An ERP Vendor Poised to Overtake the Services Market (サービス業でのERPニーズを満たす製品とは)

An ERP Vendor Poised to Overtake the Services Market
(サービス業でのERPニーズを満たす製品とは)

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レポートの概要

サービス産業では、資産と現場サービスの両方を管理する必要がある。現在の企業基幹業務(ERP)システムはそのニーズを満たしきれていない。そんな中、現段階ではAgresso社 (ERPベンダー) が、ぴったりなソリューションを提供しているようだが。

As the US and European markets continue to drive away from¹ manufacturing toward a more services-centric model, the twin factors² of workforce mobility and inherent "change" that are tied to³ people-based industries have spawned⁴ a host of new technologies, software applications, and support structures. Simple customer relationship management (CRM) strategies have birthed⁵ new wired and wireless field services management, remote asset management, and transportation logistic operations. Time clocks⁶ and time sheets⁷ have been replaced with digital time and billing systems, much the same way that parts and materials order inventory and control systems have nearly achieved the "holy grail"⁸ (ultimate goal) of real-time analysis and reporting.

1. drive away from ～ toward ...: ～から...へと進む。欧米市場の動向が製造業中心からサービス業を中心としたモデルへと移行している。
2. twin factors：２つの要素。すぐ後に続くworkforce mobility (労働力の流動性)とinherent “change”(その業界の特性の変化)を指す。
3. tied to：～に関連した
4. spawn：生み出す(produce)、引き起こす
5. birthed：spawnと同じく生み出す(produce)、引き起こす
6. tíme clòck：時間記録時計(従業員の出勤、退出時間を記録する装置)；タイムリコーダー(time recorder)ともいう
7. tíme shèet：作業時間記録表(勤務時間を記録する用紙)、タイムカード
8. hóly gráil：キリストの聖杯。後に騎士達が探し求めたため、「ultimategoal (究極の目標)」「入手困難なもの」を意味するようになった。

In short, a new business order has emerged, one of people- and project-based organizations with diverse and ever-changing needs. Professional services (and public sector¹) businesses are no longer just the bastion² of doctors, architects, lawyers, and Maytag repairman³, but rather an intricate network of interconnected operations. And, like the ad⁴ slogan goes, when it comes to solutions supporting people-centric businesses, it's just not your father's Oldsmobile anymore⁵ - unless you are talking about the tether⁶ between field services and asset maintenance which, until now, has struggled to lose its disjointed ԯld world?image.

1. públic séctor：公共(国営)部門、政府、自治体の管轄
2. bástion： 砦(とりで)
3. Maytag repairman：米国の家電メーカー(1893年～2006年)。Maytag社のテレビのコマーシャルには修理のサービスマン (repairman)が登場している。
4. ad： advertisementの略
5. it’s just not your father’s Óldsmobìle anymore：Oldsmobile車の宣伝文句。一世代前のものから新しくなったモデルを宣伝するために使われていた文句。この段落の1行目で言及した“a new business order has emerged, one of people- and project-based organizations with diverse and ever-changing needs(人やプロジェクト中心の組織で、ニーズが多様化した新しいビジネス体制が出現した)”ことを、分かりやすいようにOldsmobile車が時代に合わせてモデルを変えていったことを例にとって説明している。
6. téther：つなぎ網(鎖)

At this juncture, it appears that technology vendor Agresso¹, an international enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company with more than 2,700 customers worldwide, might have bridged the gap. Specifically, Agresso's product lines² seem to have reached a level of deep product maturity, integration, and flexibility to perform agile³ field services and asset maintenance - without the compromise and shortcomings. This article will focus on Agressoӳ new combined asset maintenance and field services product called Agresso Field Force.

1. Agresso：1980年に設立され、世界のあらゆる地域に事業所を持つオランダのERPベンダー
2. próduct line：製品群
3. ágile：迅速な；素早い

The Challenge

Despite the huge capital outlays¹ that businesses have sunk² into their ERP, order handling, contract management, field services, enterprise asset management (EAM) and maintenance, and other disparate³ solutions, industry research continues to show a suboptimal⁴ track record for integrated field services and asset maintenance.

1. óutlàys：支出、出費
2. sunk ：sinkの過去形で、sink ～ into...:で、～を...に投資する (invest)という意味がある。主語は、“businesses (企業)”で「～」にあたるのは“outlays”。「企業は、多額の資金をERPソフトに投資したにもかかわらず」、という意味になる。
3. dísparate：本質的に異なる
4. sùbóptimal：最善の水準に次ぐ

Asset management service organizations, such as those responsible for the building, maintaining, and management of malls¹ or public housing, as well as utilities or IT business infrastructures, have had no easy way to tie in² supporting technologies for mobile field management. Field services support technologies that are used to high-volume, low-price-per-order deals fall short operationally for the needs attached to singular large, complex asset development and maintenance cycles.

1. mall：ショッピングモール；ショッピングセンター、大型商店街
2. tie in： 結びつける、連結する

What's the suboptimal "fix-it"¹ choice today for companies that need both²?

1. fix-it：調整する、改善する
2. both：asset management (資産管理) とmobile field management (モバイル機器による現場管理)を指す。

Pick two best-of-breeds¹ and lengthy, customized IT integration projects (which is expensive and time-consuming all the way around). And, even for companies that bravely take this route, the course is smooth for the short term only: these rigid, "fixed" solutions work well only until a change is required. Then the cycle of "business need-IT spend" returns for each and every change thereafter. It's slow, it's costly, and it's never fixed for very long.

1. best-of-breed： best-of-breedで、最も血統の良いもの。つまり、一番良い資産管理ソフトとモバイル現場管理ソフトをカスタム化し、統合するということ。

Or, as the IT buyer market continually drives toward a preferred one-stop-shopping¹ paradigm, the choices have been less than optimal: The ERP providers generally force their customers to pick which solution is more important to them -one that favors the strengths of a strong asset maintenance solution, or one calibrated² to nimble³, constantly recurring field services needs. With almost no exception, if these solutions should happen to do both, there is always a "weak sister"(a weaker component) in the mix.

1. one-stop-shopping：ワンストップ・ショッピング
2. cálibrate to：～に合うように調整する
3. nimble：素早い、鋭敏な

And finally, there is the reverse solution: a strong best-of-breed player that integrates tightly to a strong sister solution, but the services organization should be careful when the inevitable business change comes about via an acquisition, market or service expansion, or regulatory compliance. You are going to rip, replace, and re-implement your solution yet again.

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What’s more, the greater the disparities¹ between the building and maintaining of large assets (against high-volume, small-order needs), the wider the solution gap. Think, for example, of an IT service provider installing the complete hardware and wiring technology infrastructure for a corporate headquarters, followed by servicing the individual personal computer (PC) and networking needs of thousands of users with small, individual maintenance issues. Those businesses and their accompanying models change rapidly, and they differ from contract to contract.

1. dispárity between ～ and ...： ～と...との間の相違

The giant ERP leaders have inflated¹ buyer hope by heavily marketing the idea that expensive and time-consuming migrations to their newest service-oriented architecture² (SOA) platforms will culminate³ in a panacea for disparate applications and siloed⁴ processes. However, without a tightly unified data, process, or delivery methodology underpinning these solutions (and without an inherently tight, pre-built, and optimized coupling of the broad capabilities demanded by asset intensive or project-based businesses), the user market will continue to be disappointed.

1. infláte：膨らませる、膨張させる; ここでは、hope(希望)が目的語で、期待を募らせる、という意味
2. service-oriented architecture (SOA)：サービス指向アーキテクチャ
3. cúlminate in ～：～に終わる
4. sílo：第３回目の記事にも登場した。siloとは、各部門が独立していて連動していないことを表す

The ideal solution is a single product (from a single, reputable¹ provider) that manages the (mobile) field services, operational, and asset maintenance needs via a change-oriented architecture. This solution should provide high-volume, remote field² services management; unlimited contract and service model variations; and asset management and maintenance. Furthermore, these features should be incorporated into a framework that supports the achievement of short-, mid-, and long-term business goals, irrespective of any changes an organization undergoes.

1. réputable：評判のよい
2. remóte field service：(モバイル機器などを使った)遠隔操作による現場サービス

Solutions Landscape

The IT solutions landscape offers a wide variety of solutions aimed at fulfilling one or more market requirements:

• proactive¹, centralized asset maintenance and control strategies (preventative, predictive, and reliability-centered)
• predictive maintenance parts and inventory management
• contracts management
• field services (human capital) management
• reporting for regulatory or environmental compliance
• reporting for government-mandated² financial compliance
• time and billing reporting and invoicing (often varied from client to client, based on contracts)
• analytics aimed at cost-cutting, margin optimizing, or top-line³ revenue growth
• analytics aimed at best industry practices (customer satisfaction–driven)
• best practice human capital management (resource deployment)
• mobile workforce communications and management (time-sensitive and agility focused)

1. pròáctive：あらかじめ対策を講じた、先を見越した
2. government-mandated：政府が義務化する、命じる
3. tóp-líne：売り上げ(bottom-line純利益)

The above is an exhaustive list of solutions requirements, and the following vendors offer partial pieces for the professional services marketplace to meet these requirements:

• ERP vendors, such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Lawson, IFS, Agresso, and Infor
  
  
• best-of-breed asset maintenance and management vendors, such as Avexus, Xelus/Click Commerce, Servigistics, and Ventyx
  
  
• best-of-breed field services vendors, such as Astea, Metrix, @road, Click Software, ServicePower, and Tesseract
  
  
• verticalized industry vendors, such as Mincom (for mining, utilities, defense), Corrigo (for facilities and property management), Syclo (for public utilities and energy), and scores of others
  
  
• highly specialized niche players¹ that offer only one product, such as TOA Technologies (for appointment management for phone or broadband companies)
  
  
• engineering and services product lifecycle management (PLM) vendors, such as Agile/Oracle, ENOVIA MatrixOne, and Siemens UGS

It’s likely that this list will look very different in three years.

1. niche player：見逃されている特定の市場(niche)に特化したベンダー(players)

In a report by Gartner Group in 2006, Consolidation Will Complicate the Buying Process for Field Service Software in 2007, Gartner Group advised that “Businesses considering purchases of field service software during the next 24 months have good reason to be concerned about their options, because the market is in tremendous flux.” Gartner predicts that by 2010, 60 percent of the field service management suppliers will merge with, be acquired by, or acquire another supplier. “This will complicate purchasing decisions, forcing buyers to modify the weightings of buying selection criteria.”

We concur with ¹Gartner Group’s general assumptions about what these consolidations will deliver²: chaos for buyer decision making, as well as less-than-agile, poorly integrated solutions that miss critical parts. And what of the vendor knowledge required to support these amalgamations³?

1. concúr with：～と同意する
2. delíver：達成する、生み出す
3. consolidátion、amalgamátion：どちらも企業の合併を指す。

“Until at least 2010, software vendors will lack the depth of knowledge required to be competent enough in each functional area to bring a full field service process suite to market,” says the Gartner Group report.

サービス業(非製造業)向け統合基幹業務(ERP)ソフトの詳細、また製品比較をご希望に方は下をクリックしてください。

著者について

Predrag (PJ) Jakovljevic氏
機械装置・設備、自動車産業、建設業、工業技術（エンジニアリング）、電気・電子工学など、組立て型製造業にかかわる２０年あまりの経験を生かし、ＴＥＣ社の主要戦力となる。

Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group社の南アフリカ、ヨハネスブルグ支店でシニア・コンサルタントを務め、バーン社（Baan 社、現Infor Global Solutions）の製造・ロジスティックス・モジュールを担当。統合基幹業務（ERP）パッケージ選択のプロセスや提案書作成に携わる。製造業およびサービス＆保守・点検パッケージ・システムのチームを引率。さらに、バーン社の製造業向けモジュールを特殊電子システム製造会社に導入するさいコンサルタンティングを担当。導入過程で行ったサービスは以下の通り：業務上必要事項の確認・確定、ソフトウェアのギャップ分析、業務プロセスのソフトウェア機能への割り当て、ソフトウェア・コンフィギュレーション（構成）、パラメーター設定、主要ユーザーへの研修。その後、CAP Gemini社（テキサス州、ヒューストン市）でパッケージ・ソリューション専門のシニア・コンサルタントとして、バーン社の製造・ロジスティックス・モジュールを担当。システムのデモ、ソフトウェアギャップ分析、バーン社製品の導入配備などを行う。

ベルグラード大学（University of Belgrade）工学部機械工学科卒業（セルビア、旧ユーゴスラビア）。米国生産・在庫管理協会（APICS）より、生産管理士 (CPIM)、物流管理士(CIRM)、サプライチェーン専門家（CSCP）に認定されている。

Judith M. Rothrock氏
JRocket Marketing社(カリフォルニア州、サンディエゴ市)の社長。20年以上に及びマーケティングに携わる。国際マーケティング分野で１0以上の受賞を経験。JRocket Marketing社設立前は、Lawson、Hyperion、Ceridian,、Prescient Markets/SunGard、Ruder Finn Public Relations(ニューヨーク本社)などの企業でマーケティング・リーダーとして活躍。また、Metro New Yorkなどのニューヨーク市新聞社の元レポーター。

Seton Hall大学(ニュージャージー州)マーケティング＆コミュニケーション学部卒業。

記事番号：PN_ER_PJ_XJR_12_17_07_1_JA

	写真ひとひらfromかえで (その6)

TECには、冬を迎える前は自転車で通勤する社員もいます。写真の真ん中の自転車を見ると分かるように、後ろに子供を乗せ、保育所に預けてから会社に来る人もいるようです。自転車で通勤する目的は主に運動不足の解消のようです。また、モントリオールの冬は長く、陽に当たることがのできる、つかの間の季節を精一杯、楽しみたい、という気持ちもあるようです。通勤手段としては、地下鉄(モントリオールでは、ほとんどの人が、フランス語に由来する“metro”といい、“subway”とはあまり言いません)が主流であるため、時々、かえで自身も外を眺めて出勤したくなることもあります。でもモントリオールでは、基本的に自転車は車道を走らなければならないという規則があり、いまいち怖くて、まだ自転車通勤する勇気が出ないのです。