In its simplest form, GIS is the mapping of geographical and spatial data. These systems allow organizations to create “layers” to the maps that provide additional information different segments of the map.

As GIS technology has evolved, so too has the demand for the types of information that can be added as layers on the maps within the system. Within the last couple of years, we have seen software demonstrations of several Permitting and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software systems that have either architected their product to be “GIS-centric” or are working closely with leading GIS vendors to integrate systems. One advantage of these systems is the ability to provide added layers of metadata on the map that can be accessed even to external users (e.g. citizens, stakeholders, contractors, developers, etc.).

We expect to see GIS-centric systems continue to gain market share as municipalities look to upgrade their current permitting and EAM systems. Many organizations have GIS departments, often as a sub-set of their IT departments. These departments will become more and more important as technology continues to trend toward an enterprise focus.

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.

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.

There are more than 350 organizations that are using Serenic Navigator. (One of SoftResources’ notable clients that selected Serenic was the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee 2010.) While their focus is on both government and non-profit entities, the non-profit space is where they excel, and they have limited government implementations.

Serenic is especially strong with grant accounting requirements and they have recently developed a budgeting tool geared specifically for non-profits and grant accounting. Because the NAV product has good multi-national functionality, Serenic is starting to leverage that capability to drive expansion internationally and has set up sales offices overseas.

In December 2010 Serenic announced a Cloud/Hosted offering for the software. It will be interesting to see how non-profits accept the hosting model as the cloud gains more acceptance in the ERP space.

Serenic is a public company and at the end of January 2011 released their quarterly numbers showing they swung to a loss. They cited the fact that many non-profit organizations are pushing off purchases of new ERP software because of the economy. Also, because they are a Canadian company, they have had some currency losses as the majority of their installations are in the US.

Serenic is a major player in the mid-market non-profit area and should be considered by these organizations. We met up with Lisa Ramsey of Serenic at the GFOA 2010 show in June last year. Watch the video to get an overview of Serenic and some of the things they are working on.

Springbrook has about 100 people in their company which is a good number for a niche focused software solution. They have more of a family feel than some of the larger vendors which works well in the mid-market municipal space. Also, while there has been a lot of consolidation in the municipal ERP market with Tyler, Sungard, Infor, and others buying up a number of municipal focused ERP software solutions, Springbrook has remained independent and organically grown which allows them to focus on serving their customers. For cities of that general size that are looking for ERP solutions, Springbrook should definitely be on the long list of software solutions to consider.

Check out  the interview below that we had with Scott Stickel at the GFOA 2010 conference in Atlanta last June. We discuss an overview of the software solution and some of the key things to consider as you evaluate Springbrook for your city.