You’ve recently heard about our newly launched Infor Partner Network; now it’s time to put that initiative into action at our NA Channel Partner Summit 2011. Today, our valued partners will gather to learn more about the program, be inspired by what the future holds, and gain insight into how we can grow our respective businesses together.

The summit revolves around making our partners more effective and profitable. Our attendees will be motivated to take full advantage of Infor’s world-class programs and products after attending highly informative technology sessions. Partners can also participate in workshops designed with them in mind, as well as in product breakout sessions offering tips and tricks on Infor products and information on how best to be competitive.

Infor partners will be able to:

• Learn more about Infor’s exciting new global partner program—the Infor Partner Network.
• Get up to date on Infor’s latest product strategy and innovations.
• Discover how to “win” with Infor products.
• Meet with key members of the Infor management team.
• Network with industry peers.

Are you an Infor partner? It’s time to think outside the box, question the status quo, and take your business beyond boundaries.

If you are currently not an Infor Channel Partner and are interested in becoming one, we would love to hear from you.

Hope you’re enjoying your time in Florida.

To learn more about the Channel Partner Summit 2011, click here. Also, check out our new site dedicated to the Infor Partner Network.

As always, we would love you hear from you, leave your feedback and comments here.

Posted by Jeff Abbott, Vice President, Global Alliances and Channels, Infor

Over time, we have all heard software vendors, analysts, consultants, and media talk about architectures. They use terms like enterprise architecture, software architecture, service-oriented architecture (SOA), event-driven architecture (EDA), and enterprise services architectures.

Is IT like the art world, where there are movements and styles, with leaders who set radical new trends for others to follow? Or are all these architectures related to each other? Why is it all so confusing?

The chief reason for confusion is that IT people have been using the concept of architecture to describe two different things: architecture for the software itself and the architecture for the corporation. This is like confusing the architecture of buildings and urban planning for the design of cities.

Today, Infor announced Infor Flex, a new program that gives customers a clear, fast and cost effective path to adopt Infor's latest product innovations. Jim Schaper, Infor's Chairman and CEO, provides a short introduction to Infor Flex in this video. Below the video is an overview presentation. 

Infor Flex Overview Presentation

Here's a quick overview that gives more details on the program (click the projector icon to see it in full screen mode). You can also visit the website for more information. As always, your feedback is welcomed in the comment section.

Today, Infor launched a new financing program for all of our customers. To help introduce this program, we sat down with our own Kevin Samuelson, senior vice president, mergers & acquisitions and integration, to get his take on Infor Financing and how it will create new value for customers.

Editor: Why offer financing now?

Kevin Samuelson: At the risk of oversimplifying my answer…because our customers have asked us for it. Given the importance of preserving cash in the current environment, there is considerable advantage for customers in rolling-out new technology initiatives and business strategies in a way that lets them fund these programs over time. Many companies are using the downturn to put programs into place that will enable them to emerge as stronger, more competitive organizations—and our software is a large part of that.

Editor: When does it make sense for a company to consider financing?

KS: Customers should consider finance options for each purchase. Everyone’s feeling the effects of budget constraints and more aggressive cash management. With financing, customers preserve cash for other investments, while avoiding large up-front payments for the software they need today. Financing helps our customers turn capital expenses into operational expenses—a key factor in managing cash flow.

Editor: How can customers benefit from financing?

KS: Through Infor Financing, customers can immediately move forward with business initiatives that will improve their bottom line—without depleting their cash reserves or impacting working capital.

Editor: What types of payment options and other packages will be offered?

KS: Our standard payment programs are for 24 and 36 months; however, we also have the flexibility to offer extended payment terms for large transactions.

Editor: How long will Infor offer 0% financing?

KS: The zero percent financing program, which lets customers lock-in interest-free monthly payments for a period of 24 months, will be available until September 2009. As we get closer to that date we may consider extending the 0% program.

Editor: Is there a minimum deal size, or other “fine print?”

KS: Infor Financing is available for all customers (direct sales or through our worldwide network of channel partners) who have made at least a $15,000 purchase. Customers can finance software license costs, professional services, and maintenance/support fees. I encourage everyone interested in Infor Financing to visit the Infor Financing website.

Editor: Everyone has heard horror stories of the difficulties in securing loans recently. How difficult is it to qualify for financing?

KS: Infor has a wide range of financing programs for all companies and our goal is to make the financing process as simple as possible. Even if a customer does not qualify for traditional financing or zero percent financing, we can still work with them to establish an appropriate financing plan.

Editor: Are you offering software leasing as well?

KS: No. With our financing program, customers take ownership of their software licenses when they sign the agreements.

Editor: Where is the program offered?

KS: We are starting the financing program in North America and expect to gradually extend the program worldwide over the next year.

Posted by Lauren Banks, Infor Blog
 

The question on everyone’s mind today is: How will the global economic downturn impact green and sustainability initiatives? The easy assumption to make is that the only green that matters in a recession is the kind that you can put in your wallet.

In my opinion, the recession may signal a real beginning for sustainability. Leaner times are moving industry past the marketing of sustainability -the faddish, feel-good “green washing” that merely scratches the surface- toward initiatives that deliver real and immediate operational benefits. Companies get excited about ROI and profitability. There are ample opportunities within organizations for sustainability initiatives to deliver just that.

Infor recently commissioned a survey of manufacturing companies in the UK. Over half of the survey respondents said they had no plans to postpone their green investments due to the economic climate. In fact, 56% said they plan to increase their investments over the next 12 months. Even for companies that don’t see a direct operational benefit, many are moving forward because of the business risk associated with doing nothing.

Stephen Stokes of AMR Research pointed this out on a recent Infor-hosted webinar, “Carbon Management: The Business Imperative.”  Stephen is Vice President of Sustainability and Green Technologies at AMR, so he knows quite a bit about the subject to say the least. (I encourage anyone who needs a primer on the green transformation to download the webinar recording because Stephen offers many valuable insights.)

Stephen’s research (illustrated in the slides below) indicates that companies today are most concerned with real time costs, primarily energy. By 2010 though, risks from government regulations, carbon footprinting, and carbon trading grow significantly in the eyes of executives. Many of these same executives are moving now to stay ahead of legislation, which is already happening in places like the UK, Europe, and Australia.

What does all this mean for green technologies? In my opinion, it validates Infor’s approach from the beginning. Our view was that companies would invest in green technologies that provided tangible economic benefit and reduced business risk. These are primarily at the line of business level- energy efficiency in facilities, reducing fleet fuel consumption, reducing the carbon impact of your distribution network, and eliminating waste in manufacturing processes- through solutions like network design for the supply chain, enterprise asset management, and product lifecycle management. 

Dashboards and corporate-wide reporting efforts are important, especially longer term, but these kinds of broad technology initiatives are the ones that will struggle during the recession, in my opinion, because they don’t directly address immediate business imperatives. It’s much easier to sell management on sustainability projects with a clear ROI, ones that impact the bottom line or eliminate business risk, and then build on those successes.

For these reasons, I think sustainability is poised for a new beginning. And the real champions of green through the recession will be the plant managers, facilities directors, and supply chain professionals rather the corporate vice president of sustainability.

Posted by Andrew Kinder, Director of Product Marketing, Supply Chain Management

It took me about five minutes to stop laughing after I read the SAP press release claiming that they are gaining market share from Infor in the small- and medium-sized business market. SAP says it has signed up a handful of former Infor customers and partners in the SMB space and draws the conclusion that this somehow represents “Momentum in the SME Market.” I guess they set their bar for momentum a bit lower than mine. 

After I reread the announcement for the second time, I felt compelled to share a few of my thoughts:

• It’s an odd announcement.  It is pretty unusual for a market behemoth to publicly jab a competitor unless they actually view them as the market leader. I can only surmise that SAP is taking it on the chin in the field and they wrote a release to give them a bandage for the bleeding. I was pleased to see that an objective observer had a similar opinion.

• We rarely see SAP in SMB accounts. We mostly compete with companies that have solutions explicitly designed for the SMB market and not the generic solutions that SAP and their partners provide.

• They are grasping at old news. The customers mentioned in SAP’s press release haven’t been Infor customers for some time, nor have the partners mentioned been partners of ours for years. These customers left over the years for all sorts of reasons, like being acquired by a company that was already using SAP. And the partners mentioned, well, let’s just say we were OK with them no longer representing our company and products.  In fact, one of the partners mentioned has never been an Infor partner.

• Infor knows SMB customers are different.  SAP is trying hard to win small- to medium-sized customers, which is completely different from SAP’s traditional customer base. Unlike SAP, we designed our business and technology models specifically for this market. We know that these customers:

  • Face the same complex business problems as the Fortune 500, but they don’t have access to huge IT departments or legions of consultants to implement and manage business solutions to solve these problems.

  • Want solutions built for their businesses—solutions that are easier to implement, have greater flexibility, and cost less to own over the long term.

  • Don’t want to be “locked in” to a vendor. They also need to have the ability to integrate applications in a mixed-vendor environment.

  • Our customers want their vendor to provide value for maintenance.

• Finally, Infor embraces, supports, and rewards partners that perform. The partners mentioned in the release parted ways with Infor years ago. Fact is, we have a thriving partner program and our valued channel partners are responsible for almost 20% of our license revenues and almost 50% of our new customers each year.

In my humble opinion, SAP’s press release is more about fear than momentum. Sorry SAP, we didn’t mean to scare you.

Posted by Rick Parker, SVP, Marketing

For those of you who couldn’t make it to Inforum 2008 in Las Vegas, we’ve got the next best thing – keynote presentations from our top executives.

You can view the full videos or segmented portions of presentations from:

• Jim Schaper, Chairman and CEO – opens Inforum 2008 with his message on innovation and a look into the future of business networks.

• Bruce Gordon, Chief Technology Officer – lays out how Infor is re-architecting an entirely new approach: distributed, interoperable software components.

• Jeff Ralyea, Vice President, Product Development – demonstrates Infor MyDay and other new solutions, showing specifically how Infor is helping customers shape and control their business networks.

 

Posted by Wade Coleman, Editor, Infor Blog

What kind of hands-free cell phone device do you use?  Have you bought into Bluetooth yet?  I used to have a Plantronics Bluetooth device, but I found it was always losing its charge when I needed it most.  This is OK where I live, because most of the towns in my area do not have any laws making it illegal to talk on the phone while you drive without a hands-free device.  I know, those of you who live outside the US, we are a little behind.   But I recently made the decision that I was going to make sure we are safe in the Suratt family and get a hands-free system for the car. 

So I did my typical intensive research project to find the best aftermarket integrated Bluetooth system for our Honda Pilot (the family car), and settled on a Parrot product.  I heard that many of the auto manufacturers use Parrot systems in their integrated hands-free systems in their new models…which prompted me to go check out the new 2009 Honda Pilot (I have a 2006).  Wow!  They made some nice upgrades in the last few years.  I priced out a new car just to see what it would cost and took that to my wife.  I guess I got caught up in the moment.  Not a great idea.  She reminded me how ridiculous it was to replace our three-year old car just because I wanted a new feature. 

I thought about this for a little while.  She was definitely right (as she usually is).  But then I thought about how this lesson relates well to the enterprise software space.  Many of you experience this with business solutions.  Your business requires a new feature that may be available in the new release of the software.  But in order to get that software you have to go through a disruptive upgrade process, or even worse yet, a rip-and-replace.   Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to apply that new upgraded feature like you can with an after-market Bluetooth phone system?  That’s what our component development is all about.  The component architecture allows you much more freedom to change, upgrade or otherwise alter your business solutions without today’s typical disruptive process.

Posted by Jeremy Suratt, Director, Technology Marketing

You may have noticed Infor made several announcements regarding SaaS solution availability at our annual Inforum customer conference.

• Infor Delivers SaaS Option for Infor ERP SyteLine
• Infor EAM SaaS Option Helps SMBs Cut Maintenance Costs and Boost Profits
• Infor Delivers SaaS Offering of Expense Management

We received a lot of positive feedback from customers, analysts and press on these announcements and had some very interesting discussions about many aspects of SaaS.

There are those that would have you believe that SaaS is the next great technology wave that will obsolete previous approaches, solve a myriad of IT ills and be the future of how all computing is done.  I also recall forecasts from purportedly reputable sources a few years ago claiming ridiculously high SaaS adoption rates by now, which obviously haven’t happened.  I can also recall over my long career in IT all the next big thing panaceas that never quite delivered on the hyped-up promises.

That doesn’t mean I’m skeptical about SaaS – I think SaaS is a solid long-term option for business application delivery and deployment.  But it’s not a panacea for all things, and not necessarily applicable to everything and everyone, but rather another good option for providing business value with software applications.

So why is Infor making all these SaaS announcements?  It’s all about one of our key value propositions to provide our customers with choice.  In this case it’s choice about how they buy, deploy, execute and maintain their business application systems.  Our approach is different; we’ve made the technology and engineering investment to enable proven, functionally rich products such as Infor ERP SyteLine, Infor Expense Management (previously Extensity) and Infor EAM (previously Datastream) amongst others, available as true 100% SaaS multi-tenant solutions.  That means customers have multiple choices:

• On-Premises – traditional perpetual license run by customer on site
• SaaS Subscription – customer subscription for on demand usage
• SaaS Hosted License – traditional software licensing plus SaaS Hosting from Infor

That also means our customers can consider the following business questions related to their software buying decision:

• What are your circumstances now?
• Will your circumstances change in the next 5 years?
• How much of the requisite IT infrastructure do you have or want?
• Do you have liquidity for capital expense purchase?
• Would an operational expense purchase be more suitable?
• How does the current economic situation affect your buying criteria?
• If you choose one option can you seamlessly switch to another without re-implementing a different system when your circumstances change?
• Do you really want to get locked into one or other approach rather than flexible choice to change?
• … and many other relevant concerns that are usually overlooked because there are no options to consider

And there are even more customer options offered by Infor:

• Dedicated Hosting (aka ASP) – custom single instance hosting services per individual customer for more complex situations where multi-tenant isn’t viable.
• Application Managed Services (AMS) – full range of outsourcing services provided by Infor.

My view is that SaaS and especially the expanded purchase and deployment options of the same product offered by Infor, provides customers with flexibility of choice they’ve wanted without the lock-in to a particular product in a particular delivery and deployment mode.

I’ll post more thoughts on the role I believe SaaS will play in the overall future technology landscape for delivering cost effective business solutions, in subsequent blogs.  But for now, let’s raise our glasses to “customer choice”.

Cheers!

Posted by Mike Frichol, Vice President, Global Industry & Product Marketing

Hi all,

Greetings from Las Vegas! We are having our annual Inforum conference and one of the big announcements, one that I am personally most proud of, is Infor MyDay.  Infor MyDay is a new Web 2.0 user interface for Infor applications, but since it’s based on Infor Open SOA it can pull information from virtually any application or data source.

But calling Infor MyDay a user interface is kind of an understatement because it’s much, much more. Infor MyDay is designed to deliver persona-based content to over 150 roles we have identified in our customers’ businesses.  The content is delivered through pre-defined metrics and reports.  And because it is based on our Web 2.0 technology, the content is intuitive and personalizable to the needs of any individual’s unique requirements.

On top of this, all of the content we deliver is actionable.  What does that mean?  It means that you can drill down into the source systems for further analysis or to enter transactions.  The result is that employees have a central location to find the information that they need in real time to make decisions and complete their work.

What do we mean by persona-based? A persona is a composite of a user within an organization. A lot of vendors talk about role-based interfaces. A persona takes this concept to the next level. A role is generic, designed for a departmental role such as the “finance user.” A persona is specific to an individual user within that department, such as the VP of Finance or Controller. A persona also adds texture to that individual. At Infor, we’ve given them names and faces and built stories around their life. These are imaginary people, but they are based on the hundreds of users we studied to understand the real needs that real people need to get their jobs done. From conception, design and development to sales education and marketing, this gives us the understanding we need to build and deliver great content for people.

Let’s take a look at one of the 16 persona roles we are delivering with this first release, Bob the Production Planner. Bob is a composite of the typical production planner.  He is the choreographer of the manufacturing shop floor, managing planning and production. He determines what to produce, how much and when it’s needed. He acts as the go-between between the shop floor and the corporate side of the firm. He has a degree, probably business or engineering, and about 10 years experience with manufacturing. He knows how to use applications but he’s not an IT gearhead.   

Bob has to deal with unexpected events – late purchase deliveries, machine downtime or last minute work orders. He wants to be more proactive, but the reality is that he is in ‘reacting mode’ much of the time and plans are always changing. He has to deal with inaccurate inventories and bill of materials, and he has an avalanche of unstructured information that he needs to gather, format and assimilate to take action on. 

From our research, we have learned Bob’s typical responsibilities, his skills, his working environment, pain points and goals. We have learned how he uses his ERP software, the other applications he uses and the value he needs to get from them. We learned all of this because we’ve done our homework. A lot of it. We started in early 2007, logging thousands of hours of research into the personas of the people using our software. We’ve built-in the content they need to make their lives a little easier, so they can focus on strategic activities instead of looking for information.

These in-depth personas allow us to deliver rich and targeted user experiences, making Infor MyDay unique to the market. I’ll be talking a lot more about Infor MyDay here in the future, because there’s a lot more coming down the pipe. So stay tuned!

Posted by Jeremy Suratt, Director, Technology Marketing