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 Is Oracle
sapping SAP?
by Sandra Noble, President
Noble & Associates Consulting,
Inc.
A leech is sucking the life blood out of SAP. Or at least the attempt is
being made. Whats causing the blood letting to occur? PeopleSoft, JD
Edwards, Siebel, Hyperion aka the new, bigger more diverse Oracle
Corporation.
I got training in SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system years
ago when it was on a mainframe platform - R/2. At that time the Germans
who came to the US to teach, emphasized that the name was S-A-P. They
were aware of the negative connotations of the word sap in the United
States.
The Players
The letters
S, A, P stand for some German words. At this point, knowing what those
letters mean, is as irrelevant as knowing what IBM stands for. (By the
way, I just learned that SAP was started by former IBMers). SAP was
founded in Germany in 1972. It had become greatly successful and
respected in the European market before it made any serious inroads in
North America.
Oracle
Corporation, a US company, leads the way in the home grown variety of
enterprise-wide software. At its start in 1977, the focus was on
database solutions. It took close to 20 years before a reasonable
facsimile of an ERP system was produced.
Both
companies started with ERP systems which handled basic business
functions such as order entry, accounts receivable, production,
inventory, purchasing and accounts payable all integrated with a
financial backbone. Now their offerings have expanded to include ERP
off-springs like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Business
Intelligence, and Supply Chain Management (SCM) to name a few.
The Definitions
At dictionary.com, I looked up the definition for sap. The two definitions
I would have given:
1)
to undermine;weaken
or destroy insidiously - with Synonyms: impair, enfeeble, deplete,
exhaust, enervate
2)
Slang. a fool; dupe.
But two other
definitions surprised me:
1)
Fortification. a
deep, narrow trench constructed so as to form an approach to a
besieged place or an enemy's position
2)
Fortification.
a.
to approach (a
besieged place or an enemy position) by means of deep, narrow trenches
protected by gabions or parapets.
b.
to dig such trenches
in (ground).
Which sap is SAP?
The
Challenges:
- SAP corporation is still the
leader in the ERP space, but Oracle is gaining ground.
- Turnover at the top is worth
noting and watching
- SAP is sticking to old ways of
doing things - ways that have been successful in the past.
- They have evolved from
mainframe R/2 to client server SAP R/3 and then to enterprise version mySAP. Now, SAP is giving more attention to "software as a
service" to try to capture more of the midsize market. Are they
committed to operating in that space?
The Enemy
Oracle is building approach / attack
trenches by acquiring companies that make Oracle a more comprehensive
solution provider. Is SAP impaired by this? SAP did not capture the lead
position by being a fool. They cannot and should not be discounted. SAP
is still a force to be reckoned with.
More Details:
Amid Challenges, SAP CEO Kagermann Sticks To His Plan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Considering Software? I'd like to invite you to
Sandra Noble MBA, CPIM, DCFS,
CDP, Six Sigma, is president of
Noble & Associates Consulting which specializes in IT Needs Assessments,
RFP creation, unbiased software selection assistance and we're the cure
for Post Implementation Distress. We also have full life cycle
implementation expertise in SAP, Oracle and other enterprise-wide
software solutions.
Reducing the
STRESS
of Software
Implementations Worldwide!
Noble Finances, a
division of Noble & Associates Consulting, provides accounts receivable
financing, equipment & software leasing, and lawsuit funding.
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Copyright © 2006,
Noble & Associates Consulting, Inc.
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