"The days of managing a return on investment on software are here to stay. JD Edwards 5 involves a small bite and a small chew, letting customers implement, justify their investment through an ROI and then move onto the next piece."
So said JD Edwards president and CEO Bob Dutkowsky, speaking at a press conference held during the opening day of the company`s annual user conference - Focus 2002 - in Denver yesterday.
The conference runs until Thursday and is being attended by about 8 000 JD Edwards users.
JD Edwards 5, launched in May, features modular, integrated, Web-enabled applications that allow customers to migrate "when and how fast they want to", Dutkowsky said yesterday, adding that while the "old" JD Edwards had developed "large, monolithic pieces of software", the "new" JD Edwards delivered "agile components".
Among the new additions and enhancements announced at the conference is ERP 8.0, which JD Edwards says focuses on optimising employee resources and managing high-value assets, and will benefit players in the services industry. Other announcements covered enhancements to its supply chain management, and collaboration and integration offerings for companies in the manufacturing and distribution industries.
Also mentioned was OneMethodology, a new implementation methodology that enables consultants to dynamically configure activity-based implementation work plans based on customers` goals and business processes. JD Edwards says it combines unique business requirements and standard implementation approaches to provide a tight fit in the shortest possible time.
Les Wyatt, senior VP and chief marketing officer at JD Edwards, said all the new software has been developed specifically for the mid-market. Dutkowsky is on record as saying while JD Edwards will deal with any company that shows an interest in its offerings, it focuses primarily on mid-market and mid-cap companies.
Asked at the press conference whether he felt threatened by SAP`s latest move into the mid-market, Dutkowsky said: "SAP has been trying to move into the mid-market for five years. We`ve been successful here for 25 years." He added that SAP is a strong company, so he wouldn`t "denigrate" its "fourth or fifth" foray into this market. However, he said, most mid-market companies need a rapid return through a flexible solution, which made it almost impossible for SAP to compete effectively in this space. "We compete against SAP and we win. We`ll continue to win as long as we continue to listen, innovate and deliver on behalf of our customers," he stated.
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