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The news is once again flooded with artificial intelligence announcements, including Oracle, Microsoft, and Salesforce releases. Aptean announced it has completed the acquisition of Affinitus Group, a provider of cloud-based enterprise resource planning solutions built to support the specific needs of fresh produce, food service, bakery, meat, dairy, and agricultural organizations. IBM announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Vista Equity Partners to purchase Apptio Inc., a provider of financial and operational IT management and optimization (FinOps) software, for $4.6 billion.

Artificial intelligence continues to take the ERP industry by storm, as Qlik debuted a suite of OpenAI connectors that will help customers seamlessly and securely bring Generate AI content into Qlik to support a wide range of cloud analytics and automation use cases. Salesforce followed suit with the release of new innovations including Consumer Goods Cloud for Service, Trade Promotion Effectiveness dashboards, and Mulesoft Direct for Consumer Goods. Aside from technological advancements, vendors continue to invest in preexisting solutions to extend their technology stacks and deliver great value to clients. A clear example was IFS’ acquisition of Poka, Inc., the Quebec-based provider of a connected worker platform. Oracle also extended its offerings with the opening of its new EU Sovereign Cloud to help private and public sector organizations across the European Union gain more control over data privacy and sovereignty requirements.

E-commerce is much more than a virtual shopping cart – it can be a multi-channel solution that resolves complex pain points across the company or a best-of-breed solution nightmare that creates silos of data across many software applications. For many businesses, eCommerce solutions play an essential role in managing multiple selling channels to provide tailored shopping experiences to consumers, business customers, vendors, and employees. In this episode of The ERP Advisor, Shawn Windle will be joined by special guest, Shiloh Pettyjohn, Chief Experience Officer & Co-Founder of Web Studios West, to discuss the art of transforming your business with a well-crafted e-commerce solution.

Oracle released its fiscal 2023 Q4 and full-year results. The continued growth within the cloud ERP space has driven leadership changes at Workday, with the appointment of Emma Chalwin as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), effective July 17th, 2023. Salesforce's release of a new Mobile App Plus: Offline Access solution to help mobile employees improve their productivity and access data from across Salesforce’s Customer 360 – including in areas with limited or no internet connectivity.

The erp space has been turbulent following recent layoffs, negatively impacting many employed within the technology consulting industry. It can be difficult to navigate these confusing market trends and cut through the clutter to take the right steps toward your next consulting position.

Salesforce and Google Cloud announced an expanded strategic partnership to help businesses utilize data and AI to deliver more personalized customer experiences, better understand customer behavior, and run more effective campaigns at a lower cost across marketing, sales, service, and commerce. UKG reached an agreement to acquire Immedis, a global payroll provider with technology and services supporting over 160 countries. Deltek announced the newest version of its ERP for government contractors, Costpoint, adding enhanced functionality, new innovative features, and a forward-thinking design, specifically built for managing government contracts and operations.

Salesforce announced financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2024 ended April 30, 2023. Aptean announced its acquisition of TOTALogistix, a provider of cloud-based transportation management systems (TMS) to manufacturers, retailers, and distributors in North America. Oracle announced new capabilities in MICROS Simphony Cloud Point-of-Sale (POS) that help restaurants be more productive and expand selling channels, implementing direct integrations to third-party delivery services, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, as well as built-in QR Codes for payments.

This week, financial results were released from Workday and UKG. Workday announced results for the fiscal 2024 first quarter ended April 30, 2023. UKG provided a business update for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, ending March 31, 2023. In other news, Sage Intacct and IFS announced major product releases. Sage Intacct received updates to help businesses across the world simplify financial consolidations, streamline operations, and improve financial planning. IFS announced the general availability of the first of its twice-yearly IFS Cloud releases, aiming to support customers by enhancing business agility, building resilience, and mitigating risk. Deltek entered into an agreement to acquire Replicon.

ERP Advisors Group had the pleasure of attending the 2023 Epicor Insights Conference in Las Vegas, which focused on “turning insight into action.” Epicor’s CEO, Steve Murphy, summarized the event, stating, “To be successful in today’s marketplace, Makers, Movers, and Sellers must make data-driven decisions faster and with greater accuracy. It’s all about the right insights, in the right place, at the right time.” Related, SAP also hosted their conference in Orlando last week, SAP Sapphire in 2023. SAP made announcements across Business AI, the Green Ledger, and business-ready innovations.

After a successful ERP go-live, most business leaders want to take a hiatus from the intensity, expense, and disruption of managing implementation and the furthest thing from their mind is optimizing their new software. However, before a new system can truly revolutionize business operations, executives must freshly consider the organization’s strategy with the new possibilities available to them with more modern software. In this episode of The ERP Advisor, resident ERP expert Shawn Windle will lay the groundwork for reimagining the future of your business with a roadmap of post-go-live optimizations.

After a successful ERP go-live, most business leaders want to take a hiatus from the intensity, expense, and disruption of managing implementation and the furthest thing from their mind is optimizing their new software. However, before a new system can truly revolutionize business operations, executives must freshly consider the organization’s strategy with the new possibilities available to them with more modern software. In this episode of The ERP Advisor, resident ERP expert Shawn Windle will lay the groundwork for reimagining the future of your business with a roadmap of post-go-live optimizations.

SAP and IBM announced that IBM Watson technology will be embedded into SAP solutions to provide new AI-driven insights and automation to create more efficient and effective user experiences across the SAP application portfolio. Google Cloud and UKG announced an expanded partnership to bring Google Cloud’s generative AI (GenAI) capabilities into the UKG HCM suites. FinancialForce announced that it had changed its name to Certinia to align with the company’s evolution and delivery of a comprehensive Services-as-a-Business (SaaB) platform. Epicor will host the 2023 Epicor Insights Conference next week. ERP Advisors Group will be attending the event to provide firsthand coverage of Epicor's advancements in 2023 and beyond. Don’t miss out, subscribe to our channels, or follow us on social media for coverage of the event. Register for EAG's AI Webinar at: https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/events/transforming-your-business-with-financial-automation

Microsoft Corp. announced its results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2023, compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. IFS announced its financial results for the quarter ending March 31st, 2023, with recurring revenues up a significant 48% year-over-year. Additionally, Annual Recurring Revenue was also up 57% year-over-year. Unit4 announced the General Availability of App Studio, a new feature within the Unit4 Extension Kit to assist customers in streamlining their development and automation efforts. This comes just weeks after Unit4’s launch of Unit4 Marketplace, a platform where Unit4 ISV, Reseller, and Service partners can showcase industry and vertical Apps that link to Unit4’s ERP solutions.

The dreaded ERP contract renewal is one of the most daunting tasks a business can face post-ERP implementation. If vital steps are taken upfront during initial contract negotiations, it can ease the weight on executives' shoulders come renewal, but what should businesses ask for? What do these terms mean? And what if great terms were not originally negotiated? These problems plague many businesses unfamiliar with the complex nature of ERP contracts. On this episode of The ERP Advisor, Shawn Windle breaks down ERP contracts, enabling businesses to get the best deal on their ERP software solutions and manage the overall ERP contract renewal process.

Oracle released AI-driven solutions, adding new capabilities to the Oracle Fusion Cloud Application Suite. Salesforce announced new Einstein GPT and Data Cloud capabilities for Flow, its portfolio of automation tools. Epicor has made significant strides to expand globally with hosted services for Kinetic in China and a new data center in India. SAP announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. Register to join ERP Advisors Group on May 11th for our event, “How Financial Automation in ERP Can Transform Your Business”: https://www.erpadvisorsgroup.com/events/transforming-your-business-with-financial-automation

Microsoft Corp. and Epic announced they are expanding their long-standing strategic collaboration to develop and integrate generative AI into healthcare by combing the scale and power of Azure OpenAI Service with Epic’s electronic health record (EHR) software. Infor announced that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has selected it as an Amazon HealthLake Partner, demonstrating Infor’s continued dedication to providing industry-specific solutions powered by high-performing, scalable, and secure cloud services. Salesforce introduced new, HIPAA-compliant Commerce Cloud capabilities that streamline healthcare commerce experiences and lower the cost to serve customers and patients. Additionally, Salesforce announced new Customer 360 for Health capabilities that help healthcare providers deliver more personalized patient experiences and reduce operational costs through new Data Cloud, AI, and automation capabilities. OneStream released its 2023 first-quarter financial results for the period ending March 31, 2023. UKG and the National Women’s Soccer League will make history on April 19 when the 2023 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup kicks off by bringing the first-ever million-dollar prize pool to U.S. women’s soccer.

Sage announced the launch of Sage Intacct on Microsoft Azure in the United States, shortly after Sage Active's debut on Microsoft Azure in France. QAD released the latest enhancements to QAD Adaptive ERP along with other QAD Adaptive Applications. Microsoft launched its 2023 release wave 1 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a rollout of new features and enhanced capabilities slated for release between April and September 2023. Sage announced a new partnership with Morehouse College, the nation’s only historically Black liberal arts institution.

The economy can be a rollercoaster, with ever-evolving trends, technological advancements, and more. During a time when banks are failing, oil prices are going up, and there is continuing leadership turbulence in the country, it can be difficult to be optimistic about the future state of the market or even begin to consider a potential ERP evaluation, but is that really the right mindset? Join ERP expert, Shawn Windle, in evaluating the case for ERP during uncertain times.

Blackbaud announced the general availability of a new expansive feature for Blackbaud TeamRaiser in the U.S. and Canada. Good Move is designed to help charitable organizations energize their constituents and raise more with mobile-first gamified activity-tracking and peer-to-peer fundraising experience, leveraging Kilter acquired by Blackbaud in late 2022. Microsoft announced that it is bringing its AI offerings to cybersecurity with the launch of Microsoft Security Copilot, a tool designed to quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the threat landscape overall. Salesforce announced new Automotive Cloud features to assist automotive companies in increasing productivity, revenue, and customer loyalty through immersive, in-car experiences powered by real-time personalization and building truly connected experiences. UKG is helping organizations of all sizes and across all industries transform payday and empower their people to improve financial wellness with UKG Wallet, offering earned wage access, budgeting tools, financial literacy and counseling, and peer-to-peer payments.

Blackbaud confirmed that its board of directors received, thoroughly reviewed, and rejected an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the Company for $71.00 per share in cash. Microsoft Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact announced a new collaboration with The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, a non-profit committed to growing inclusion and access for entrepreneurs worldwide. Sage announced the launch of its Sage Foundation Growth Program incubator to empower nonprofit leaders in the United States. Salesforce recapped its philanthropy in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023, ended January 31, 2023. NetSuite launched MyLearn, a new digital learning platform that provides access to live training and on-demand modules in a personalized and engaging environment. SAP announced GROW with SAP, a new offering to help midsize customers adopt cloud ERP that enables speed, predictability, and continuous innovation, offering the benefits of rapid deployment and frictionless updates.

The topic at the forefront of ERP trends in recent years has been the advancement and widescale offering of Cloud ERP, with an increasing number of legacy ERP users taking the plunge into major ERP upgrades. As Cloud ERP advances, customers find themselves disoriented by a lack of clarity around the future of legacy applications and their impact on their enterprises, fearing the worst. In this episode of The ERP Advisor, ERP Expert Shawn Windle will be joined by special guest, Acumatica’s Vice President of VP Partner Programs and Strategy, CJ Boguszewski, to assist legacy software users in confronting their ERP migrations to the cloud.

Oracle announced its fiscal 2023 Q3 results. Last week, we also had the pleasure of attending Oracle’s Strategic Leadership Conference in Nashville. Microsoft released details surrounding Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is currently still in testing with select commercial customers. Salesforce launched Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI CRM technology to deliver AI-created content across every sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT interaction. In tandem, Salesforce Ventures, the company’s global investment arm, launched a new $250 million generative AI fund. SAP announced it has agreed to sell all of its 423 million shares of Qualtrics International Inc. as part of the acquisition of Qualtrics by funds affiliated with Silver Lake, as well as CPP Investments.

Workday released results for the fiscal 2023 fourth quarter and full year ended January 31, 2023. Salesforce announced results for its fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended on January 31, 2023. Microsoft made significant advancements utilizing its recent investment in OpenAI. First, Microsoft unveiled Dynamics 365 Copilot, aimed at helping enterprise CRM and CX software users save time on routine tasks with new AI-backed tools. Microsoft then introduced Power Virtual Agents conversation booster and AI Builder model with content generation. Epicor acquired DSPanel, a global provider of cloud-based Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) solutions and an existing Epicor ISV partner.

Organizations around the world confront ERP implementations every year; one of the most extensive projects undertaken that can make or break your organization’s future growth. Due to the disruptive nature of this decision, businesses find themselves in the pit of contention, attempting to balance go-live efforts and organizational expectations, leaving many to wonder, “Did we make the wrong decision?” Even when the right system was selected, users need to know how to get through the thick of implementation and post-go-live. Join us on this episode of The ERP Advisor where ERP Expert, Shawn Windle, and special guest, Ranga Bodla, VP of Field Engagement & Marketing at NetSuite, will break down the challenges faced post-implementation to assist ERP users in setting realistic expectations even in times of transformation.