in particular, enterprise software for companies engaged in all manner of manufacturing.
Recently
Baan introduced a slew of new technologies, business partnerships, and product enhancements, and in the process it shored up its position as one of the leading client/server application vendors. Late last year, the company unveiled Baan Synchronization, a decision-support tool that allows the coordination of plant-level production decisions with market demand. Baan also initiated a collaboration with Microsoft to develop applications for Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM) and Windows Distributed interNet Applications (Windows DNA, a next-generation Windows architecture from Microsoft that ties together client/server and Internet capabilities) and to provide support for Microsoft BackOffice.
Several acquisitions further strengthened Baan's hand, including the purchase of Aurum Software, a sales-force automation vendor. Baan also entered into a joint developmental pact with client/server financial-application vendor Hyperion Software to position itself as a best-of-breed application provider.
For resellers, Baan's success (the company now boasts more than 3500 current customers) might appear to be a barrier. After all, a rapidly maturing market offers few entry points. But, like its competitors, Baan is capitalizing on the scalability of three-tiered distributed applications to appeal to a relatively untapped middle market: corporations with between $150 million and $350 million in revenues.
"Just because you're a smaller company doesn't mean you're less complex," says Scott Deutsch, director of channel marketing at Baan. "These people don't have millions of dollars, and they don't have multiple years to implement."
A Development Challenge
At the heart of Baan's software (which includes Manufacturing, Finance, Process, Project, Distribution and Transportation, and Service modules and supports Unix and Windows NT, as well as connectivity with most distributed databases) are its Orgware tools. These include Dynamic Enterprise Modeler (DEM), a tool that allows users to align Baa
n applications with their existing business processes, and Enterprise Reference Models (ERM), a series of templates for industry-specific standard business practices.
Baan identifies this suite of tools and utilities as its key competitive differentiation because it offers a framework for ensuring that enterprise applications operate in conjunction with working business practices. This methodology is designed to provide rapid implementations of Baan software.
Orgware starts with specific reference models that define procedures and methods, often for a particular industry. Next, information-technology (IT) developers or integrators customize the business modules within the Baan software to perform specific functions, such as developing individual menus and defining work-flow procedures. Users can then input changes by reconfiguring the Orgware system. A component called Baan Target offers a goal-oriented project-management tool to ensure quality control during the implementation.
Although B
aan likes to boast of its generous reseller training budget, the software's ease of use as a development environment is one reason why Baan resellers say they're thriving. "The system is an easy sell when it comes to rapid customization and installation," explains
Steven Nagengast
, principal at Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Crowechzek.
"What we try to do with Baan tools is personalize the system before changing the standard code. That way, customers don't have to pay for the enhancements again when they upgrade," explains Matt McBryan, a consultant with system integrator Cim Case International of Tulsa, Oklahoma. "We can map users' requirements to DEM so that we can speed implementation to about six months." Cim Case counts many large firms among its customer base, including BriteVoice, Honeywell, and Lockheed.
Rapid implementation is the holy grail of distributed-application providers. By allowing resellers to set the parameters of the code -- for example, by hard-w
iring process modules and requiring users to input their particular business rules -- system integrators are finding they can decrease their average implementation times by a solid 60 percent. "The goal is to implement the software in five to six months, instead of the industry-standard 18 months," says Nagengast. Until recently, Nagengast's firm was a reseller of SSA's software, but the company made the switch based in large part on the faster implementations offered by Baan.
In the six months during which Crowechzek has sold Baan software, it has sold 1000 seats. Plus, Crowechzek has learned to hone its services by concentrating on vertical industries in which Baan is strong. In Crowechzek's case, that means specializing in the automotive industry.
Furthermore, say resellers, successful Baan application builders take advantage of calling Baan's DLLs to shorten the time it takes to build clean client interfaces. "If you talk to most people who have done modifications on Baan, they regre
t it because it locks you into a particular version. Getting the interface to be this flexible is a major achievement on Baan's part," says Mike May, a Baan IV user at Teknion Furniture Systems in Downsview, Ontario, Canada (see the "Refurnishing with Baan").
Supply Chain
While the leading supply-chain vendor, Manugistics, has entered into a close partnership with Oracle, Baan has identified improving its supply-chain management as its core mandate for the coming year, when Baan V is due. Baan has also entered into a loose collaboration with Manugistics, as well as with I2 Technologies, a planning and scheduling ERP vendor. "Baan is paying a lot of attention to supply-chain management as an important new requirement that it doesn't just want to satisfy -- it wants to be a leader in it," says Tom Gormley, an analyst with Forrester Research (Cambridge, MA).
While some competitors are fixed on the Internet as central to enabling an ERP supply-chain-management system -- an
d Baan will also add increased Java and Internet support in Baan V (see the sidebar "Baan V: A New Version") -- Baan emphasizes its supply-chain functionality by offering manufacturing-process-centric modules. For example, a capability called Customer Order Decoupling Point (CODP) distinguishes different kinds of manufacturing production so that users can monitor production changes from the perspective of the entire supply chain.
Baan's Achilles' Heel
With business exploding, intriguing Baan projects seem just the ticket for a reseller to gain experience with one of the hottest technologies on the market. While these may be Baan's halcyon days, even mostly happy Baan customers warn that resellers must be aware of some weaknesses in the Baan system.
One generally happy Baan user raises a red flag concerning two possible problems. "Baan, by having extraordinary growth in the past two years, has shown itself to have two weaknesses. First is the limited resources it has to contribut
e to training programs and services, including tech support; second is the quality of the actual code. I'm not talking about the functionality, which is excellent, but a weakness in the actual code," says George Gunther, director of IT at Grove Worldwide (Shady Grove, PA) . "But I'm confident Baan understands the issues at stake and is correcting them," he adds.
Less-than-perfect code aside, however, resellers are building dynamic applications with Baan for an increasingly widening market. In the end, it's difficult to argue with success.
Where to Find
The Baan Company
Menlo Park, CA
Phone: 800-617-6525
Phone: 650-462-4949
Internet:
http://www.baan.com
Baan Fires Up Rapid Deployment
