While there is a lot of noise about "Industry Clouds", I have been encouraged to see specifics in the form of new product launches and M&A/ownership changes in the last few weeks. They promise to bring a lot more industry focus and functionality.
Admittedly, the valuations in the transactions below are frothy - but one way to look at it - you have to believe they are serious about the market segment if they are willing to pay that much for it.
Rockwell Automation is acquiring Plex Systems. As I have been reporting for the last few years Plex, has been increasingly investing in plant level and sensory/IoT capabilities. Infor is selling its EAM product line to Hexagon AB, a Swedish vendor focused on asset-intensive energy, construction and manufacturing sectors.
Both Rockwell and Hexagon should bring operational, industrial depth to products which have been positioned for broader ERP markets.
Unit4 is separating its Higher Education Student Information System into a new entity called Thesis. Again, it should allow a sharper focus in a segment which was turned upside down last year as campuses shut down and online education took off.
I have requested briefings with each of these vendors and as the transactions formally close, hope to be able to line up those sessions.
I was also part of two briefings this week:
Christopher Dean, GM of Salesforce's Media Cloud presented on their Advertising Sales Management offering. Listening to him, I was fascinated by how complex advertising world has become. The definition of a media company keeps morphing - everybody from traditional broadcasters to telcos to gaming companies to digital agencies and many others can lay a claim. From a brand pov, clearly digital advertising is exploding but traditional print, billboard, radio and other channels are not exactly dead, especially in major markets around the world. Good to see Salesforce help both sides navigate the complexity.
SAP ran its annual Industry Analyst Base Camp event. I recently ran two Analyst Cam episodes on their Industry Clouds and RISE offering aimed at 5 of those industries - see here and here. The Base Camp did not add much new coming so soon after SapphireNow. But, frankly, the more SAP talks about industries the better. The verticals market is theirs to lose, after establishing leadership with their IS solutions two decades ago. And as we are seeing new, serious players are starting to focus on deep vertical capabilities.
