The Business Agility Blog

Every day thousands of companies are trying to maximize the functionality of their  legacy ERP systems on very  tight budgets because upgrading the system  may not be a particularly feasible option. One solution to this problem involves adding a top layer of functionality and utilizing its [valuable] underlying components.

The history of ERPs is an interesting one; their impact on enterprises is and has always been obvious. They’ve always been a revolutionary asset to the organizations who implemented them early on. Simply put, they open up communication between all functions of an organization, and facilitate and improve business processes by doing so. Unfortunately maintaining these systems can be difficult and extremely costly.

ERPs are hefty solutions and are characteristically applied under the ‘one solution fits all’ axiom. These systems are made for any industry vertical, even if they require customization. Since ERPs are built to fit into any business, by default, your company has to fit into the ERPs set of functionality. This can lead to some issues years after the initial implementation.

It is possible to add functionality to an ERP implementation without spending millions. If you have the budget, by all means use the vendor, but when dealing with an older, legacy piece of software, you might want to know about the other options.

Many enterprises choose to extend their ERP by adding a new layer on top of it. This layer can pull data, rules, and business processes from working modules and add say, additional reporting functionality, a single sign on into multiple applications, an extension to your supply chain, or any other type of differentiating application. I’ve seen a few instances of what I’m going to call the ‘legacy systems after-market shop’ where a better ROI is uncovered with some innovative thinking towards business user stories to find updated requirements. These are the symptoms within your organization to look out for:

1. People use Excel spreadsheets and Access to manage specific processes.
2. The performance of your database is noticeably lacking.
3. Input fields no longer represent the functionality they were originally meant for.
4. You still use out-of-the-box fields and logic, rather than ones customized to your business.

The moral of this story is that the implementation that cost you millions years ago can be kept alive and well for a lot less than a full-blown system upgrade. Modern ERP systems are incredibly powerful tools, but these tools need to be kept sharp, and this is just one way of doing so.

Calco-IT to provide specialized training for the Mendix Agile Business Platform

BOSTON & ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – MARCH 29, 2011, – Mendix, developer of the leading agile business application platform, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Calco-IT, a Netherlands-based information technology recruitment firm that specializes in training, coaching and placement of IT professionals and specialists. This partnership is slated to facilitate the training of candidates, specialized in the Mendix Agile Business Platform.

“With our platform, organizations with extremely complex IT environments can create more fully tailored solutions,” said Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix. “Offering a resource for candidates who specialize in the Mendix Agile Business Platform, will enable companies to create and modify applications, in a fraction of the time it used to take, which will ultimately have a positive affect on their bottom-line.”

Calco-IT specializes in medium and large international companies with demanding IT environments, and will now be able to provide their client-base with IT professionals who specialize in Mendix.

“This partnership will enable us to better serve more clients,” states Paul Oostindie, Account Manager, of Calco-IT. “Our clients are increasingly faced with big challenges in modifying their current IT environment. Mendix enables Calco-IT to extend its services, and we see great potential for applying this technology in the healthcare sector, where many developments are taking place, such as in Electronic Patient Records and the integration of existing legacy system. Mendix specialists will allow companies in all sectors to make swift adjustments to solutions, because the technology requires no hard coding.”

About Calco-IT

Calco-IT specializes in training, coaching and placement of both young and experienced IT professionals who are skilled in software development, application management, and functional management and quality assurance. The company recruits candidates and graduate alumni at the college and university level, and guides them throughout a two year course of training. After successful completion of the two-month intensive training in both general IT and a specialization such as Mendix, the candidates are presented to and placed with leading organizations that offer valuable career opportunities. These candidates are then supervised by Calco-IT coaches, at which time the client may offer full time employment.

Mendix will focus on “Achieving Agility Now” at this year’s event

BOSTON & ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – March 16, 2011 – Mendix, developer of the leading agile business application platform announced today that Mendix World 2011 will be held April 28th, at the Van Nelle Fabriek, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Mendix’s customers and partners, as well as leading agile advocates, will gather to review the Mendix Agile Business Platform™ and discuss the future of agile development.

The focus of Mendix World 2011 will be “Achieving Agility Now.” Mendix’s Product Team and global implementation partners will share their experiences utilizing the Agile Business Platform™ to create a future proof technology landscape, within companies of all industries.

“This year’s event will provide our diverse set of attendees a new, wide-ranging view of the implications involved in adopting agile practices” said Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix. “Everyone attending Mendix World will learn how Mendix is pursuing the goal of aligning business and IT with a complete agile application lifecycle management solution.”

Mendix will be welcoming decision makers, product owners, agile development teams, consultants and industry opinion leaders to learn how Mendix is helping enterprises rapidly develop, deploy and manage applications that smoothly integrate with existing legacy systems. The event will highlight new technology advances in application lifecycle management and review the many new uses of the platform, demonstrating how companies are able to deliver solutions faster, while maintaining flexibility.

Mendix invites anyone interested in registering for the conference, or learning more about it, to follow this link.

Utilizing the Mendix platform, Solmate, will develop integration capabilities with financial management application, CODA, extending its functionality

BOSTON, ROTTERDAM & HEDEL, NETHERLANDS – March 15, 2011 – Mendix, developer of the leading agile business application platform, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Solmate for custom application development of CODA applications. As part of the partnership, Solmate, a provider of planning and control, financial management, business intelligence, content management and spend control systems, will combine its product and domain knowledge of CODA with Mendix, to extend its functionality.

“Solmate is a CODA expert, and has a lot of experience developing custom solutions for CODA applications,” said Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix. “By developing custom CODA solutions with the Mendix platform, Solmate will be able to anticipate customer demand faster and more cost efficiently.”

This latest announcement comes on the heels of significant growth for Mendix in 2010. After realizing its sixth consecutive year of triple-digit growth, Mendix continues to focus on the international market with its Agile Business Platform™.

“The partnership between Solmate and Mendix is a confirmation of Solmate’s success as a full-service provider in specific product market combinations,” said Raymond van Polanen Petel, Commercial Director of Solmate. “Mendix’s agile application lifecycle management platform enables us to deliver solutions four-times faster than traditional development tools. Additionally, Mendix offers advantages such as long term flexibility and lower maintenance costs – enabling us to offer even better value-propositions to our customers and prospects.”

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Kairos Society’s Global Summit in New York City – a networking event for college entrepreneurs and current industry leaders. The event was held at the United Nations and the New York Stock Exchange – not typical networking venues, but conducive to the Society’s goal of “Uniting the Brightest Young Minds to Fuel Innovations for a Better Tomorrow.” Beyond the fervent entrepreneurial ambition exhibited by Kairos Fellows, we had the honor of listening to several impactful speakers, one of which was Thomas Goetz, Executive Editor at Wired Magazine.

His talk particularly struck my interest as it relates to the topics I often discuss on this blog; the interaction of end user and software developer, the behavioral change (both organizational and operational) that comes with adopting Agile development, and the cyclical feedback that imparts better aligned software to the enterprise …all wrapped into Goetz’s two words: feedback loops.

He described several instances of feedback loops changing human behavior for the better. For example, we have all sped past speed limit signs comfortably above the limit – but what about those that show you your speed. These signs typically slow you down because you immediately compare your speed to the limit.

In Agile development, feedback loops play a vital role in enhancing the development of enterprise applications. You, the engineer, can deploy your application so that an end user can see the app and provide immediate feedback. You now have an updated set of requirements, wherein you can implement these changes in the next iteration.

As this loop is repeated a few dozen times throughout your software development life cycle, you will have greatly improved the quality and effectiveness of your application. This results in part, because you have encouraged your end user to provide their insights, but also because you’ve innately employed a human sensor of sorts to track your alignment.

This cycle runs homogeneously throughout the development of your application, and on a more macro scale, throughout the lifecycle of your application. In other words, once the application is adopted, consistent feedback from users can be considered a maintenance activity.

The feedback loop phenomena can be observed in any number of activities wherein immediate feedback, by electronic sensor or human subjectivity, promotes an action or behavioral change. Until this weekend, I hadn’t realized the significance of this observation as it relates to the adoption of the Mendix platform. As a matter of fact, it just may be one of its greatest features.

Newly appointed, Paul Campaniello, to bring years of emerging markets and international growth experience to agile business leader

BOSTON & ROTTERDAM, NL – March 8, 2011 – Mendix, an agile business application platform and cloud services provider, announced today that Paul Campaniello has joined the company as Vice President of Global Marketing.

Campaniello brings more than 20-years of experience working with rapidly-growing, global software companies, including Lumigent Technologies, Exchange Solutions Inc., Precise Software and Savantis Systems.

At Mendix, Campaniello’s responsibilities include developing Mendix’s worldwide marketing strategy, execution and sales support.

“Mendix has already experienced significant growth and that speaks to the value its platform delivers,” said Campaniello. “More and more businesses are making Mendix’s platform an integrated part of their application lifecycle and end users truly love the speed and flexibility of the product; I am excited to join a team with such great potential.”

After realizing its sixth consecutive year of triple-digit growth, Mendix is poised to expand internationally with its Agile Business Platform™. Campaniello’s experience in creating visibility in emerging markets will be of significant importance as the company continues to globally mature.

“Mendix has grown organically since its conception in 2005,” said Mendix CEO, Derek Roos. “We have always focused our resources on the research and development of an incredible platform. With the addition of Paul, I am delighted to see our marketing initiatives expand, and look forward to increasing awareness of our brand and our products.”

Agile business-leader expands global reach, following triple-digit growth in 2010

BOSTON, MA & ROTTERDAM, NL – March 2, 2011 – Mendix, an agile software platform and cloud services company, announced today that it has opened new offices in the United Kingdom and South Africa and has expanded its existing Boston office. This expansion addresses the strong demand and growing customer base in these regions and comes on the heels of over 130 percent growth throughout 2010.

“These expansions are a testament to the rapidly increasing demand for of our agile platform,” said Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix. “Opening new offices in the UK and South Africa will enable us to increase our geographic presence to meet the needs of our growing customer base in those regions. Additionally, by expanding our US office, we will be enabled to prepare for the long-term, sustainable growth that we expect in North America.”

As part of the announcement, Gerard van den Houten has been appointed Country Manager of the South Africa office. Van den Houten has held leadership positions in various technology companies, including Magic Software, AQEURO International and Innova Group. He was also CEO of Division 3 in South Africa. Van den Houten joined Mendix earlier in 2010, to manage its growth in the region.

The office in the United Kingdom will be headed by Country Manager, John Milway, who has held senior positions with major software vendors such as BSI, Motorola and Magic Software. Milway specializes in driving and managing high growth for early stage companies. As Country Manager with Magic Software, John led the UK to become its fastest growing subsidiary globally.