SAP is the primary serious player in non-US markets. In the US, there are alternatives but SAP is the biggest, by a wide margin.
Implementation is tricky--and in fact it really depends on the company implementing the software, and not the software itself.... When you buy SAP, you are supposed to be doing Business-Process-Reengineering. If you have to do a lot of BPR, and if you have resistance and beaurocratic (sp?) problems in doing so, then the installation will take more time. Main difference with SAP is that it is hardcore about you doing BPR (otherwise, you'll have to do a lot of customization of the software, which also takes time), where ORCL isn't quite as much. But keep in mind that ERP software itself offers doesn't make you more efficient and save money, it makes you make yourself (your business processes) more efficient.
The new marketing pitch at SAP is that they're going to focus on ease of use, less training, better interface, etc.
The Msft/SAP relationship is mutually beneficial. SAP gets Microsoft's backing (marketing, technologies, etc.). Microsoft gets industrial-strength applications which helps to legitimize WindowsNT for corporations.
-Sal |
