It does make sense for the ERP/Backoffice vendors to offer analytical solutions.
PSFT, Lawson, IBM, ITWO and others have already partnered with HYSL on the ARSW side. Baan and JD Edwards have partnered with HYSL on the HYSW side. However, the merger creates challenges on the partnership front. Generally, ARSW was a much more aggressive "partner focused" company than HYSW. I think that will continue in the merged company, but there will be issues since HYSL now offers end to end applications.
Relative to the erp/backoffice vendors, analytical applications often consolidate data from many sources that include off the shelf applications and custom built applications. Most larger organizations run a mix of COTS and proprietary applications.
Even though the backoffice folks could be competitive with HYSL in many instances, in many others, HYSL will be the solution for the enterprise consolidating information from many different sources.
The payoffs from deploying analytical applications are significant, cross all industries and probably involve user counts that are larger than the erp seat counts. Therefore, to be comfortable holding HYSL stock, you must be comfortable realizing that while the market is large and growing quickly, competition will increase.
IMO, the new HYSL has the footprint and product offerings to be a major player. At current valuations, the market is saying "Prove it buddy!"
Keep your fingers crossed for a solid September quarter.
TD |
