CRM tools may look more like brigades than the armies now supporting broad open-source infrastructure such as Linux, Apache and MySQL.

Still, properly managed open-source applications can save enterprises money and time–as well as reduce dependency on specific vendors.

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Its use has a much broader scope in today’s world rather than of just planning the use of the enterprise resources.

Organizations (especially those which are borderless) face many difficulties in quickly making out the information required. The integration of the business processes improves coordination between bodies, streamlines workflows and processes and benefits them in terms of retaining and satisfying customers by delivering their orders “just-in-time” and keeping them well informed about their orders’ current status rather than keeping them waiting for just a small piece of information. ERP has the effect of making an enterprise more time-sensitive. Another benefit is of better marketing opportunities. ERP penetrates one segment after the other and addresses solutions to many debacles existing in an enterprise.

Different ERP systems have been made to facilitate organizations in Enterprise Resource Planning. Leading ERP giants making ERP systems are Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards, SAP AG etc. These systems link the order, inventory, sales, purchase, manufacturing, supply chain and warehouse management modules in an enterprise for better, fast and accurate information availability to every single person which is its ‘primary objective’ because every single operation and action taken at any place by any person depends on consistent and updated information availability. Whatever a person needs can be immediately accessed by him subject to the delegated authority. ERP function has thus helped individuals.

They also enhance management decision making by making future projections about sales during a certain period of a certain product. Management would then be able to make decisions whether to increase/decrease production of that particular product which in turn would help save resources from being wasted which could be used for other purposes e.g for making other products. They also help managers make decisions about introducing some new value added features to an existing ‘hot-demand’ product to enhance sales further. This is how product quality is also enhanced. Inventory costs reduction must be given a great importance in every organization. ERP helps reduce inventory costs by better planning and forecasting of requirements. ERP system helps getting higher return on investments (ROI) in a fast manner.

While there are absolute benefits, an ERP system also poses significant challenges in the areas of information security and business continuity planning. Above mentioned things point to a very critical step, the right choice of an ERP for your enterprise! Off all the ERP systems exiting in the market, all seem to be performing the same function but the one best suiting your requirements needs to be picked up in order to achieve required results. The choice depends upon the structure and type of the organization e.g financial, manufacturing etc. This is why some organizations experience higher benefits as compared to others because they’ve made the right choice and are able to make the right use of their system.

To summarize, ERP has a great importance and ERP systems have become the biggest need of today’s organizations to survive. They provide tremendous benefits provided the Critical Success Factors of ERP system implementation are kept in mind.

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The intention is to represent all the necessary tooling to run a large IT capability.

At this level of abstraction there are many ways to partition the problem and draw interfaces – how do you think of it?

(click for larger view)

Definition of element management:

Element management tools are the control consoles and utilities used by operations and infrastructure staff.

The common characteristic of such tools is their support for the most detailed non-programming work in IT management:

• network administration
• database administration
• middleware administration
• storage administration
• operations management (where not otherwise covered)
• and so forth

Element management tools represent important sources of information and visibility into complex IT operations, including resource unit costs, and the ability to integrate them is desirable.

-ctb

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Charles Betz is a Senior Enterprise Architect, and chief architect for IT
Service Management strategy for a US-based Fortune 50 enterprise. He is author of the forthcoming Architecture and Patterns for IT Service
Management, Resource Planning, and Governance: Making Shoes for the Cobbler’s Children (Morgan Kaufman/Elsevier, 2006, ISBN 0123705932). He is the sole author of the popular www.erp4it.com weblog.

Answer: Resistance often kills many of these new systems. Even though the promise of what an ERP can do is high, the planners often fail to look at how the users are likely to view this “improvement.” ERPs take away the old tried-and-true ways of working. Even though some of these cobbled together systems aren’t all that good, people understand them. When they are asked to give up what they know and what they can rely on, you often get resistance to using a new software system.

ERPs also threaten the fragile balance of power and control. The old system allows departments and some individuals to control the type of information that gets out – and control the way data gets disseminated. The new system destroys all of that and that can be threatening.

One manufacturing plant has spent millions on an ERP, and kept throwing money at the technical parts of project, with no success. What they failed to see was that the technical problems they faced were minor compared to the human reactions against these changes.

Question: What are the biggest pitfalls when planning an ERP?

Answer: The biggest pitfall by far is assuming that ERP implementation is solely a technical and financial challenge. The human side of change is the most neglected, and consequently most likely to result in cost and time overruns, or failure to meet the intended goals.

Question: How can we increase the odds in our favor?

Answer: Plan for the human part of the ERP. There are three major reasons why people resist a change. They don’t get it (Level 1), they don’t like it (Level 2), or they don’t like you (Level 3). Any one of those can stop the ERP dead in its tracks. And what you need is the opposite of all three: people need to get what it’s all about, they need to like it and be willing to take part in making sure it is a success, and they need to have confidence in you.

Create strategies that speak to people in their own language to help them understand why these changes are critical to your organization. Spend a lot of time building the case for the change before you get into the often mind-numbing details of the ERP process itself. This attention to Level 1 is necessary but not sufficient for success. You must attend to the other two levels as well.

If people react against the change, find out why. It is usually fear. In some cases people are afraid that the new ERP will cost them their job. If that’s the case, why would they support it? You need to find ways to engage people to help you address the downside of the change. For example, if people are afraid that the new system will not allow them to customize and be as responsive to customers, invite them into the planning to ensure that the new system provides the features they need.

And if they don’t have confidence in you or your team (Level 3), you must do everything you can do demonstrate that you are worthy of their trust. This probably won’t happen over night. One meeting won’t do it. You need to prove yourself time and time again. No, it’s not easy, and working on Level 3 issues can be exhausting, but it may be the only game in town if you really want people to make a commitment to you and the new system. Good luck.

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Rick Maurer is an advisor to organizations on ways to lead Change without Migraines. He is author of many books on change including Beyond the Wall of Resistance. His web site offers over 100 free tips and tools for leading change successfully. www.beyondresistance.com

Consider that you are the implementation Project Manager for a consulting firm and you have a client who has selected an ERP system.

The project manager and the team started gathering requirements from end users through focus groups, workshops, sessions with SMEs, etc. After obtaining all the details from end users you can easily conclude that you have all the necessary information and requirements to successfully implement the “to be” software system erroneously. During UAT (User’s Acceptance Testing) you can find out that the system does not meet all the end user’s expectations as well as the participants of UAT are unable to authorize your implemented solution previously.

Requirements not scrubbed

Instead of focusing on what the requirement should process, it should focus only on the function that the system will perform. Government organizations implementing an ERP solution document requirements are maintained frequently in web of spreadsheets that makes it difficult to: 1. Track a requirement, 2. Modify the requirement while communicating the changes to the affected parties, 3. assigning requirement ownership, 4. Create an RTM and 5. Manage the lifecycle of the requirement. The ERP implementation partner is also tasked with interpreting the requirements from spreadsheets and it discerns how these requirements will be implemented during realization and verifies that the requirements have been met during testing process. Moreover, the implementation partner of ERP for the sake of meeting deadlines rushes through the blueprint phase does not scour the requirement and makes blind attempt for executing the requirement even when the requirement is not feasible, necessary or consistent with the functionality of the ERP application.

Vendor software problems

The process of testing or maintaining the SAP software will give you errors, and so the needed enhancements, or bugs within your software cannot be addressed with your existing project team and so these errors, bugs, and needed enhancements do not instigate from having customized or implemented SAP erroneously but are rather triggered due to a deficiency with the vendor software. Impact occurred to your business could be manifested in different manners such as client/end user dissatisfaction, inability to roll out specific planned system functionality, financial losses, and unstable system based upon the severity of the problem. These vendor software problems can also get unresolved for prolonged periods. Furthermore, lack of controls, participation from the SAP client as well as audit trails can cause the software vendor problems to erroneously become closed when in fact they were never resolved.

No Scope Verification

Controversial relationships between the client and implementation partner stem from the fact that the client feels that the implemented ERP solution does not cater to their business needs depending on the documented scope, and the end users cannot perform all these tasks that were implemented within the legacy systems without difficulty. And when the client report defects, short comings and bugs against the ERP system were not a part of the scope or documented via a requirement and so the problem is compounded. When the ERP integration partner labels the end user’s reported defects and problems as enhancements mutually rather than problems with the implemented ERP solution the relationship between the implementation partner and the client takes revolve for the worse.

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But as the research reveals – even after a decade of industry advice about helping employees to help themselves, gaining insight into customers, better performance from employees, and smoother business operations… we still see the paradox and “road block” of end-user, buy-in rejection.

I’m sure you’ve heard about the scenario or possibly even seen it at your own organization; the story is “classic”. A business decides to upgrade it’s “X” capabilities (training, CRM, data analysis system, ERP system, etc.,) with a new suite of applications. It performs its due diligence, finds the best system to suit its needs, and lays out the money for implementation and customization. Six months later… some employees (if not most…) are still working off of spreadsheets or in a notebook, etc.,

Bottom line – under no circumstances do they even want to go near the new, expensive system.

So, how do we resolve that? There’s the old adage, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make ‘em drink. When you are spending so much money on implementation and customization – is this response ok? What do you do? Do you “force” it on them? Do you make the system mandatory and require them to log in everyday or their fired?

Opinions? Let’s take a closer look at 3 principles that when used correctly will “guarantee” a successful software system implementation… every single time.

Training.

I list training as the first of the three, as it is most important. However, when I say training… I actually mean two things: 1. System training 2. Positioning training or psychological training

System training is pretty self-explanatory. I’m sure you’ll agree that having the proper manuals that walk the employees through the important parts of the system is necessary. But what else? A more sophisticated method of training that can take the place of manuals and help documents is video tutorials or elearning management training. Today, you can actually create interactive tutorial videos (pretty easily and cost-effectively), that literally take the user “by-the-hand” and walk them through a series of steps that they need to understand before the use the system. This type of training can be very effective in “showing” a user how to effectively leverage the system to their advantage… the right way vs. the wrong way to do things and how to be organized and efficient.

The problem with training is the most companies do not do it correctly (through the proper blending of repetition, frequency and reinforcement), which leads to poor use of the systems.

The second type of training that is as important to ‘system training’ (if not more important) is “positioning training”. By “positioning training”, I mean putting together a structured training plan that helps to ensure end user buy-in, right from the start. Incorporating PowerPoint slides or a video presentation that speaks specifically about the “whys” the system will make their lives easier is where you start. When information is carefully put at their fingertips, information that they would never have had readily available without your new technology is a huge benefit. Make sure you have some information to share about just that. An organized and orchestrated workflow process is another benefit that you want to purposely “push” to the front of their training. The key to all of this is proper positioning or “framing, if you will. When you position the benefits (not the features) properly and create some training around the “psychology” of why and how the new system will literally change their lives and the companies overall effectiveness and competitive edge – you go a long way to gain the proper mindshare and buy-in. Also, you may want to consider putting together small surveys or “poll” your employee audience with specific questions that will enable you to determine present skill levels. The survey method will actually help you in putting together your training presentations.

Having an elearning management solution working for you can be a very cost-effective method to generating fantastic employee buy-in.

Management Buy-In

Another key factor and the second principle is having your managers become advocates of your new technology. They really need to set the example for the rest of the group. The way you do this is to set up specific training (there’s training again.. that’s why I say it is probably the most important thing you can do) for management that includes reporting, advanced tools, and methods to monitor and evaluate the use of your new system. Managers lead. When you can show the managers how many of their “administrative”, time-consuming managerial “duties” are removed and their lives change as a result of using the system, e.g., better monitoring of their employees, quick information at their fingertips, increased productivity… they end up caring more about the system, and when they care and use it daily – the rest of the organization usually follows.

The Isolation of Champions

My highest recommendation in rolling out a new system, no matter how big is to start small. Elect a small group, a test pilot group to work through your system and provide feedback. By getting feedback from a small group of heavy users.. you are able to work out all the “kinks” before pushing the system out to the entire company. Pilot projects are also great in helping to establish realistic expectations, benchmarks and business goals of your new system.

You’ll need to make sure you have “key” people representing all functional areas of the departments that will be using your new system… this way no group is left out, no stone left unturned and no room for excuses or complaints later on. When all employees get the sense that their opinions are important and more importantly, have been considered during the development and implementation process… their buy-in becomes more natural.

When you do this and you do this right – you actually develop “champions” of your new system, who will help bridge the gap between implementation and usability. Your champions will rally the troops around your new system and will help make your “launch” as successful as it can be.

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Copyright 2006 George Ritacco (All Rights Reserved)

George Ritacco is the Director of Client Services for Global Vision Technologies, Inc (GVT)., http://www.globalvisiontech.com a premiere software developer specializing in powerful, easy-to-use Internet systems for online training and development (http://www.omnitrackplus.com), sales and marketing intelligence, pharmaceutical sales ops, case management, and court reimbursement. GVT’s primary goal is to provide our customers with tools for improving productivity, profitability, employee morale and turnover.

It is a widely-held notion that enterprise software, at least as it had traditionally been known, is dead. Ray Lane has proclaimed that there will never again be a billion dollar software company. Larry Ellison has made two investment bankers his key executives, effectively shifting the focus at Oracle from innovation to acquisition and consolidation.

Marc Benioff mentions his “No Software” message to anyone who will listen. This general disdain for software has even taken root at that seemingly invulnerable stronghold of software, Microsoft. Here, Ray Ozzie has issued a memo, warning that Microsoft’s model is dated and faces the threat of extinction at the hands of Software as Services forces. Only SAP seemed blissfully unaware of the news of enterprise software’s demise – until announcing an on-demand CRM product in early February.

There are very real changes in the economic climate and business needs that we have to come to grips with because they shape the real new paradigm’s calculus for success.

The same conventional wisdom that doomed much of the enterprise software market has now embraced the paradigm shift from Software to Services. We need to understand the component parts of this new Software as Services paradigm and how it came to be. It is only by seeing which parts are the inevitable spin to manipulate perceptions and which parts take advantage of changes in the landscape of economics, technology, and business needs that we will see what models can work for which markets. We must also understand these components if we want to avoid the “Web Bubble 2.0″. Otherwise, Software as Services ground swell is building up enough hype-momentum to produce.

Let’s consider the real economic climate, and today’s companies’ real business needs as a way to root out a few of the pitfalls and red herrings ahead. If we learn our lessons, there may be a very bright future for both software and services ahead.

Economic Climate

The market for software, while not bad by historical standards, is no longer being driven by the twin afterburners of the Internet bubble and the Y2K crisis. CEO’s (except those running traditional software companies!) are not waking up in a cold sweat from nightmares about Stanford grad students taking over their businesses overnight by “disintermediating” them via the Internet. Companies are no longer seeking to add new information technology toys to their arsenals regardless of the cost or risk. In short, we have moved out of a distorted bubble and back into normal times, not bad times.

Many great enterprises have been built in normal times, so we should not despair. However, we must recall the old formulas involving return on investment, customer satisfaction, and barriers to entry. They had been long forgotten, at least for a time, as the intervention of the “twin afterburners” made them temporarily obsolete. Today, they are once more essential to success.

Good old ROI

Return on investment (ROI) forces us to deliver results such that the healthy green curve of return exceeds the red curve of expense/risk as soon as possible and by as wide a margin as possible. Under the twin afterburner economy, the expense/risk curve could be ignored with impunity because the return curve was assumed to be infinite due to the mysterious workings of the new economy. In fact, the stock market returns during this time did defy conventional economics in just that way. In our new, normal world, we must take these curves into account and ensure their proper trajectories. For markets offering limited return curves, a strong focus on lowering expenses and risks is essential.

The latter is one of the forces behind the success of Software as Services companies and the demise of Siebel Systems in CRM. Because CRM systems are only about managing process and collecting the opinions of salespeople, they never truly delivered on their promise of safeguarding and enhancing the productivity of salespeople. They are useful tools, but their promised return curve never materialized. At the same time, Siebel sold a system that was very expensive and risky to install. Once the normal economy had returned, the expense/risk curve was seen to be way above the return curve and companies lost interest. Salesforce.com, for example, has radically repositioned that expense/risk curve so that even (or some would say, especially) small organizations could be successful with CRM.

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction follows the ROI forces closely. That statistic on average CIO tenure being so short is an indicator of poor customer satisfaction. All of the CIO’s can’t be that incompetent all of the time. Some blame must fall to the software and those who were installing it. The cost of installing enterprise software ballooned out of all proportion to the license costs, and the latter were supposed to be a true reflection of what the software would bring in benefit.

Analysts estimate that it costs anywhere from $5 to $7 per $1 of license sold to install most enterprise software. Any scenario that unbalanced is going to be fraught with risk, expense, and much opportunity for unhappiness which all lead to low customer satisfaction. customer satisfaction is the subjective institutional memory and fallout of bad ROI.

Here again, the Software as Service folks have an answer. By moving the software out of the data center, the customer can no longer see how the “sausages” are made. By insisting on a one-size-fits-all approach, much of the potential for dissatisfaction is self-selected away during the initial sales cycle, and the risks inherent in custom coding are eliminated. But it is the self-selection piece that is missing when the Siebel’s of the world claim that installed software as one-size-fits-all is easy. And so the religion performs the useful service of protecting the customer from their own worst tendencies.

Unfortunately, the idea that you can have any color you want so long as it is black is not a long-term stable solution to the issue of deployment and customization. People like customization and personalization. In fact, it is one of the alternate paradigm shifts that drove the sales of MP3 players – why can’t I have exactly the music I want instead of what some record producer thinks I should have? Businesses must do some things differently in order to differentiate.

As luck would have it (more on luck later), Salesforce.com identified a market where customization could be dispensed with. There has been little value shown in doing extensive customization of CRM systems because it isn’t the details of the sales process that matter. It is simply the mindset that there should be some kind of rigorous process. Overly literal imitators of Salesforce.com’s model need to be careful that their market will not require customization either.

Successful software, or services, must be difficult to copy

Barriers to Entry is the last economic component to consider, but it is one that the Software as Services community has not yet assimilated. In the wake of the dinosaur-killing mass extinction event, the furry mammals haven’t had much opportunity yet to compete for dominance in the food chain. The time to compete is coming though. With every venture capitalist in the land and many shareholders and analysts clamoring that Software as Service is the road that must be traveled, there is a gold rush beginning to take root. Soon, there will be many who want to poach each claim that shows any promise at all. Salesforce.com is a particularly juicy target. It may be that they have sufficient momentum that brand will become their essential barrier to entry. They are attempting to use the AppExchange concept to create a network effect barrier to entry, but that will take many years if they’re able to get there at all.

Ironically, the very forces the early Software as Service players have harnessed to their advantage have eliminated the barriers to entry that can be so important to long term success. With no customization, indeed as little investment as possible to adopt these products, and with their data entirely accessible via the Internet, it’s hard to see why the commoditizers will not ultimately themselves be commoditized by hungrier vermin that come along later. The jury is still out on what effective barriers to entry will work, and therefore what the barriers to entry will be for this model.

Business Needs

Somewhat related to economic climate is the idea of business needs. Are there any big problems left to be solved, or is the time and energy better spent providing ever cheaper solutions to the problems we’ve already uncovered?

One of the great tragedies of the enterprise software empires is that they became gradually disconnected from the idea of solving real business needs as more demand was driven by Y2K and Internet disintermediation fears. Many important business needs remain unsolved to this day because they weren’t sexy enough or didn’t benefit from the “Disruptive-Force-Du-Jour” of the times. Supply chain and product lifecycle management seemed like big new spaces that were enabled by the new Internet ethic. In fact, they were interesting spaces, but did not apply to a large enough market despite being useful to companies almost in direct proportion to how much they resembled Silicon Valley thinking.

CRM promised to solve the revenue growth problem, which is a big problem, but they only delivered the ability to collect the opinions of sales people and to monitor their adherence to the sales process. These were poor proxies to the revenue growth problem.

One way to look at this issue of problem solving is to go through the financial statements of companies and ask what has been done to improve the outcome of each line item. Huge markets have been created around the line items that have to do with manufacturing, for example. Enterprise resource planning is the epitome – and it is no accident that SAP as the premier player, is strongest among manufacturers.

The distinction between the idea of enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management is also strangely resonant. Planning implies some ability to proactively influence the outcome, and that is exactly what ERP systems are all about, at least for manufacturers. Management by contrast implies an ability to react to what is happening, and this is exactly why CRM has not solved the problem it set out to.

To achieve the levels of success that have been enjoyed by the ERP players, and to kick-start an entirely new phase in enterprise software and services, sales performance management focused vendors need to deliver the planning promise to the revenue problem in a proactive way. Instead of looking at opinions about what might happen, we must focus on using the powerful compensation carrot to drive future behavior based on what was learned from past results. This is exactly what was done in ERP, and it represents a bold new opportunity to address an important business need that has rejected the best attempts of the CRM movement.

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Robert Warfield is Senior Vice President Engineering and Chief Technology Officer at Callidus Software (www.callidussoftware.com), the industry’s leading enterprise incentive management (EIM) provider to global companies across multiple industries. Callidus EIM systems allow enterprises to develop and manage incentive compensation linked to the achievement of strategic business objectives.