Posted by admin on June 15, 2011 under Budgeting and Business Intelligence, ERP Software | 
Solver BI 360 is a Budgeting and Business Intelligence tool for the mid to enterprise software market. Focused mostly on the Microsoft Dynamics suite of products, the solution leverages pre-built connections with the Dynamics AX, GP, NAV, SL and CRM and offers reporting, budgeting, and dashboarding. While the majority of Solver’s focus is the MS Dynamics product line, BI360 can also be implemented as a standalone budgeting tool suitable for integration with other financial systems.
Here are a few facts about Solver:
• Formed in 1996, privately held.
• Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with 60 employees and 800 customers.
• Microsoft centric tool; would be a viable replacement for MS Forecaster (formerly FrX) which is being sunsetted.
• Pre-built API’s to various Dynamics applications.
• Excel add-in, with workflow capabilities.
• Built-in Data Warehouse for reporting and storage of budget data.
• Typically sold through the Microsoft Partner channel.
• Solver was the Microsoft partner of the year in 2009.
Because the solution comes with out-of-the-box integrations to Dynamics as well as pre-built report templates, companies that use the Dynamics product family will benefit from the architecture of this tool and be able to leverage the BI capabilities of the software. The reporting and budgeting modules are based on Microsoft Excel and the dashboard module is based on Microsoft Silverlight; this means that users that are already familiar with Microsoft Office (particularly Excel) can quickly learn how to use the tool. The data warehouse is built on the Microsoft SQL Server platform, and is the main store for both financial and expenditure data to facilitate modeling, budgeting, reporting and dashboards. The system allows drill-down to the data contained within the data warehouse as well as data stores outside the warehouse.
In addition to its packaged applications, Solver also delivers customized BI solutions based on Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Services, SharePoint, SQL Server and related Microsoft technologies. The company works with over 200 Microsoft partners worldwide to deliver localized and vertical industry solutions to their customers. Companies who are currently using, or are considering Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions should seriously consider BI360 as a supplement to the base budgeting functions provided by the financial system. This is especially true in multi-company environments that use a distributed budget model requiring corporate consolidations.
Posted by admin on June 9, 2011 under CRM Software, ERP Software, Government Software, Non-Profit Software, Retail Software |
SAGE is a major ERP global player and one of the largest ERP vendors in the world. While it is a major player, SAGE has struggled with marketing their products and brand and is not as well known in the US. They have also struggled with product direction and focus as they have many different products both in the US and Europe. The SAGE software products are mostly sold through a Value Added Reseller channel, although they do sell direct depending on the product and situation. In the past they have taken more of a regional approach – with certain products focused on the North American market and other products in Europe. They are squarely focused on the mid to lower market for software solutions.
SAGE has acquired many software solutions over the years – including State of the Art in the US in 1998 (MAS 90 and MAS 500). Here is a partial listing of the products that SAGE sells in the US. You will probably recognize the names and may be surprised that they are owned by SAGE:
X3 (Formerly Adonix) – ERP
Accpac – ERP
MAS 90 – ERP
MAS 500 – ERP
Timberline – Construction/Property Management
MIP – Non-Profit
Peachtree – Small Office Accounting
ABRA – HR
BEST FAS – Fixed Assets
Saleslogix – CRM
Many others…
One product that has reached a couple of Short List’s recently in our software selection projects is the SAGE X3 product. This is a multi-national manufacturing focused software solution and is the former Adonix product that was acquired by SAGE in 2005. Adonix was originally developed in France and offers a robust accounting/manufacturing solution. It is interesting to note that the CEO of SAGE is Guy Berruyer who led the French SAGE operation. They also recently installed Pascal Houillon as the CEO of SAGE North America – who also came from the French operation. We think these moves point to a future emphasis on the X3 product at SAGE, and may even lead to X3 becoming the flagship product for SAGE on a worldwide basis.
Posted by admin on June 1, 2011 under ERP Software, Government Software, Non-Profit Software |
At the GFOA show in San Antonio last week we got an update on Microsoft Dynamics AX for the public sector. In 2007, Microsoft and Tyler announced a partnership that they would jointly develop a Public Sector software solution based on the Dynamics AX ERP software product. Microsoft chose Tyler because they own 3 ERP software solutions that focus on the government sector (Munis, Eden, Incode). The new AX 2012 software is scheduled for release this summer (2011).
Dynamics AX for Public Sector has a single implementation in process – City of Redmond, WA – which is fitting because Microsoft is based in Redmond. Go-live for the project is scheduled to be July 5, 2011. Right now they are only offering financials and do not have a wide functional footprint for the public sector. While they did say they would eventually expand the footprint for the government sector, they did not disclose the functionality they would develop next.
It is interesting to note that they have been working with Tyler for about 4 years now and are just now finishing up financials. While the government sector has many unique requirements, Dynamics AX has a strong base financial capability with dimensional charts of accounts that are very powerful that has been used for many years in the private sector. It will be interesting to see how the capabilities that are so useful in the private sector will be leveraged in the public sector.
Is this product ready for prime time for governments? Not yet, especially because governments in general tend to be very conservative. But as the functionality expands and a few more cities decide to implement a newer software product, the Dynamics AX product will be a player in the government sector.
