Switcher

Microsoft is gaining market share with the Dynamics suite, but only marginally.  Today it still is not a real threat to number one, SAP.  In fact, they are profiling Dynamics Ax as an addendum to SAP, king of the Tier 1 throne.  With Dynamics Ax for subsidaries, branch offices.

 

But with the introduction of Dynamics Ax, they really do target a competitor.  And that competitor is Lawson, with is S3 and M3 software.  Please remember, Lawson is now part of Infor.  Infor has the same ambitious plan as Microsoft had almost 10 years ago: Create one single ERP suite, with one code base.
But as you know, any take-over comes with some uncertainties for both customers and partners.  And Microsoft hopes to benefit from that uncertainty.

Two initiatives under one name are launched: the Switcher campaign.

• Microsoft is giving up to 50% discounts on the standard list price of Ax 2012, for customers switching from current Lawson ERP software to Dynamics Ax 2012
• Secondly there is a reimbursement for partners investing in training and certifying their Lawson consultants in Ax 2012

The name of the campaign sounds like a new television series, airing Friday evening.  But it's not, it's real and tempting for people involved with Lawson software today.
And while it will not create a landslide, it will certainly add some percentage points of growth to Microsoft's customerbase and it's partner ecosystem.

A different view on ERP software

I've been reading some posts about ERP software in general over at the 360° blog, a blog from Eric Kimberling of the Panorama consulting group.

They turn the spotlight over at MS Dynamics (in general, not Ax specific). With some strange, expected and not so expected conclusions.

Like this one (about MS Dynamics):

• Leads all ERP vendors in the product’s level of employee satisfaction
But a bit further, we read as a tradeoff:

• Below average executive and management satisfaction.

So if I understand this correctly, the normal users are delighted with their Dynamics solution, but their bosses not so.

There are some more contradictions in this article.
As a pro, we can read following statement for Dynamics ERP:

• Highest predictability (or least variance) of actual ERP implementation costs of all vendors.

A good thing. The customer gets what was offered to him, moneywise.
But again, further on we read

• Highest variance and unpredictability of actual implementation duration

As implementation takes longer then expected, costs will rise. Where does that leave us with 'Time is money'?

Microsoft scores well in another post on this blog, in the 2010 ERP Vendor Analysis report.

From this post:

• Microsoft Dynamics delivers the fastest payback and ROI of all the major ERP vendors, followed by Infor and Epicor.

Nice!
But then again, some statements that make you think. Like this one:

• Tier I solutions (SAP, Oracle EBS, Microsoft Dynamics) are much more likely to require customization than Tier II and Tier III counterparts.

Strange. You'd expect the bigger systems to be less subject to customizing by code, as more parameterization is possible in general.

Maybe there is no budget with Tier III solutions to customize them, or maybe not even the possibility?



What's your 2p?

Gartner Magic Quadrant in ERP

Gartner recently released a new version of its report on midmarket ERP systems. One of the featured products is Microsoft Dynamics Ax.


Not only does it get a good review, it's also the only product to be in the leader quadrant. Nice!

Gartner sees some trends in the ERP market, like

• industry-specific functionality or verticalization
• globalization, no longer being exclusive for large enterprises
• consolidation in the market of ERP vendors

For both point 1 and 2, you can see Ax has grown the past few years. Offering a wealth of vertical solutions, certified and all. Microsoft also worked on the stability and performance of the product, making Ax even more suited to global operating companies, enterprise size or not. (fe Unicode support, multiple-time zones)

Some points why Ax scored so well in the report:

• the user interface is considered to be very intuitive and easy to learn and use + it's role tailored
• broad range of functionality, both horizontal and vertical
• strong worldwide partner channel, certified
• completeness of vision from Microsoft
• scalable product, easy to customize for both enhancements and proces changes
  

All in all, a very good report. Nice to know for companies who have invested or are planning to invest in this offering.

You can read more of the report, which includes reviews of products from Oracle, SAP and Microsoft (with Dynamics NAV as well) over here.


Edit:
The report scores well with the press guys at Microsoft. But over the internet, a lot of criticism can be heard. Like on zdnet, cio.com, and The Enterprise System Spectator. They score some good arguments to question the outcome of the report (like no SaaS vendors included).

What can be learned from that? Don't use the Magic Quadrant as a buying guide for products. After all, if the solution you have an eye on has a perfect fit for your functional requirements, what do you care if the vendor has no worldwide presence if your a local operating company? Use the outcome of the report (pro and contra's) and verify them with your own findings/requirements. What are YOU looking for in an ERP suite and how is this evaluated by Gartner?