
If they sold enterprise software on television …
It was either the late night spicy burrito or falling asleep while the television was still on but I could have sworn I saw an infomercial pitching enterprise software. Worse, I could have sworn it was colleague Jon Reed and I selling that stuff! Here’s my recollection of what that interminable, obnoxious ad contained: Brian: […]

BlackLine: The big, understated force in cloud financial software
It’s amazing: Of all the financial applications that could be built, ERP vendors focus on core financials like general ledger. Here’s a firm that serves an enviable clientele — but it’s not a big name brand in financial software (yet).
Intacct: User conference offers clear advantages
Intacct’s user conference served as a coming of age event for this growing mid-market cloud accounting software vendor. New partnerships with Salesforce and American Express were announced, and industry analysts were invited to mix with a happy bunch of customers.
Talk like a modern technology marketer (humor)
Made-up words were in abundance during this fall’s software conference season. Your dauntless reporter traveled the world to bring back the latest in tech marketing speak. If you want to sound like you’re current with today’s dubious jargon, here’s a quick primer to get you all caught up.

The problem is HR, not HR technology
Powerful Human Resources analytic tools were in abundance at the recent HR Technology show in Vegas. But can/will HR departments buy these solutions? Probably not — unless the HR group itself changes.
ServiceNow: Bringing a services approach to more than IT
For years, IT departments have had tools to measure up-time and other metrics. But other internal operational groups often possess fewer of these tools. That isn’t right. New taxonomies, tools and analytics are needed in non-IT spaces.
The cloud wins it all: A post-OpenWorld view of Oracle and ERP
Recent conferences by Infor and Oracle demonstrate that the on-premises vs cloud debate is over. Brian Sommer looks at what happened with Oracle this last year to get to this point.
Reshoring and performance reviews: Two priorities for business leaders
Brian Sommer recommends two must-read articles for executives. One looks at the challenges in getting great talent for a resurgent U.S. manufacturing environment. The other examines why performance reviews deliver adverse business results.
Why Infor’s CloudSuite heralds innovation wave in the financial software market
Infor’s suite of high-end cloud financial software products include a new user interface, in-memory database technology and more. CloudSuite signals a major shift in the application space. Will CIOs bite?

(Satire) Not just for Rock Stars – Now Analysts/Influencers have contract riders!
Contract riders are those special line items people slip into contracts. Some have a valid business purpose (like NO brown M&M’s) and others are a tribute to the requester’s vanity/ego. Do IT analysts/influencers have these? Your ace investigative reporter teamed with the always inscrutable and snarky Frank Scavo to get to the bottom of this. […]