The ERP industry today reminds me of the networking equipment industry 3 years ago. Then, you had 4 major companies in the sector. One of them, Cisco, was ahead, and continued to pull further ahead. Eventually, it totally crushed the other 3. But then, Cisco's niche got a lot bigger, and now the company finds itself fighting a much bigger competitor (Lucent) in a much bigger market.
At this point, I don't see any way for Baan, Peoplesoft, etc to catch up. They just don't have the resources or installed base to provide the "one-stop-shopping" customers want. Now, and for the next few years, the turf war will be SAP vs. Oracle. |
