What does the future hold for BI, CRM, ERP and enterprise software in 2015? IT experts discuss which enterprise software trends will have the greatest impact on IT organizations in the coming year

1. 8 Enterprise Software Predictions
What doesthe future holdforBI, CRM, ERP and enterprise software in2015? IT expertsdiscuss
whichenterprise software trendswill have the greatestimpactonITorganizationsinthe coming
year
If onlyseniorIT executiveshadacrystal ball.Thentheywouldbe able tosee whatsoftware they
wouldneed,orwant,to license –andcouldplanand budgetaccordingly.
Instead,seniorITdecision-makersmustrelyonvendors,marketersandanalysts(andtechnology
reporters) toshowthemwhatthe future may have instore for them.Andwhile noone trulyknows
whattrendswill dominate the enterprisesoftware space in2015, expertsinBI,CRM, ERP and
enterprise software believethese eightare worthpayingattentionto.
1. Hybridcloud goesmainstream.“[We] saw aspike inmulti-cloudstrategiesin2014, and thatwill
continue into2015,” saysChrisWolf,CTO of the Americas,VMware.“CIOswill continue toseekout
the flexibilitythat[hybridcloudsoffer].AndseniorIT decisionmakerswill investinhybridcloud
architecturestofuture-proof theirapplicationsandservices.”
“The cloudhasbeena hot topicfor a numberof years,withcompaniesmovingapplicationstothe
cloudfor speedtoexecution,lowercosts,higherlevel of service and/orpreservationof capital,”
adds Marc Malizia,CTOof RKON Technologies,amanagedcloudsolutionsprovider.“Aswe move
into2015, we are goingto see a continuedincreaseinorganizationsshiftingtosome formof the
cloud.Most will adopta hybridmodel,mixingcloudproviderserviceswiththeirin-housecloud
computingplatform.”
2. Subscriptionpricingforenterprise software.“Competitivepressuresandnew efficiencieswill
cause enterprise softwarepricingtocontinue toshiftfurthertowardsubscriptionmodels,”predicts
EnginKirda,cofounderandchief architect,Lastline,whichprovidesprotectionagainstmalware.
“Ratherthan large lumpsum licensingorcostlypreloadsonproprietaryhardware,enterprise
software will be increasinglypricedonaper-userand/orper-yearbasis,”he says.“Notonlywill end-
user-centricapplicationsbe pricedthisway,butotherenterprise software andservices,including
data centermanagementandbreachdetection,will alsoadoptthismore predictable andscalable
pricingmodel.”
3. Mobile CRM – and otherenterprise mobileapps –will take off.“Salesforce setthe stage forthis
trendin2014 withinvestmentsintheirmobileappandgettingtheirintegrationpartnerstouse it,”
saysMark Seemann,CEOof Synety,acloud-basedsoftware andcommunicationsbusiness.Andin
2015, “mobile willcontinuetobe a crucial battlegroundforthe largerCRMplayers,whowill
continue tobringtheirmobile appfunctionalityclosertothe level of theirmainWebproduct,”he
predicts.
“As employeesspendlessandlesstime inthe office,havingsolutions –CRM, BPM, etc. – that are
mobile friendlywillbe essential,”saysMichael DeFranco,founder&CEO, Lua,whichprovidessecure
messagingforthe enterprise.“Tosucceedinthe enterprise,solutionsmustprioritize the needsand
behaviorof mobile workersintheirdesign,toensure theyare connectedwherevertheyare,andare
able to communicate andcollaborate withcolleaguesbackatthe office.”

2. 4. In-memory computingwill becomealeadingdifferentiatorinERP.“In-memorycomputing
approacheslike SAPHANA andOracle In-MemoryApplicationswillbecome the mainbattleground
area forERP product differentiation,especiallyinthe large enterprisespace,”predictsGlenn
Johnson,seniorvice president,Americas,MagicSoftware Enterprises,aproviderof application
platforms,enterprise mobilityandbusinessintegrationsolutions.“Asmarketnoise aroundBigData
continues,ERPbrandsthat fail toofferin-memory computingsolutionswillfade whencompared
withleadersinthisarea.”
5. DeeperERP integration.“ERPisbecomingmore versatile,providingdeeperintegrationwith
procurement,humanresourcesandcustomerservice software,”saysMichael Golz,seniorvice
president&CIO,SAPAmericas.“SAPhasmade a numberof strategicacquisitions,mostrecently
withConcur,that helpcustomersexpandthe value of theirERPsystem,”byhavingitto “interact
withnewareas.”That increasedintegrationanddepthwill continue toblurthe linesbetween
enterprise software systemsandhelporganizationsderive greatervalue fromtheirITinvestments.
“Historically,ERPandCRM have beenviewedastwoseparate systemsof engagement,”notes
JeremyRoche,CEO,FinancialForce, aproviderof cloudERPsoftware onthe Salesforce platform.
“However,manybusinessesare startingtorealize the immensevalue ineliminatingdistinctions
betweenfrontandbackoffice processes,bringingERPto the forefront,”he explains.
“Ratherthan continuingtoallowvital customerinformationtobe scatteredamongvariouspiecesof
a business,”he says,“companieswill begintomerge ERPand CRMintoone single systemof
customerengagement,sotheycanbettersupportthe entire customerjourney, fromthe initiation
of interesttothe deliveryof aproduct.”
6. Opensource will continue togainground.“Data warehousingandBIhas longbeenthe domainof
proprietarysoftware concentratedacrossa handful of vendors,”notesAliGhodsi,cofounderand
headof productmanagementandengineeringatDatabricks.“However,the last10 yearshas seen
the emergence andincreasingprevalence of HadoopandsubsequentlySparkaslower-costopen
source alternativesthatdeliverthe scale andsophisticationneeded togaininsightsfromBigData,”
he explains.
Andopensource software will continuetogaina footholdinthe enterprise space in2015, predicts
Ghodsi and others.“The Hadoop-relatedecosystemisprojectedtobe $25 billionby2020,” says
Ghodsi.“AndSparkis nowdistributedby10-plusvendors,includingSAP,Oracle,Microsoft,and
Teradata,withsupportfor all majorBI tools,includingTableau,QlikandMicroStrategy.”
7. BusinessIntelligence software will become more visual –and easiertouse.“In 2015, BI solutions
will lookasgoodas theyoperate,andwill operate asgoodas theylook,"saysJamesRichardson,
businessanalyticsstrategist,Qlik,aproviderof businessintelligence anddatavisualizationsoftware.
“Enterprise customershave beenaskingforBIsolutionsthatare easiertouse – self-service
solutions.Andvisualizationiskeytothis,”he explains.“Byrenderingdataineasy-to-readgraphsand
charts, userswill be able tounderstandtheirdataina waythat is natural to them, breakingdown
the barriersbetweenpeople andtheirdata.”
8. Social intelligencegetsevensmarter.“In2014, we saw organizationsbegintoanalyze social data
inearnest,”saysEllie Fields,vice president,ProductMarketing,TableauSoftware,aproviderof

3. businessintelligenceandanalyticssoftware.In2015, thistrendwill continue togrow.“Tracking
conversationsviasocial willletcompaniesfindoutwhenatopicisstartingto trendand whattheir
customersare talkingabout,”she explains.
Andthis‘social intelligence’willallow companiestobe more nimble andresponsive tocustomer
needs,desiresandissues –andget a legup on the competition.
Source : cio.com
Recommendedby:
JonCohn ,CTO, VP IT Architecture
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonacohn
joncohn@comcast.net
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