It seems that IBM is taking the gloves off at last and playing to
the established strengths of the AS/400
Based on the evidence of its recent campaign to promote the
platform's suitability for ERP and supply chain management (SCM)
applications - in the e-business context, it seems that IBM is
taking the gloves off at last and playing to the established
strengths of the AS/400,
One of the most popular uses of the AS/400 is for running the
kind of enterprise-class business automation software that ERP
suites have evolved into. And the natural follow on to a fully
functional ERP environment is to add SCM, helping to spread the
benefits of a more tightly controlled set of business processes
outwards to suppliers and partners alike. While there is much talk
about the potential for running Lotus Domino groupware or Java on
the AS/400e series, the promise of a combined thrust for sales
based on ERP/SCM looks to be an equal, if not more solid and
compelling prospect.
The AS/400 can already run many of the top ERP vendors' software
as well developed ports, including the market leader SAP.
Interestingly, Baan seems to be getting a fair amount of joy out of
its sales onto the AS/400e systems, despite the rough passage it
has experienced overall in recent times. In addition, JD Edwards
and JBA have a considerable user base on the platform and continue
to appeal to the mid market companies now wanting the benefits of
ERP-style business automation. All these vendors have a keen
interest in developing the SCM angle as well, creating a sense of
easy synergy with their mostly long-time partner IBM.
Typically for IBM these days, the company as also dug up some
research to prove the AS/400's value proposition to ERP/SCM users.
The DH Andrews Group in the US recently detailed the findings from
a survey of 25 out of the top ERP vendors worldwide with ports to
the AS/400. Eighty per cent of these vendors reported that ERP
implementation was significantly shorter on the AS/400 compared to
other platforms, namely Windows NT and Unix. It is clearly too
early to judge the comparable speed of implementation on Windows
2000.
Figures quoted by IBM from the DH Andrews poll show that, on
average, the AS/400 ERP projects were delivered 3.3 months faster
than those based on Windows NT, and 3.7 months faster than Unix.
IBM also feels empowered to claim from these findings that customer
satisfaction is considered to be higher for ERP on the AS/400 by
the vendors involved. DH Andrews concludes that ERP on the AS/400
is a 'must consider'. (http://www.ibm.com/as400/erp)
Given the AS/400's qualities, such results are not intrinsically
surprising. What is a positive shift is the fact that IBM is
promulgating such marketing messages so clearly. Other pages on the
AS/400 site show IBM clearly spelling out why the AS/400 is a
winner in the ERP space. Among the advantages claimed are speed of
application performance, 99.94 availability, low total cost of
ownership and the AS/400's legendary security factor.
Yet the blithe spirit that has gripped the AS/400 marketeers
seems to suddenly know no bounds. The company also claims that ERP
is 'seamlessly integrated' with such applications as SCM, business
intelligence (both fairish points), knowledge management and
e-business. These statements rather oversimplify the full story of
where ERP is at right now. SAP is developing its Business
Information Warehouse module concurrently with allies among the
more significant independent BI vendors. However, this typically
involves the addition of a data warehouse of some kind. Running
such tools against the ERP data store is generally not considered
to be an ideal practice right now.
Pushing the seamless connection between ERP and KM is, however,
going a bit far. In particular, there is still some way to go
before the enterprise information portal concept is totally attuned
to ERP systems - as IBM is trying to propose. Such portals blend
information from various sources, and deliver it as customised
content for end-users. Clearly such portals are becoming important,
and there is no reason why the AS/400 cannot become a server of
choice at the back-end for such solutions.
These are not trivial points, although a bit of over-exuberance
from the AS/400 team is not something to be too critical about at
this time. Adding a well-engineered data warehouse to the picture
bridges the gulf between the still proprietary ERP world and the
open content idea behind the enterprise portal. Let it be
remembered - although the situation is improving, it remains far
easier to put information into an ERP suite than it is to retrieve
it. But if there is a server that can help solve this problem, then
the AS/400 does look superior to the immediate competition.