Microsoft works on ERP market growth strategy.(enterprise resource planning)

As the battle in the mid-market ERP space intensifies, the consequences for small vendors do not look favourable and the impact on resellers will be to force further consolidation. The warnings come from Jon Hughes, director of the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) Partner Group, one of the three big vendors fighting it out for market share, along with rivals SAP and Oracle. Microsoft has invested heavily in the mid-market ERP space and is aiming to increase its market share beyond the current level of ten per cent. The MBS unit was formed following the Great Plains and Navision acquisitions in April 2001 and July 2002 respectively. Hughes welcomed reseller consolidation, arguing that aggressive dealers would be the ones to succeed in the market. He pointed to the example of acquisition-hungry TSG as one route for a channel player to grow, but also encouraged partnerships between VARs. "We have some aggressive companies in the market with growth on their minds. There is an opportunity with the amount of software that needs to be implemented -- it desperately needs the channel to take it to market and the savvy resellers are doing it," he said. Hughes revealed it was keen to link up traditional Microsoft infrastructure partners with ERP specialists, so they could move towards building a solution, revealing that it would be holding a speed dating event for partners next month. He believed the core of the Microsoft approach was through verticalisation, adding that some resellers had already chosen target areas ranging from construction to fresh produce. Hughes added it would be launching a Web service next year where users could search for dealers based on their specialist focus. David Hurley, managing director of Anglia Business Solutions, which focuses on the produce market, believed customers were driving verticalisation and increasing the pressure on resellers to widen their skills either organically or through partnerships. "Customers are getting very discerning about how to deploy ERP and are looking for partners that speak ...

POSTED BY:-
SHWETA RANI
PGDM-3rd sem