SOLOMOVE
SOLOMO is all the rage. Social, Local, Mobile. And while I tend to be skeptical about "rages", this is a powerful set of themes driving innovation in software--both consumer and enterprise. I'd like to add one more phenomenon--maybe not quite on par with the...
Understanding 2011 and 2012 through the lens of Enterprise Software
It's rare that I post on topics other than enterprise or e-commerce software, but at the end of the "Year of the Protester" (according to Time magazine), I could not help but to see parallels in the world at large and the world of enterprise software. (I suspect this...
The Big Picture of B2B Commerce Solution Providers–Revision 1
My last post was an attempt to categorize many of the B2B software providers that engage in commerce related activities between buyers and suppliers. (I guess I could call them B2B supply chain providers, but the supply chain term conjurs up images of planning and...
The Big Picture of B2B Commerce Solution Providers
As you consider the world of software companies that serve businesses, especially in the supply chain arena, you typically consider only a small segment of that world. For instance, given the excitement around cloud computing, you might consider only those providers...
What do you make of EBIX?
Ebix is one of the most interesting, and controversial, Industry in the Cloud (IC) providers I follow. (It's stock symbol is also EBIX.) Ebix describes itself as " a leading provider of On-Demand software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance...
Whither (Wither?) the EDI Giants?
If you are interested in B2B e-commerce, you are interested in the history and future of the EDI giants: GXS and Sterling Commerce.
The Open Table Flywheel
In the last post, I wrote that B2B networks, marketplaces, and Industry in the Cloud (IC) platforms tend to grow like flywheels, rather than like viruses with "tipping points". One of the reasons for this, as anyone who has sold software to a business knows, is that...
Tipping Points and Flywheels
Ever since Malcolm Gladwell wrote the eponymous book, tipping points are popular. Unfortunately, most B2B markets are more like flywheels.
The Right Metrics for ICs, including “Gross Yield”
In preparation for the last post on pricing, I was reviewing the annual reports and presentations from a wide variety of Industry in the Cloud (IC) providers. Doing so reminded me of the importance to ICs of tracking the right metrics and, equally important, ignoring...
