Hey, babe, every one of your points is well taken! (Feel good?)
New fun acronym: KIM (Keep in mind)
KIM that IBM had years of being exactly what you describe and the *stock* did just fine, thank you very much, as did the earnings.
Now MSFT is giving us the same marvelous stage show and it is working. I am not lauding SAP's technology, which, as you correctly point out, is not exactly inspiring. (ahem)
I am focusing on another juggernaut that will be difficult to displace, technology notwithstanding. It is an issue of mind share.
It's an easier decision in the board room, far easier than for the board members to think about "best-of-breed solutions" and how to tie them together when they are having to make a decision or ratify one. Usually, the board members know diddly about technology; SAP has managed to become the "You don't get fired for choosing it" that IBM lived on.
This what I mean by one hell of a company. I mean "mind share" among the people who control the IT spending, i.e., senior managements and boards of directors. |
