Sales of ERP software will stagnate until after the Y2K hurdle has been cleared, as companies spend most of their IT budget on corrective software to reach compliancy.
So says Trevor Salomon, marketing director (UK) of JD Edwards. He also forecasts that CRM will be the hot spend for next year.
Out from the UK to oversee operations in SA, as well as take in a conference or two around the country, Salomon notes that the decision on which ERP software to buy still ultimately rests in the hands of the "number boys" and that it is more often than not the FD who compiles a shortlist. This gets past on to the IT department, which is left with the decision of choosing the best option from a list of software packages that they may not even have considered.
He does however caution businesses against being over ambitious and over critical in expecting all of their requirements to be met by a single package, which no matter how agile, will always need customising to suit the individual`s needs.
Focusing on the Y2K problem, Salomon says that almost all JDE`s customers have run their own tests on compliancy and have not just taken JDE`s word that the software is compliant. Salomon thinks this is just as well, as any system is only as strong as its weakest link.
JDE will have a staff compliment of 25% of full working force available over the holiday season to field any emergencies any of its clients may have. According to Salomon, this seems to be above average for companies in the UK, where surveys have been conducted to determine the kind of company support consumers can expect over the period.
Salomon believes the international ERP market is over crowded and expects to see consolidation next year. He also finds the trend in SA of some larger parent companies diluting involvement in their South African subsidiaries not surprising, and considers it actually to be sound business practice.
Salomon states that JDE will continue to bring consumers comprehensive and flexible business solutions. "If we can`t be an agile company, we have no right to talk about agile software."
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