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Extracting Maximum value from Enterprise Software
Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 12:00 PM
Presently, for an enterprise software vendor, its all about 'making a sale', deploying its software (i.e. if the customers choose them to, and not their partners or other third-party implementers) , and interfacing with the customer for upgrades and add-ons and dutifully receive maintenance cheques every year. Though value engineering and iron-clad business cases play their part during pre-sales, thats where they end.
As is the norm, after a 'successful' implementation and the 'Go-Live', the deployment team transfers the running systems to the internal IT and move on to other projects. After all a happy ending?, well no. All the insights that a deployment team developed during the course of the project is lost forever.
In order to continue to optimize operations (after all bottom lines rule!) and extract value from an enterprise software deployment, customers and enterprise software vendors must work hand-in-glove to evaluate the roadmap on an ongoing basis, Value Engineering must be an ongoing activity than a one-off presentation during pre-sales. Account executives must actually be Value Engineers who work with customers to enhance and extract as much value from their enterprise software deployments. The insight built must be retained on-site - the value engineers at customers place - is where you store these insights.
The Last Mile Challenge in Enterprise Software
Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 12:01 PM
Enterprise Software - the software machinery that runs the internals of an organization- is a complex beast. The enormous complexity enterprise software is often accused of, is more to do with the problems it tries to solve than the actual recipe it provides for these problems. For starters, every industry, every company in an industry, every subsidiary of these companies, every LOB and every team within a LOB has unique needs, leading to their own flavors of business processes. Enterprise software has to support all these flavors - rather seamlessly.
In order to understand the last mile challenge in enterprise software, one has to understand how it is brewed and served to customers. Brewed in labs and development org. units - I call them the creators, it finds it way to the customer landscape through consultants and partners. Consultants from either partners or from another organization unit 'flavor' enterprise software for customer organizations, based on their unique needs - I call these consultants the deployers. The flavoring is needed as enterprise software is almost always a shrink-wrapped product.
This process of flavoring the software is what I call the last mile of enterprise software. The last mile is as crucial for enterprise software, as it is to a moon mission satellite entering the final lunar orbit. To me, the challenges in the last mile stem from the 'knowledge' levels of the deployers and lack of effective communication of product capabilities across the continuum from creators to the deployers. The magic pill is effective communication and collaboration between the creators and deployers. This leads to a successful deployment and usage of enterprise software.
Enterprise Software and the Network Effect
Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 12:00 PM
Businesses have always tried to exploit network effect and the bandwagon effect to their advantage to attract new customers and improve their top lines. Microsoft is a classic case in point - Windows is occupying more than 90% of the world's desktops largely due to the network effect.
How can enterprise software makers leverage the network effect to increase their installed base? the answer lies in 'business network transformation'. Earlier, enterprise software was used to automate internal businesses processes in finance, HR and operations. ERP software was ruling to roost.
Come Y2k, the new world order is:
- forcing businesses to focus on their 'core', their differentiating claim-to-fame capabilities and work with parters in the ecosystem to provide complete customer solutions - outsourcing
- forcing businesses to engage with suppliers and partners in different corners of the globe - off-shoring
From an enterprise software perspective, collaboration with partners is the new mantra, consolidation and automation is a given. If any enterprise software can support such kind of collaboration and enable out-of-the-box collaboration capabilities for entities in the business network, it would emerge as the de-facto operating system of business.
How is SAP dealing with the N=1; R=G world?
Written by Harsh Jegadeesan on 10:47 PM
I was deeply wondering how SAP was addressing the N=1; R=G world? Here is my take on it!
N=1 - SAP through its business process platform and subsequently through its platform strategy is providing a means for customers to customize their enterprise software. Needless to say, enterprise software is complex and "no-one-size-fits-all". Companies, most often innovate on their processes to create "differentiating processes" - their claim to fame. In order to create customized processes, SAP provides the first-ever business process platform, a significant shift from its individual product offerings ( ERP, CRM, SRM, .. and other TLAs). Most importantly, the focus has shifted to end-to-end business processes, as business processes provide the link between strategy, business models and operations.
R=G - SAP is a truly global company with a "follow the sun" strategy to support customers. With a strong and wide-spread SAP Labs network, research centers with strong university collaborations, SAP leverages resources globally. Most significantly, SAP has built a strong ecosystem with customers, partners, supportive user groups, communities of innovation and industry value networks to collectively deliver value to customers. SAP has also jumped into the crowdsourcing bandwagon with its partnership with InnoCentive to tap into the "wisdom of the crowds".
In my opinion, SAP is well poised to address the N=1; R=G world.
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