P.J.
Jakovljevic - April 28th,
2000
Event
Summary
In March, Solomon Software Inc., a leading provider of mid-market financial
and business management systems, and SalesLogix, a leading provider of
electronic customer relationship management (eCRM), signed a five-year,
multi-million dollar OEM software arrangement.
The agreement enables Solomon to private-label the SalesLogix2000 suite
of applications as a tightly integrated front- and back-office package
for its mid-market customers under the name "Solomon Relationship Management
suite - powered by SalesLogix."
It
also extends the reach of SalesLogix2000 among mid-size companies seeking
integrated ERP solutions, further solidifying the company's presence in
that market by making it available through Solomon's 500+ authorized channel
partners. SalesLogix2000 is a fully integrated eCRM suite including sales,
marketing, support, and e-commerce features.
"Solomon has been seeking the best eCRM solution for our customers and
business partners for several months," said Michael Rupe, president and
CEO of Solomon Software. "Our alliance with SalesLogix will give tens
of thousands of our combined customers and business partners the unique
competitive advantage of tightly integrating SalesLogix premier customer
relationship management software with more than fifty of Solomon's flexible
eFoundation applications including financial, project accounting, distribution,
and service management software products. No one else can offer that.
Businesses wanting to become customer-focused without compromising their
core business competencies will find the addition of SalesLogix applications
to the Solomon product family irresistible," added Rupe.
"Solomon
Software is a perfect complement to the SalesLogix2000 suite. Solomon's
offerings combined with SalesLogix2000 will provide businesses with the
powerful combination they need to obtain a holistic view of their customers,
enabling them to provide levels of service they've only dreamed of in
the past," said Pat Sullivan, president and CEO of SalesLogix. "And, with
the addition of Solomon's extensive network of channel partners, SalesLogix
realizes a significant expansion of its mid-market selling channel, enabling
us to bring SalesLogix2000 to more of these businesses than ever."
The
agreement extends the SalesLogix Open CRM Initiative, launched last year,
which enables leading companies to incorporate the benefits of advanced
sales, marketing, and customer support automation into the products and
services they create and market. Under terms of the arrangement, SalesLogix
will provide Solomon's channel partners with product support for the first
year of the contract, with additional support and training becoming a
collaborative effort between the two software industry leaders in the
future. Both companies will also be involved in co-marketing, including
joint advertising, direct mail, lead generation, trade shows, and special
events.
Solomon's
Channel Partners who are already SalesLogix Business Partners have immediate
availability of SalesLogix applications for Solomon IV. Details on SalesLogix2000
product training for Solomon channel partners will be announced in April.
Integration between SalesLogix applications and Solomon applications will
begin immediately in a phased approach.
Market
Impact
Solomon has established strong recognition and penetration within the
lower-end of the Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SME) segment of the ERP
market. Its single-code product, with the same look & feel for both small
and midsize customers, differentiates the company from its competitors
(e.g., Great Plains, Epicor, Sage Software, Navision, etc.) that currently
offer separate products for the lower and upper ends of the mid-market.
Further, Solomon's indirect channel is very nimble and focused, in addition
to its good geographical coverage. This is due to its single-code product
portfolio that reduces the deployment and support requirements for its
entire market segment.
This
announcement should bring some sigh of relief for Solomon, whose internal
R&D resources will not be additionally strained with yet another major
development effort. This is also a counter punch to the Great Plains partnership
with Siebel, although significantly belated. Due to its late expansion
into the ERP world, the company has also been trailed by its reputation
of a best-of-breed accounting software vendor. Solomon has therefore accelerated
its ambitious delivery schedule of new manufacturing, distribution, and
e-commerce functionality, resulting in tight "time-to-market" constraints.
The market should expect similar announcements that would supplement Solomon's
product with human resources and advanced planning and scheduling functionality.
Solomon
IV financial and business applications are used by thousands of businesses
in more than 100 countries worldwide and shares the same Microsoft-centric
server platform as SalesLogix2000, including Microsoft SQL Server 7.0
for database management and Seagate Crystal Reports for system-wide reporting.
The parallel technologies used by both vendors should offer customers
and business partners lower cost of ownership, as well as training and
knowledge transfer costs. Nevertheless, past experiences have shown that
true integration takes time and is very seldom painless.
User
Recommendations
We generally recommend including Solomon in a long list of an enterprise
application selection to the lower-end of the mid-market companies (with
$2M-$250M in revenue), which are staunch users of Microsoft technology
and have significant financial accounting, project management, distribution,
and service requirements, while currently not needing complex manufacturing
functionality.
Any
organization evaluating Solomon Software should consider existing functionality
only, and, in the case of final selection, should negotiate incorporation
of new applications components now at negotiated license fees, in expectation
of Solomon's future product introductions. When Solomon is included in
the selection process, be wary of possible product integration glitches.
Potential
clients should also conduct preliminary research on industry expertise
and reference sites of a regional Solomon value added reseller (VAR).
Solomon distributors offer vertical solutions on an opportunity-by-opportunity
basis only, which we find insufficient to satisfy the stringent requirements
of a highly competitive market.