Fernando Labastida: Technology, Austin, Latin America

It’s been too long since I’ve posted to this blog; end of year craziness is my excuse. And why, you ask, am I posting on Christmas eve? You’re probably thinking: what a bad family man, he’s working when he should be spending time with his family in harmonious communion. Well, I’ll have you know I was up real early this morning baking and I’m taking my rest time to write a little relaxing blog entry!

On to the top IT priorities for 2008. According to CIO Insight magazine, the number 1 and number 3 top priorities in terms of technology that will improve a company’s business strategy are business intelligence and data and application integration, at 44% and 29% respectively. Since business intelligence requires data integration tools to build the data warehouses that BI tools sit on top of, then two of the top five priorities regarding technology for business improvement for 2008 will require application integration tools.

According to SearchCIO.com, the top two priorities are enterprise software and business intelligence (again), respectively. Enterprise software implementations achieve minimal value if not integrated seamlessly with other enterprise application. For example, in order to provide a 360 degree view of the customer and to encourage usage of new Saas or on-demand CRM applications, these have to be integrated with order entry and accounting apps, again, requiring a data and application integration tools.

Ok, I’ll stop tooting the data integration horn and get back to baking and preparing brisket. And no, there’s not enough food for everybody!

“Get on the bus!”

I wanted to follow-up on my post about legacy migration from Nov. 30th to comment on some blog posts about ESBs (Enterprise Service Bus) and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture).

For a definition of SOA, I saw a great one on a recent post “SOA Essentials, Part 1,” by Jeff Davis,

“A Service Oriented Architecture, or SOA, represents an approach towards software development that emphasizes the creation of reusable software services that are based upon discrete units of business functionality.”

In other words, certain functions from applications like a CRM or ERP application are “componentized,” and can be put together to make distinct services that serve a particular function such as “create account,” and these services can then be put together to form an “orchestrated business process.”  These new business processes are essentially composite applications that can be created on-the-fly with the new web services technology available today.

An ESB is supposed to the be messaging layer in a SOA environment.  Messages from different applications are communicated, using WSDL and SOAP protocols, and transported in the ESB, or service bus.  However, Blogger Loraine Lawson from IT Business Edge, today references an article by fellow blogger Robin Bloor which essentially expands the mission of an ESB from that of being a SOA-enabler to being an “integration-on-demand” enabler.

ESBs, according to Bloor, after interviewing executives at ESB provider CapeClear Software, “…actually herald from the Enterprise Application Integration days. So, he contends, it’s really more than “just” a messaging software for SOA – it’s an integration engine or mediation engine…”

That still does not address the issue of making the functionality from legacy applications available as a service in a SOA environment. ESB vendors essentially need other integration software, such as Pervasive’s Data Integrator, to provide the “on-ramp to the bus,” or “last-mile connectivity,” on to the ESB. Our experience at Pervasive, with ESB provider Sonic Software, has been that older versions of ERP, accounting or CRM packages, or home-grown applications, don’t have web services APIs.  They need a tool that can connect natively to these applications or to the underlying databases and expose their data or functionality as a service first, before they can actually connect to the ESB.

So in the beautiful brave new world of web services and SOA, where every application uses XML and can communicate with every other application out there, legacy applications do not fit into this perfect picture.  However, it will rear it’s ugly head again and again, and as in my previous post, the majority of data in companies out there is still locked away in legacy applications.

With all the buzz and sexiness of SOA and web services, vendors have created an environment where customers feel inferior if they don’t have the latest modern application.  However, these applications are nothing without data. Data is the one constant at a company, whereas software has become a disposable item. At our company, we have gone through about four different CRM applications, but we have kept the data on our customers.

The majority of data, at companies large and small, exists in old hard-to-get-to file formats or technologies. If a company has been around for at least 20 years, they may have applications on mainframes, or built on older databases that don’t adhere to modern DBMS standards, or data that exists essentially as flat files, such as in COBOL formats.  But getting that data out of older systems and into new, modern systems that utilize these latest technologies is a very hard problem which software vendors typically gloss over.

If an ERP or CRM vendor tells you “migrating your data to our new app. is a cinch, no problem at all,” then you know somebody’s lying.

Most applications these days are built on modern databases that are self-contained wonders. They have things like tables, fields, relationships between these tables and fields, passwords, programming, indexes, metadata, all wrapped in one nice package.

Most legacy systems use older data storage technologies such as VSAM, ISAM or COBOL which have no indexes, metadata, nor relationships, just long rows of data, with rudimentary attempts to indicate what each section of data means, when they were written, etc.

Converting legacy data to data that is neatly placed in rows and columns and in a format that can be utilized by one of the new applications is not something one of the modern SOA vendors can do, and requires a traditional data integration or ETL (Extract Transform and Load) tool to perform.  It’s not sexy or modern, but it’s something countless organizations face every day.

So before going out and buying the latest SOA-compliant whiz-bang application, you need to really consider how you’re going to get all your valuable customer and product data from those old hard-to-get-to systems into your beautiful, shiny new application.

By Fernando Labastida

DM Review is a great source for articles on data and application integration. However, I have to take issue with a recent article on Application Integration for Midmarket Companies. The article starts out on the right foot, comparing enterprise-level ETL and EAI tools and custom coding, and poking holes in both. Enterprise-level ETL and EAI tools are like “using a chainsaw to open a letter,” and custom code is a very risky proposition: it monopolizes the time of the most skilled developers, lacks scalability and flexibility, and is not reusable, among other things.

However, the prescribed solution is all wrong. The article recommends an “integration appliance” as the answer to the midmarket integration challenge, asserting positive attributes such as low-TCO, no need for programming skills, fast delivery, and simpler operations. An integration appliance is a self-contained hardware/software combination that delivers “integration-in-a-box.”

However, customers and system integrators who have had experience with integration appliances point out the following drawbacks:

1. Simple integrations, such as direct mapping of data from one source to another, can be done without programming; however, when complex business rules have to be implemented, a more common scenario, appliances still require programming, often taking more time to implement than customers expect.
2. Appliances tend to be very costly. Up front costs are high and are not justified when the cost of their attendant software and hardware components are factored in; a proven integration application, coupled with a state-of-the-art server, properly configured by a system administrator, is more economical and provides more flexibility. Connecting additional end-points to the appliance, when complex business rules have to be implemented, cannot be done simply through drag-and-drop configuration, but requires programming, increasing the ongoing costs of ownership.
3. Meeting increasing performance demands with an appliance is complicated. Appliances are delivered with a fixed hardware configuration; optimizing the hardware for increasing data volume requires additional intervention by the appliance vendor. The latest application integration software, on the other hand, comes already equipped to utilize additional CPUs or cores if and when the client company decides to add horsepower, which it can do very cost effectively.

The best solution for midmarket application integration is a robust, agile, lightweight, low-TCO, integration software platform, that can either be delivered as a toolset with an easy-to-use yet powerful visual integration interface and extensive connectivity, or as a fully delivered, fixed-price integration solution.

Click here for a free trial of Pervasive’s new Data Integrator V.9, with the revolutionary new Data Mediation Services for creating your own connectors and adapters. After downloading the software, contact me so I can issue you a license key.

I’ve worked in the Latin American markets for many years now, and I have to say it is a difficult market to penetrate for IT vendors. The biggest competition for software vendors is not other vendors, but custom code. Salaries for developers and engineers are very low compared to U.S. salaries, sort of akin to the salaries of Indian engineers which has enabled the explosive growth of outsourced development. So it’s been a pleasant surprise to see that companies in Mexico and Brazil have really taken to the concept of an integration application.

However, there are peculiarities of selling into the Latin American marketplace that I’ve had to learn in order to be successful. I’ve been advised by my system integrator in Mexico that you can’t say your integration platform helps companies “save on development costs,” because development costs are so low anyway. You’ve got to sell them on the time aspect, how an integration platform will enable a company to configure a new integration on-the-fly, or how an integration platform can enable a company to create repeatable and documentable processes that won’t walk out the door with developers who quit.

Another aspect of selling in Latin America, which actually makes an integration platform a more compelling value proposition south of the border than in the U.S., is the IT and application environment of mid-sized companies. Case-in-point, in working with a Mexican Business Intelligence vendor (there are a whole crop of home-grown ISVs in Mexico and Brazil that I’ve discovered), I’ve learned that in the Mexican manufacturing sector, in areas outside of Mexico City, many companies have older versions of Oracle or SAP and have not kept up with their maintenance and support. Despite the fact that both Oracle and SAP have their own ETL tools that they practically give away, these older versions don’t, presenting a quagmire to the Business Intelligence company: their product works on top of a data mart or data warehouse, but these companies have no way, save custom code, to build data marts or data warehouses. An integration tool will enable them to increase their potential market size and go after the mid-market, which in Mexico is ripe for the picking!

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers SHPE

I might be a late-comer to the blogging world, but I think I’m learning the ropes pretty quickly. I’ve discovered an alternate dimension: the blogosphere. I’ve also discovered that there are now new types of blogs, such as newsy blogs, that look just like news sites; they’re very cool. The first one (well, the only one), that I’ve discovered is a blog/news site called SalesforceTimes.com. It was started by Adam Killam, the founder of the Vancouver Salesforce.com User Group. Adam has done a great job of aggregating news about Salesforce.com and creating original content, such as an article speculating about the possible sale of Salesforce.com. I think he’s also looking for some good content to add to the site as well.

By Fernando Labastida

The hottest trend in the IT channel and VAR market, according to CMP’s ChannelWebNetwork, is the move to managed services and business software. To achieve more than 10-15 percent growth in a market dominated by hardware-oriented VARS, solution providers need to offer solutions and focus on software, states Craig Zarley in “How to Grow Your Business.”

A new crop of fast-growth software VARS are popping up and focusing on business applications in the SMB market. CRM is experiencing the biggest growth and adoption amongst solution-oriented VARS, with Microsoft Dynamics taking the charge, and Software-as-a-service vendor Salesforce.com, a formidable challenger, according to Rick Whiting in his analysis of the “VARBusiness 2007 State of Technology Survey: Business Software” in his article “How To Succeed in Business Software.”.

“Today it’s less about the technology and more about the business processes these applications will enable on a vertical industry basis,” said Michael Speyer, a Forrester Research analyst, as quoted in the article by Whiting.

Whiting cites concerns, however, by solution providers surveyed about adopting business software. The high cost of software presents major obstacles, as well as the time and expense of training, “…and the complexities of integrating business applications with other information technology.”

In order for the new business software VAR to truly maximize its growth potential, it must focus on its customers’ business needs, fine-tuning these applications to their particular business processes. However, for customers to maximize the value of business applications such as CRM or ERP, they must be seamlessly integrated with other applications in the enterprise, including legacy applications, flat files and unstructured data. For solution providers to spend valuable time custom coding these integrations instead of focusing on value-added business consulting is a waste of time and can result in important cost overruns for the VAR.

An independent data and application integration tool is a good solution to help VARS focus on high-margin business-oriented activities.

What is an independent data and application integration tool? It is a tool that is a stand-alone product. Companies such as Oracle, IBM, SAP and Business Objects all have their own data integration tools, but because they are part of the afore-mentioned enterprise software companies their neutrality is compromised.

Partnering with them for data integration purposes can cause channel conflicts with whatever business application the solution provider chooses as its bread and butter.

VARs need to look for integration tools that meet the following criteria: they need to be easy to use, with minimal to no coding; lightweight and easy to install yet robust and scalable with superior performance; have a variety of connectors that include legacy applications such as COBOL or ISAM, flat files, databases, major applications, and can play in a web services or service oriented architecture (SOA) environment; must provide data quality assessment and remediation; the company must provide great pre- and post-sales support; and finally, it must have a low total cost of ownership.

Solution providers should not have to worry about long implementation or installation times, nor promote an integration solution that costs almost as much as the business application that is their life-blood. It must be an enabler, not a project in and of itself.

Data and application integration tools can help VARS and solution providers in a variety of ways.

The most obvious is in the migration of data from legacy applications to new applications. New cutting edge on-demand applications are nothing without data, or rather nothing without clean or accurate data. Data integration tools, with data profiling and remediation capabilities, are key to successful software migration projects because of productivity and speed gains in using a visual GUI-based design tool.

With an increasing number of VARS focusing on CRM technology, and the popularity of CRM as the repository of record for customer data, CRM projects can quickly turn into major integration projects. Users learn to love the user interface of applications such as Salesforce.com, according to Raphael Spinelli, CEO of SalesAware, a Salesforce.com System Integrator in Mexico City.

“Salesforce.com users want to be able to view sales transactions, product availability, and trouble tickets from their Salesforce.com user interface,” said Spinelli from his office in Mexico City’s swank Polanco district. “We now have to help them integrate with applications such as SAP or homegrown applications,” added Spinelli.

SalesAware uses a data integration tool in order to provide quick and easy integrations between Salesforce and other applications, while they focus on the more value-added tasks of helping their customers, such as one of Mexico’s largest transportation companies, with business process improvements using Salesforce.com.

While VARs and solution providers are starting to transition to a software and business process improvement model as their strategy for fast growth, there are still some considerations to help make this strategy more productive. Data and application integration tools are often overlooked, and integrators often feel they should be able to do the job themselves. However, custom coded integration projects can become a spaghetti-like, point-to-point, brittle nightmare. VARS and solution providers are much better off partnering with an integration tools vendor to handle the mundane integration tasks, and focus on the important revenue generating activities that provide value to their customers.

Fernando Labastida is an account executive with Pervasive Software, and serves the Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southwest Canada, Minnesota, and all of Latin America. He can be reached at http://www.labastida.com or 512-945-9273.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fernando_Labastida

By Fernando Labastida

There is an interesting phenomenon happening in the small and medium business segment. The widespread adoption of on-demand or software as a service (saas) CRM, led by Salesforce.com, and followed by companies such as NetSuite and RightNow Technologies.

Well, that’s not really new.

What is new is the expanded use of saas CRM software within these mini-enterprises, whether independent businesses or smaller divisions or departments of larger corporations, as their principal business platform. Since saas CRM manages the lifeblood of the business, sales and customers, and is increasingly more user friendly and flexible, it is becoming the preferred method for companies to manage their business.

As a result, it is also becoming the de facto integration hub, or SOA enabler, for the smaller enterprise.

A case in point is the experience of a well-known educational products sales company. It’s parent company sells educational toys through retailers. However, it launched a division that sells education-oriented items to schools and school districts, such as a handheld screen-based interactive tool that uses story narratives to teach English proficiency to non-native English speakers. This newer division established a territory sales model, with geographically-based sales executives selling to school districts in their area.

The main corporate entity has only a handful of account managers who sell to large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys’r'Us. Whereas it is geared towards a retail sales model and related B2B IT infrastructure, the newer division had the infrastructure needs of a territory-based direct sales model. They required a CRM application to track leads, opportunities, and closed sales, and because of the reduced bandwidth of this smaller business unit, they required the efficiency gains of an automated commission calculating application.

With no dedicated IT resources (IT resources are tied to corporate and are available “on-loan” to the new division), and a need to ramp-up quickly, the division chose to bring the CRM and commission calculation functionality of the on-demand model. They chose Salesforce.com and Xactly Corporation, respectively, to fulfill these functions. The one on-premise application they had access to was Oracle Financials for accounting.

The missing piece was to integrate these applications together. They chose to go with a packaged integration platform, adopting their subscription-based pricing model and on-premise software.

In addition to being the CRM platform for the new division, Salesforce.com is also serving as the de facto “enterprise service bus” to incorporate the accounting functionality of Oracle Financials, and to trigger Xactly to do it’s job of calculating sales commissions.

This use of Salesforce.com as a de facto on-demand ESB platform was noted in an August 2007 white paper entitled “Busting Myths of On-Demand Integration,” by Peter Coffee, Director of Platform Research.

“On-demand platforms exhibit the growing capability to provide a foundation for integration,” he said, citing a May 2007 announcement of the Salesforce.com SOA technology that enables the exposure and consumption of web services.

In the same paragraph he notes:

“This is not to say, however, that a move to a Web services protocol strategy (such as that of using a saas application such as Salesforce.com) is a prerequisite for on-demand integration…there are options available for use with the salesforce.com platform” such as custom coding or a third party integration platform.

In other words, on-demand applications, Salesforce.com being the most prominent, are quickly establishing themselves as integration hubs the way ESB providers such as Sonic Software, IBM’s Websphere, and BEA’s Weblogic were formulated to be.

These SOA solutions, however, are cost-prohibitive for smaller companies, divisions or departments, and are often managed by enterprise IT staffs who are unresponsive to the needs of the department. These smaller enterprises have to fend for themselves, and are adopting on-demand applications that require little to no IT involvement.

IT typically has to get involved when it comes to integration, according to Coffee. Such was the case with the educational products company. Their IT department provided the input that the newer division needed to give the technical “thumbs-up” to the integration solution. But due to human bandwidth issues they decided to go with a fully delivered integration solution as opposed to the traditional toolset that is typically sold to IT departments.

Tying together Salesforce.com, Oracle Financials and Xactly Corporation was done in the span of four months and cost less than $50,000. Why did it take that long? Because they had to take a breather between deciding on an integration vendor and a commission calculation vendor.

Compare that with enterprise application integration projects which typically take nine months or more and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you can see why Salesforce.com, together with fully configured integration solutions, are quickly becoming the “integration hubs” or systems of record for the smaller enterprise.

Fernando Labastida is an account executive with Pervasive Software, and serves the Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southwest Canada, Minnesota, and all of Latin America. He can be reached at http://www.labastida.com or 512-945-9273.