SSA Global says Oracle is imitating its strategy
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 11/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
At its annual Global Client Forum, SSA Global made no dramatic announcements, other than to say that despite the odds, the company is a growing challenger to SAPand Oracle Corp.
The vendor unveiled version 5.1 of its next-generation Open Architecture, which adds single sign-on capabilities, a collaboration platform based on XML-based APIs, and an Eclipse plug-in to replace the proprietary customization tools of older versions. The architecture supports the company's two flagship product families—ERP-LN discrete and ERP-LX process manufacturing—which came from Baan and the original SSA BPICS products, respectively.
SSA announced new functionality, including the human capital management (HCM) offering from the recent Boniva acquisition. Among other things, it supplements traditional human resources by tracking employee professional development and incentive programs.
"Customers are looking for extensions to reduce logistics costs, inventory, and fuel charges to free up more cash," says SSA CEO and President Mike Greenough, indicating ERP extensions will be the company's focus going forward. "CRM, supply chain, and corporate performance management were 22 percent of our revenues over the past fiscal year. Those products weren't even on our price list two years ago."
Dismissing the company's lackluster IPO last spring as the result of a "perfect storm" that halted at least two other offerings in their tracks, Greenough says the company is simply executing according to plan.
"The last 12 months are evidence of our high organic license growth," he says, claiming that the company's $200 million in license revenues exceeded that of its next three smaller rivals combined. Further, SSA has not let up on its growth-by-acquisition strategy. Besides the Boniva acquisition, it is in the process of buying Epiphany, a provider of real-time customer analytics.
Looking back on last year's announcement that SSA would not terminate support for any of its products, Greenough says he feels vindicated. "There's a bit of method to my madness," he asserts, noting that continuing product support typically stimulates product sales to the same customers. "Besides," he says, "Chuck Phillips at Oracle just said they would support a similar strategy."
