Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep

For the last several months, MAPICS, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPX), possibly the largest global provider of extended enterprise applications for solving the challenges of discrete manufacturers following the acquisition of its former competitor Frontstep (see MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way), has shown both the signs of significant changes but also a persistence of a number of its historically recognizable invariant tenets of operation. The former steadfast IBM iSeries (formerly IBM AS/400)-based ERP supplier to mid-market manufacturing companies, MAPICS, has since indeed become quite a larger vendor and with a wider choice of products, having recently acquired a Microsoft .NET-based competitor. However, as the customers from both camps have been uncertain of their provider's strategy, given that bigger size brings about the need to rationalize multiple products in the same marketplace, after a few months period of buried heads and brainstorming sessions, MAPICS has lately been engaged in explaining its rationale, as to set many customers' minds at ease.

At the same time, the vendor has continued with a painstaking process of producing a strategy going forward that would pragmatically blend the company's traditional values and success factors with new approaches to stay in tune with market trends. The process had started well before the Frontstep's acquisition, during which time in early 2002 the company was energized with a new functional structure and an expanded executive management team. During the same period of time, MAPICS had evolved its marketing and revamped its solutions to focus on business issues and specific discrete manufacturing verticals and to thereby appeal to existing and prospective customers. Pre-Frontstep MAPICS, indeed, had not been sitting still, as the company had made every effort to avert the relegation to legacy Atlantis' as often speculated by some, and it has therefore lately rebuilt its technologies, reviewed its implementation partners, and thus shored up a notable customer base, and retained profitability and security while doing so (see MAPICS Moving On Pragmatically).

Therefore, MAPICS has never departed from its conservative approach of delivering practical innovations and bulletproof applications for its customers, and from its proverbial fiscal discipline. To that end, on July 31, MAPICS reported GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) net income for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2003, of $3.0 million, including an income tax benefit and restructuring costs, compared with GAAP net income of $7.5 million, for the same period in fiscal 2002. More importantly, this was the first quarter that included Frontstep revenues and costs, in which case the return to profitability and reduced and stabilized expenses bear even higher magnitude. Moreover, total revenue for Q3 2003 increased by 51% to $47.1 million versus $31.3 million a year ago, while license revenue was $13.6 million, up 44% from $9.4 million in Q3 2002 (see Figure 1). This was in a sharp contrast to previous MAPICS' quarterly reports featuring flat or often depressed revenues (see Figure 2).

* Primarily represents a goodwill write down of the PivotPoint acquisition

While the majority of revenue continues to come from the loyal existing customers, the vendor has processed nearly 400 license transaction during the quarter, which is threefold the average volume for MAPICS without Frontstep over its last four quarters. Nearly 60 new MAPICS SyteLine (formerly Frontstep SyteLine) customers have reportedly contributed $2.8 million in license revenues. The company still has a comfortable cash amount of nearly $22.6 million, and maintains its acquisitive stance.

The Frontstep acquisition has obviously provided MAPICS with a boost in terms of product choice, having solutions on both leading platforms -- Microsoft and IBM. With MAPICS SyteLine 7, the vendor now boasts a notable application built on a .NET architecture. However, the loyal AS/400 install base should rest assured of MAPICS' continued support for the platform. The big news on the MAPICS ERP for iSeries product side is that the version 7.3, which is slated for December, will feature Double Byte support, and expanded Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based client technology.

Other developments detailed in this note are:

* MAPICS Field Service & Support
* A global partnership with Systems Union
* Primus Knowledge Solution Results (to be covered in Part Two)
* Certified Partner Program (to be covered in Part Two)
* Pacejet Logistics, Inc is Certified Partner (to be covered in Part Two)
* A revised sales strategy (to be covered in Part Two)

Further proving its commitment to delivery of enhancements, in August, MAPICS announced the general availability of its new, integrated MAPICS Field Service & Support solution, aimed at helping manufacturers better manage after-market services personnel, materials, and information, as well as offer customers post-sale support that increases customer loyalty and retention. The new field service solution relies on critical business information resident in MAPICS ERP for iSeries to ensure that users have access to the single master source for order, product and customer information. Integrated to the MAPICS ERP for iSeries solution, Field Service & Support users should benefit from the current business processes associated with materials, resources, contracts, and financial information. The MAPICS Field Service & Support solution consolidates the management of service contracts, warranty claims, task assignment, technician scheduling, Return Material Authorizations (RMA), and service variance analysis.

Hence, this new offering extends the capabilities of the core MAPICS application suite, to encompass manufactured products throughout their life. MAPICS' new Field Service & Support solution creates a comprehensive after-sales service infrastructure to handle a number of service and customer management tasks with inherent benefits, including:

* Automating the administration of service contracts and warranty claims.

* Tracking time and materials contracts for equipment repair not under warranty or service contracts, providing more accurate data for invoicing.

* Integrating service-related material management, financial management, and billing processes, translating into faster service to the customer and maximized uptime on their equipment as well as better-cost control and analysis capabilities for the service provider.

* Providing integrated incident tracking, tech support, and RMA management, improving service efficiency for the customer and at the same time providing data to manufacturing engineering to drive product and process quality improvements.

* Initiating easy remote access capabilities to manage work order information flow to and from remote work locations, speeding repairs.

* Consolidating management of the services resources; people, tooling and parts, to speed the completion of work in the field.

As for bolstering the other part of its bifurcated offering going forward, in June, MAPICS announced a global partnership with Systems Union, provider of SunSystems, one of the leading international financial and business management solutions. The partnership will enable MAPICS to leverage SunSystems' infrastructure to integrate exclusively with the MAPICS SyteLine ERP solution, which should facilitate increasing global access to valuable financial information. SunSystems is the core product range of the Systems Union Group plc, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The company is one of the largest business software houses in the world, with 21 offices worldwide and some 200 Channel Partners in 76 countries. Products within the SunSystems range are available in 30 languages with over 18,000 customer sites, and 250,000 customer seats in some 194 countries. The software solutions are used extensively by multinationals, whose offices worldwide require an international product with global support infrastructure.

MAPICS and Systems Union plan to integrate their technologies to deliver enhanced global financial management solutions for manufacturers in industries such as industrial equipment, electronics, fabricated metals, automotive, and furniture & fixtures. The integrated enterprise offering this partnership provides should allow MAPICS to better address the ever-increasing financial issues that large multi-national manufacturers face, while continuing to solve their complex manufacturing requirements.

Financial data flow throughout an organization is the livelihood of a company's success and has a direct effect on the bottom line. Large, multi-site and multi-national enterprises that capture financial data using SunSystems have reportedly been better able to make more informed decisions based on immediate access to information. Thus, integrating with SunSytems should allow MAPICS to add commonality and higher value to financial management processes such as accounting, corporate collections, invoicing, reporting and budget management across a manufacturers global operation, through the use of a single tightly integrated solution.

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Two: More Recent Events

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Two: More Recent Events

For the last several months MAPICS has shown both the signs of significant changes and the persistence of a number of its historically recognizable invariant tenets of operation. Following the acquisition of its former competitor, Frontstep, (see MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way), MAPICS, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPX) became possibly the largest global provider of extended enterprise applications for solving the challenges of discrete manufacturers.

MAPICS has never departed from its conservative approach of delivering practical innovations and bulletproof applications for its customers, nor from its proverbial fiscal discipline. The Frontstep acquisition has obviously provided MAPICS with a boost in terms of product choice, having solutions on both leading platforms—Microsoft and IBM. With MAPICS SyteLine 7, the vendor now boasts a notable application built on a .NET architecture. However, the loyal AS/400 install base should rest assured of MAPICS' continued support for the platform. The big news on the MAPICS ERP for iSeries product side is that version 7.3, which is slated for December, will feature Double Bytes support, and expanded Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based client technology.

Other developments detailed in this note are:

* MAPICS Field Service and Support (covered in Part One)

* A Global Partnership with Systems Union (covered in Part One)

* Primus Knowledge Solution Results
* Certified Partner Program

* Pacejet Logistics, Inc. is a Certified Partner

* A Revised Sales Strategy
What has not changed at MAPICS either is its traditional internal emphasis on providing top-notch customer satisfaction. To that end, in May, Primus Knowledge Solutions (NASDAQ: PKSI) announced that MAPICS has reported measurable return-on-investment (ROI) results from Primus technology after successfully implementing the Primus eServer knowledge base and Primus eSupport within its customer support organization and on its support web site. Since implementing Primus knowledge management software, MAPICS has reported a 10 percent increase in customer care specialist productivity, 40 percent reuse of documented solutions-reducing call escalations from level one customer care specialists, 70 percent usage of the knowledge base by customer care specialists on customers' calls, and rapid acceptance of the self-service option.

MAPICS solutions are in use today at more than 10,000 customer sites in 70 countries and available in 19 languages. These solutions include professional services and software implemented on the two industry-leading technology platforms—Microsoft and IBM—including extended ERP, customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM). The company claims it had three key business issues to solve when it selected Primus as its knowledge management partner:

1. Capture and easily manage knowledge in the workflow from every MAPICS customer care specialist

2. Empower MAPICS customer care specialists with the confidence to broaden their areas of expertise by enabling reuse of documented solutions

3. Create a foundation for MAPICS' self-service strategy by providing customers and affiliates 24x7 access to the knowledgebase

Further, in May, MAPICS announced its certified partner program as part of its enhanced strategic alliance and partner strategy. The program consists of application, hardware, and technology companies that have worked to develop offerings that are complementary to core MAPICS solutions. These partners will continue to offer selected products, interfaces, support, and services directly to MAPICS customers, while MAPICS and its certified partners will continue developing solutions that include industry-specific business processes, which leverage best practices gained from customers' experience. Through partnerships, MAPICS will attempt to make it possible to build complementary, targeted solutions and strategically bring them to market more quickly through multiple channels.

The certified partner relationship should provide value to the partners by giving them the ability to stay closely aligned with MAPICS and to differentiate themselves from other vendors looking to sell solutions to MAPICS customers and prospects. Companies will receive assistance from MAPICS including development, support, sales, and marketing—all coordinated by a dedicated program manager within the MAPICS partnering organization. In order to be considered a certified partner, vendors must demonstrate that their applications have an interface to or can integrate with MAPICS solutions on the IBM or Microsoft platforms. There are many companies already enrolled in the MAPICS certified partner program, providing offerings that complement the MAPICS solutions with advanced capabilities in areas such as electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions, document management, payroll, and personnel management.
The most recent to join the list was Pacejet Logistics, Inc., a provider of Web-based logistics resource management (LRM) software applications and services. Together, MAPICS' ERP solutions and Pacejet's LRM solutions will enable MAPICS' customers to accelerate and streamline outbound and inbound logistics and distribution business processes to lower operating costs while improving customer service. As a MAPICS Certified Partner, Pacejet will provide its Pacejet Transportation Management application to MAPICS' customers as an integrated extension to MAPICS' ERP solutions. Pacejet Transportation Management provides a Web-based solution for full truckload (TL), less-than-truckload (LTL), and parcel shipping with advanced capabilities such as load consolidation, route and rate optimization, and Web/EDI tendering that can help MAPICS' customers run their logistics operations efficiently. Pacejet also offers Pacejet Distribution and the Pacejet Advanced Commerce Catalog as part of its complete LRM solutions. Pacejet solutions include transportation management, distribution, and supply-chain event management (SCEM).
Furthermore, while having a broad functional footprint remains important, MAPICS has departed from its traditional practice of "pushing" sales of its plethora of components onto customers. Going forward, it will instead try to solve challenges for its customers and prospects in their quests for becoming world-class manufacturers. In other words, owing to its vast experience and knowledge of challenges and best practices within a specific set of selected industries of focus, MAPICS will try to reverse-engineer the user's objectives into obtaining an optimal set of needed applications to fulfill these. This crusade, which focuses on the customer's needs and tends to obfuscate any impending platform or product brand allegiances, has already been embraced by Frontstep's addition to the MAPICS fold.

As to further confirm that MAPICS remains a customer-focused organization with the mantra of helping customers in select verticals become world-class manufacturers, in March, the vendor announced that it has broadened its relationship with The Georgia Institute of Technology's Manufacturing Research Center (MARC) to include leading a series of pilot implementations of a next generation information exchange framework for electronics manufacturing. MAPICS has been involved with Georgia Tech's MARC for nearly three years and leads the Framework Implementation Project (FIP) as the only manufacturing-focused ERP solution provider involved. The purpose of the FIP program is to design, implement, and test industry standards that streamline information exchange for electronics assembly and link all aspects of a manufacturing enterprise in real time.

Georgia Tech's MARC, with the backing of major equipment manufacturers, electronics manufacturers, and software and hardware vendors, has established the FIP to build upon and implement the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) Plug and Play Factory Project—an initiative created to standardize data syntax and semantics in electronics assembly, establishing rules for data exchange from the factory floor and across the enterprise. The coalition is implementing and testing a computer aided manufacturing exchange (CAMX), a series of standards that are based on extensible markup language (XML), and defining how and what information is exchanged on the factory floor and throughout a manufacturing organization. These standards, which electronics manufacturers know as the IPC 2500 series, are used to provide a common language that facilitates real time, efficient sharing of critical business data among shop floor equipment and business process applications—reducing costs and decreasing cycle time.

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Three: Market Impact

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Three: Market Impact

For the last several months MAPICS has shown both the signs of significant changes and the persistence of a number of its historically recognizable invariant tenets of operation. Following the acquisition of its former competitor, Frontstep, (see MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way), MAPICS, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPX) became possibly the largest global provider of extended enterprise applications for solving the challenges of discrete manufacturers.

MAPICS has never departed from its conservative approach of delivering practical innovations and bulletproof applications for its customers, nor from its proverbial fiscal discipline. The Frontstep acquisition has obviously provided MAPICS with a boost in terms of product choice, having solutions on both leading platforms—Microsoft and IBM. With MAPICS SyteLine 7, the vendor now boasts a notable application built on a .NET architecture. However, the loyal AS/400 install base should rest assured of MAPICS' continued support for the platform. The big news on the MAPICS ERP for iSeries product side is that version 7.3, which is slated for December, will feature Double Bytes support, and expanded Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based client technology.

Other developments detailed in this note are:

* MAPICS Field Service and Support (covered in Part One)

* A Global Partnership with Systems Union (covered in Part One)

* Primus Knowledge Solution Results
* Certified Partner Program

* Pacejet Logistics, Inc. is a Certified Partner

* A Revised Sales Strategy
As already sensed so far, much has changed, while also much has remained the same at MAPICS during 2003. First of all, with the February finalization of the Frontstep acquisition, MAPICS has become quite a large enterprise applications provider, with projected revenues of more than $210 million, and with over 800 employees across the globe, more than 10,000 manufacturing sites in 70 countries, and nearly 150 worldwide affiliates offering product service and support. The acquisition of Frontstep has positioned the vendor near (if not at) the top among vendors that focus on the mid-size discrete manufacturing market.

Moreover, the Frontstep acquisition also provided MAPICS with a much-enhanced choice of products. MAPICS ERP for iSeries (formerly MAPICS XA) has long been the company's sole ERP system for the IBM iSeries (formerly AS/400) platform. Thus, in the second half of the exuberant 1990s, MAPICS had already earned veteran status in the market, but its former IBM AS/400 platform confinement and its inability to rejuvenate its own mature product had given it a real negative "old and unexciting" perception. To make things worse, its attention to the bottom line during times of flat revenues often came at the expense of cutting into resellers' margins, which made some channel partners at least consider exploring other options.

Although the company had long sought to embrace new technologies while at the same time providing a smooth migration path for existing customers, it had suffered from continually being perceived as late to market with its new technology forays. Its protracted inability to deliver an all-the-rage Windows NT platform-based product made it struggle to sustain momentum in the then booming mid-market, which was increasingly intrigued with the low-cost and pervasive Microsoft technology. To that end, owing to the acquisition of its former struggling competitor Pivotpoint (see How Has MAPICS Been Extending?), MAPICS had delivered since early 2000 a number of new e-business modules and expanded its platform reach from its solely IBM iSeries and DB2 platforms to include Microsoft Windows NT, UNIX, and Linux operating systems and the Oracle database platform.

However, while expanding its offering and platform support bundled with the functionally strong former Pivotpoint Point.Man ERP product for high-tech industries, the company had also been burdened with an immense task of blending different corporate cultures (i.e., the less formal Pivotpoint's versus the more rigid and conservative MAPICS one) and with the inherited problems of Pivotpoint, which at the time of the acquisition was in a state of a flux—it had poor financial viability, channel erosion, employee exodus, and a poor service and support record. The management of dual flagship product lines had also initially and long after been awkward for MAPICS and its affiliate channel. One is to expect that, three years later, MAPICS will have learned important lessons, which it will have leveraged in the case of Frontstep's acquisition as another attempt at harnessing Microsoft's technology.

More importantly however, with the Frontstep acquisition MAPICS has inherited a technologically advanced and functionally strong product. Frontstep solved a big piece of its long-plaguing predicament of developing a next generation product and then migrating its large user base. Thus, newly enlarged MAPICS logically has become an active dual (i.e., both J2EE and Microsoft .NET compliant) platform vendor. To that end, the company will continue to sell and enhance its traditional breadwinning product for the IBM iSeries platform within that IBM world where the iSeries, J2EE, and WebSphere are important to users and prospects, along with the MAPICS SyteLine 7 product, which was relatively recently, albeit immediately before the Frontstep acquisition, completely rearchitected on Microsoft .NET (see Frontstep Ups The .NET Ante)
Consequently, MAPICS initially ended up with three key ERP offerings: 1) MAPICS SyteLine (formerly Frontstep SyteLine and Symix SyteLine), 2) MAPICS ERP for iSeries (the original venerable flagship MAPICS XA AS/400-based offering) and 3) MAPICS ERP for Extended Systems (derived from the acquired Point.Man).

Since its inception in 1978, the MAPICS ERP for iSeries product has evolved into a broad range of functionality for discrete manufacturing enterprises. Its strength remains largely in the discrete manufacturing arena, and until not long ago, its sweet spot has been within single plant installations. With features such as rate-based planning, serial number traceability, and product data management (PDM), the product can handle make-to-stock (MTS), assemble-to-order (ATO) and less intricate engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturing environments. With the addition of its International Financial Management (IFM) module a few product releases back in the mid 1990s, its corporate financial management functionality became even more competitive. A payroll module has long been available, which always represents an attractive extra for its target market. The MAPICS focus has also long been on embedding workflow functionality designed to support business processes across many functional areas. MAPICS first delivered this capability for design and engineering functions, and recently expanded workflow throughout the entire product.

On the other hand, MAPICS ERP for Extended Systems has stronger MTS and repetitive manufacturing capabilities, including "pay point" processing, with the ability to report material, labor, and overhead costs from individual operations within the entire routing sequence. An important differentiator should be the product's ability to support virtual manufacturing enterprises that outsource manufacturing operations to third party subcontractors. An engineering change management (ECM) capability and actual costing have also been available. Contrary to its iSeries counterpart, the Extended Systems product (as the name suggests) has also long offered multisite interdependent functions, centralized sales, and purchase order management, but it has partnered with niche specialists to harness forecasting, quotation, payroll, tooling, and preventive maintenance functionality. Its financial modules are capable of consolidation and drill-down functions across multiple entities, although they have been best used and proven in US-based enterprises.

Like its new parent MAPICS, with its recently enhanced functionality to natively deliver solid SCM and CRM modules (see Mid-Market ERP Vendors Doing CRM & SCM In A DIY Fashion), former Frontstep had also positioned itself as a primary business systems provider that offers comprehensive enterprise solutions with integrated CRM and SCM capabilities, on top of a strong discrete manufacturing ERP capability and experience rather than as a mere ERP vendor. In that regard, the MAPICS SyteLine suite for mid-sized manufacturers, by and large offers support for customer service, order processing, inventory control and purchasing, manufacturing production management, production planning and scheduling, cost management, project control and financials, sophisticated product configuration for sales order management and manufacturing, advanced planning and scheduling (APS), business intelligence (BI), workflow automation, with business process definition and execution, and advanced forms. The traditional shortcomings in terms of multinational financial management modules will supposedly be overcome with the alliance with SunSystems.

As Microsoft-centric technology and the .NET initiative have become mainstream in the business applications mid-market, MAPICS has had to get over its traditional IBM platform preference and sentimental hang-ups, and to bow to its prospects' preference for Microsoft solutions that incorporate .NET and the SQL Server database technologies. To that end, SyteLine 7 is a solid solution for those Microsoft-oriented customers and prospects. Further, while the rearchitecture to .NET is important, it is the combination with new functional capabilities in areas like APS, flexible multi-site deployment, and flexible business process automation that position the product better going forward, particularly now as a part of a larger entity with a strong balance sheet and market clout.

User database preference was another driving factor for MAPICS in deciding which one of the two Microsoft-centric suites to actively market to Microsoft-oriented shops. MAPICS' products had long been deployed to a very narrow set of databases, i.e. former MAPICS XA could only run on an IBM DB2 database, whereas former Point.Man could only run on an Oracle database. Not providing support for Microsoft SQL Server has resulted in a number of missed opportunities within the cost conscious mid-market segment of MAPICS' focus. While SyteLine has had a long history of supporting both Windows and the UNIX OS, and Progress Software's database, the 7 release in 2002 solely took advantage of Microsoft technologies, as well as Microsoft's SQL Server database. Having surveyed the MAPICS ERP for Extended Systems users, MAPICS claims to have heard back from them that what they wanted were .NET and SQL Server-based solutions. Hence, MAPICS made a crucial decision to do that by providing a smooth migration path and conversion tools to SyteLine 7, rather than to embark on redevelopment of the Extended Systems product.
The Extended Systems suite will nevertheless continue to be supported for users that choose to stay on it. MAPICS maintains its product development teams have already mapped the functionality of the two products and the unique features of Extended Systems will be added to SyteLine during forthcoming future releases, which will be fleshed out shortly. Thereafter, the vendor pledges to work with customers in those industries to help them transition to SyteLine only when they are ready to make the change. Otherwise, SyteLine offers almost everything that the Extended Systems product has to offer, and more in both functional depth and breadth, so that one should anticipate incentives for users to migrate. At least, Frontstep should solve MAPICS ERP for Extended Systems' shortcomings in terms of limited multinational features and in terms of its dichotomy of running only on a higher-end of the market amenable Oracle database, while providing the functional features for the lower-end of the market.

Thus, given its highest prosperity in the market, the SyteLine product release schedule is the busiest amongst all the other products in the family. In June, the SyteLine 7.02 release, which includes the UK localization and translation toolset, was made available in the US, Canada, and the UK. The current release has 120 total implementations, whereby over 65 percent of these are the customers coming from North American affiliates, and over 20 percent are from the international markets. Then, the SyteLine 7.03 release that will feature the generic financial interface, and the updated Planner module based on additional APS capabilities, an update to core SyteLine for additional planning parameters, workflow security and data management enhancements, international enhancements, several new reports and report enhancements, complete FASB 52 compliance, and improved upgrade and custom code management, should "hit" China, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in late 2003 (and still works for the US, UK, and Canada).

With dates yet to be determined (at the moment only projected for summer 2004), the SyteLine 7.04 release, featuring integrated SyteLine Enterprise Financials, more complete additions to the APS Planner and Scheduler functions, international enhancements including additional tax enhancements, final country packs for Mexico, Japan, and France, more workflow enhancements, user interface (UI) tuning and enhancements, and projects to support selected verticals and to support MAPICS ERP for Extended Systems to SyteLine conversions, will be released in Mexico, France, and Japan (and the other countries already mentioned). Finally, Germany, Italy, and Russia will only see the SyteLine 7.05 release some time in 2005. The release should complete the internationalization process; will have final country packs for Germany, Italy, and Russia; should complete the planner and scheduler functional improvements; and the integration of the ntelligent Sourcer, as well as the gap projects to support the selected verticals.

The integration between SyteLine 7.04 and SunSystems is planned for 2004 against the SyteLine 7.04 intended availability. The SyteLine Enterprise Financials module that leverages SunSystems is currently available in a stand alone mode (e.g. professional service level of integration) within the following modules: foundation, accounting, fixed assets, allocations, connect, etc. Two customers have reportedly purchased SyteLine Advanced Financials this way—Krone and Dornier Medtech. This should alleviate the conundrum for penetrating the higher-end of the market since MAPICS (and the former Frontstep alike) has never been at the forefront of providing native multinational financials/consolidation, budgeting, project accounting/management, and human resources (HR) functionality. Without these in hand, it is a tall order for any like vendor to penetrate the corporate management level competing against the likes of Oracle, SAP, and PeopleSoft. Production management remains MAPICS' strongest spot, and thus it has often been implemented only in manufacturing divisions of large global organizations that use a tier one ERP product for corporate financials or HR applications.

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Four: Market Impact

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Four: Market Impact

For the last several months MAPICS has shown both the signs of significant changes and the persistence of a number of its historically recognizable invariant tenets of operation. Following the acquisition of its former competitor, Frontstep, (see MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way), MAPICS, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPX) became possibly the largest global provider of extended enterprise applications for solving the challenges of discrete manufacturers.

MAPICS has never departed from its conservative approach of delivering practical innovations and bulletproof applications for its customers, nor from its proverbial fiscal discipline. The Frontstep acquisition has obviously provided MAPICS with a boost in terms of product choice, having solutions on both leading platforms—Microsoft and IBM. With MAPICS SyteLine 7, the vendor now boasts a notable application built on a .NET architecture. However, the loyal AS/400 install base should rest assured of MAPICS' continued support for the platform. The big news on the MAPICS ERP for iSeries product side is that version 7.3, which is slated for December, will feature Double Bytes support, and expanded Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based client technology.

Other developments detailed in this note are:

* MAPICS Field Service and Support (covered in Part One)

* A Global Partnership with Systems Union (covered in Part One)

* Primus Knowledge Solution Results
* Certified Partner Program

* Pacejet Logistics, Inc. is a Certified Partner

* A Revised Sales Strategy

Incidentally, a sharp vertical focus founded on strong horizontal back-office applications has long been the modus operandi of both MAPICS and the former Frontstep. In addition to their focus on the following industries: automotive/transportation, industrial equipment, and electronics, Frontstep has contributed with fabricated metals, and furniture and fixtures. Fundamentally, the new combined entity's vision seems to be sound in that it will continue to stress discrete manufacturing functionality and service and support as its primary strengths and marketing weapons. While competitive costs (low and flexible software license pricing and implementation costs) and outstanding global service (proven fast implementations and customer loyalty) will remain important requirements for success, particularly in the lower end of the market, vertical focus will be the key factor for survival.

Thus, MAPICS is retaining its vertical industry marketing emphasis for MAPICS ERP for iSeries and SyteLine, with an unfazed focus on aerospace and defense, automotive, control instruments, electronics, furniture, industrial equipment, medical devices, metal fabrication, and specialty vehicles. Both ERP products show strength in these vertical markets, although the products have seldom faced each other in head-to-head selections, largely because of the different platforms. While the products' technology platforms are indisputably different, the former competitors will be able to share a great deal of intellectual property around product designs and functional requirements for industry-specific configuration templates.

That should come in handy as to further avoid any channel conflict. Pre-Frontstep MAPICS had a proven affiliate network of nearly 150 affiliates with over 950 affiliate employees in total, and several call-centers around the world, and now has the growing in-house professional services for those strategic multisite, multinational companies that need the coordinated, standardized, worldwide approach. For the future, MAPICS plans to further realign its organization, with possibly over 30 percent of its implementation business being delivered internally within the next three years.

While MAPICS primarily sells through a reseller channel, most of the former Frontstep's sales come from its direct sales force and should therefore complement the above aspirations of MAPICS. Conversely, Frontstep had an indirect channel to supplement its strong direct sales force to better approach the lower-end of its target market. To that end, it has created a sizable indirect channel since the 1980s that currently contributes around 25 percent of sales revenues. The vendor targets enterprises with annual revenues from $75 million up to $1 billion per site/division, which are handled by its direct sales force. Consequently, look for the newly merged company to eventually sell the entire product portfolio through both channels.
Another headline is that MAPICS has been trying to leverage the best from each platform's camp to create advanced extended-ERP applications that readily connect to various enterprise system packages. These strategic extensions, such as CRM, Web portals, and e-business applications will ideally be shared by both ERP foundations. Namely, in addition to its ERP products, pre-Frontstep MAPICS also offered extensions that would be made available to both iSeries and Extended Systems ERP products, such as MAPICS SCM (from former Thru-Put), an enterprise asset management (EAM) product called MAPICS Maintenance & Calibration (former Maincor EAM) products.

Other like solutions worth mentioning include a business intelligence (BI) product MAPICS Analytics, MAPICS Portal, and MAPICS PLM software, which utilizes the Magik! product from partner CEIMIS Enterprises, Inc. Although some of these come from strategic alliances (e.g., Access Commerce's Cameleon Product Configurator, FRx Reporting, and Magik! PLM), MAPICS emphasizes that all of these are OEMed, with MAPICS owning product upgrades and support so that the origin is effectively transparent.

MAPICS has indeed maintained an active focus on additional partnering arrangements intended to help manufacturers move into a collaborative e-business land in a more controlled manner. To that end, its multiple partnership initiatives, like those with Vanguard Solutions Group for BI add-on modules, and Access Commerce have been astute.

On the other hand, the following extended-ERP broad offering from former Frontstep, which is mostly provided natively, or also in a tight OEM fashion from long-term partnerships, was comparable to the MAPICS above set: SyteLine ERP, SyteLine APS, SyteLine CRM, SyteLine Business Intelligence (partnership with Cognos), SyteLine Business Process Management (partnership with Cobre), SyteLine Workflow Automation (partnership with former Keyfile, now Lexign), SyteLine Configuration, SyteLine Data Collection, and SyteLine EDI (using Sterling Commerce translator/information broker).

Apart from this, the former Frontstep had long bet its future on its CustomerSynchronized solutions initiative, with a view to achieve dominance in the make-to-order (MTO) demand-driven manufacturing sector. Supply chain modules include Frontstep Intelligent Sourcer, Frontstep Point Promiser (the promising engine for available-to-promise (ATP) collaboration across trading partners), Frontstep Capacity Promiser (a constraint-based planning tool for cross supply chain capacity promising), and Frontstep APS, which extends to cascading supply chain synchronization. All the above components incorporate Web services technology to simplify integration and information exchanges with other systems.

Thus, the idea is to extend these to both iSeries and SyteLine users through a "develop once, deploy twice" strategy. Included in this range of functionality is the SyteLine CRM software, with already over 200 customers, and is currently available in nine languages and mapped to the initial SyteLine 7 international availability (twenty-seven SyteLine 7 customers have the CRM product too). The product is currently integrated to SyteLine 5, 6, and 7 releases, with a stand-alone sales possibility to Extended Systems and iSeries ERP products in the future. Another one is the MAPICS Field Service & Support product detailed in Part One, which is an extension of the MAPICS Maintenance and Calibration application. It is suitable for iSeries customers requiring warranty tracking and resource management capabilities, and for customers looking to manage the "project" aspects of their after-market service activities. Conversely, like the CRM counterpart, the product is not yet integrated with the SyteLine product, and time will only tell the need thereof, given SyteLine's Field Service application, which is sold separately from the ERP counterpart.

Contrary to the above two extensions that are still mainly platform-aware, the following "extension" projects are slated for the end of 2003 and should benefit the users of both major platforms. The first one is a Web-based portal application built on .NET technology that is integrated with MAPICS ERP for iSeries Release 6 and MAPICS ERP for Extended Systems Releases 7 and 8. Another one is a Web based collaborative solution that allows buyers and suppliers to accept/reject purchase orders, visibility into accounts payable and a view of future demand orders. As for the pre-Frontstep MAPICS users, mid July has seen generally available business intelligence solutions stemming from the alliance with Vanguard solutions: 1) Analytics 4.0, integrated to iSeries 6 and 7, and 2) Analytics 3.4, integrated to iSeries 6 and 7 and to Extended Systems Version 8.

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Five: Challenges

Analyzing MAPICS' Further Steps After Frontstep Part Five: Challenges

For the last several months MAPICS has shown both the signs of significant changes and the persistence of a number of its historically recognizable invariant tenets of operation. Following the acquisition of its former competitor, Frontstep, (see MAPICS To Leap Forward In A Frontstep Way), MAPICS, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAPX) became possibly the largest global provider of extended enterprise applications for solving the challenges of discrete manufacturers.

MAPICS has never departed from its conservative approach of delivering practical innovations and bulletproof applications for its customers, nor from its proverbial fiscal discipline. The Frontstep acquisition has obviously provided MAPICS with a boost in terms of product choice, having solutions on both leading platforms—Microsoft and IBM. With MAPICS SyteLine 7, the vendor now boasts a notable application built on a .NET architecture. However, the loyal AS/400 install base should rest assured of MAPICS' continued support for the platform. The big news on the MAPICS ERP for iSeries product side is that version 7.3, which is slated for December, will feature Double Bytes support, and expanded Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based client technology.

Other developments detailed in this note are:

* MAPICS Field Service and Support (covered in Part One)

* A Global Partnership with Systems Union (covered in Part One)

* Primus Knowledge Solution Results (covered in Part Two)
* Certified Partner Program (covered in Part Two)

* Pacejet Logistics, Inc. is a Certified Partner (covered in Part Two)

* A Revised Sales Strategy (covered in Part Two)

There will ultimately be inevitable rationalization within the remaining maze of likely redundant product sets detailed earlier. In particular, the APS direction is still clouded, since the former independent companies, MAPICS and Frontstep, even had a short partnering stint in the past. The former Frontstep (previously called Symix) was even regarded by some as the originator of the extended ERP concept (i.e., with its erstwhile customer synchronized resource planning or CSRP concept), which had once proven to be so attractive to mid-market enterprises that two other leading mid-market vendors (i.e., MAPICS and former JBA International, now part of Geac) had entered into specific R&D and licensing agreements with Symix to gain access to its former SyteAPS product. However, the MAPICS ERP for iSeries' current supply chain planning (SCP) module, an expansion of the planning application originally developed by Thru-Put, which MAPICS acquired when it bought Pivotpoint, might also be integrated with SyteLine.

While it might be contested that different approaches to APS technology (i.e., different APS algorithms) are applicable in different environments and industries, it is highly unlikely both will benefit from MAPICS' finite R&D pool. One could imagine a number of other similar conundrums analogical to a coach that has an extremely crowded reserve bench and has to let many good players go. In any case, the jury is still out on whether MAPICS will reduce its APS choices.

While the benefit of obtaining a .NET-based product is evident, the downside is also that due to the former independent companies' dissimilar technologies in the past, MAPICS will now have the burden of looking after both its AS/400 and SyteLine Progress based customers with ageing product instances. Some of existing SyteLine and Extended Systems customers' exodus should also be reckoned with (for example, Progress or Oracle loyalty or simply for reluctance to change), although MAPICS (and former Frontstep too) has taken many steps to protect their current technology investment.

Existing customers will be given a still unspecified a time bracket (during which, they will be supported as usual) to make a decision to migrate to the new SyteLine 7 environment, which means a departure from the Unix OS, and Progress or Oracle databases, respectively. It will be a maintenance upgrade rather than a new system implementation, which should supposedly be much less steep and expensive. Although the pledge has been reiterated many times, only time will tell whether this approach will prove to be the right one.

The positive news is that using applications such as portals, PLM, or EAM (and supplier relationship management [SRM] in the future) as coarse grained Web Services (e.g., the pricing, inventory, supplier performance, order management, and catalog components within SRM) on top of both .NET- and J2EE-based ERP products' foundations should result in synergies, despite the downside that it cannot be done within the core ERP products owing to a huge gap between the products' technologies and functional capabilities.

While the idea to enable the R&D team to gain economies of scale by building common application components as commodities that can be deployed within the entire product portfolio is tempting and promising in the very long run, the flagship back-office product lines will likely remain on separate tracks for quite some time to come, owing to their disparate proprietary technologies and respective user bases that are still using these. If Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS), with its huge resources and a single .NET and SQL Server platform foundation delivered in-house does not foresee delivering a unified ERP foundation for at least the next three years (see Microsoft Lays Enforced-Concrete Foundation For Its Business Solutions Part 3: Challenges), one can only assume that it would take MAPICS significantly longer, given its much more modest resources and a task of deploying onto multiple platforms.
On the other hand, the technological foundation disparity of the products will likely take its toll by multiplying the development expenses and for delivering product integration. This also complicates the tracking of third-party partnerships to compensate the products' different respective weak areas. Thus, MAPICS' challenge in its new technology foray will also be to effectively move its partners with it, as they will also need to invest in new skills. While they do, service may drop below MAPICS' stringent standards because the company might find its own resources spread too thin to fill in the service gaps created by inexperienced VARs. Another risk is that as the likes of SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle move down market and MBS and Best Software come up market and invade MAPICS' market space they might actively lure its qualified VARs for sales and service, potentially restricting MAPICS' ability to expand its market presence, and leaving its customers at risk of losing local support.

The competition will, of course, not end with these vendors. Taking the iSeries software first, main competitors include Intentia, SSA GT, Geac, and J.D. Edwards. As for the .NET-based SyteLine product, the peers list seems almost never-ending, with QAD, IFS, and SYSPRO leading the way. Therefore, executing the above-announced ambitious initiatives with its modest albeit solid resources compared to the above competitors will be a notable challenge. Any hiccups and delays in its product development execution, possibly bundled with continued limited sales execution (that has until recently relied largely on the support and maintenance revenue stream rather than on new licenses), may put further significant strain on the company's performance and keep it in the difficult position of having to maintain tight cost controls, while executing a visionary strategy. MAPICS will either have to produce significantly higher revenues or it will have to protract its products delivery deadlines, given its dedication on preserving a profitable bottom line at the same time.

Nevertheless, to that end, the recent success of gaining traction comes in handy for the merged companies, both long in a conundrum of declining or flat revenues, given the competition will not ease any time soon. MAPICS may have done the acquisition in time, as to be ready with a compelling product portfolio when the market eventually recovers. While the market will have forgotten about former Frontstep's protracted troubles, on the other hand, MAPICS has shed its antiquated image (i.e., association with the ancient looking green-screen, iSeries-based product), since the addition of a .NET product will have helped help modernize its image. Also, many unpleasant questions about the less successful Pivotpoint acquisition will have now become moot. Moreover, MAPICS will have also recently got its affiliate channel both excited about the product portfolio and consequently bolstered the channel's ability to sell rather than to defect to some other .NET camp.

Professional Services Are Catching-up With CRM

Professional Services Are Catching-up With CRM

The CRM bazaar is shifting. Instead of searching for an advantageous and accumbent aggressive CRM application, barter are gluttonous a added specialized and industry specific tool. From the beyond alignment to the aboriginal customers, CRM buyers are assured their applications to chase their business archetypal with bound charge for customization. As the all-embracing casework bazaar is projected to abound decidedly by 2006, vendors accept a adeptness to baby this alcove added than ever.

Illinois-based Interface Software, one of the few CRM appliance providers that accept acerb focused on the able casework market, faces challenges inherent in traveling for a alcove market. The claiming for a alcove amateur adjoin broader ambit providers is not alone to actuate that its alcove bazaar will embrace its technology but aswell that the all-embracing abeyant is ample abundant to sustain approaching development.

Since 1996 the Oak Brook, Illinois-based Interface Software, Inc. has been an important amateur in Accord Intelligence solutions for the $500 Billion able casework industry. Interface Software addresses the CRM needs of able account firms such as accounting, banking services, administration consulting and legal. Specifically, these firms advantage experience, adeptness and relationships to bazaar services. During a contempo account with Rick Klau Vice-President vertical bazaar and John Lipsey Director of communications, TEC was able to appraise Interface's bazaar action and InterAction, the latest adaptation of the company's market-leading CRM band-aid for able casework organizations. InterAction is internet-enabled, acceptance professionals to appearance advice about they choose. For added advice amuse appointment Interface Software's website at: www.interfacesoftware.com

The abstraction of chump accord or accord business is not new, but some professions accept advised it to be added or beneath accompanying to the attributes of their business. Accordingly, acceptable affluence 500 companies including banks, Telco's, retailers and manufacturers were a part of the aboriginal advantageous organizations to allure the absorption of the CRM vendors. With the barring of banking services, the absorption of CRM vendors is alive and the account bazaar is acceptable their new centermost of attention. Worldwide CRM casework are accepted to abound by about 18% and adeptness abutting to $45 billion by 2006. The casework bazaar is crowded, antagonism is fierce. Able casework now accept the charge for CRM aesthetics and applications.

But not continued ago, professions such as attorneys and doctors didn't see themselves as affairs entities - they were professionals and audience came to them. Those professionals accept beheld their profession as aloft the bartering affray of barter and they advance ethics such as accessible service, account on the base of charge rather than adeptness to pay and citizenship.

Increasingly they are award it tougher to win new audience and accumulate absolute ones through added antagonism and abounding added factors. Now the acumen is alive and even vendors are actively targeting the bazaar of able casework calm with abounding new verticals. It is not yet bright whether this change in account ambiance and the growing action for CRM is the aftereffect of a crumbling CRM bazaar or the actuality that vendors are added business to those new territories. Nonetheless, the aftereffect has angry to be rather absolute to the account of their customers.

The charge for CRM in Law Firms is now able-bodied accustomed and systems accept emerged to advice them accumulate clue of absolute and accessible clients, bazaar to them, and clue the action adjoin business won. As the adeptness of the bazaar changes and the abeyant for alteration antagonism increases, the charge to accept the belief by which audience accept their able casework and appraise their achievement with the account artefact becomes imperative.

In arch there are 3 capital issues professionals like attorneys accept to accord with:

* How can we accumulate our absolute barter annoyed and abstain attrition?

* How can we access the abeyant for cross-selling opportunities?

* How can we allure new customers?

CRM can advice Law firms assay their accomplished trends and how they can cantankerous advertise services. In affiliation with the Practice Administration Systems it can aswell advice attorneys antithesis the portfolio of casework they offer.

There are absolutely endless of CRM vendors that are acquisitive to serve the able and law abutting bazaar but alone a scattering accept acerb focused on accouterment to this market. Abounding vertical offerings however, are advised to be flavors rather than absolute fits.

Interface Software is a part of those specialized CRM vendors that accept gone out of their way to accept able casework business processes and their specific needs. For law firms, Interface Software provides appearance that bout the way attorneys allotment their advice and serve their clients.

Interface Software is a advertiser in the able casework CRM amplitude with vertical functionality targeted to banking services, legal, administration consulting, accounting and added relationship-based industries.The abstraction of chump accord or accord business is not new, but some professions accept advised it to be added or beneath accompanying to the attributes of their business. Accordingly, acceptable affluence 500 companies including banks, Telco's, retailers and manufacturers were a part of the aboriginal advantageous organizations to allure the absorption of the CRM vendors. With the barring of banking services, the absorption of CRM vendors is alive and the account bazaar is acceptable their new centermost of attention. Worldwide CRM casework are accepted to abound by about 18% and adeptness abutting to $45 billion by 2006. The casework bazaar is crowded, antagonism is fierce. Able casework now accept the charge for CRM aesthetics and applications.

But not continued ago, professions such as attorneys and doctors didn't see themselves as affairs entities - they were professionals and audience came to them. Those professionals accept beheld their profession as aloft the bartering affray of barter and they advance ethics such as accessible service, account on the base of charge rather than adeptness to pay and citizenship.

Increasingly they are award it tougher to win new audience and accumulate absolute ones through added antagonism and abounding added factors. Now the acumen is alive and even vendors are actively targeting the bazaar of able casework calm with abounding new verticals. It is not yet bright whether this change in account ambiance and the growing action for CRM is the aftereffect of a crumbling CRM bazaar or the actuality that vendors are added business to those new territories. Nonetheless, the aftereffect has angry to be rather absolute to the account of their customers.

The charge for CRM in Law Firms is now able-bodied accustomed and systems accept emerged to advice them accumulate clue of absolute and accessible clients, bazaar to them, and clue the action adjoin business won. As the adeptness of the bazaar changes and the abeyant for alteration antagonism increases, the charge to accept the belief by which audience accept their able casework and appraise their achievement with the account artefact becomes imperative.

In arch there are 3 capital issues professionals like attorneys accept to accord with:

* How can we accumulate our absolute barter annoyed and abstain attrition?

* How can we access the abeyant for cross-selling opportunities?

* How can we allure new customers?

CRM can advice Law firms assay their accomplished trends and how they can cantankerous advertise services. In affiliation with the Practice Administration Systems it can aswell advice attorneys antithesis the portfolio of casework they offer.

There are absolutely endless of CRM vendors that are acquisitive to serve the able and law abutting bazaar but alone a scattering accept acerb focused on accouterment to this market. Abounding vertical offerings however, are advised to be flavors rather than absolute fits.

Interface Software is a part of those specialized CRM vendors that accept gone out of their way to accept able casework business processes and their specific needs. For law firms, Interface Software provides appearance that bout the way attorneys allotment their advice and serve their clients.

Interface Software is a advertiser in the able casework CRM amplitude with vertical functionality targeted to banking services, legal, administration consulting, accounting and added relationship-based industries.

The abstraction of chump accord or accord business is not new, but some professions accept advised it to be added or beneath accompanying to the attributes of their business. Accordingly, acceptable affluence 500 companies including banks, Telco's, retailers and manufacturers were a part of the aboriginal advantageous organizations to allure the absorption of the CRM vendors. With the barring of banking services, the absorption of CRM vendors is alive and the account bazaar is acceptable their new centermost of attention. Worldwide CRM casework are accepted to abound by about 18% and adeptness abutting to $45 billion by 2006. The casework bazaar is crowded, antagonism is fierce. Able casework now accept the charge for CRM aesthetics and applications.

But not continued ago, professions such as attorneys and doctors didn't see themselves as affairs entities - they were professionals and audience came to them. Those professionals accept beheld their profession as aloft the bartering affray of barter and they advance ethics such as accessible service, account on the abject of charge rather than adeptness to pay and citizenship.

Increasingly they are award it tougher to win new audience and accumulate absolute ones through added antagonism and abounding added factors. Now the acumen is alive and even vendors are actively targeting the bazaar of able casework calm with abounding new verticals. It is not yet bright whether this change in account ambiance and the growing action for CRM is the aftereffect of a crumbling CRM bazaar or the actuality that vendors are more business to those new territories. Nonetheless, the aftereffect has angry to be rather absolute to the account of their customers.

The charge for CRM in Law Firms is now able-bodied accustomed and systems accept emerged to advice them accumulate clue of absolute and accessible clients, bazaar to them, and clue the action adjoin business won. As the ability of the bazaar changes and the abeyant for alteration antagonism increases, the charge to accept the belief by which audience accept their able casework and appraise their achievement with the account artefact becomes imperative.

In arch there are 3 capital issues professionals like attorneys accept to accord with:

* How can we accumulate our absolute barter annoyed and abstain attrition?

* How can we admission the abeyant for cross-selling opportunities?

* How can we allure new customers?

CRM can advice Law firms assay their accomplished trends and how they can cantankerous advertise services. In affiliation with the Practice Administration Systems it can aswell advice attorneys antithesis the portfolio of casework they offer.

There are absolutely endless of CRM vendors that are acquisitive to serve the able and law close bazaar but alone a scattering accept acerb focused on accouterment to this market. Abounding vertical offerings however, are advised to be flavors rather than absolute fits.

Interface Software is a part of those specialized CRM vendors that accept gone out of their way to accept able casework business processes and their specific needs. For law firms, Interface Software provides appearance that bout the way attorneys allotment their advice and serve their clients.

Interface Software is a advertiser in the able casework CRM amplitude with vertical functionality targeted to banking services, legal, administration consulting, accounting and added relationship-based industries.

InterAction 5 dissociates itself from the traditional, sales-force-automation- and alarm center-based CRM solutions advised for the accomplishment economy. InterAction 5 goes above Chump Accord Administration and into the branch of Accord Intelligence, which is advised to clue and administer the circuitous relationships that are analytical to acquirement bearing at able casework firms.

Relationship Intelligence empowers professionals to advantage their contacts by borer into the abundance of admission and cardinalities that abide amid people, companies, relationships, experience, and expertise. Accord Intelligence enables professionals to accomplish new acquirement streams and alleviates their collaborative tasks.

Rick Klau explains that the aggregation has spent a ample bulk of time interviewing professionals and acquisition insights into the way relationships are accustomed aural those circles to acquisition out the accent of both burning advice acquaintance and aloofness issues. Another important analysis was the professional's averseness in adopting alien environments.

InterAction 5 is absolutely chip to the Microsoft angle interface which professionals are acutely accustomed with. Users would cross calmly amid Angle Acquaintance administrator to the absolutely HTML, aught brand Interaction GUI (graphical user interface) either to complete a assignment or to admission a 360пїЅ appearance of their client. InterAction provides a centralized athenaeum for autumn applicant and anticipation information. Users can actualize fields, classifications and contrarily adapt the arrangement to their different environments.

The arrangement integrates with added action applications and the user's email, fax and buzz systems to facilitate simple advice with audience and prospects. But above those basal CRM functionalities, InterAction is a arrangement that is set to advantage relationships in able environments area advice is broadcast amid humans and companies. To accomplish such capability, InterAction relies on 4 functionality pillars:

* Accord Analysis allows users to aggregate acquaintance advice from a firm's absolute systems and to present it in a way that would abate the charge for the adviser to access acquaintance and accord advice into the system.

* Accord Administration provides a different interface area applicant acquaintance advice and all his or her relationships are stored, aggregate and managed. Like a ability abject it empowers professionals to seek on absolute ability and bureaucracy links amid centralized assets and clients. InterAction offers adult database administration functionality that minimizes the likelihood of duplicates and facilitates a individual instance of any acquaintance aural the centralized database.

* Applicant Account Automation is a toolset that allows professionals and added centralized assets to serve the client's entering and outbound communications for the purpose of the client's accord administration or business developments, including Acquaintance Management, Applicant Management, Opportunity Management, Accord Profiling and Tracking, Referral Tracking, Skills/Experience Tracking and reporting.

* Ability Delivery uses an XML-based appliance server to deliver the Accord Intelligence agreeable to the consultant's belvedere of best including Web browsers, intranets, portals, wireless devices, Outlook, Notes and GroupWise.

Will Adonix Provide A Warmer Home To CIMPRO

Will Adonix Provide A Warmer Home To CIMPRO

In the year apparent by black account advancing from about all corners of the apple abridgement and decidedly from the tech sector, which has aswell resulted in a contempo flurry of acquisitions (often for ridiculously low prices), it may be auspicious to apprehend an upbeat strategy, including the Xmas-shopping-like acquisition, advancing from still a almost beneath known, but absolutely advancing vendor.

On December 19, Adonix (www.adonix.com), a abreast captivated French action applications provider for mid-sized mixed-mode accomplishment and administration companies, appear that it has acquired CIMPRO, a Tarrytown, NY accessory of MAI Systems Corporation (NASDAQ: NOW), a provider of business solutions primarily to the accommodation industry. Adonix will reportedly accept all CIMPRO employees, net assets, technology (including flagship CIMPRO V action ERP product), and acknowledged rights to all 250 barter and business partners. The bell-ringer believes the aggregate of its X3 flagship ERP band-aid (primarily for detached manufacturers) and CIMPRO V will accompany to the bequest backup bazaar a able alms tailored for specific action industries such as the chemical, biologic and aliment & cooler sectors. CIMPRO, continuing for Computer Chip Accomplishment for Process, is accurately advised to abode the needs of these action industries.

In the abbreviate term, Adonix affairs to advance the CIMPRO blueprint administration engine and amalgamate it with the blow of Adonix X3 and absolution it as an Adonix CIMPRO action accomplishment solution, with the availability envisioned for the end of Q2 2003. The bell-ringer believes this will affected some of the challenges that accept continued bound the marketability of the antecedent CIMPRO products. Long-term, however, the bell-ringer intends to accommodate CIMPRO V into the absolute Adonix X3 framework, admitting with no close timeframe yet. In the meantime, Adonix assures those CIMPRO barter who would like to just accomplish the abstruse bound from the aged CIMPRO Classic to CIMPRO V adaptation will still accept the advantage to do so. The bell-ringer is aswell reportedly acceptable the Adonix CIMPRO aliment arrangement to abetment those who would like to accomplish the bound from earlier CIMPRO systems to a newer option.

The CIMPRO acquirement carefully follows Adonix' acquirement of Groupe ABEL in September (see Adonix Grows Roots Against The Odds ), the a lot of contempo in a alternation of acquisitions that began seven years ago. Adonix has back acquired four added software vendors for their assets and ability and has melded the best of their capabilities into an chip action software framework for mid-market companies.

Adonix recognizes that mid-market companies crave absolutely chip enterprise-wide software solutions that accommodate both beyond and abyss of functionality on a avant-garde abstruse belvedere and at an affordable price. Thus, to accompaniment its antecedent solution, which focused mainly on finance/accounting and administration for the lower-end of the mid-market, Adonix has acquired a bulk of companies during the endure few years. In 1998, it acquired the software aggregation GSI Transcomm, a US provider of administration and banking applications alleged TOLAS, which had offices both in Pittsburgh and Tarrytown.

Adonix started afterlight its band-aid in 1997 afterwards the aboriginal above accretion (Prodstar, a French accomplishment ERP provider) and appear the aboriginal adaptation of Adonix X3 in backward 1999. Accepted as a artefact development company, Adonix has afresh kept on carrying aural the X3 versions 1.3 and 1.34 the chip CRM modules and built-in Web extensions. With this accretion and the ones that preceded it пїЅ i.e., Prodstar, TOLAS, Geode CLE128 (warehouse administration system) and ABEL (fixed assets administration product) -- Adonix ability be positioned as an adorable another for mid-sized companies.

On the aforementioned day, Adonix appear that it has fabricated cogent enhancements to Adonix X3 that bolster its barn administration arrangement (WMS) and abstracts accumulating capabilities. Adonix X3's new WMS appearance include:

* Directed Put-away to adapted accumulator locations by radio-frequency (RF) scanning according to factors such as account velocity, weight, ambit and alliance rules

* Palletized Acrimonious and Consolidated Shipping, including RF analysis and abduction of bassinet and accession identifications

* Pick Planning and Scheduling, including directed acrimonious for individual shipments or groups of shipments, based on barn location

* Barn Activity Tracking to accommodate activity ability and appliance advertisement to management

This comes at the heels of Adonix' contempo rollout of a new abstracts accumulating bore advised to advice barn and boutique attic operations by communicating with manufacturing, administration and accounting functions. Adonix Abstracts Accumulating gathers abstracts anon from automatic ascribe accessories beyond operational areas, verifies its accuracy, and passes abstracts to Adonix X3 for actual update. It aswell controls all prompts on accumulating devices, manages the absolute arrangement of devices, and ensures that abstracts is adored during arrangement downtime. Moreover, in accession to accouterment acceptable extended-ERP functionality aural the X3 software, chip abstracts collection, barcode characterization management, and abounding accomplishing services, Adonix aswell provides abstracts accumulating accessories bogus by arch accouterments vendors including Intermec.

Last but not least, aswell on November 19, Adonix apparent a new three-tiered accomplishing affairs aimed at allowance mid-sized companies absolutely accouter their business with ERP software in a timeframe that reportedly exceeds the industry benchmarks. Depending on the admeasurement and the anatomy of the organization, and on its centralized resources, Adonix touts it can apparatus an ERP affairs in as little as two to three months. Possibly battling the accustomed accumulation customization analogue of afresh absolutely acknowledged coffee franchises (e.g., Starbucks), Adonix now offers three audible accomplishing flavors that alter in casework based on the assets accessible and the adapted timeframe. These three models include:

* Adonix eXpresso is for small-to-midsize audience with up to 25 circumstantial users that crave accepted functionality and a fast accomplishing timeframe. Implementations can be completed in as little as two to three months.

* Adonix Cappuccino is for companies with 25 to 75 circumstantial users that crave mostly accepted ERP functionality but some added adaptability in capricious the software parameters. Cappuccino implementations can be completed in as little as four to six months.

* Adonix Latte is advised for beyond midsized audience with added than 75 circumstantial users that accept added adult anatomic and abstruse requirements and whose accomplishing requires a cogent bulk of activity management. Implementations in this accumulation about yield added than six months.

Adonix X3 can either be implemented as a company-wide business administration arrangement or incrementally to abutment specific business processes or time-phased implementations. While the arrangement provides a array of ambit that can be set to acclimate implementations to the needs of the business after programming changes, best-practice templates are aswell accessible to advance rapid, appropriate implementations.