I don't mean to pick on NetSuite but it is one of the oldest cloud apps vendors - born as it was in 1998. Over 21 years, you would think it would have a fuller global footprint. Especially since it had an opportunity for global subsidiary implementations in a two-tier ERP world. Look at its site and see how few countries it supports functionally. Look closer and even there see how many functional areas are covered by partners. Some analysts say since Oracle's acquisition in 2016, its geographic reach has grown. Yes, likely in terms of sales reach, but in functional footprint - not sure it has.
Same thing with Infor. For nearly a decade it has talked about emphasizing vertical functionality. But it has largely spray painted its financial, crm and hcm features with some industry terminology. It has not developed operational books of record - patient related functionality in healthcare, merchandising in retail etc.
It's not just Netsuite or Infor. Most other cloud vendors are largely English speaking-centric and horizontal in functionality. Hey, cannot blame them - they are doing fine. Wall Street is generally happy with their performance.
In the meantime, however, the world has changed dramatically. Customers are not waiting and they are finding plenty of solutions to fill geographic and vertical niches. They are going to startups, SIs and are even filling the gaps themselves.
In the last few weeks I have profiled some of these extensions
- Mike Laven of CurrencyCloud covered fast moving trends in Fintech
- Larry Bridge of Cognizant talked about trends and solutions in healthcare
- Uptake execs talked about assets and dealers in heavy industrial sectors
- Raju Vegesna of Zoho talked about coverage in places like Japan, UAE and Nigeria which most vendors usually ignore
- Mike Laven elaborated on how China and India are reshaping global financial markets
Expect my coverage of global and vertical trends to accelerate. The applications industry is rapidly moving into the phase of "Glo-ver" extensions - global and vertical extensions to core horizontal functionality.
The "Glo-ver" phase in enterprise apps
I don't mean to pick on NetSuite but it is one of the oldest cloud apps vendors - born as it was in 1998. Over 21 years, you would think it would have a fuller global footprint. Especially since it had an opportunity for global subsidiary implementations in a two-tier ERP world. Look at its site and see how few countries it supports functionally. Look closer and even there see how many functional areas are covered by partners. Some analysts say since Oracle's acquisition in 2016, its geographic reach has grown. Yes, likely in terms of sales reach, but in functional footprint - not sure it has.
Same thing with Infor. For nearly a decade it has talked about emphasizing vertical functionality. But it has largely spray painted its financial, crm and hcm features with some industry terminology. It has not developed operational books of record - patient related functionality in healthcare, merchandising in retail etc.
It's not just Netsuite or Infor. Most other cloud vendors are largely English speaking-centric and horizontal in functionality. Hey, cannot blame them - they are doing fine. Wall Street is generally happy with their performance.
In the meantime, however, the world has changed dramatically. Customers are not waiting and they are finding plenty of solutions to fill geographic and vertical niches. They are going to startups, SIs and are even filling the gaps themselves.
In the last few weeks I have profiled some of these extensions
Expect my coverage of global and vertical trends to accelerate. The applications industry is rapidly moving into the phase of "Glo-ver" extensions - global and vertical extensions to core horizontal functionality.
August 07, 2019 in Cloud Computing, SaaS, Global and Vertical extensions, Industry Commentary | Permalink