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Business Applications
By Aaron Tan, ZDNet Asia
Some consolidation is generally good for the industry and the technology buyers.
But with Oracle's proposed acquisition of Siebel, Asian businesses scouting for software packages that help manage financial, customer relationship and supply chain information are left with fewer choices.
One of the industry's most competitive markets, the business applications space, which includes accounting, (ERP) enterprise resource planning, CRM (customer relationship management), BI (business intelligence, SFA (sales force automation) and SCM (supply chain management) software, continued to consolidate in 2005. The major powerhouses turned up the pressure by offering entire infrastructure stacks to lower the costs of integrating otherwise disparate parts of the IT infrastructure.
All-in-one powerhouses SAP and Oracle--the usual suspects in the business applications space--made it to ZDNet Asia's Top Tech Index, along with BI vendor Cognos and CAD/CAM specialist Autodesk.
Also among ZDNet Asia's Top Tech 50 companies, Microsoft has refocused its efforts in the business applications space to carve for itself a slice of the lucrative apps pie. The Redmond giant, however, is not aiming for SAP and Oracle's enterprise customers. The company has said it is gunning for the small and midsized customers, a far bigger market than the enterprise space, at least in Asia.
Another ZDNet Asia Top Tech 50 company, CRM vendor Siebel will soon be swallowed by Oracle, and it'll be up to the on-demand guys like Salesforce.com to sweep up the money in the small and medium-sized markets.
Salesforce.com didn't make it to ZDNet Asia's Top Tech 50 list, but the San Francisco, Calif-based company ranks among the top 10 fastest-growing companies, based on average percentage net income growth over four years.
Although NetSuite--founded by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and the only other CRM on-demand player--is visibly left out of our index, the vendor plans to grow its Asian footprint, starting with a direct presence in Singapore.
According to Gartner, ERP (enterprise resource planning) revenues in the Asia-Pacific region will hit US$542.5 million in 2008, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent through 2008.
The CRM market is more promising. The analyst firm indicated that the Asia-Pacific CRM market will rack up positive growth every year through 2008, recording a compound annual growth rate of 9.6 percent.
But it's not all hunky dory. The business applications vendors continue to grapple with challenges and peculiarities in the regional market, including the lack of customer focus and the negative perceptions by businesses of failed CRM deployments.
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Top Tech 50 companies in Business applications
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Autodesk
A household name among architects and engineers, Autodesk is best known for AutoCAD, a drafting software which it introduced in 1982.
Cognos
"Trust your gut." That's one of the qualities every entrepreneur will say you need to have to be successful.
Fujitsu
The world's third-largest IT services provider, Fujitsu was established in June 1935 as a subsidiary of Fuji Electric.
Microsoft
This company needs no introduction. What started in 1975 as two college boys' aspiration to turn PCs into useful machines, Microsoft has since blasted its way into becoming a key player in the software industry today.
NCR
The next time you visit an automated teller machine (ATM) to withdraw some cash, you might be able to spot a three-letter acronym NCR, engraved somewhere on the system.
Oracle
CEO Larry Ellison has been busy these past 18 months acquiring companies. Its acquisition targets include HR specialist PeopleSoft and CRM leader Siebel.
SAP
The German software giant continues to lead in the business applications space, even as Oracle tries to extend its dominance through acquisitions over the past year. Even with Oracle's shopping spree to spruce up its application portfolio, analysts like JP Morgan continue to be optimistic on SAP's market leadership.
Siebel Systems
Investors were once sour about the company, as profits and sales dipped considerably in recent years. Industry analysts were also critical of CEO George Shaheen's ability to help Siebel regain its footing.
Tata Consultancy Services
A company as old as Tata Consultancy Services risks being overshadowed by hungrier newcomers, but the software-services giant, founded in 1968, knows exactly how to edge forward.
ZDNet Asia Top Tech categories
Systems | Networking and communications | Storage management | Security | Software Infrastructure | Services | Business applications | Internet services
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