New IFS president says focus is key to long-term prosperity
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 2/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
Early in 2004, IFS, a Scandinavia-based enterprise vendor with 2003 revenues of more than $300 million, said it would refocus its efforts on some key manufacturing industries, and make greater use of partnerships in meeting its customers' needs.
Now, according to Cindy Jaudon, newly named president of IFS North America, the company "needs to continue to generate quarter-on-quarter profits, as we have been."
The prospect of competing against market-dominant SAP and a newly combined Oracle-PeopleSoft doesn't seem to faze Jaudon.
"In the near term, people will wait to see what happens next regarding the installed base of J.D. Edwards users. But medium-term it will help the enterprise market. With SAP and Oracle being mega-suite providers, small- and medium-size companies will be looking for alternatives."
A formula for success, though, for a software vendor of IFS's size, requires the balance that allows a midsize software vendor with revenues in the hundreds of millions to be more than a niche player, but less than all things to all people. In the second half of 2004, the company partnered for regional distribution, and has industry partners as well.
"We're not a niche player," says Jaudon. "We provide industry solutions, with the best functionality in those industries. Our organization can deliver quick return-on-investment. At the same time, we can coexist easily with SAP or Oracle."
But getting past all the obstacles challenging a midsize vendor means making decisions.
"My most immediate goal is to focus the organization on the right things," concludes Jaudon. "We need to make sure our R&D investment delivers returns for our customers. We need to focus on the right opportunities, and those that mean lower cost of sales and more profits—both for our customers and for us."
