So simply put, the best cloud enterprise opportunities are those areas where the underlying data structures are SHARED across business models and ultimately, companies. CRM, WDAY and N probably all have reporting subsystems which are used by their entire installed base at the source, and then the companies that license the product add customizations to build and use the reports that they need for their business within the specific installation of CRM. Data like customers and products differ by company and sales channel etc but in general, there is a master list of types of customers that 99% of companies can probably adhere to. Cloud companies need to be careful with security with this model, but sharing the base code across installations is ideal.
With financial software, the traditional ERP finance model, the base data structures which include the chart of accounts and general ledger are specific to the definition of that company,. When you first set up an enterprise ERP, you define your COA, set of books, gl FIRST. These structures sort of depend on one another. Then once you have implemented the financial setup, you can do all the other stuff like adding items and customers. This process is less sharable if that makes any sense. And of course the security issues become more severe because you certainly don't want anybody knowing your financials.
In terms of the installed base, my guess is the cloud migration will occur in parts with existing Oracle (Siebel) implementations first moving to Salesforce, and then HR, whatever else and then finally the financials will move off of Oracle. N has been around as long as CRM but the difference in mkt cap tells this story.
Having said all this, if you are an emerging business like violin memory or something, you aren't going to want to bootstrap up on Oracle now. You probably would try to make a go of Quickbooks until you absolutely had to move up, and then N would be the answer or a midmarket solution from Microsoft.
Anyway, the cloud players are all going up, just pick the one you like and hold it, is all that is required here. |
