MGI Research

Until recently, successful SaaS companies have excluded core manufacturing functionality, and focused on departmental and/or horizontal functionality far from the plant floor.  That’s about to change. Rootstock Software, founded by a team of experienced manufacturing ERP experts, is creating a new generation of manufacturing applications based in the cloud. In this 20 Questions session with Rootstock Software CEO Pat Garrehy we explore the following key issues:

• The feasibility of using a SaaS model for manufacturing apps
• How to leverage cloud platforms like Force.com and NetSuite for complex applications and
• The experience of selling and deploying SaaS manufacturing apps into customer environments of different sizes, locations and industries

Pat Garrehy is singularly qualified to share his views on these topics. Prior to his role as the CEO of Rootstock, Pat has served for over 20 years as the CEO of Relevant Business Systems, a full-suite ERP solution for defense and aerospace industries. Simillarly, Rootstock is unique amongst manufacturing-focused SaaS vendors to run in both the NetSuite and Salesforce (Force.com) clouds.

In this research report we take a closer look at the challenges of deploying enterprise applications to the Cloud. Virtualization and Cloud Computing are transforming requirements for infrastructure and application management tools. Management automation problems that were seemingly solved ten to fifteen years ago are re-appearing again in completely new contexts and challenge IT organizations and incumbent management tools vendors. These discontinuities in the market create opportunities for startups such as XebiaLabs; - a firm focused on application release automation tools for virtualized and cloud-based environments. As part of the “20 Questions,” an MGI Research Interview Series with leading technology industry thinkers, doers, investors and observers, Igor Stenmark recently interviewed the CEO and VP of Product Management of XebiaLabs, - Coert Baart and Andrew Phillips.

20 Questions with Mark Symonds, CEO of Plex Systems

SaaS upstarts are a real threat to the established revenue streams of the major enterprise applications vendors. Even with recent activity in the space – Infor buying Lawson, Apax’s acquisition of Epicor (and subsequent merger with Activant Solutions), Microsoft’s efforts with Azure and Dynamics, and SAP’s re-launch of Business ByDesign – it may be too little, too late for these entrenched leaders to make the cultural, technology and financial shift to push the SaaS delivery model into SMB manufacturing. Plus, customers remember the pain and disruption with their last ERP implementations; are they really ready to rip and replace? In this in-depth interview, Mark Symonds, CEO of SaaS ERP vendor Plex Systems, Inc., shares his perspective on whether the Force.com platform can handle the demands of complex manufacturing platforms, how the iPad is transforming manufacturing, and why SaaS vendors struggle when selling into medical device companies. MGI Research’s “20 Questions” is a C-level interview series with leading technology industry innovators, investors and executives.

Cloud and virtualization are forcing IT organizations to completely re-think their systems, security and network management strategies.  Both the requirements landscape and the applicability of existing management tools are being challenged and redefined by multi-pronged advances in cloud computing, mobile technology, agile development, and social media. While the incumbent management tools software vendors have consolidated, a new generation of companies have taken the spotlight. The new entrants bring technologies that have been built from the ground up to address modern infrastructure and help IT address the rapidly increasing regulatory and compliance mandates. One such emerging company is LogLogic – a California-based firm focused on tools that optimize security and compliance management. As part of “20 Questions,” an MGI Research Interview Series with leading technology industry innovators, investors and executives, Igor Stenmark recently had an in-depth discussion with Guy Churchward, the CEO of LogLogic. Conversation topics ranged from how IT management and security tools will evolve in world defined by virtual resources and cloud services to the opportunities and challenges faced by LogLogic.