ERP & Enterprise Systems

You Don't Have a Big Data Problem. You Have Hundreds of Little Data Problems

February 28, 2013

Wally Powers, Director, West Monroe Partners

Many manufacturing and distribution companies are wrestling with the enormous challenge of Big Data, trying to turn mountains of data into actionable information. And while some companies curse the landslide of data overwhelming their organizations, others look to capitalize on what they realize is an opportunity to better understand their customers, suppliers and costs. But the challenge is more nuanced than sculpting a huge collection of unwieldy data.

SAP Announces Plans to Acquire Inventory-Optimization Vendor SmartOps

February 27, 2013

SAP AG

SAP AG is acquiring SmartOps, the vendor of software for inventory and service-level optimization.

5 Steps to Better Data for Supply Chain Decision-Making

February 26, 2013

Donna Fritz, Director of Product Marketing, TAKE Solutions

In today's environment of Big Data and analytics, effective supply chain decision-making is only as good as the data influencing the decisions. Drawing actionable conclusions based on the best information possible is critical to maintaining a supply chain that is efficient and effective, but also acts as a continual driver of strategic and competitive advantage. But how can your organization ensure that the data used to draw conclusions and make decisions regarding the supply chain is clean, relevant and accurate?

Linking the Physical and Financial Supply Chains

February 22, 2013

Supply Chain Europe

Electronic invoicing isn't new, writes Nigel Taylor of GXS. It started over 40 years ago with business-to-business (B2B) electronic data interchange (EDI) within private networks. With the advent of the internet in the '90s, e-procurement portals appeared and sparked a frenzy of investment into online industry communities. The e-procurement portals focused on sourcing and purchasing activities, and this narrow focus inevitably led to internet portals dedicated to payables processing.

BizSlate Launches Small Business Supply Chain Assistant

February 22, 2013

Venture Beat

New York-based BizSlate is launching its cloud-based resource planning tool to give small business a hand with their supply chain challenges. Unlike legacy vendors in that sector, including SAP and Netsuite, the technology is specifically designed for department stores, retail chains, small boutiques and the like. Chief executive Marc Kalman says BizSlate is ideal for companies that have "outgrown QuickBooks" but don't have ample resources at their disposal for IT.

Middle East to Up Cloud Spending

February 21, 2013

Procurement Leaders

The Middle Eastern and Northern African public cloud services market will see strong growth in 2013, experts predict. The increase in spending will represent a 24.5-percent increase from 2012, with revenue forecast to reach $462.3m in 2013, according to Gartner. The Middle Eastern and Northern African public cloud services market is forecast by the research group to grow 13.4 percent in 2012 to total $371.2m, compared to $110bn worldwide.

Accellos Achieves Compatibility With Microsoft Dynamics; Forges New Partnerships

February 13, 2013

Accellos

Accellos, a vendor of supply-chain execution software, has achieved compatibility with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, for the latest releases of AccellosOne Collect and AccellosOne EDI (electronic data interchange).

Oracle Enhances JD Edwards App for Health and Safety Management; One-View Reporting

February 6, 2013

Oracle Corp.

Oracle Corp. has introduced two applications for managing health and safety incidents, within version 9.1 of its JD Edwards EnterpriseOne software suite.

Itelligence Buys SAP-Based Business Operations of Software AG in North America

January 31, 2013

Itelligence

Itelligence, a provider of SAP-based services for small and medium-sized businesses, has purchased the SAP consulting, license and maintenance operations of Software AG in the U.S. and Canada.

When Will Cloud ERP Take Off?

January 31, 2013

Pat Garrehy, President & CEO, Rootstock

Most can agree that cloud ERP, and certainly manufacturing cloud ERP, is in its infancy. Interestingly, while analysts project that the adoption rate for cloud HR is more than 60 percent and for cloud CRM over 75 percent, the present adoption rate of cloud ERP for manufacturers is less than 10 percent (versus 90 percent of on-premise ERP). Yet, there is a general consensus that by 2023 most of the installed MFG ERP systems will be cloud-based.