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| WORKING FULLTILT EVERY DAY - Scott Deutsch, VP Marketing | ||||
| Product Information Management Grows Up | ||||
It's been an exciting time to work in the world of product information management. There has been a global burst of interest and spending rarely seen in the world of software products. I thought it might be useful to discuss some observations about the world of product information management. We have seen a tremendous maturation occur these past twelve months in PIM. A sure sign of its growing market credibility is to witness the explosion of analyst reports, alerts and detailed research studies covering Product Information Management. Virtually every major organization from Gartner to Forrester to AMR Research to The Yankee Group have recently published significant content about the PIM market. It's exciting to be a part of a market with traction that has gained wide ranging validation from virtually all the industry experts. The ROI of PIM is finally validated. The recent Yankee Group Report on PIM further validates quantitatively the business of PIM. PIM is thriving because it makes good business sense. PIM is about the business of business. It is about the business of trading electronically between businesses. It is not an IT solution looking for a IT problem to solve. Having a single version of product truth helps the top and bottom line. We've also witnessed a time of considerable market consolidation where many of the weaker products are no longer with us. The maturation of the market has made every product prove it. And we like it that way. Those that can't scale and perform are losing market traction and losing market momentum. |
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| Harvesting Value from Your ERP, PLM and CRM Solution | ||||
PIM is at the right
spot in the market today because companies are looking for ways
to harvest their existing R/3 investment. CIOs are under
pressure to use current profits to finance enhancements to their
SAP systems now, rather than scrounge for money for an upgrade (see
the AMR Research Alert article “Chemicals Decisions
for 2005: Fund Transformation Before Lean Times Return”). Many
CIOs aren't finding enough new industry functionality to justify
an upgrade to mySAP ERP . AMR Research added, “Adding to
their reluctance is the additional costs from SAP's new licensing
model for mySAP ERP, making it difficult to prove the platform
is the path to a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The result:
many CIOs consider sticking with their R/3 platform and
best-of-breed extensions. AMR's bottom line, “The industry can't
afford to fund SAP's rearchitecture of NetWeaver to a
business process platform without realizing its own value from its
SAP investment”. Companies will use best-of-breed technologies for
Supply Chain Management (SCM) and add Business Process Management
(BPM) to construct composite applications where necessary. |
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| Good Data Really Does Matter | ||||
So many companies
thought they solved the global data synchronization requirements
when they outsourced their data synchronization efforts. Unfortunately
(or fortunately for FullTilt and the PIM market), these solutions
didn't realty solve the nagging, long term problem of bad data.
That can only be accomplished when you straighten out your product
information internally and externally. Yes, getting to the Product
Truth really does matter. Global data synchronization has exposed the true complexity associated with getting to the truth. It is not a problem you can solve with a $2,000 check. If it could, everyone would have had perfect data information for years, but we all know the reality. Bad data is robbing your company each and everyday of profits and growth opportunities. It's not about customer mandates. It's about building a scalable business infrastructure that provides you the flexibility to do business in a more creative way that better leverages your competitive uniqueness. And that's why good data really does matter. It allows you the opportunity to compete better and faster, electronically. I hope you enjoy this edition of The Product Truth ™. If you have specific articles, topics that you would like us to cover, please email me at sdeutsch@fulltiltsolutions.com . |
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