Archive for category Enterprise Software
The Year in Review in Software & Services and 90% Software Maintenance Margins
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software, project management software, project workforce management, software as a service on December 25th, 2009
Here is a good short review of enterprise software and services stories in 2009.
What caught my eye was Brian’s referral to 90% software maintenance margin as a bad thing. Brain, most software companies invest significant dollars in infrastructure, R&D and new product development. Healthy profit margins from on-demand services and support are an absolute necessity. Without those margins no software company can attract great talent, investors or even consider any new ideas.
As an example, at Tenrox while 9 out 10 new customers are opting for Tenrox on-demand we still do have and support on-premise customers with perpetual licenses. One of these customers had gone without support for eighteen months thinking the software works great and they do not need our support, updates or innovations. Well something went wrong and they called our service team asking for help. They wanted to pay time and material for us to jump on the problem and fix it. We explained our policy that they must reactivate support, pay a penalty for the reactivation, and get up to date before we can even look at the problem. This customer was quite frustrated and did not take the news very well at all.
As a software company we have no choice but to establish such policies. Tenrox is not a consulting “time and material” provider. The profits and good margins from on-demand services and support are absolutely essential for continued innovation and first class customer support.
Interview with Microsoft Project’s Seth Patton
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software, project management, project management software, project workforce management on December 9th, 2009
Here is an interesting interview with a marketing director at Microsoft Project regarding their product roadmap and strategy.
http://www.enterpriseirregulars.com/500/interview-with-microsoft%E2%80%99s-seth-patton/
I guess Seth has not kept up to date with technology trends all that much. If Microsoft’s strategy is to try and drive out independent software vendors (ISV) they are not going to do all that well with their customers or partners. With Software as a Service and cloud computing, best of breed is a clear hands down winner in this market. Just look at the huge success stories of salesforce.com, RightNow, Taleo, and Success Factors all of which are SaaS offerings; there are so many more SaaS and cloud winners out there. I think Microsoft is better off focusing on strengthening its ISV partnership base instead of alienating them with this kind of thinking and interviews. This is not forward thinking.
Here is another interesting exchange in the interview:
While PPM products, Microsoft’s included, contain many of the functions needed by professional services firms, they are still some key functions not available within Project just yet. These include: client billing; dedicated time entry for vendor, client, contractors, etc.; two-way interfaces with payroll systems; proposal tools; and, more. Nonetheless, Seth reminded me that thousands of Microsoft partners are service firms as well as users of Project in client work.
This sounds a lot like the old we have it all ERP type of talk. Well then I guess customers should wait another 10 years for Microsoft to develop these and other capabilities. Or customize the heck out of Microsoft Project to fulfill the gaps they perceive in the solution and to get what they need like these other companies he mentions have.
I still remember the first time I read a brochure from one of these large vendors. The brochure said they do everything under the sun. I got the same impression with virtually every release of Microsoft Project. To this day, all of these products have only fallen behind more, become more bloated, more complicated, and more out of touch with what customers really need.
The 2009 Chaos Report – Is Project Success Really that Rare?
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software, Good Books and Articles, Project-Based Solutions, project management on August 10th, 2009
The Standish Group released its widely quoted report (available for purchase here) on project success in April 2009. The latest report is based on a survey of more than 300 organizations and 30 interviews. A summary of the findings is shown in the figure below.
The news is not very positive. According to this report the number of IT projects that failed has actually increased since 2006, successful projects are also alarmingly harder to find. Here is a far smaller and less official survey on software project success rates.
From our own experience and all the anecdotal evidence I have gathered projects are often late and over budget but they are mostly successful. In my opinion the Standish Group’s survey is overly pessimistic on the success rate of IT projects. I find nothing on the Internet that explains Standish Group’s survey approach or confirms these findings. It would be better if they provided more details as to how they assess project success and how they can backup their claim of a negative trend in worldwide IT project performance.
The report did not highlight any new reasons for the higher project failure rates. There are many more capable and highly qualified project managers today than in 2006, there are better tools, an abundance of easily accessible information on project management lifecycles and methodologies, and better collaboration between all project contributors/stakeholders. I simply cannot see how the end results can be this bad.
Occam’s Principle Applied to IT Investments
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software, project management software, project workforce management on July 16th, 2009
In a previous blog I looked at how Occam’s principle can be applied to product design and development. Now let’s look at applying this principle to making IT investments.
The question to answer: How long should I stay with the technology I have already invested in and should I choose to stay with our existing IT investments or move to a brand new technology?
Applying Occam’s rule to IT investments could go something like this:
- Choose technologies that are simple to use
- Use just one IT system to automate a specific function
- Don’t oversimplify
1) Choose technologies that are simple to use
All things being equal, such as cost of adopting the new technology versus cost of staying with the current technology and processes, choose the simpler alternative. If the new technology is easier to implement and support then making the new investment is the right choice. If not, best to stay with the existing technology.
2) Use just one IT system to automate a specific function
We often run into organizations that use several different systems for time tracking, project management, workforce planning and billing. Most of the time this is because every group or department chooses and implements the solution it prefers.
As an example, accounting staff are naturally biased towards accounting applications. As far as they are concerned, everything including project cost and revenue data should be driven by the accounting system. However, IT, project or professional services staff hardly ever choose such an option if they have any say in the project management software they use. The time tracking, job costing, project management and workforce planning add-on’s offered by accounting systems tend to be subpar, based on older technology, and at best mediocre applications. This is because these are not the main focus areas for accounting software or ERP vendors. Similarly, IT and project teams would never choose a departmental project management solution for its strong financial reporting and accounting integration capabilities.
In applying Occam’s principle, accounting, HR, IT, professional services and project teams have to collaborate much more before making new enterprise software investments. Any investment that reduces the number of redundant systems, eliminates manual integration and reporting, or breaks down the communication barriers between various teams is a definite move towards the key elements of the OCCAM principle.
3) Don’t oversimplify
As mentioned in the previous blog you should not try to take things too far when it comes to simplifying. As an example, IT investments must take into account and accommodate the unique requirements of various stakeholders and constituents. Imposing oversimplified washed down software that everyone in the company must use may standardize a process at the expense of lost group-specific productivity, flexibility and innovation.
Let’s look at an example of a typical project management software initiative. A prospect contacted us to investigate whether they should invest in Tenrox Project Workforce Management software. They had the following project management software investments:
- Timesheet: an in-house timesheet application they had developed a few years ago and maintained over the years; customized to run on top of their ERP/accounting system
- Expense reports: using Excel file to report and approve expenses
- Project planning: using Microsoft Project desktop to plan projects
- Billing/cost reporting: done manually by extracting the information required from the timesheets and expense reports
Should this prospect:
- Change only the timesheet application
- Change only the timesheet application and automate expense reports with a single time and expense tracking solution
- Change all systems at the same time; replacing them with a single solution
- Do nothing – stay with their current systems for another year
According to the OCCAM principle the simplest approach that does not create redundancies or oversimplify is the best option. Let’s look at each option in that light:
- Change only the timesheet application
- If the old timesheet system has no major shortcomings, this option replaces one working system with another; without really creating any new value. Changing just the timesheet system in such a scenario does not add any value. - Change only the timesheet application and automate expense reports with a single time and expense tracking solution
- This may be a suitable option. Two disconnected systems are replaced with a single system and the new system is simpler in that manual processes and spreadsheet are eliminated, and a standard approval process is used for time and expense tracking and approval. - Change all systems at the same time; replacing them with a single solution
- This option may oversimplify requirements of the various teams that need a project workforce management solution to get their job done. However, if all user groups conclude that a new system is as good as their current system, is as simple or simpler, and even solves some existing issues then this is the best option. - Do nothing – stay with their current systems for another year
- Staying with legacy disconnected systems is definitely not the simpler path to choose. While on the surface the company does not take any risk, using old disconnected processes to manage in today’s highly connected and competitive world is the worst option.
Unlocking the cloud
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software, project management, project workforce management on June 16th, 2009
Here is an interesting perspective on cloud computing from the Economist. The article contends that customers subscribing to an on-demand service should be wary of data ownership and the data migration difficulties they will face when moving their data from one SaaS (software as a service) vendor to another. The author positions open source as a liberating technology and sees cloud computing as new attempt by software vendors to lock-in customers.
This is the first time I ever heard anyone argue against cloud computing. To tout on-premise open source systems as liberating technologies and to call SaaS and cloud computing as a step back is simply out of touch with what is occurring in the marketplace. At the heart of its argument against cloud computing is the lack of standards for moving data from one service provider to another. However, the same can be said for migrating data from one on-premise solution to another, whether open-source or not. For example, have you ever tried moving data from an Oracle application into a Microsoft or SAP application? No common standards exist today that would automate the migration of any form of enterprise data from one solution provider to another.
However, the process of importing data has become a relatively painless, inexpensive and a low risk activity for most forms of data. Data in most modern enterprise applications (on-premise or on-demand) is represented in XML or can easily be exported to XML, now a ubiquitous standard for data representation and data exchange. Using XML, just about every cloud service provider (and even legacy application providers) have the tools and the expertise to migrate data from the customer’s current formats and systems. There may of course be some minor challenges to overcome and the migration may require investment in a few days of consulting services but I do not at all see how data migration results in vendor lock-in.
One thing that customers need to make sure of is data ownership. Tenrox project management software and workforce management customers own their data, whether they are on-demand or on-premise. This assures our customers that they are totally free to move to another service provider.
Cloud computing has tremendous benefits for the customer. The service provider takes care of all the details of software maintenance, bug fixing, data backups, 24/7 availability, 99.9% up time, data security audits and certifications, bandwidth, worldwide access, and much more. This frees internal IT to spend time on more strategic work such as IT project portfolio and resource optimizations, data analysis, portal/report development, and activities that are directly related to the company’s core business.
Investing in project management software and the hair loss doctor
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software on April 6th, 2009
As I got the idea for this blog I thought a small cartoon strip would help convey the message much more clearly. My artistic skills however are sorely lacking and the Tenrox Web team is way too busy for me to dare ask for their help to develop a cartoon, for a blog no less.
So as everyone does these days I launched a new window and searched for “make a cartoon”. The second entry ToonDoo – The Cartoon Strip Creator – Create, Publish, Share, Discuss! sounded interesting, relevant. Amazingly enough, this is a totally Web based easy to use cartoon making site. It took me less than 10 minutes to make the strip below using the most basic elements offered by the site. Of course, my children (11 and 
have already far exceeded what I was able to do. They quickly learned how to design their own avatars and have created some pretty amazing cartoon strips.
Back to the original subject for this blog, we live in very interesting times. In good economic times a rising tide lifts all boats. On the other hand, as we have seen, a severe economic downturn exposes the true state of all structurally flawed organizations, and incompetent leadership. What amazes me our headlines like this:
Company X, the leading provider of workforce management software, cuts jobs. A cut of about 8% of its global workforce as of January 9, 2009.
Y, the leading provider of on-demand project management software, announced its third round of layoffs. The company laid off 25% of its workforce in this round.
These same project management and workforce management “optimization” companies are advertising their expertise and pushing their solutions as the best software tools one can invest in. If they cannot plan and manage their own projects and workforce properly how can they claim to help anyone manage their resources any better? This is the definition of hypocracy.
Unlike many of our competitors who have suffered through multiple layoffs. Tenrox has cautiously hired new team members. So far, we have continued to grow and have remained profitable during this severe economic downturn. I think it is partly because we practice what we preach. We use our own software to manage our workforce, plan our projects and pipeline based on the same best practices we share with our customers. We use various trusted technology and marketing partners to handle peaks in our workload. We do not over-hire when times are good and then engage in mass layoffs when times are bad … As a result, we have a stable, loyal and enthusiatic team who actually loves what they do … We will do our absolute best to keep it this way.
Taking people and their work for granted
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software on November 11th, 2008
I have enjoyed reading the newsletter about enterprise software from Michael Burns for years now. I kind of always have taken it for granted that Michael will share his insight with us every month. When he did not write last month I felt like something was missing. It turns out Micheal had a personal health issue. Here are some kind words of advice from Micheal, unrelated to project management but very much worth mentioning.
Something Personal
I (Michael Burns) do most of the work in sending you our newsletter. We did not send our newsletter last month as I was in the hospital for 4 weeks, and have been recovering since then. I am making good progress and have begun working again. Working for me is great therapy as I enjoy what I do.
I have had lots of time to contemplate the universe while not well, and you would think that I would be able to share great words of wisdom. Alas, I can’t tell you anything that you don’t already know such as being thankful for health, family and friends. Unfortunately, most of us are so caught up in day-to-day living that we don’t show our appreciation or spend much time with those people we care about. Most of us will get angry over small things and miss the big picture. Don’t wait for a serious health problem to show your appreciation, and to spend quality time with family and good friends.
Micheal, I wish you health and thank you, always, for sharing your thoughts and perspectives with us.
How SaaS impacts integration
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software on October 10th, 2008
This topic was discussed in a PS Village meeting I attended in Atlanta. The participants are service company executives and many wanted to know how everyone else is tackling the enterprise software integration challenge in a SaaS world.
Here are a collection of tips and tricks based on the meeting and our own experiences:
- Integration SaaS software with other SaaS software is pretty easy. You pretty much have no limitations other than the underlying data exchange possibilities.
- Integration of SaaS software with on-premise solutions poses more of a challenge and higher risks. This is because most on-premise software do not offer good integration points and run behind the firewall.
- For any integration avoid reading or writing directly to the database; whatever the application type. Direct database calls is the number one reason why best of breed integrations have had such a bad rap. Direct database reads and writes may break when any of the software applications is upgraded. salesforce.com (the company that made SaaS a commerical success) is a very good example of this. By provided great integration interfaces since its very early versions, and maintaining backward compatibility for those functions, salesforce.com integrations from even 8 or 9 years ago still work today!
Another interesting conversation was around how salesforce.com manages upgrades. Salesforce.com upgrades its entire uses base at once (in a matter of a few days all salesforce.com servers are upgraded to the new version). When a new function is available, the user is given the choice of upgrading to get the new function or staying with the old interface. The upgrades never break existing integrations.
How to Manage Projects to Reduce Travel Costs
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Enterprise Software on May 13th, 2008
USA Today has an article about how rising airline ticket costs — attributed to soaring fuel costs — is leading businesses to try and find ways to cut their travel expenditures.
The article, http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-04-30-jet-fuel-high-fares_N.htm, says thanks to fuel costs, which are 44 percent higher than last year, fares have risen at least 18 percent. More and more airlines are forced to introduce fuel surcharges to their increasing list of airfare costs. That means businesses — large and small — are finding other solutions to increase sales while at the same time mitigating travel expenses.
One powerful solution is teleconferencing and online presentations. Companies such as WebEx (now owned by Cisco) and ACT Conferencing have proven technologies that are now widely used to "meet over the web". And Nortel has a product called "Telepresence" that brings businesspeople together with a life-size, full-motion cinematic view and stereo sound. It’s like IMAX and Dolby Digital for business meetings.
Here are some of the changes we made at Tenrox to try and reduce travel costs:
1. Onsite versus online services
Just two years ago, I would say more than 75 percent of our implementation work was done on site and face-to-face, whether they were done in New Tork, Sydney or London. Today, our on-site activity is down to 30 percent — at most. So what changed?
We started to communicate with our customers about the benefits of online instead of on site services. Today we go onsite to meet our customers, the project teams, to get to know one another, to understand their needs and their business. After the initial one or two face to face meetings we have established the trust and the relationship to do much of the remaining work online. Customers love it. More work gets done faster with remote online delivery; and we are able to handle a larger number of implementations with less staff since less time is wasted on travel. Our customers win by saving on travel costs and faster service delivery, and we win by having lower turnover rates on highly specialized consultants since less travel creates a more stable and a happier career life for our service teams.
2. Project meetings
Disconnected systems and management spreadsheets lead to oganizations that often require more face to face meetings to get things done. At Tenrox, we have agreed on and implemented role-based dashboards and key metrics per department. When I come to work, I log into my portal and I can see how every team is doing. The information I look at is not coming from the team leaders or their assistants. The reports I look at are derived from data entered directly from the project contributors; managers simply have to approve/reject the data entries. Therefore the business unit performance, project costs, revenue, issues, and change requests I look at are based on actual data reported by our staff.
These reports and dashboards have virtually eliminated status report meetings. We meet to discuss strategy, to celebrate wins/review losses, and yes to review project progress; but at least in any such meetings people are not showing up with manipulated spreadsheets or to verbatim repeat what I could get from the dashboards/reports I already have access to.
Dashboards, project management reports based on live data, online approval workflows, and online collaboration technologies have reduced our G&A travel costs by at least 50% over the last two to three years. Not to mention the reduction of time and energy we wasted going over "design your own" spreadsheets in management and review meetings.
3. Combine events
Like many other companies today, we have a highly dispersed workforce. Our employees and outsourced teams work from various offices and from home throughout three continents. To make sure all of our teams are aware of the company’s mission and business plan we try and bring everyone together once or twice a year in Montreal, where the company was founded and where most of our R&D staff is located. In the last few years, we have combined such all hands meetings with performance evaluations, training, company parties and picnics to try and make the trips as fun, worthwhile and productive as we can make them to be; and to avoid additional travel costs we would incur if we did some of these events separately.
These are some of the travel cost savings we have come up with. Do you have any insights to share? What are you doing in your company to try and reduce travel costs?
Simple Software: A Requirement for Project Workforce Management
Posted by Tenrox Project Management Software Blog in Business Process Management, Enterprise Software on April 24th, 2008
I enjoyed this insightful article on SandHill.com, written by Anthony Deighton: "Simplicity: What’s Next in Business Software." Deighton explains that the simple and straightforward user interfaces that software users have come to expect on the web will, and must, influence enterprise software investments.
Deighton explains that enterprise software (such as traditional ERPs) became complex by promising managers the ability to "command and control" the work environment. But newer, smaller, "grassroots" applications are changing the end-users’ expectations and behavior. He writes:
The “consumerization” of enterprise software is rapidly underway. In today’s Web 2.0 and Internet-driven world, consumers download applications and use them on their own. Their expectations are that the software they use at work will be equally powerful, simple and engaging.
The world of Project Workforce Management is a collaborative one. To be effective in deploying and managing these solutions, we promote and depend upon on very high end-user adoption–from the project workers who report their time, expenses, issues and project status, to the executives who analyze that data on their dashboards.
Therefore, Deighton’s message is a critical one: "Simplify or Die," and I agree. The huge command-and-control enterprise systems with long, expensive implementations are already the dinosaurs of our industry. The software we use at work has to be fun, simple and should not require a user’s guide.
However, as Deighton states, simple does not equal "lite." Vendors who can offer solutions that are simple and fun to use, yet powerful in their functionality–and the most effective at solving real business problems–will be rewarded in the software marketplace.
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