Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : DELL Bear Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (1977)	9/27/1998 12:00:00 PM
From: rudedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2578

Michelle - What is your background in software rudedog? I have been involved with SAP since 1990. In '90 and '91 I spent about half my time in Waldorf working out issues between HP and SAP to support HP's development, as a consultant to HP. I have been involved with Baan since 1995, when I worked some engineering and development issues between Baan and MSFT. I know the products and the market pretty well, both in capability and technically. So although I have probably not had the same level of customer side involvement as you, I know something about the business issues and the trends. In 1995, SAP had less than 5000 installations worldwide. Complexity of installation and maintenance, lack of ability to adjust the system to match changing business conditions, and the need to adjust business dynamics to match SAP's approach were all limitations on further growth. Baan and PeopleSoft are exploiting this trend to some extent, and SAP is adjusting their practice also. I agree that the growth of more distributed systems in this sector is inevitable and will drive large increases in server sales. There are a number of other areas (sales force automation such as Siebel, service management like Vantive, etc.) which will also drive this trend. What I'm wondering about is the linkage of this trend to Dell's business, when CPQ has been the undisputed leader in this space? CPQ invested heavily in relationships with SAP, Baan and Peoplesoft, with porting centers, engineering assistance like the 20 full time engineers in Waldorf, joint marketing initiatives, funding of workshops, packaging and bundling deals. This has paid off well for CPQ, which has not just the lead but the majority of NT installations with SAP, Baan and Siebel. With CPQ currently selling 8 systems in this space for every one Dell sells, it seems like a growth opportunity for CPQ and an uphill fight for Dell.