Seeking Alpha features a short article on Salesforce and VMware with respect to the unfolding competitive dynamics in the “cloud” space.  The author is suitably cynical about much of the hype and makes some interesting observations about the aspirations and limitations of these cloud pioneers.  There has been lots of hype around cloud, including some really inane statements from IBM on the matter.  The point in this article is that there are some deep pockets out there all maneuvering for the leadership position.  This is a worthy read.

CIO has a blog post on SAP BI tools.  The link is here.  It is an important topic and one where SAP has really failed to deliver in the past.  I pointed out in my comment on the CIO blog that SAP’s gaps are greater than just interface.  They have also failed to provide a simple solution to data across ERP instances including ones not called SAP.  They have also failed to build in some business expertise that helps guide people on where to look.  Their new tool sounds like just another report anything from anywhere tool which will leave users and consultant stuck figuring out where to start.  Once again, SAP is view this as a BI tool and looking for maximum flexibility with a slick interface.  Customer need BI tools which help them isolate opportunities in their business.

In full disclosure, I am working in this BI tool space with LeanDNA to deliver targeted BI and execution support for procurement.  There are also many other examples such as FireApps in foreign exchange.

I completely understand why this talk is coming up given the weak performance and unclear direction of the company.  I also believe that SAP would be a hard company to acquire.  Some good thoughts on this at Enterprise Irregulars.  The link is here.

Just received an email about this McKinsey Quarterly article.  The link is here.

It is a case study from a commercial bank about using IT to support a Lean initiative on the account opening process. The authors make some good points on the need for IT system alignment and the difficulty of driving broad changes, in this case across geographically dispersed branches, with something to reinforce and sustain the changes.

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