RESEARCH NOTE TECHNOLOGY VALUE MATRIX FIRST HALF 2013: ERP

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1 RESEARCH NOTE TECHNOLOGY VALUE MATRIX FIRST HALF 2013: ERP THE BOTTOM LINE Many companies are considering consolidating or replacing their maturing ERP applications today to take advantage of emerging solutions with more intuitive user interfaces, in-application analytics, and mobile access. The move toward ERP in the cloud and a more iterative, less disruptive upgrade cadence that enables companies to gain additional incremental benefit from their ERP investment is shifting customer expectations for all providers. Vendors must show both initial and ongoing incremental benefit through greater usability and functionality to maintain position in the ERP market. MARKET OVERVIEW Competition remains heated in the enterprise application space, with vendors such as Infor and Oracle releasing brand-new solutions to the marketplace with Infor 10 and Oracle Fusion ERP, cloud ERP vendors such as NetSuite and Plex delivering a compelling value proposition for initial and ongoing ROI, and incumbent vendors looking to add mobility, usability, and analytics enhancements to deliver more value to existing customers. However, many ERP users are at a crossroads as they plan their future ERP strategy. In many cases, they are numerous upgrades behind current on their application, making any upgrade more of a reimplementation and opening the door for a competitive RFP process. Most are either seeking to consolidate or streamline their overall ERP application footprint, or to find a more cost-effective hub-and-spoke approach to deliver ERP automation and efficiencies to divisions and subsidiaries without the cost of a Tier-1 ERP deployment. Vendors are using three key strategies to retain customers while helping them to find ways to leverage more value from current and future investments: Cloud. By encouraging customers to move part or all of their existing ERP footprint to a cloud environment, vendors can lower total cost of management, guide customers on a path to better performance, and ease them into cohabitation (integrating cloudnative edge applications into their existing footprint). APIs. APIs and other more scalable integration techniques enable customers to gain efficiencies by reducing manual coding and integration support and being able to Nucleus Research Inc. 100 State Street Boston, MA Phone:

2 more rapidly deliver new ERP-aligned applications for internal and external constituencies. Analytics. Using in-memory and other technologies and techniques to accelerate the processing of ERP data is enabling customers to use data in existing transactional systems to tackle bigger analytical problems, for better decision making. ERP VALUE MATRIX 1H2013 Facilitator Leader Usability SAP Business ByDesign Acumatica SAP Business One Unit 4 Qualiac Infor LN Oracle JD NetSuite Epicor Edwards Microsoft Deltek Oracle Fusion Dynamics NAV SYSPRO Plex Oracle E- Sage Business Suite Microsoft QAD Enterprise ERP X3 Dynamics AX Infor M3 Oracle PeopleSoft Infor Syteline IQMS Enterprise IQ SAP ERP Microsoft Dynamics GP IFS Applications Aptean Ross ERP Core Provider Expert Functionality Many companies are considering consolidating or replacing their maturing ERP applications today to take advantage of emerging solutions with more intuitive user interfaces, in-application analytics, and mobile access. The move toward ERP in the cloud and a more iterative, less disruptive upgrade cadence that enables companies to gain additional incremental benefit from their ERP investment is shifting customer expectations for all providers. Vendors must show both initial and ongoing incremental benefit through greater usability and functionality to maintain position in the ERP market. LEADERS Leaders in the ERP Value Matrix include Deltek, Epicor, Infor LN, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Fusion Applications, Oracle JD Edwards, Plex, Sage ERP X3, and SYSPRO. Page 2

3 DELTEK Deltek provides enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications for professional services firms, government contractors, and other project-oriented businesses. Although Deltek doesn t provide functionality for all verticals, its capabilities in the core sectors it covers such as professional services, architecture, and engineering are deep and broad. Nucleus has examined the experiences of many Deltek customers over the past 6 months, and found that its integrated project accounting and costing capabilities and industry-specific functionality enabled increased visibility and productivity for employees and managers. This resulted in increased profitability and more efficient operations (Nucleus Research n56 Guidebook Deltek, April 2013). Deltek s offerings include Costpoint, Vision, Maconomy, and Deltek First, which is delivered in the cloud. Nucleus s positioning of a single dot in the Matrix for Deltek reflects both the common experiences in usability and functionality Nucleus has seen across the customer base as well as Deltek s move toward a more unified product suite. EPICOR Epicor s latest ERP solution, Epicor 9, has been built on service oriented architecture (SOA), along with its embedded tools, provides for a flexible, stable and extensible ERP system. This foundation enables Epicor to deliver the same solution on-premise or in cloud, in both the single-tenant and multi-tenant SaaS Model for small to large manufacturers and distributors. Since all solutions are based on the same business logic and database design, it enables customers to move from one edition to another. In addition, using a complete SOA architecture enables enhanced mobility, accessibility and interactivity capabilities. Over the past year, Epicor has delivered more than 300 new features and enhancements to improve ease of use, boost overall performance,and streamline deployments in the current release. Additionally, to help its customers with training, since 2011, Epicor has invested heavily in Epicor University, its training services, a mix of formal and informal virtual classes, most recently embedding self-paced courses within Epicor ERP, to help its customers achieve faster time to value. With the acquisition of Solarsoft in September 2012, Epicor acquired a number of solutions including Informance and Mattec, which enhance Epicor s offering the process and mix-mode industries. In addition, Mattec adds the functionality for Epicor to be a contender in the MES market, and is also creating new opportunities for Epicor to provide an integrated ERP-MES solution with Epicor 9. INFOR LN With its Infor LN product, Infor targets enterprise and mid-market business looking for a solution that combines global financials and compliance with deep operational support across manufacturing, supply chain management, project management, and service lifecycle management. Although the product has customers across a broad range of industries, Infor LN today focuses on select industries including industrial machinery and equipment, general manufacturing and distribution, high tech, automotive, and aerospace Page 3

4 and defense. Infor LN has historically been strong in supporting multi-national, multi-site deployments with regulatory compliance and support for more than 40 countries and 21 languages, making it a choice for customers seeking to complement an existing Tier-1 ERP with a Tier-Two strategy to support the needs of divisions or subsidiaries. Significant advances impacting LN s positioning include: User experience. Infor 10x provides Infor LN with a new HTML5-based user experience that includes contextual business intelligence and role-based dashboards and workbenches. Infor's investment in an in-house design agency called "Hook & Loop" has started to pay dividends with the latest release of Infor 10x. Social collaboration and mobile apps. Infor continues to make investments to extend the reach of its business applications beyond traditional end-user roles and to transform its applications from systems of record to systems of engagement. Infor Ming.le provides business process-centric social enterprise networking by allowing application users to post data and process related information from any application screen. Non-ERP users can engage in the process without training and use contextual drilldown capabilities, access information, follow business events and participate in conversations and workflow processes from within the social platform. With Infor Motion, Infor provides a range of mobile applications including Mobile CRM, Shopfloor and Mobile Business Intelligence. Micro-vertical suites. Infor has further expanded Infor LN's industry depth in Industrial Machinery and Equipment, High Tech, Automotive and Aerospace and Defense to help customers retire customizations and add-ons as companies aim to increase IT agility for improved business and IT alignment. The company has also continued to expand its suite of applications to around Infor LN to help customers leverage and extend their ERP investments quickly using productized integrations and a unified user experience across the Infor 10x suite of applications. Infor leverages Infor ION to provide process level integration, cross application event management and workflow as well as unified analytics across the Infor 10x portfolio, which includes Corporate Performance Management, EAM, PLM, S and OP and Advanced Planning and Scheduling. Embedded Analytics. With its latest releases, Infor LN provided extensive embedded reporting and analytics capabilities to help improve decision making based on realtime, contextual information. Recent deliveries include analytical dashboards for finance, sales and manufacturing next to a new project monitoring solution that includes Earned Value Management. MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX Microsoft has become more aggressive in positioning Dynamics AX as a competitive enterprise application solution with greater usability and lower cost than its competitors. Its global network of partners has extended this foundation with packaged solutions and specialized services tailored to specific industries. It offers flexible deployment options Page 4

5 such as a phased implementation on premise or in the cloud and can also be deployed as a 2-tiered ERP solution in larger enterprises. In December 2012, Microsoft announced the release of Dynamics AX 2012 R2. This new release increased Microsoft s ability to enhance vertical features which are industry-specific and horizontal capabilities which can be applied across all industries. Some of the important new horizontal features include budget formulation and planning, advanced employee lifecycle management, and regulatory compliance. Microsoft also enhanced its RapidStart services for Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation and updates. By focusing on new functional enhancements and greater flexibility for software implementation and maintenance, Microsoft is positioning itself as a strong competitor in the medium to large ERP market segment. In March 2013, Microsoft announced new AX applications for mobile devices. Scheduled for availability with the next update to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, mobile applications for expense management, time capture, and approvals are designed to drive greater user productivity and engagement. Microsoft also announced that they will be available for Windows 8 and RT tablets, Windows Phone 8, Android phones, and ios phones, and that it s releasing documentation for mobile APIs so partners and developers can build their own mobile applications. This will likely further shift Dynamics AX s position in future matrices (Nucleus Research n46 - The four things missing from Microsoft Convergence, March 2013). ORACLE E-BUSINESS SUITE Oracle continues to invest in its Oracle E-Business Suite application as part of Oracle s Applications Unlimited strategy, and Nucleus continues to see customers upgrading their Oracle E-Business Suite deployments to take advantage of features and components that leverage Oracle s newer technology including: Oracle E-Business Suite features new business intelligence that changes how users interact with data by providing real-time access and discovery to operational data within their transaction system. This functionality uses Oracle Endeca Information Discovery. Oracle has delivered 15 E-Business Suite extensions for Endeca products since November. Current modules include Order Management, Inventory Management, Enterprise Asset Management, Field Service, Discrete Manufacturing, Process Manufacturing, Warehouse Management, Cost Management, Installed Base, Channel Revenue Management, Project Management, Depot Repair, iprocurement, irecruitment, and Learning Management. Oracle Outsourced Manufacturing offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) the ability to model various flavors of mixed-mode and multi-tiered outsourced manufacturing business processes, while providing insight into the overall health of an OEM s outsourcing business across both physical and financial transactions. Oracle Supply Chain Event Management provides real-time visibility and control over supply chain events across heterogeneous systems. The solution correlates events in Page 5

6 real time and raises alerts when sensing abnormal situations. Oracle Supply Chain Event Management is preconfigured with event tracking template applications for Order Fulfillment and Spares Part Orders, and includes tools for extending and creating new templates. New Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud Oracle VM Templates provide faster provisioning of Oracle applications including Oracle E-Business Suite. These templates take advantage of the speed and performance of Oracle Exalogic to accelerate Oracle E-Business Suite deployment times, improve overall E-Business Suite application performance, and increase hardware utilization. Oracle continues to release new Oracle Business Accelerators which enable customers to more rapidly deploy Oracle E-Business Suite and quickly realize value from their investments (Nucleus Research l18 Oracle Business Accelerators, February 2011). ORACLE FUSION APPLICATIONS Oracle continues to deliver new modules of Oracle Fusion Applications across core ERP areas including financial management; governance, risk, and compliance; human capital management; procurement; project portfolio management; supply chain management; and customer relationship management. From a go-to-market perspective, Oracle is moving toward calling what has been known as Oracle Fusion Applications to Oracle ERP Cloud. Oracle s new applications in the HCM space, and what it calls the Oracle HCM Cloud in particular, have garnered the most visibility in both delivering innovation and driving user adoption of Fusion Applications. Nucleus has found that for companies evaluating new ERP opportunities, Oracle Fusion Applications standards-based foundation, built-in social and collaboration capabilities, choice of cloud or on-premise deployment, and modular approach make Oracle, in principle, an attractive contender. The biggest challenge Oracle faces today is the first-mover chicken-egg conundrum: risk-averse buyers are unlikely to move toward a new generation of applications without seeing peers that have taken the leap and been successful. Oracle s challenge is to continue to build its reference program outside the HCM space to show net new prospects that they are not alone and not the first. In January 2013, Oracle announced that Oracle partners had delivered the first Oracle Accelerate solutions for Oracle Fusion Applications. These first Accelerate solutions for Fusion Applications were focused on accelerating the delivery of Oracle HCM Cloud by providing cloud-based templates and implementation tools coupled with partner expertise. Nucleus has found Oracle Accelerate solutions help to reduce the cost and time to value associated with deploying Oracle Applications (Nucleus Research l18 Oracle Business Accelerators, February 2011). Page 6

7 ORACLE JD EDWARDS Nucleus has found that, as a result of key investments in usability and specific vertical functionality, JD Edwards continues to both attract new customers and drive existing customer upgrades and consolidation onto later versions of EnterpriseOne. The JD Edwards team has also had razor focus on articulating to customers the roadmap for maximizing value from their existing JD Edwards investment whether they upgrade or not, which is a refreshing message for customers in a risk-averse marketplace. Recent announcements reinforcing JD Edwards s position in this Value Matrix include: In May 2013, Oracle announced general availability of new Oracle In-Memory Applications for Oracle s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, enabling EnterpriseOne customers to take advantage of the speed and computing power of In-Memory technologies to drive faster and better decision making using their existing EnterpriseOne data and transaction environment. In April 2013, Oracle announced general availability of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Tools 9.1 update 3. This release includes a native ipad application for an optimized tablet user experience, improvements to the popular One View reporting tool and a new Watchlist feature for users to manage by exception. In April 2013, Oracle announced a simplified user interface for Oracle Business Accelerators for Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. In January 2013, Oracle announced new JD Edwards EnterpriseOne capabilities for health and safety incident management. One View Reporting for Health and Safety Incident Management is based on Oracle BI Publisher functionality. This new release addresses specific concerns for verticals such as manufacturing, distribution, chemicals, engineering and construction, oil and gas, mining, and agribusiness, which are facing increasing pressure to monitor and proactively manage safety incidents. Also in January, Oracle announced Exalogic Elastic Cloud Templates for more rapid provisioning of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.1 and extension of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne One View reporting to EnterpriseOne 9.0 customers. PLEX Plex Manufacturing Cloud is a cloud-based solution focused on plant-floor ERP for manufacturers. Plex s capabilities include support for functional areas including accounting and finance, business intelligence, customer and sales management, human resources management, inventory management, product and program management, production management, quality management, and supply chain management. In June 2013 at Plex s user conference, the company announced a number of different initiatives that should drive greater usability and functionality for customers including enhanced analytics capabilities; the Plex Community for employee, partner, and customer collaboration and problem solving; new education services for Plex customers, and a new next-generation user interface. In January 2013, Plex raised additional funding to support further research and development efforts as it continues to extend the functionality and Page 7

8 capabilities of its cloud offering (Nucleus Research m186 - Plex raises $30 million to extend its cloud ERP, January 2013). SAGE ERP X3 Sage ERP X3 is Sage s flagship ERP product for small and medium-sized businesses, supporting industry-specific processes and visibility across finance, sales, CRM, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, and operations. Sage s focus in increasing functionality has been in areas such as analytics, with its X3 Intelligence Reporting component, and with integration to edge applications such as e-commerce. SYSPRO ERP SYSPRO ERP is targeted for lower midmarket companies as well as divisions of larger companies in the aerospace, automotive, chemicals, construction, consumer durables, distribution logistics, electronics, financial, food and beverage, furniture and fittings, machinery and equipment, medical devices, metal fabrication, mining, packaging, pharmaceuticals, plastics and rubber, and distribution. Developed from a single source, the software can be configured and tailored to fit a customer s needs and the modular approach enables companies to deploy only the modules they need and expand over time if required without complex integration efforts. EXPERTS Experts in the Value Matrix include Aptean Ross ERP, Infor M3, Infor Syteline, Oracle PeopleSoft, and SAP ERP. APTEAN ROSS ERP Aptean Ross ERP for process manufacturers includes capabilities for manufacturing and distribution management, financial management, traceability, and contracts and chargebacks. The solution also provides data collection, mobile access, and customer management and portal capabilities. The company has taken the approach of building in best practices for process manufacturers within the software to help them manage process complexity and variability as well as account for raw materials and finished products. This approach limits initial customization while driving faster time to value. Aptean Ross ERP supports process manufacturers in the chemicals, life sciences, natural products, food and beverage, and metals industries. In December 2012, Aptean announced the Unlimited Program, which includes unlimited support on current product versions and increased customer input into roadmaps. INFOR M3 Infor M3 is Infor s ERP offering for multi-lingual, multi-company, multi-site companies that make, move, or maintain products. M3 has also benefited from Infor s 10x investments in a number of areas including Ming.le enablement for social collaboration, expanded ION Page 8

9 integration, and a new HTML5 client that is native in Infor s Workspace user experience framework. Other new capabilities driving M3 s shift in the Value Matrix include enterprise search, deeper industry functionality, a new equipment dealer platform, additional country-specific versions, and support for new microverticals including equipment dealers, fashion, distribution for manufacturing, food and beverage (protein and fresh food), and distribution for professional wholesalers. Nucleus expects further application of 10x in areas like user interface will drive positive movement in usability for M3 in future editions of the Matrix. INFOR SYTELINE Infor Syteline, Infor s core ERP offering for mid-sized global multi-site manufacturers, has also benefited from Infor s 10x investment in its latest upgrade with new capabilities including: New applications for time tracking and warehouse mobility and expanded industry functionality for automotive suppliers, printing and packaging, industrial manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, and field service A new user interface to help workers be more productive and more quickly find the information they need, and enhanced business intelligence tools for greater visibility Access to Infor Ming.le for social collaboration Nucleus s initial evaluation of the investments Infor has made in usability and the new user interface is very positive and is likely to improve Syteline s usability positioning in future versions of the Matrix as more users upgrade and adopt the new interface. ORACLE PEOPLESOFT Oracle announced the PeopleSoft 9.2 release in March 2013 and PeopleTools 8.53 release in February Although Nucleus has had little visibility into customers that have adopted or are planning to upgrade to these latest versions, Oracle publicly claims that 68 percent of the active PeopleSoft installed base have already adopted PeopleSoft 9.1. Oracle also cites PeopleSoft 9.2 customers including AARP, Caterpillar, Inc., Franklin Templeton Investments, Washington University in St. Louis, Westfield, and Verizon. With 9.2, PeopleSoft delivers user interface improvements including global search capabilities, activity guides, WorkCenters, and pivot grids to help users complete work more effectively. The 9.2 user interface looks dramatically different from the UI experience of customers on previous versions, reflecting the investments Oracle has made in improving usability. PeopleSoft 9.2 also delivered mobile and HTML5-based solutions for PeopleSoft including Mobile Company Directory, Mobile Approvals, Mobile Expense, and Mobile eprocurement. PeopleSoft Update Manager is the other interesting innovation Oracle is pushing with customers to help them take advantage of new PeopleSoft functionality on the roadmap with less disruption and change management investment. A natural evolution of what Page 9

10 PeopleSoft has been doing with PeopleTools, Update Manager provides diagnostics for PeopleSoft customers on version 9.2 to evaluate new releases and feature packs, understand how new features may impact prior customizations and changes in their existing deployment, and focus project managers efforts on critical fixes and potential disruption points that might impact a successful upgrade. PeopleSoft Update Manager is an important area Nucleus will be monitoring moving forward as it is an opportunity for PeopleSoft to differentiate how it helps customers maximize value from upgrades and feature packs with less disruption. SAP SAP s flagship product supports more than 25 industries, 37 languages and 45 localizations and offers modules that span financials, HCM (building out a stronger HCM solution with the acquisition of SuccessFactors), procurement and logistics, manufacturing, product and portfolio management (PPM), and asset management. SAP has made investments on solutions that are easy and more predictable to adopt. In particular, development in its RDS option (rapid deployment solution), which enables existing SAP customers to get more value out of their application over time. Most recently, SAP released three new RDS modules, which enables innovations like SAP HANA to be more accessible to enterprise customers looking to boost their ERP operations with real-time analytics. The past couple of months have seen SAP move several of their applications onto HANA. For many customers, the rapid throughput promised by HANA, as well as the overall simplicity of SAP architecture, provides its customer faster time to value. Moving forward, HANA will dictate how SAP conceives, designs, builds, and sells new products to the market. SAP continues to invest in its mobility capabilities and now has mobile applications that can be delivered for each line of business or industry. FACILITATORS Facilitators in the Value Matrix include Acumatica, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, NetSuite, QAD Enterprise, Qualiac, SAP Business by Design, SAP Business One, and Unit 4. ACUMATICA Acumatica provides a cloud-based ERP solution for small and medium-sized businesses. Its solution includes capabilities for financial management, distribution management, customer management, and project accounting. Acumatica s platform also includes reporting and dashboard capabilities and content management and workflow. Acumatica follows a partner-led model, with a complete set of modules so partners can extend and customize the solution to meet specific customer needs. On June 18, Acumatica announced the beta release of Acumatica 4.1, which included CRM enhancements, dragand-drop capabilities, and Microsoft Excel integration. Page 10

11 MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV Microsoft Dynamics NAV is one of Microsoft s products focused on small and mediumsized businesses. In June, Microsoft announced availability of Dynamics NAV on the Azure cloud, giving customers more deployment options for the application. NETSUITE NetSuite s cloud ERP solution has been broadly adopted by e-commerce, wholesale and distribution, professional services, software, and manufacturing firms because its single database and cloud delivery model enables greater visibility across the business and streamlining and automation of business processes. For many firms, Nucleus has found NetSuite enables them to do more with fewer resources and manage their growth by driving greater productivity and insight for planning and budgeting. NetSuite provides more than 170 out-of-the-box reports that include dynamic drill downs to the transaction level. Because all the data is in one common data store, data can be easily segmented for further reporting and analysis, and real-time dashboards can be built to monitor KPIs. NetSuite provides bidirectional integration with common social networks as well as its own social collaboration capability called SuiteSocial. Similarly, NetSuite has functionality to support ratings and reviews and also integrated with third-party rating and review providers. Another area of strength for NetSuite is order management, including capabilities for multichannel order processing, order entry, distributed order management, inventory tracking, customizable account and contract level workflows, and post-order fulfillment. NetSuite also support split orders and the creation of assembly work orders and BOMs from orders. In June 2013, NetSuite announced a number of advances in its support for e-commerce including NetSuite Order Management for Magento and Demandware, a cloud-based order management applications that will enable Magento and Demandware users to streamline order management. In May, NetSuite announced new functionality for manufacturing customers including availability to promise, standard cost, work in process, and routings, as well as partnerships with design and PLM partners. NetSuite has also been investing in building out its partner ecosystem and providing partners with the tools they need to be more successful. The Built for NetSuite program announced in May 2013 helps partners to verify that their applications meet the SuiteCloud Platform s development standards and best practices. Page 11

12 QAD ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS QAD Enterprise Applications target discrete and configured product manufacturers in industries including automotive, life sciences, industrial products, electronics, consumer products, and food and beverage. In May, QAD announced the latest version of its application suite with increased financial functionality such as retro-billing, greater traceability and quality control capabilities. The latest release also included enhancements to QAD s user interface with role-based capabilities, driving greater usability and productivity. QAD also announced a modular deployment framework to make it easier for customers to add and implement new functionality from the QAD app store, such as collections, reports, and internationalization functionality. QUALIAC Qualiac appears for the first time in Nucleus s ERP Value Matrix, but the French company founded in 1979 has a long history in the European ERP market. The solution takes a configuration rather than customization approach, and Nucleus has found this enables companies to more rapidly deploy Qualiac and take advantage of knowledge transfer during the deployment process so business analysts and managers can make changes in the application based on changing business needs without additional consulting costs or expertise. Qualiac lists reference clients in the finance and banking, insurance, real estate, health care, manufacturing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, media and publishing, nongovernmental organization, and public sectors. An integrated financial management suite, Qualiac ERP Finance was developed for organizations and companies in all sectors faced with regulatory obligations in the areas of reporting, fund management, accounting, and commitments. Qualiac ERP Production is an integrated management suite designed for manufacturers, with functionality to support production and maintenance, purchases and procurement, sales management and logistics, projects and time tracking, and reporting. SAP BUSINESS BYDESIGN SAP Business ByDesign is SAP s cloud ERP offering, with modules to support customer relationship management, financial management, project management, supply chain management, supplier relationship management, human resources management, and compliance management. The solution also includes an analytics module for management decision making. SAP BUSINESS ONE SAP Business One is an integrated ERP solution for small and medium-sized businesses with modules to support financial management, warehouse and production management, customer relationship management, and purchasing. The solution also includes reporting and business intelligence through integration with Crystal Reports and ios support for ipad and iphone access. Page 12

13 UNIT4 Unit4 provides ERP capabilities for people-centric companies in the mid to upper midmarket. The Unit4 Agresso solution includes core ERP functionality including support for accounting and financials, budgeting and forecasting, procurement, HR and payroll, project management, and field asset management. It also includes reporting and analytics capabilities. One of Unit4 s differentiators is its architecture which enables business users to make changes within the application by drag and drop, increasing flexibility and reducing the overall cost of managing the application. In May 2013, Unit4 announced its Business Analytics Viewer for ipad and Android which enables users to explore scorecards and analyze data to track performance while away from their desks. Unit4 also released a Tasks application for iphone and ipad for reviewing and approving invoices, purchase orders, requisitions, and other financial documents. CORE PROVIDERS Core Providers in the Value Matrix include IFS, IQMS Enterprise IQ, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and QAD. IFS IFS provides a component-based ERP suite built on a standards-oriented architecture with a focus on service and asset management, manufacturing, supply chain management, and projects. IQMS ENTERPRISE IQ IQMS provides ERP and MES solutions for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. Its broad solution targets a number of industries including aerospace and defense, automotive, medical devices, and plastics. Its flagship solution, EnterpriseIQ, offers functionality specific to manufacturing. IQMS also offers customer relationship management, supply chain management, warehouse management, and human resources management capabilities. In June 2013 IQMS announced the availability of six new mobile applications: carton builder; inventory transactions and locations; maintenance, repair, and overhaul, opportunity central; Scan ID; and Signature Capture. MICROSOFT DYNAMICS GP Microsoft Dynamics GP is Microsoft s mid-market focused ERP package. In June 2013 Microsoft announced that Dynamics GP was available on Microsoft Azure, providing customers with more cloud options for Dynamics GP. Page 13

14 QAD ENTERPRISE QAD provides ERP to support global manufacturers. The company has made several announcements aimed at enhancing its manufacturing enterprise resource planning (ERP) offering, its learning center for manufacturing, and its business intelligence (BI) solution; simplifying ERP deployment and maintenance with the new QAD Easy On Boarding; and providing embedded business process management (BPM) functionality. Page 14