Get the Most out of BPM with SOA
May 1, 2008 on 6:17 am | In Uncategorized | No CommentsBusinesses can no longer adhere to the old adage of having to spend money to make money. In today’s economy with competitive pressures coming from all directions, companies must rein in spending to achieve a speedy return on technology investment and reach corporate performance goals.
To get there, however, enterprises must better align their business processes with IT capabilities. One way to do this is by leveraging business process management (BPM) with service-oriented architecture (SOA).
Despite Consolidation, There Are Lots More than Four Options for BI
May 1, 2008 on 6:15 am | In Uncategorized | No CommentsPosted by Ann All on April 25, 2008 at 11:10 am
A number of folks took issue after InformationWeek published a recent article titled How to Choose Among the Four Bright Lights of BI. The article discusses the business intelligence approaches of Oracle, SAP, IBM and Microsoft, the vendors that now account for almost half of the annual $7 billion BI market. All four beefed up their BI capabilities by purchasing specialists (or, in Microsoft’s case, selected capabilities from specialists).
The biggest advantage to using one of these vendors, according to the article, is that it allows companies to more readily incorporate BI into the larger enterprise whole, particularly for shops that may already be heavy users of a particular vendor’s technology. A homogeneous platform that encompasses databases, enterprise applications and other systems should, in theory, reduce cost and management complexity over time.
But it’s not an easy or inexpensive journey. One of the primary knocks against these vendors’ solutions is the pricing. All but Microsoft, which has created downward price pressure with its entry into the BI market, typically command a premium for their products.
The article goes on to offer a fairly detailed take on each vendor’s relative strengths and weaknesses and the methods to their madness — what they appear to be doing to coalesce all of their acquired parts into coherent platform strategies. The article was nicely done, although it probably was an overstatement to refer to the vendors as “bright lights” and to phrase the headline in a way that implies that most companies would end up working with one of the four.
Several days later (likely after being inundated with calls and e-mails from other BI providers), article author Mary Hayes Weier essentially offered a mea culpa in a blog post, talking up the abilities of smaller vendors to create innovative solutions, a topic notably missing from the “Bright Lights” article. She wrote:
Are IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP the only companies that matter in the business intelligence software market? Well, of course not. That’s ridiculous. Independent BI vendors and even some surprises –Google, anyone? — are driving a lot of the innovation.
Doug Henschen points out a number of “leading lights” on Intelligent Enterprise, including QlikTech, which is creating a buzz with its use of in-memory technology and visualization, areas thus far largely ignored by the four vendors spotlighted in the InformationWeek piece. Henschen writes:
… SAP, Oracle, IBM and Microsoft have a mixed record in this area. SAP has been the most successful of the big four, having promoted its BI Accelerator for several years. Oracle acquired TimesTen in early 2005, but the product seems to have fallen off the radar screen. Late last year IBM acquired Solid Information Technology and Applix (the latter by way of Cognos), so it’s a Johnny come lately in in-memory while Microsoft is a total no show thus far.
Some key BI specialists have forged ties with other specialists that have complementary strengths, notes Henschen. Teradata, for instance, works closely with Informatica, Microstrategy and SAS. And Henschen doesn’t omit open source BI, referencing Jaspersoft and Actuate.
As I wrote back in December, a number of the BI pureplays insist that market consolidation creates new opportunities for them because the big guys will be preoccupied for a long time with integrating the newly purchased technologies into their existing software stacks. And get real, says the COO of Microstrategy, does anyone really think that companies will ever have homogeneous software environments?
Interestingly, a reader named ElizabethG chimed in after Weier’s post, noting that some folks at her company were able to complete a proof-of-concept and implementation of QlikTech’s QlikView product in a few months. Assuming that “ElizabethG” is a real QlikTech customer (and not a QlikTech marketing rep), her comments do hint at one of the problems faced by BI specialists. She writes:
… we can’t get our central IT department to take us seriously–they refuse to believe that it could really be so simple. If you don’t want to spend a fortune and rely on technical staff for all your information needs, you should really look at some of the small vendors.
I’ve touched on the topic of unyielding IT departments that appear deaf to business users’ needs in a number of blog posts, including this one. While today’s battle between users and central IT is mostly being waged over the use of communications and collaboration tools like instant messaging, it increasingly involves new versions of traditional enterprise applications, often delivered via a software-as-a-service model.
Global outsourcing 100
May 1, 2008 on 6:08 am | In Uncategorized | No CommentsAccenture, IBM and Infosys are the Top Three on Global Outsourcing 100 List
Established U.S. based companies surpassed overseas competition to earn the top two spots on this year’s Global Outsourcing 100, the annual expert ranking of the world’s best outsourcing service providers compiled by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).
Accenture was ranked the number one outsourcing service provider for the first time, coming out ahead of IBM, who had garnered the leading position since the list’s inception three years ago.
Half of the top 10 companies are from India, reflecting the country’s strong growth. Infosys Technologies was number three on the leaders list, representing firms with annual sales of $60 million or more. The other top-ranked India-based firms were Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro Technologies, Genpact and Tech Mahindra.
Two companies based in France — Sodexo and Capgemini — also earned the highest rankings from the independent panel of recognized industry leaders. Hewlett-Packard of Palo Alto, California, came in at number eight on the list.
“The power balance in outsourcing is shifting,” said Jagdish Dalal, IAOP’s managing director, thought leadership, who led the judges’ panel. “The intensifying global competition was reflected in this year’s ranking with companies from 19 countries vying for recognition.”
More than 60 percent of the winners on the Rising Stars list are based outside the U.S., indicating that the companies to watch in the future will be from emerging countries. First time honorees include Beyondsoft of China, LawScribe of the U.S. and MERA NN from Russia.
The data also provide a unique industry snapshot and reveals its continued fast growth. Revenue among Leaders grew 24 percent in 2007, compared to 16 percent growth the previous year. These companies averaged $1.7 billion in annual sales and engaged 27,000 employees globally.
IAOP established the list as a resource to help companies compare providers using an objective methodology. It includes both Leaders and Rising Stars, as well as 25 sublists based on geographies, services and industry.
Similar to the request for proposal process, companies are ranked on quality following a rigorously judged application process that examines 18 criteria. Final rankings are based on a weighted average on demonstrated competencies, size and growth, management capabilities and customer references.
“At a time when companies that outsource are scrutinizing their providers more closely, the criteria our judges used are increasingly important in differentiating the top players in the industry,” said Michael Corbett, IAOP chairman. “The Global Outsourcing 100 is a comprehensive and useful guide to help companies research and compare service providers.”
RANK
COMPANY
KEY STRENGTH
1
Accenture
Customer Testimonials
2
IBM
Size & Growth
3
Infosys Technologies
Executive Leadership
4
Sodexo
Global Presence
5
Capgemini
Achievement Recognition
6
Tata Consultancy Services
Employee Management
7
Wipro Technologies
Employee Management
8
Hewlett-Packard
Outsourcing Experience
9
Genpact
Executive Leadership
10
Tech Mahindra
Outsourcing Experience
11
HCL Technologies
Outsourcing Experience
12
EDS
Outsourcing Experience
13
ACS
Balanced Performance
14
CGI Group
Customer Testimonials
15
HOV Services
Outsourcing Experience
16
Mastek
Customer Testimonials
17
SPi
Customer Testimonials
18
Colliers International
Global Presence
19
WNS Global Services
Achievement Recognition
20
hiSoft Technology International
Employee Management
21
SITEL
Balanced Performance
22
Hexaware Technologies
Competency Certification
23
CSC
Outsourcing Experience
24
Unisys
Competency Certification
25
ARAMARK
Size & Growth
26
ExlService Holdings
Achievement Recognition
27
Cognizant Technology Solutions
Competency Certification
28
24/7 CUSTOMER
Employee Management
29
CB Richard Ellis
Global Presence
30
EMCOR Group
No. of Locations/Centers
31
ISS A/S
Balanced Performance
32
Syntel
Employee Management
33
Headstrong
Balanced Performance
34
Sutherland Global Services
Employee Management
35
Neusoft Group
Achievement Recognition
36
Cambridge Solutions
Size & Growth
37
EPAM Systems
Outsourcing Experience
38
Inspur
Balanced Performance
39
Ocwen Financial
Customer Testimonials
40
ITC Infotech
Competency Certification
41
Océ Business Services
Customer Testimonials
42
KPIT Cummins Infosystems
Competency Certification
43
Amdocs
Balanced Performance
44
Vertex
Balanced Performance
45
Donlen
Employee Management
46
Patni Computer Systems
Balanced Performance
47
Diebold
Global Presence
48
NCS
Competency Certification
49
Pitney Bowes
Balanced Performance
50
ADP
Balanced Performance
51
Outsource Partners International
Achievement Recognition
52
Advanced Technology Services
Achievement Recognition
53
Zensar Technologies
Balanced Performance
54
MindTree Consulting
Achievement Recognition
55
Johnson Controls
Global Presence
56
MphasiS
Competency Certification
57
Convergys
Achievement Recognition
58
Cushman & Wakefield
Global Presence
59
Luxoft
Achievement Recognition
60
Ceridian
Achievement Recognition
61
Xerox
Employee Management
62
Aditya Birla Minacs
Size & Growth
63
ICG Commerce
Executive Leadership
64
Stream
Balanced Performance
65
Comprehensive Health Services
Employee Management
66
Eclipsys
Executive Leadership
67
IBA Group
Employee Management
68
LogicaCMG plc
Outsourcing Experience
69
ExcellerateHRO
Achievement Recognition
70
SNC-Lavalin Profac
No. of Locations/Centers
71
Cartus
Employee Management
72
KPN/Getronics
Outsourcing Experience
73
Firstsource Solutions
Balanced Performance
74
IPT
Balanced Performance
75*
Hewitt Associates
Achievement Recognition
75*
NCR
Balanced Performance
76
Summit HR Worldwide
Achievement Recognition
77
Bleum
Competency Certification
78
Cross-Tab Marketing Services
Customer Testimonials
79
Cybage Software pvt
Outsourcing Experience
80
Beyondsoft
Customer Testimonials
81
LawScribe
Balanced Performance
82
MERA NN
Executive Leadership
83
Intetics
Employee Management
84
vCustomer
Competency Certification
85
Smart Sourcing
Customer Testimonials
86
Datrose
Employee Management
87
Ci&T Software
Competency Certification
88
Achievo
Executive Leadership
89
IST Management Services
No. of Locations/Centers
90
Auriga
Balanced Performance
91
QuEST
Achievement Recognition
92
CompuPacific International
Customer Testimonials
93
DataArt
Achievement Recognition
94
Emerio GlobeSoft Pte
Global Presence
95
Symphony House Berhad
Achievement Recognition
96
Objectiva Software Solutions
Balanced Performance
97
Freeborders
Achievement Recognition
98
Hundsun Global
No. of Locations/Centers
99
Mindcrest
Balanced Performance
100
Innodata Isogen
Achievement Recognition
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