Last week, SoftIron launched VM Squared, an alternative to VMware’s vSphere product suite. Apica has formed a technology partnership with Boomi that will see its observability platform powering the observability of Boomi. fabric has announced a joint partnership with Bounteous x Accolite, a digital innovation partner of the world’s most ambitious brands.
Greenly, a leading carbon accounting startup, has raised $52 million in a Series B funding round led by Fidelity International Strategic Ventures. Anima has raised $12 million. Anima is the vendor behind a next-generation clinical operating system. This system helps care teams deliver optimal care plans to patients in minutes.
SugarCRM appointed Paul Farrell as its next Chief Product Officer.
BICS announced that Kaisa will leverage its platform as a primary provider for its voice calls. Kasia is the customer engagement platform used by firms such as Toyota, Suzuki, JLL and eBay. Hoist Finance has deepened its reliance on Vilja with new deposit services in Euros for the Netherlands and Germany powered by Vilja. Quantexa has announced the creation of a Global AI Hub for Health and Social Care in Liverpool using its Decision Intelligence platform.
Nutanix published the findings from its sixth global Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey. Elcom published a whitepaper that looks at the use of smart technology within procurement, specifically within healthcare. Celigo has published the results of its independent survey, “2024 Online Retail Trends Report”.
Enterprise Times published an interview with Justin Giardina, Chief Technology Officer of 11:11 Systems, in which he spoke about cyber resiliency.
ASUS
ASUS Announced the ASUS ESC NM1-E1 GPU server and the ESC NM2-E1 GPU Server last week. It leverages an innovative MGX modular reference architecture from NVIDIA. And is set to redefine the landscape of AI supercomputing, offering unparalleled capabilities and performance.
The ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) announced the ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova gaming headphones. The ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) also announced ROG Carnyx, a professional-grade cardioid USB microphone. It features a 25mm condenser capsule and a 24-bit /192 kHz sampling rate to deliver natural and rich sound.
Bentley Systems
Bentley Systems announced that as of July 1st 2023, Greg Bentley will transition from Bentley Systems’ CEO to Executive Chair of its Board of Directors. Nicholas Cumins, currently COO, will then be promoted to CEO, and be proposed to join the Board of Directors.
Cummins joined Bentley as COO in January 2022 from SAP and previously served as Chief Product Officer of Scytl.
Deltek
Deltek published a number of case studies about customers using its solutions this week. Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA), a firm with over 120 employees. RAA is the world’s largest practice dedicated to the planning and design of museums and narrative environments now uses Vantagepoint. Moving its resource management from broken spreadsheets to the modern solution.
Having used Deltek Vision since 2012, its recent upgrade to Deltek Vantagepoint ERP has enabled it to considerably improve processes across the organisation. For example, project accounting is improved with the approval process for accounts payable invoices now automated.
iplicit
iplicit has rolled out a new partial VAT feature for charity finance teams. The update allows users to apply a flexible range of partial VAT rules to a transaction. This enables the calculation to be carried out automatically when the data is entered – based on an account code, fund, project or a range of other criteria.
Users can also employ iplicit’s unlimited accounting dimensions to specify that the partial VAT rule should apply to particular projects, grants, awards or types of funds automatically.
AlphaPlus, a leading education consultancy, is using Deltek Maconomy as its core enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. This will combine project accounting and project management – and get a complete view of its operations. The firm has found that the cloud-based solution easily integrates with its other systems of record. Including CRM and has helped automate tasks across the organisation.
Jackson Clements Burrows (JCB) Architects has been bringing architecture, interior design and urban design best practices to education, public sector, multi-residential and commercial building projects across Australia. It now does so with the assistance of Deltek Vantagepoint. JCB selected Vantagepoint to help transform its business.
Matthew Tence, Practice Manager at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, commented, “Deltek’s solutions are widely used in the industry and have the right features for our organization. And we know Deltek has the experience and capabilities to implement everything we need – in the way we need it.”
JCB has already moved its front office successfully, including CRM, project management and resource management. It will next migrate its back office, including core finance and project accounting, to the new solution. It is already seeing the benefits.
Makip
Makip announced two more customers for Unisize. Ueni Trading company have started to use Unizise for its Pelle Morbida website and its FairLiar website. FairLiar is a golf fashion website based in Korea.
Monta
Monta has added Crane Payment Innovations (CPI) payment terminals to their list of fully supported contactless payment terminals. New regulations which came into effect on 24 November 2023, mean that charge point operators (CPOs) must now offer a contactless payment option on charge points over 8kW. EV Drivers now have the option of using the Monta App or contactless payment.
Alok Dubey, Regional Director, Strategic Sales – West at Monta, said, “To ensure a smooth transition to EVs, not only must the charging infrastructure be up to scratch in all parts of the country, but public charging must be simple and seamless – which includes drivers having a choice in the way they pay for sessions. In adding CPI to our portfolio of supported terminals, our business customers now have greater choice when selecting the terminal to fit and subsequently facilitate this payment method.”
NetSuite
NetSuite revealed the latest update to NetSuite OpenAir in a blog. Release NetSuite OpenAir 2024.1 includes over fifty new shortcuts enabling users to quickly navigate to pages such as timesheet, project centre tab, or new record form from the toolbar. There are new resource controls with the OpenAir Project Centre that allow users to search for new or swap already booked resources directly from the Project Centre screen. There is also a new Mobile App which enables users to create draft expenses and timesheets in an offline mode.
Last week, NetSuite held SuiteConnect in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The company has a strong presence there. And continues to innovate in what is a complex regulatory market. New updates, customer stories and localisations announced at the event included:
- NetSuite Analytics Warehouse Helps Businesses in Brazil Leverage AI to Innovate and Grow Faster
- NetSuite Introduces Enterprise Performance Management to Help Businesses in Brazil Increase Productivity, Profitability, and Efficiency
- NetSuite Helps Manufacturers and Retailers in Brazil Adapt and Grow
- NetSuite Expands Customer Support and Education Services to Help Latin American Businesses Optimize the Suite
NetSuite also updated its licensing model in the region, enabling customers to gain limited access to specific job functions without a full NetSuite license. With the new licensing models for task-specific roles, customers can increase productivity, reduce license costs, and efficiently scale operations.
NetSuite also published the story of how Kavak, the leading company in the pre-owned car market in Latin America, is using NetSuite to automate its finance processes and deliver greater visibility for its global operations.
Wilson Ferraz, Global Head of ERP and EPM, Kavak, commented, “The decision to implement NetSuite reflects the global ambition of our organization, and the success we are seeing as we improve access to used car inventory and financing in emerging markets. With NetSuite, we have been able to enhance global finance processes, automate compliance, and streamline reporting to enable faster and smarter decision-making. NetSuite provides a platform that will evolve with us as we expand into new markets and continue to grow our business.”
Rimini Street
Rimini Street published findings from a survey conducted by Foundry, of more than 100 US-based Oracle application managers and leads, database architects, database administrators, and senior IT management. “Forces Driving the Future of Your Oracle Database Road Map.” There were four key findings:
- Current database releases meet business needs, with 78% planning to keep using the Oracle database
- Most customers running 19c or earlier face expensive upgrades or sustaining support in the future
- Customers are challenged by the high cost (38%), and effort to apply security patches (38%), and regular upgrades to maintain full support (37%)
- At least 36% of respondents have outsourced some aspects of their Oracle database management
TSIA
Last week, TSIA published several thought leadership articles, a survey and some frameworks. The articles include:
The Emerging 20: twenty potential AI use cases related to revenue management. (registration required)
XaaS Partner Incentives: Examines how technology vendors can reimagine their partner incentives to drive XaaS revenue growth. (membership required)
The frameworks include:
TSIA Sales Specialization Framework: When, Why, and How to Leverage Sales Specialists for Services, XaaS, and Managed Services. (membership required)
Layers of Customer Loyalty: A Comprehensive Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Program for Support Service Organizations. (membership required)
TSIA’s Wheel of AI Success: A framework for identifying and prioritizing compelling AI use cases within technology companies. (membership required)
A brief report published the findings from the “Getting the Offer Right with AI survey.” It explored how companies were using large language models to create more compelling offers. It looked at which tools were being used and how they were being used. ChatGPT was the most popular and external marketing documentation was the common usage. A full report will be published at a later date. (Registration required)
Workday
Workday announced the availability of Workday Adaptive Planning and Consolidation. A new solution that brings together the robust and agile planning of Workday Adaptive Planning with the comprehensive close and consolidation capabilities in Workday Financial Management.
Terrance Wampler, Group General Manager, Office of the CFO, Workday, commented, “Each organization’s finance transformation journey is unique – not every customer is ready for a complete overhaul. Now, with Workday Adaptive Planning and Consolidation, Workday is providing another starting point on the finance transformation journey for organizations that are hoping to bring efficiency to their financial processes. Hundreds of customers today use Workday consolidation and planning functionality together, and we’re thrilled to provide this to our customers as a standalone solution.”
Yooz
Yooz published a business update celebrating significant growth over the last year. Laurent Charpentier, CEO, commented, “Our relentless pursuit of innovation, coupled with our unwavering commitment to exceptional service and surpassing expectations, has propelled us to unparalleled growth, establishing new standards of success within our industry.”
While the company did not reveal any specific growth figures, it did reveal several new customers in North America, including Cavenders, Young Automotive, and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLB PA). It also saw partner numbers grow, adding Dean Dorton and RKL eSolutions. It expanded its footprint in the UAE and South Africa and looks to grow further in 2024.
The year saw several product announcements and recognition of several industry awards, notably from Spend Matters and G2.
Yooz also published results from a survey about technology in the workplace. It found that AI is feared by many, different from several other recent surveys. Key findings included:
- Fear outweighs excitement for AI, with nearly three times as many respondents viewing AI with apprehension than enthusiasm
- Job displacement concerns are prominent, with many anticipating a negative impact on jobs with minimal creation of new jobs
- Respondents frequently encounter negative news about AI. It is creating the perception of a media overwhelmingly biased against AI
- The construction industry leads in AI resistance, reflecting sector-specific challenges in embracing technology
- Fears about AI extend to business operations and finance, with respondents concerned about AI replacing human judgment in financial decisions, creating new vulnerabilities that could lead to business fraud, introducing new forms of bias in hiring, and increasing liability risk for employers with the rise of AI-driven fraud
Zoho
Zoho has opened a new Australian headquarters in Adelaide, Australia. The company now has 12 people working at the site and a further six across the country as it looks to grow its presence. Rakesh Prabhakar, Regional Manager Australia/New Zealand, commented, “Adelaide has proven to be a fantastic central point for Zoho to cater to our customers across the country – from the far reaches of the Kimberley to the western suburbs of Sydney.
“South Australia is a great city for our employees to enjoy a healthy and balanced lifestyle, raise their families and still have access to world-class festivals and entertainment. We’re proud to hire and train up Adelaide locals who have an interest in business and a passion to kickstart a career in technology.”
