This list celebrates changemakers creating meaningful impact through leadership, innovation, fresh perspectives, transformative mindsets, and lessons that resonate far beyond the workplace.
Third Cloud Based Vendor Certified As “Epic” For Constellation CosmosTM Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights Evaluations
San Francisco, CA– July 3, 2013 Constellation Research, Inc. the research and advisory firm focused on how businesses can be transformed by disruptive technologies today announced the publication of “Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights: SaaS Apps – Ultimate Software” by R “Ray” Wang, Principal Analyst and CEO, Constellation Research. This is the third Constellation CosmosTM Certification for the Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights: SaaS Apps authored by Wang. The Constellation CosmosTM Certification for the Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights is intended to help buyers and prospective buyers of enterprise cloud applications determine which vendors meet the spirit of customer friendly cloud contracts. Constellation’s goal is to recognize vendors for honoring the 61 Cosmos criteria including the 55 Bill of Rights criteria upfront in their existing contract language, and throughout the buyer and ownership experience.
Ultimate Software achieved the highest designation, “Epic”, for its performance in the CosmosTM evaluation in the Cloud Apps Suites category.
“The Enterprise Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights provides a tool for clients and vendors to change the tenor of contract negotiations from user subservience to an equal and collaborative long-term partnership.”, commented R “Ray” Wang, Principal Analyst & CEO. “Constellation has participated in over 1500 enterprise software contract negotiations including 250 for the cloud. We plan to certify over 20 vendors by end of 2013.”
This report fits into Constellation’s business-focused research themes: Technology Optimization and Innovation and Consumerization of IT & The New C-Suite
R “Ray” Wang is the Principal Analyst and CEO at Constellation Research, Inc. He’s also the author of the popular enterprise software blog “A Software Insider’s Point of View”. With viewership in the millions of page views a year, his blog provides insight into how disruptive technologies and new business models impact the enterprise. Ray is a prominent keynote speaker and research analyst working with clients on engagement strategies, social business, customer experience, and decision management. He advises Global 2000 companies on business strategy and technology selection. Ray is quoted regularly in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, IDG News Service, and other media outlets around the world.
More information about Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights: SaaS Apps – Ultimate Software can be found here: http://www.constellationr.com/research/cosmos-cloud-buyers-bill-rights-saas-apps-ultimate-software
ABOUT CONSTELLATION COSMOS
Constellation CosmosTM is Constellation's flagship quantitative and qualitative product and solution comparison tool. A typical Cosmos contains 50 to 150 exception-based criteria used to help buy-side clients with product and solution selection across the galaxy of choices. The evaluation comprises of six major categories on a 0 to 5 point scale where Constellation evaluates key criteria in:
Ownership experience.
Solution offering.
Use case support.
Market execution.
Corporate vision.
Ecosystem feedback.
The final ratings place solutions into 5 categories
Epic. Composite scores typically above 4.5
Stellar. Composite scores typically between 3.5 and 4.49
Emerging. Composite scores typically between 2.5 and 3.49
Nascent. Composite scores typically between 1.5 and 2.49
Laggard. Composite scores typically between 0 and 1.49
Press Contacts: Contact the Media and Influencers relations team at [email protected] for interviews with analysts.
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.<br>
Coverage Areas:
Future of Work
Tech Optimization & Innovation<br>
Background:
Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business…
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With the general availability of the Oracle Database version 12c imminent upon us - it's time to look at what - for now - before more information at the launch webcast tomorrow and real client adoption - is the key feature of 12c.
The end of multitenancy as we knew it
We already discussed the implications on the multitenancy term in a previous post. And to quickly re-cap - in the past multi-tenancy in the area of databases was always referred to as a striped database, where different tenant's record were stored in the same tables and the software programs had to find a way to only feed the right records to the right clients. That was a design approach pretty much dictated by system and software capabilities about a dozen years ago.
Alternatively vendors would bypass this design by running one database per tenant. And this approach inherently had advantages in regards of portability, data security and tools availability. But it came along with a higher hardware price tag and higher operations and maintenance costs - as more hardware would be needed to support this configuration.
With 12c Oracle now makes the important separation of its database metadata and user storage data. The two were combined in the past and only Oracle would know how to separate the two. Originally this was conceived for performance reasons, but with significantly more RAM in today's servers, that technical separation is no longer necessary.
Oracle 12c effectively makes the metadata of its database multi-tenant, that is to support multiple user databases. The advantage is that the user data bases now do not need to be striped, made multi-tenant anymore. Confusing? Certainly, but once understood - it makes sense.
And as Oracle's perspective to view the world from the database as the vantage point is certainly legitimate - so 12c makes the meta data (and with that the user data) multi-tenant.
How can a database by elastic?
Well out post title is certainly a bit contradictory - as a database itself cannot be elastic - as it stores data... And data needs to be kept and stay on HDD (or other media). So let's not confuse elasticity with caching - though there are some common elements. [Sidenote - caching becomes very relevant if you are an in memory database like HANA - see my post here].
The elasticity with 12c does not come in from the storage side, but from how the metadata to access the user data is handled... and that is highly elastic, with system load determining what part of the metadata and for which user database it will be running.
Basically Oracle applies similar principles as any IaaS vendor does when starting virtual machines to the meta data code for specific user data bases that are being requested and / or used. We will need to learn more on the details here - as Oracle with the Oracle VM has it's own virtualization technology - but we expect that to be too much geared to the needs of general programs and applications than to server the specific needs of the database - but we will see.
The result is an elastic database - and with that users benefit from the key benefit of elasticity - more software can run on the same or even less hardware. And Oracle has not been shy with demonstrating this - checkout the slide below for the specific claims made at OpenWorld 2012:
Back then Oracle (rightfully) garnered some criticism in regards of the use case chosen - and we are sure Oracle chose something favorable for the cause. But looking back - if Oracle can deliver on only 30% better utilization - then they will have secured their market leadership for years to come.
The irony is - Oracle can effectively create a business case out of the inefficiency of their former database architecture. But to be fair - that was always known and customers more than willingly traded for that architecture and in return received scalability, stability and reliability.
Backward compatibilty
All this would be good and great - but much more difficult to sell, if Oracle would not claim - and again reality checks will have to happen - that moving to 12c is a seamless upgrade. And we need to intuitively give Oracle the point here, as they should and would know how to move a pre 12c database structure over to a 12c one.
I would even expect that the formerly striped multi-tenancy databases will be able to be upgraded programmatially, especially if the Oracle supported feature of Virtual Private Database was used.
Salesforce.com as the proofpoint
A lot has been said and written about this partnership. And there are pros and cons for salesforce.com to renew its dependency on Oracle. But it's clear salesforce.com will gain operating cost advantages from Oracle - as Marc Beniof is on record, that these are only about 1/3 of their current costs. [To be fair that included also the usage of ExaData - not just Oracle 12c].
MyPOV
Oracle has delivered a key database release with 12c, that if it stands up to the claims made, will solidify Oracle's position as a database provider for years to come. We also think that in combination with the recent alliances, Oracle has taking the step to overcome the disruptions the overall market will face by moving from internet based to cloud based architectures.
Nonetheless the NoSQL challenge remains, equally as does the in-memory challenge - and Oracle will need to address these. But for now it's about congratulating Oracle on 12c and looking forward to see the proof points in real end usage scenarios.
My latest take on Oracle overall can be found here - takeaways from the Oracle analyst summit.
Reprints Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contactSales.
Disclosure Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on theConstellation Research website.
* Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.<br>
Coverage Areas:
Future of Work
Tech Optimization & Innovation<br>
Background:
Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business…
Read more
I was invited by Microsoft to their Build 2013 event in San Francisco this week - and it was an interesting experience, contrasted to the modest events I used to attend in Europe with Microsoft - last century. Microsoft moved the event from Seattle last year to San Francisco and was blessed with unusual and nice warm weather and over 6000 attendees. Supposedly the event sold out in a mere 3 days, attendants were global, we chatted with attendees from 15 different countries, Latin America the most prominent region.
Day 1 Keynote
Microsoft's product landscape is breathtaking and to pack that all into two keynotes must have been a challenging game of riches. I don't want to to focus too much on the more consumer focused Day 1 - there the relevant news for the enterprise were that Windows 8.1 will come out soon, and the desktop will be more prominent and you will even be able to boot your machine to the desktop again. From all spontaneous applause during the keynotes - this was the most energetic and lasting one. Clearly Microsoft has taken the tile concept a little too far on the PC. But all in all fairness Microsoft should get credit for trying to get one consistent user interface across smartphone, tablet, and PC - and even more for rectifying the issue relatively quickly. And personally I do not think the issue lies with the tiles, but with the light weight nature of the Metro apps. Yes they need to support touch, but they don't need to be oversimplified... I was glad I heard some attendees even talking about the tile dummification since I felt often like that...
Ballmer also made clear that Microsoft is in the transition from a software company to a company that builds software powered devices (e.g. the Windows tablets) and software powered services (e.g. Azure).
After Ballmer it was time for the only woman to take the stage, Julie Larsen-Green showed how Windows 8.1 improves touch on small factor devices. She showed a more powerful Bing in connection with Maps that now provides a search across SkyDrive, XBox, HDD etc. - a good feature and similar to what Google showed at Google I/O. The accepting a Skype call without unlocking the computer or logging in is a nice feature - but begs the question who was logged in before - as otherwise in Skype as we know it today - the call will not be delivered. The added multimon capabities will be very welcomed in Windows 8.1 - not just by developers! And keeping DPI scaling dynamic, not determined by the primary monitor will be appreciated by millions of eyes using Windows.
Next it was Antoine Leblond to keep showing more new functionality but from a more technical angle. And my impression was - when enterprise vendors talk about 100s (see e.g. enhancements of Workday in Update 19 here) - then Microsoft needs to speak in 1000s - e.g. Windows 8.1 will introduce another 5000 new APIs for developers. Granted - no one needs and uses them all - but that is a massive scope for dot release. The good news - all this APIs are usually one liners to use - at least in the demos. Microsoft pays tribute to scripting languages here - one line, one statement, one API, one action. Developers do not have to hit the enter key as much as a decade ago...
And rightfully Microsoft creates value by making their development tools more complete. Adding a visualization and tooling for estimated power consumption certainly will help developers to reduce the power hunger of their mobile apps. And everything gets more connected and easier - e.g. a wizard to create mobile push alerts - delivered through Azure.
There were tons of more consumer, hardware, graphics and game whizbangs - but the endless collection of new capabilities here and firsts there becomes tiring - check out my twitter stream of the keynote. And granted this is a challenge for every keynote - but maybe Microsoft is trying to do too much for a Build conference audience - pitching both consumer capabilities and developer tools and productivity enhancements. Tough to get under one roof or in one keynote.
Then it was back to Gurdeep Singh Pall to show the latest on Bing. From his part of the keynote it is very clear now, that Microsoft is trying to become a platform company, that brings together all the different pieces of the large Microsoft product family all the way rom Bing to enterprise software. And Bing will expose more granular services and will make them available across for other products and services.
But the best demo of Build2013 was only to follow - a preview of Project Spark by Dave McCarthy and Rusty McClellan. It's from the gaming world - but has enterprise software relevance - as we witness the potential travolgimento of an entire industry. With Project Spark Microsoft transforms every Windows8 machine and xBox into a game design work station. In the few minutes of the demo, we witnessed the creation of a complete game, that was instantaneously playable. This has profound consequences on the gaming industry, where the game may start creating, extending, tuning and sharing it. Before you even play it. Crowd sourced projects of multiple designers are equally possible... If you ever tried to build a game 30+ years ago with TurtleGraphics - you would have been speechless, as have I.
Now if any of this creativity and personalization could be brought to the enterprise space...
Day 2 Keynote
On Day 2 Nadella opened the keynote and positioned the day to be the day for the backend. And Azure has come a long way. He claimed significant adoption of Azure – with 50% of the Fortune 500 using it, 250k customers overall and the addition of 1000 customers per day, and over 3.2M organizations using it with 65M active users. And Azure stores 8.5T storage objects per day and about 900k transactions per seconds. And there are 18+ data centers and 100+ co-locations. That is some serious workload and investment, and just 2 months after the GA of Azure as IaaS, the IaaS payload is already at 20% of overall payload (but it had the benefit of a long beta period).
Azure has one of the industry most diverse payloads
Nadella continued with pointing out how the firstparty applications (these are the Microsoft owned ones) keep Microsoft honest and to remain committed to the overall IaaS game. And to his point Azure today runs 300k servers alone for the Xbox community, SkyDrive has 250M accounts and 50M users of Office Web Apps. And then there is Skype with 190M users. And Bing is becoming more exposed to become a platform and uses Azure more and more, for instance for and expected 1B of notifications per month.
Luckily for customers, Microsoft assumes a first party equals third partywhich means that Azure customer loads are treated equally to Microsoft loads. An interesting argument as it would mean that it would take away any spare capacity considerations for the Azure cloud capacity. Which puts enormous pressure on the virtualization and elasticity capabilities of Azure – but later more on that.
Microsoft expands light blue stack
And true to previous announcements, Microsoft is opening Azure beyond the usual Microsoft tools and technologies – Nadella mentioned making Oracle a first class citizen, adding support of Java to existing node and PHP support. And while we applaud Microsoft to this step – it needs to realize that it will be difficult to create loyalty in this community beyond the IaaS deployments without more support in scaffolding and tooling. But it’s early days and remains to be seen where Microsoft goes with that.
Visual Studio - already with Oracle DBMS deployment capability
Websites? Websites! Websites?
I was surprised with Nadella starting the use cases of Azure with websites. Not something I was expecting too much of the Microsoft technology stack to be used. But the following demo showed again Microsofts new leitmotif of a platform that is easy to use – mostly with oneliners: In a demo a number of web site feature and animations were shown. And they were easy to create and maintain. So web site building seem to be one key focus for Microsoft, even made GA for a dedicated product – Windows Azure Websites.
Mobile matters
Micosoft has made it easier than ever to create mobile applications, true to the direction of exposing more services in the Azure platform. The good news is that developers can now deploy their applications not only to Windows Mobile, but also to Android and iOS. And needless to say that Windows Azure Mobile Services went… GA at Build.
Next it was Scott Guthrie’s turn on stage – finally – putting some light on what is going on at the backend to enable all these mobile apps and websites.
Finally – Auto-scale
To dynamically ramp up computing resources in Azure you had to write custom scripts or use other tools to enable this key cloud quality. So finally Microsoft has addressed that by adding auto-scaling capability to Azure. And for most apps this is a welcome change, as it puts the sizing burden, under a given SLA to the provider, in this case Azure. But some specific apps may have to be build up the trust in this brand new features. But at the end of the day the auto-scaling of a cloud provider should bet by far the average capability of an app provider to write scale up and scale down assets for a cloud infrastructure.
With the new auto-scale feature Azure can scale for websites, cloud services and virtual machines, the pretty standard folding lines to tackle scaling nowadays.
Now for the sizing of websites administrators can scale by min / max instances and target CPU utilization. And on the services side, the scaling seems to be service specific, Charles Lemanna showed scaling by CPU as well as queue depth – which is a nice capability, making scaling less technical and more business related. And lastly for virtual machines there is auto-scale capability between a min / max of instances. And with the recent industry change to minute billing and Azure not charging for stop VMs – this can equate into significant money savings.
Identity, Identity
For all cloud projects, identity matters greatly, so not surprisingly Microsoft focuses on this – and given it’s hold on Active Directory this is a home run easily. Being able to transfer Active Directory entries and privileges between on premise and cloud is a key claim on the cloud properties of the future. So Microsoft allows the easy federation of on premise Active Directories to Windows Azure Active Directory. And added an easy console that allows to add user privileges to other standard SaaS apps and platforms – we saw Box, Basecamp – but also Salesforce.com and Google Apps. Even AWS.
To prove the oppeness point the omnipresent Box CEO Aaron Levie came on stage – the surprise being that Box and Sharepoint do not have the easiest of relationships. But Build is not a collaboration and documentation management conference – but a developer conference. And have a co-opetitor on stage attesting to the new found openness of Microsoft certainly helps. And Levie obliged to fill the role.
BizTalk for Business Integration
And of course BizTalk cannot be missing here – if you want to attract enterprise class applications. Not surprisingly the examples was how hard it is to integrate a SAP system with other applications – SaaS or non. And Microsoft is re-using the already previously built adapters to SAP, Oracle, Siebel and JD Edwards (which shows a bit how dated the product is). But re-use is good and BizTalk services can make these adapters available through modern JSON and REST APIs, which make them much more easy to consume.
But even more value is created with the BizTalk servers being available in the cloud – what was a tedious, time consuming installation on premise – is now merely a mapping exercise of (hopefully) working APIs. A big deployment advantage for the cloud and shows how even old on premise assets like a BizTalk adapter to JD Edwards can get a fresh start with being deployed from the cloud.
Examples of out-of-the box authentication capabilities
BigData not missing
Needless to say Azure has a BigData strategy, which runs on top of the capabilities of Windows Azure Storage. With the recently launched HD Insight offering, it’s easy to spin out Hadoop clusters to the cloud.
Equally relational databases can be spun out to Azure. Oracle’s DBMS being the most recent addition and prominently featured in below snapshot.
Office for enterprise apps
A little bit surprising – but in line with the overall platform services strategy, Microsoft also exposes Office / Office 365 capabilities to be used in Azure. The demo example that was chosen was very document centric, and was a good one – recruitment. In the demo a decent good recruitment application was assembled in mere minutes. Office 365 provides new data types, like eg all documents of an user. And the demo tied it together with SharePoint and with the corporate social network (Yammer?). But there is not only document, but equally social and networking capability – as well as email capability. No more worries of building pseudo email clients into enterprise applications – now just authenticate to the user, use his emails, send them on his behalf – and all – if you stay loyal to the Microsoft framework – in a pretty and consistent user interface to the Office apps.
Azure... and the 7 dwarfs?
At some point in the keynotes - it started to remind me a little bit of Snow white - lot's of little helpers - so in likely infringement of copyrights I created the below collage of (Princess) Azure being aided by the 7 dwarfs...
But cartoonish views aside - the ability to support Azure - in the case of Active DIrectory even by just moving the product into the cloud - are opening new perspectives. As when for example more Bing is being used, more Bing will have to be put onto Azure, which by itself again provides more platform and better services to applications, which drive more usage to Azure. It's all connected to positively propel itself ahead.
MyPOV
Microsoft has picked up considerable speed - at least judging from the outside. I do not recall an enterprise software event with so many GAs being casually dropped left and right. The good news is that the company sees to listen - most notably around the new release of Windows 8.1 and the return of the desktop as the dominant control center of all actions Windows.
It is clear that the push to services is coming to fruition and all pieces of the Microsoft product realm are helping the use Azure, helping by providing services. If Microsoft orchestrates this right, it will be able to create a mutually beneficial symbiosis between the products providing platform services and their own respective growth. And Microsoft has done a great job with exposing these services in a simple and consumable way, we expect this to help adoption significantly.
And lastly - the newly proven commitment to openness - with the partnership with Oracle giving proof of that - should make Azure more attractive to future payloads.
Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research
R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg.
Short Bio
R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation…
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Just 14 months after announcing the acquisition of Trinicom, Kana has revealed the latest release of its cloud customer service suite for the mid-market, Kana Express. Released on June 27, 2013, the new product reflects the company’s mission “To provide leading customer service solutions that empower our customers to create experiences that count, for their customers wherever they engage”.
Key features in the release include:
Advanced analytics and reporting. Kana Express features improved trend analysis, performance reporting, and forecasting. Personalization has been improved and new reporting options include an easy to use custom dashboard designer.
Point of View (POV): Analytics and reporting is often an after thought in design for mid-market solutions. Key reports such as contact flux, cockpits, and customer monitors provide not only information, but insight into what the next best action could be. The custom dashboard designer enables easy creation of visualizations and filtering of data by dimensions.
Anytime, anywhere, access. Improvements in access include mobile device usage, Section 508 disability compliance, and internationalization capabilities. Support for 30 languages out of the box, user defined time zones, double-byte character sets, and international address validation add to a list of features supporting international business requirements .
Point of View (POV): Prospects will most likely flock to they eye candy features of mobile support for device and screen readers. However, the internationalization efforts close the gap between large expensive enterprise solutions and what mid-market solutions traditionally offered. Constellation sees this as an immediate win for companies with an international footprint but not an international budget.
Improved browser based user experience. Kana Express supports Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari browsers. Additional enhancements include support for live chat, contextual next best options, and real-time access to the knowledge base.
Point of View (POV): Agents can tailor the new UI and personalize to their preferences, reducing click throughs and improving productivity. One powerful feature is the ability to automatically present contextual knowledge such as a related topic, interaction history information, or external system data.
Figure 1. Kana Express Screenshots Show New User Experience and Improved Accessability
Source: Kana
The Bottom Line: Consider Kana Express for Mid-market and Departmental Omni-channel Customer Service
Mid-market organizations are often challenged to find a solution that allows them to scale up growth and also priced at an affordable entry point. A successful post acquisition product launch, 30-day risk free money back guarantee, flexible subscription and pricing plans, and rapid implementation services provide strong reasons for organizations to consider Kana in short lists. Kana has found a balance with Kana Express and now has grown from 200 to 250 customers in the past 14 months in key industries such as retail, travel, media, and services. As customer experience expands, expect organizations to seek a bridge between customer service and marketing. This may be an area where Kana Express expands into as customers seek tighter integration in delivering on customer experience.
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales.
Disclosure
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website.
* Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research
R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg.
Short Bio
R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation…
Read more
Oracle’s recent partnership announcements to supply Oracle technology to key cloud vendors such as Microsoft, NetSuite, and Salesforce.com create serious implications for the market.
On June 28, 2013, Esteban Kolsky, Holger Mueller, and R “Ray” Wang discussed the implications of Oracle’s recent partnerships for:
Salesforce customers
Microsoft customers
NetSuite customers
Oracle customers
Cloud competitors such as Amazon, Google, IBM, SAP, VMWare, and Workday
Webinar recording (sorry, audio only at this time. If you require the slides, please send your request to Courtney[at]ConstellationR[dot]com)
Webcast Index
00:00 – This webinar is over subscribed!!
01:12 – Introductions of Esteban Kolsky and Holger Mueller w/ host R “Ray” Wang
01:40 – April Fool’s joke gone live?
01:53 – Oracle’s Earnings Call and Larry Ellison’s “Leak”
04:05 – Oracle Microsoft partnershp “When hell freezes over – Oracle Databsae in Azure and Hyper V running Oracle database?”
09:16 – The flavors of Cloud Computing
14:34 – Oracle sneaks out Oracle Database 12c
21:23 – Netsuite’s Partnership With Oracle HCM abnd Deloitte
25:57 – Are we going back to closed models instead of the open cloud?
29:13 – And now a word from our sponsor… Constellation’s Connected Enterprise October 30 to November 1, 2013 San Franicsoc, CA- Register here
30:19 – Salesforce – Oracle “Bromance or Betrayal” the Larry Ellison and Marc Benioff Telenovella
34:06 – Is this about succession planing for Oracle’s Larry Ellison?
35:26 – Why not IBM, Dell, HP? Will we have a walled garden of #cloud?
39:43 – Impact on SAP HANA
42:26 – The story of Tom Siebel’s one trick pony and demise, why the “better together” strategy w/ Oracle ERP
47:08 – Is it the end of multi-tenancy as we know it?
49:35 – What does it mean for customers? Axis vs Allies
54:00 – Event Plug: Oracle Open World is September 22 to 27, Dreamforce is November 18 to 21. Both events are Moscone Center.
54:27 – What customers are saying
58:42 – Q & A
Tweetstream via Storify
Reprints
Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales .
Disclosure
Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website.
* Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt.
Oracle's recent partnership announcements to supply Oracle technology to key cloud vendors such as Microsoft, NetSuite, and Salesforce.com create serious implications for the market.
On June 28, 2013, Esteban Kolsky, Holger Mueller, and R "Ray" Wang discussed the implications of Oracle's recent partnerships for:
Salesforce customers
Microsoft customers
NetSuite customers
Oracle customers
Cloud competitors such as Amazon, Google, IBM, SAP, VMWare, and Workday
Join us at Constellation's Connected Enterprise, October 30 - November 1, 2013 http://connectedenterprise.ontrackevents.com/home.cfm
Webinar recording (sorry, audio only at this time. If you require the slides, please send your request to Courtney[at]ConstellationR[dot]com)
Webcast Index
00:00 - This webinar is over subscribed!!
01:12 - Introductions of Esteban Kolsky and Holger Mueller w/ host R "Ray" Wang
01:40 - April Fool's joke gone live?
01:53 - Oracle's Earnings Call and Larry Ellison's "Leak"
04:05 - Oracle Microsoft partnershp "When hell freezes over - Oracle Databsae in Azure and Hyper V running Oracle database?"
09:16 - The flavors of Cloud Computing
14:34 - Oracle sneaks out Oracle Database 12c
21:23 - Netsuite's Partnership With Oracle HCM abnd Deloitte
25:57 - Are we going back to closed models instead of the open cloud?
29:13 - And now a word from our sponsor... Constellation's Connected Enterprise October 30 to November 1, 2013 San Franicsoc, CA- Register here
30:19 - Salesforce - Oracle "Bromance or Betrayal" the Larry Ellison and Marc Benioff Telenovella
34:06 - Is this about succession planing for Oracle's Larry Ellison?
35:26 - Why not IBM, Dell, HP? Will we have a walled garden of #cloud?
39:43 - Impact on SAP HANA
42:26 - The story of Tom Siebel's one trick pony and demise, why the "better together" strategy w/ Oracle ERP
47:08 - Is it the end of multi-tenancy as we know it?
49:35 - What does it mean for customers? Axis vs Allies
54:00 - Event Plug: Oracle Open World is September 22 to 27, Dreamforce is November 18 to 21. Both events are Moscone Center.
I wish I could get a penny for each time I was asked in the last week or so what I thought of Oracle’s new GTM (go-to-market) strategy.
I have said this many times but I finally have some time, 30 minutes or so, to sit down and write it (if you read this before 10 AM on Friday June 28th, we are doing a webinar about this – sign up here).
First, this is Oracle’s strategy and the rest of the participants have different reasons to agree to it: Microsoft cannot, reportedly, get SQL Server running well enough on Azure and needs a powerful database; Salesforce’s future (as it has in the past) depends on negotiating good licensing rights for the Oracle database that powers their solution and platform; Netsuite – well, it’s eighty-percent owned by Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison.
Dispel any myths you may have about a collusion or cartel being formed between the many different vendors – this was mostly done for the benefit of Oracle.
Oracle came from a pretty — well, not-so-good year. Following billions of dollars in acquisitions of cloud properties, more invested in becoming a cloud player, time and efforts in bringing Fusion applications to market, and a failed attempt at becoming cloud-ready doubts and questions continue to emerge around them. Listening to the last quarterly call (also end of the fiscal year call) showed that there is no love lost between Wall Street and Oracle – and they had to do something.
From that perspective, this was a brilliant move: it brings the largest players in the cloud world to collaborate / co-opete (hate that term, but it applies) with Oracle in an attempt at taking over the world of cloud.
However, this is a bad move for customers (at least the ones that are not too busy deploying a “private cloud” – which its a misnomer that means “lazy CIOs” – to notice).
First, it sets back the movement to build an open cloud infrastructure for customers by potentially nine years, if not longer (that is the length of the deal with Salesforce, the de-facto cloud standard until now). By locking in the largest cloud proponents into their “cloud-in-a-box” strategy (which, although not mentioned continues to exist as a strategy heavy on end-to-end engineered systems and private clouds) Oracle has essentially become the provider of cloud solutions for the next decade. And, by extending existing licenses to operate in that cloud, it continues to lock-in customers for another ten years into an archaic and abusive licensing model (which, is the same used by most of the other vendors – so it is not exclusive to Oracle).
The potential to break away from this model and use an open, public cloud to leverage the best solutions out there into an integrated, pay-as-you-go, value-based solution quickly dissipates.
Second, it positions Salesforce as the most important solution for cloud out there. This is not a big problem for those people who believe that Salesforce was already a cloud provider, but in fact their approach of delivering SaaS and PaaS layers together in their applications is not very “cloud like”. Although their strategy to continue to grow Force.com (which I have referenced in writing several times before) and their platform business was a good show-of-force towards embracing an open cloud model, I am not sure yet how this deal will slow down or derail those efforts. This still remains to be seen (and not a lot about it is coming out from Salesforce’s camp); my main concern is that this will considerably slow or stop Salesforce’s efforts to implement a three-tier open cloud model, and being the leader in cloud it would put a severe barrier on the way to that model for other vendors and customers..
Third, Microsoft and Oracle, indirectly, concede it has been a hard road to cloud (and one that is not yet finished). Although initials reactions (for Microsoft) would be that bringing in a third-party database into their cloud makes it more open and extensible, in reality they are merely conforming to Oracle’s view of the cloud as another expansion layer in their move to rule the world. In the five or six years Microsoft has been trying to bring Azure to life (which is only slightly longer than the time that Oracle has spent trying to bring Fusion to life) there have been few true successes (ibid for Oracle and Fusion). The migration from existing enterprise software vendor to the cloud can be best exemplified by the results both of them experienced, and the willingness to embrace a “private cloud” solution to bypass many of those problems.
The biggest problem, aside from the potential headaches it brings to each of these vendors customers trying to figure it out, is that it creates a two-cloud system for enterprises.
On one hand, the continuation of the triumvirate’s control of the not-so-open cloud strategy, which in spite of being a good-enough first step to embracing an open cloud model is not a final solution, delays investments and plans to embrace a totally open cloud model.
On the other hand,it positions the vendors that have been building in that open cloud model (of which probably Workday and Sugar CRM are the most notables in the CRM world) in a situation where they need to figure out a way to positions themselves in a separate world (or concede defeat and embrace Oracle’s private cloud model). Either way, adoption of these solutions by enterprises committed to the Oracle vision for the world is becoming more challenging.
Finally three closing thoughts, although i could go on forever – but feel free to contact me for more discussions:
This does not mean that Oracle will give up selling RightNow, Inquira, and the other acquisitions they made around CRM. They expect to make a lot more than $900 million (what Salesforce is paying) over the next nine years selling those products. As a matter of fact, expect a more aggressive selling strategy from Oracle in the next year for those products.
Salesforce will not embrace Oracle 12c to run their solutions. If you ever built a product, especially about fifteen years ago as Salesforce did, you know that changing databases is not that simple. The amount of work they have done in customizing, optimizing, and extending what their current database can do is never going to be replaced by a new out-of-the-box solution. There is so much work to do (my best guess would be a complete rewrite of all applications and platforms, a different architecture, and a brand new deployment model) to do that, that it is not feasible for Salesforce to do it.
There is little more to this deal than a move to lock-in existing revenue and licensing models by three of the largest holders of enterprise software licenses (well, there is great marketing – but that is another topic). There is no innovation, no integration, and certainly no willingness to help their end users innovate and improve how they approach enterprise software. There is another decade of licensing solutions in a way that benefits vendors over users, and of securing revenue levels as we have seen in the past decade. And for three publicly-held companies, that is never a bad thing.
One more thing. There is a little discussed aspect to this, and something that I am not very clear on yet – but it could be an incredible thing. Until now Salesforce had been forced to curtail the power of Chatter due to licensing restrictions (especially when it came to accessing and contributing knowledge and data for non-Salesforce users). A little bird told me, and it was not on Twitter, but I have not confirmed that this deal gives Salesforce the ability to offer a full chatter solution to all of their users (whether corporate or not).without regards for licensing. If this is true, this is a fantastic deal for Salesforce and one that could certainly accelerate adoption of Chatter (although,on the counter side, it would be within this “private cloud” architecture).
Many questions remain in all aspects, but we now need to wait how the deal progresses before we can answer them. From where I stand, today, this is a good deal for the three vendors, a poor and uncertain long-term picture, and a lot of uncertainty and confusion from customers in the next six months as these deals get put into practice.
Stay tuned.
disclaimer: Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, and SugarCRM have all been or are customers. Netsuite has never been a customer, but has always graciously invited me to their event and covered expenses for the past three years. Workday has never been a customer, nor are they likely to become one in the short term. Any other vendor mentioned could or could not have been a customer – but at the end of the days it does not matter… these are my opinions and they are not influenced by any vendor or customer – even if they don’t renew contracts or terminate current contracts earlier. They will remain my opinions even when I am broke and bankrupt.
Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform.
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On June 27th, Adobe announced a letter of intent to acquire Neolane for $600M. Neolane is a privately-held, French headquartered marketing automation software company with 47 of the top Fortune 500 companies as customers.
Marketers now think less about "digital marketing" and more about how to market in a world driven by digital engagement, interaction and commerce. The shift to digital has seen 20% of ad spending move to the digital domain, and is expected to reach over $50 billion in the US by 2015. And with 64% of advertisers planning to increase their paid social media ad budget and strong overall ad budget growth expected through 2015, the need for cross-channel analytics and automation is becoming pronounced.
For existing customers of Adobe, this has become a whole lot easier from today. With the announcement that Adobe is to acquire Marketing Automation leader, Neolane for $600 million in an all-cash transaction, real meat has been added to the Adobe marketing automation bone.
Forming part of the Adobe Marketing Cloud, integration plans will begin from today with the transaction expected to close in Q3 2013.
Marketers may not realize it yet, but the only way that they can deliver on their customers expectations is to begin investing not just spending. And a core part of this investment through 2015 is to establish scalable marketing platforms, that deliver right time insight, robust analytics and cross-channel capabilities.
What this means for Adobe.
Powerful segmentation, cross-channel segmentation augments the Adobe Marketing Cloud. The consumer master data record was one of the major benefits of the Neolane platform. Combining anonymous and known data will connect the dots between customer data, activity in channel and behaviourwhich is where the Adobe Marketing Cloud’s sweet spot lays.
The fact that Neolane also operates from a single, unified code base has obvious integration appeal from Adobe’s point of view. This should allow a more rapid integration of the Neolane functionality into the Adobe platform.
Neolane’s strong client base also provides Adobe with a stronger route to market in EMEA.
The Neolane team will continue to report into CEO Stefane Dehoche. Stefan will report into Brad Rencher.
What this means for Neolane. Neolane’s strong business performance in 2012 - with 40% consolidated growth - largely led by North American market push - will benefit from the acquisition. This deal extends the Neolane footprint providing access to the Adobe partner network. This will help the push into the large/enterprise segment and see the Adobe Marketing Cloud go head to head with Salesforce, IBM and Oracle.
What this mean for customers. In Constellation Research’s Scaling Up with Marketing Automation Software - market overview report, Neolane was consistently ranked among the leaders in the industry. The gaps in their offering dovetail neatly with the strengths offered in the Adobe Marketing Cloud and combined, they represent a powerful change in the industry landscape.
Combine this acquisition with the recent Marketo IPO and Oracle’s purchase of Eloqua, and it shows not only consolidation across the market but a strategic strengthening of the offerings in the marketing platform space. With this deepening will also come a maturing in the market both in terms of platform buying and process automation.
Customers can expect:
One record to rule them all. Connecting the dots between known and unknown customers delivers significant value not just to marketers but to a whole business. Bridging the various social, digital, customer service and sales profiles that are required by the modern enterprise has contributed to the fragmentation of roles and the wasting of budgets. The use of a customer master data record opens the door to the “whole of customer” view which is not just an aspiration - but is like the marketer’s ring of power.
Lead nurturing and scoring to reduce funnel leakage. In complex sales cycles, the buyer's journey can take months or even years. Reducing funnel leakage through automated scoring of prospects against customer segmentation data and audience profiling provides light touch marketing that can increase lead quality and improve yield on marketing campaign investment over time. The new Adobe Marketing Cloud - combining the strength of Neolane with Adobe Analytics (f.k.a. Omniture) - provides marketers with the decision-ready analytics that help optimize cross-channel marketing programs
Consistency of user experience to drive adoption: Business users already familiar with the logic, systems and interface of the Adobe Marketing Cloud will be able to transition easily to the integrated suite. Existing internal supporters of the platform become change advocates and further spur internal adoption and rollout through enterprise marketing teams. This, in turn, will lead to accelerated ROI
Connecting the Creative and Marketing Clouds to bridge the worlds of design and execution: The widespread use of Adobe Creative Cloud in the execution of marketing campaigns has the potential to make the job of marketing execution much more streamlined. And in a world of right time and near-real time marketing, combining the creative and marketing clouds could provide not only market leading responsiveness - but game changing competitive advantage
Accelerated return on investment to improve value in marketing efforts: With change champions and wider acceptance within the user community, organizations see accelerated return on investment (ROI) as use cases proliferate and uptake is spurred.
What this mean for consumers. Today’s connected consumers don’t care about a business’ digital strategy. They don’t care about your mobile strategy. What they care about is the products and services that are delivered and the consumable experience that is packaged as part of that delivery. The promise of marketing platforms is that some of the clunkiness of branded experience will disappear - and that the experience will become seamless and ubiquitous. Removing the friction in the customer experience is transformative.
The Bottom LIne: Expect more convergence in marketing, customer experience, and digital business transformation For some time we have been tracking the shift away from the B2B and B2C classifications of marketing to what is essentially peer-to-peer (P2P) marketing. While this is essentially an innovation driven by consumers, this kind of acquisition helps marketers to respond to that market demand.
Like all acquisitions, the success of this will be driven by the ability of Adobe to integrate the substantial benefits and features that Neolane offers. As the deal closes and new combined product roadmap begins to take shape, this combined offering represents significant upside not only for existing Adobe and Neolane customers, but for businesses seeking greater value from their marketing investments.
Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age.
Twitter: @alanlepo<br>LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo
, Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The…
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Here is my interview with BizTech 2.0 TV, where I discuss enterprise collaboration.
0:00 - 1:53 : Evolving from generic collaboration to making social features part of the way people work. Choosing the right tools and learning when and how to use them. 1:54 - 3:24 : Using collaboration tools internally among employees 3:25 - 4:19 : Extending collaboration externally to partners, customers, etc. 4:20 - 5:40 : Why (and how) should an organization get started using collaboration in the first place? CxOs should outline what problem they are trying to solve first. 5:41 - 6:47 : Breaking down silos, sharing information across your organization - connecting employees - working together for the success of the business 6:48 - 7:57 : What challenges prevent success with collaboration tools? Integrated corporate directories, on-premises vs. cloud 7:58 - 9:00 : The marriage of social and big data. There is more noise in social than there ever was in email. Analytics can help recommend the right people, pages, communities, and provide sentiment analysis.
Vice President and Principal Analyst
Constellation Research
Holger Mueller is VP and Principal Analyst for Constellation Research for the fundamental enablers of the cloud, IaaS, PaaS and next generation Applications, with forays up the tech stack into BigData and Analytics, HR Tech, and sometimes SaaS. Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers.<br>
Coverage Areas:
Future of Work
Tech Optimization & Innovation<br>
Background:
Before joining Constellation Research, Mueller was VP of Products for NorthgateArinso, a KKR company. There, he led the transformation of products to the cloud and laid the foundation for new Business…
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Continuing the spree of expected announcements, it was the unveiling of the Oracle and NetSuite partnership today. True to the leak from the Q4 earnings call last week Thursday, this week we saw Oracle partnering with Microsoft on Monday, Salesforce.com on Tuesday and now NetSuite on Wednesday. What will Thursday bring?
We have shared our takeaways from the Microsoft and salesforce.com partnership announcement already so let's dissect this one:
Takeaways from News Facts
Oracle and NetSuite announced a strategic alliance focused on plans to deliver integrated HCM and ERP Cloud Services for mid-size customers.
My POV Surprisingly this partnership is all about HCM - and no mention of any Oracle technology products. Something that was more or less expected after the earlier announcements of the week. But then using Oracle technology at NetSuite does not come at a surprise, as the company has been closely held by Larry Ellison and has been using the Oracle tech stack extensively in the past. Instead the focus on HCM is an exclusive enterprise application focus.
But ultimately the HCM topic is also not surprising since HCM took a lot of space at the last NetSuite user conference, only that back then NetSuite planned to partner with a number of different HCM vendors, tribeHR being the most prominently featured one. And this may still be the direction going forward - only that now there are Oracle HCM products in play.
Traditionally NetSuite has focused on small and medium businesses (SMB) - not the focus for Oracle HCM indeed Oracle partners with NetSuite for SMB business. We will have to see how the Oracle HCM offering can scale down both process and cost of ownership wise.
Deloitte plans to work with Oracle and NetSuite to develop a practice with highly skilled practitioners specializing in tools and implementation services to help customers adopt the soon to be integrated SaaS technologies faster and more seamlessly.
MyPOV And then there is the touche by Deloitte - pun intended - which has one of the largest HCM practitioner and consultant teams - providing the necessary implementation services for the combined offering. This puts Deloitte in the driver seat as in regards of getting a piece of the implementation business for the new combined offering. I would expect Deloitte to provide also a significant number of hands to build the integration. This will aide Deloitte's credibility and help NetSuite on the resource side, where I see their product development team stretched quite thin (see findings from SuiteWorld here).
Additionally, Oracle plans to develop a product integration and go-to-market strategy with NetSuite for Oracle HCM Cloud and NetSuite Cloud ERP to deliver a single, integrated solution that seamlessly connects HR and finance systems for mid-size customers.
MyPOV And finally true to yesterdays announcement with salesforce.com, which pleaded for the pre-integration of SaaS solutions, created and maintained by the vendors - the same is provided in the NetSuite and Oracle HCM case.
Takeaways from Alliance Section
Mid-size customers can gain a competitive advantage by quickly implementing SaaS solutions at a lower cost.
Oracle HCM Cloud including Global HR and Talent Management, combines advanced technology, tight integration, best HR practices, and social capabilities. From recruiting and managing talent, to accurately forecasting future workforce needs, Oracle HCM Cloud enables companies to proactively manage HR operations while focused on strategic business initiatives.
NetSuite Cloud ERP offers an integrated solution that connects a business across financials, sales, service, and fulfillment.
MyPOV No surprises here. Just expected NetSuite to also mention manufacturing, which was a big push back at SuiteWorld
For large organizations where Oracle HCM is already deployed, two-tier deployments of NetSuite in smaller subsidiaries will easily connect with its Corporate HR system.
MyPOV This is to be interpreted that the two tier ERP pitch with NetSuite being used for smaller subsidiaries of larger corporations, who run Oracle in the large organizations - is alive and well. But it also makes clear, that HCM in the case will be run centrally and globally. Certainly a cost advantage, but as mentioned, we will have to see, that Oracle HCM is not a to expensive solution to implement for the smaller subsidiaries. And then it may pose some interesting integration challenges between Oracle HCM and NetSuite in the subsidiaries.
Deloitte has a business-driven HR approach, global reach, functional depth and SaaS experience to accelerate both the business value associated with HR and ERP transformations, as well as process and technology cost saving efficiencies.
MyPOV Ok - this translates into a preference for Deloitte doing the first integration work, but I am sure if customers insist on an other SI, that would not hinder a deal from being closed. SI differentiation - even with an early placement in a partnership like this - remains a challenge for the SIs.
Takeaways from the quotes
(Emphasis added)
"Driving the development and retention of the right talent, and getting strategic data around HR practices can help mid-size companies transform their business operations," said Oracle President Mark Hurd. "NetSuite and Oracle are now working together to provide access to Oracle's leading enterprise-level cloud-based HR & Talent Management solutions that are integrated with NetSuite's Cloud ERP suite applications. With Deloitte implementing these integrated solutions, mid-size companies can quickly gain access to an incredible new level of HR management that can help impact their bottom line."
MyPOV No HCM event without retention and flight risk mentioned in 2012 / 2013. There is a touche of Deloitte in this - but no exclusivity statement. Side comment for the PR pros - this press release comes from NetSuite - so it's unusual for the partner to be quoted first, usually the issuing entities executive has the first quote.
"We are excited to work with Oracle to bring customers an integrated solution that combines NetSuite's solutions that automate business processes with Oracle's suite for managing people processes," said Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite. "Customers will benefit from the commonality of the products' underlying Oracle-based architecture and the enormous investment in R&D and customer service that both companies bring to the table."
MyPOV While Hurd did not use integration, Nelson uses it once, like Benioff yesterday. Nothing compares to Ellison who used it three times in its quote yesterday. But yes integration is key and customers expect it these days, out of the box.
Interesting Nelson states the commonality - which is hard to see today. For a business user that usually means user interface - but these are differing quite extensively today. If both Oracle and NetSuite wanted to change that - it should have been announced. Behind the scenes commonality usually means architectural harmony - and though both NetSuite and Oracle HCM are build on the Oracle technology stack - some harmonization in utilized products and versions would have to occur. This is equally a point both companies should have mad clear today.
"Mid-sized companies are looking for solutions that allow them to be nimble and respond quickly to market opportunities," said Jim Moffatt, CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP. "This newly integrated solution will help these organizations deliver better service at a lower cost, ultimately giving them an edge in the war for talent and a true competitive edge."
MyPOVIt's somehow ironic, that the two product executives - Hurd and Nelson - leave it to the service executive to stress lower cost of ownership and better service from an integrated solution. In the past these service provider involved offerings usually have not materialized in too much business for the involved service provider - but we will see how well this works for Deloitte in this case. Let's not forget Deloitte has been partnering with Workday for a while.
Absence of technology and hardware
To some point surprisingly there is no reference to any Oracle technology products. In my view that's not a bad thing, as the expectation is, that NetSuite is using these to the best of their capabilities already. So mentioning here may have been degrading to their reputation. But there is also the possibility that the technical nature of the integration is not sufficiently hashed out yet.
I noticed gladly that the Twittershere and pundits did not lament the lack of hardware related commitments in this announcement - as it is the same as with salesforce.com - if needed NetSuite will use Exaxxx to their advantage. No need to add to this press release.
Workday angle
A lot has been written and said about Oracle doing all these partnership to isolate Workday. Not so much in my view. Workday has not focused on SMB like NetSuite and the companies did not partner for any offering. And I don't see how it is easier for NetSuite to sell against Workday given the partnership with Oracle for Oracle HCM. Customers will decide which of the two is the better HCM product - Oracle HCM or Workday - irrespective of NetSuite. What NetSuite and Oracle could do (like SAP and Infor, too) - is to provide enterprise process level differentiators out of the box, that combine HCM and other enterprise processes. Workday would have to enable the same via interfaces.
But HCM is hot and drives enterprise automation
Across enterprise automation - HCM is certainly the hottest area. We know that since SAP and Oracle invested into buying SuccessFactors and Taleo. So vendors without a HCM strategy - need a HCM story quickly. See salesforce.com yesterday, see NetSuite today. And market pressure most be so high, that NetSuite could not afford to wait for their many partnerships announced at SuiteWorld, to come to fruition. And certainly integrating six and more partners is also a bigger product investment.
MyPOV
While Oracle is now being understood as a provider of cloud technology, today's announcement makes Oracle also a provider of critical SaaS functionality. If you will, the partnership week started with technology only (with Microsoft) to a mix (with salesforce.com) to an applications only (with NetSuite. The salesforce.com partnership certainly can question Oracle's investment in CRM products. But don't expect for a second that Oracle would stop CRM investments. Instead Oracle is working hard to provide the next generation of CRM tools in the area of customer experience and marketing.
For NetSuite this alliance fills the current void in the HCM area, that was something the company only was able to close through partnership - given the recent love and with that investment focus of manufacturing.
So overall again a good move by Oracle and a good outcome for Netsuite. We look forward to learn more on the nature and extent of the integration and of Deloitte's role in detail.
Third Cloud Based Vendor Certified As “Epic” For Constellation CosmosTM Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights Evaluations
