Irregular Enterprise

I'm indebted to David Chassels of Procession for this quote from Niccolo Machiavelli:Nothing is more difficult than to introduce a new order, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the newAnd so it is in today's software market. Organizations have spent many years and billions of dollars investing in IT, often with success that takes years to realize and then bam!

August 24, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

4 Comments Vote

Dan Farber's discussion of a meet up with SAPs Denis Browne could not come at a better time. Independently, I was pinged with a message from Martin Guenther at the SAP Developer Network that advised me of a 429 page Hasso Plattner lecture entitled Trends and Concepts in the Software Industry.

August 23, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

1 Comment Vote

As Salesforce.com sheds more of its 'cool' on-demand status and transitions to looking more enterprisey, I notice it has hired Graham Smith as CFO.

August 22, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

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One of the key messages to come out of the recent Workday financials launch is the notion of modeling the business from the business reality perspective rather than the accounting oriented approach that typified many so-called ERP implementations of the 1990s and early 2000s. In the ensuing discussion among my Irregular colleagues, Jeff Nolan said:Everything emanates from the financials applications, or has an impact on.

August 22, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

1 Comment Vote

Neville Hobson's views on OpenID struck a chord:It seems to me that OpenID is still a very early-adoption technology, the domain of serious geeks and tech enthusiasts.Well, I’m as enthusiastic as the next geek but I just don’t really get OpenID yet.

August 21, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

3 Comments Vote

Reuters is acquiring StarMine for an undisclosed sum. StarMine provides specialized analysis and equity research tools to 350 investment companies.

August 21, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

2 Comments Vote

"Accounting happens last in our system because accounting isn't real," is hardly the way you'd expect a company to describe a freshly minted financial application, but that's how Mark Nittler, vice president application strategy at Workday is pitching the company's latest offering. While it may sound bizarre, there's plenty of sense in what the company is saying.

August 19, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

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A couple of weeks ago, I caught the end of a presentation by Alek Lotoczko who runs the intranet for NYK Logistics & Megacarrier. Earlier this week, I called Alek to get more detail.

August 16, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

5 Comments Vote

Dell's mis-statements for the years 2003-6 are being downplayed as 'trivial.' Rubbish.

August 16, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

4 Comments Vote

Cynthia Rettig's the Trouble with Enterprise Software, published in MIT Sloan Management Review should come as no surprise to those used to commenting on ERP implementations. Ms Rettig draws a gloomy picture asserting that: Whole systems march in lock step, providing synchronized, fully coordinated supply chains, production lines and services, just like a world class orchestra.

August 15, 2007 by Dennis Howlett

14 Comments Vote