In the face of an uncertain economic outlook, organizations as well as government agencies and educational institutions are focused on controlling costs, while also maximizing IT investments that have already been made.
In a special section in this month's issue of Database Trends and Applications magazine, we ask leading MultiValue vendors: What is your company doing to help customers extend the value of their MultiValue assets?
Included in this special section are the responses of nine prominent and well-respected MultiValue executives, including Ken Dickinson, managing partners and co-founder, Kore Technologies; Susie Siegesmund, director, U2, Data Servers and Tools, IBM Software Group; Mike Ruane, president and CEO, Revelation Software; Doug Leupen, president and CEO, Entrinsik; Fred Owen, president, MITS; Lee Burstein, product manager, InterSystems Corporation; David Cooper, lead developer, BlueFinity International; Bob Markowitz, sales executive, jBASE International; and Lee Bacall, president, Binary Star Development Corporation. Here, a sampling of some of the viewpoints expressed.
"Most companies aren't receiving a government bailout and must rely on their own ingenuity to conduct business during these leaner times," observes Kore Technologies' Ken Dickinson. "For some this means cutting costs but for others it signals the time to invest in strategic initiatives. Investments in IT infrastructure may need to be re-prioritized favoring those projects that have a rapid return on investment. Companies considering a complete migration of their ERP system to a non-MultiValue environment may have difficulty justifying the ROI model. Instead, companies may continue to leverage their current MultiValue system, which has a lower cost of ownership and is highly adaptive to changes in the business."
Susie Siegesmund of IBM's U2 Data Servers and Tools, points out, "Applications based on IBM U2 data servers have always offered customers a low TCO. As important as TCO is, however, today's tough economic climate demands more." According to Siegesmund, "Customers need to leverage the business value of their existing enterprise data in order to respond to threats and opportunities in real time. Accordingly, we are providing customers with the tools they need to extend and enhance their U2 applications to capture additional business value."
At Revelation Software, says Mike Ruane, "we're helping our customers extend the value of their MultiValue applications and data by adding value for both end users and developers. Our newest full version of OpenInsight includes new web functionality and reporting tools to enhance the user's experience. It also features a new editor, enhanced form designer, and new network drivers to make the developer's job easier. We've also introduced a new pricing model so that the costs for an installation are easier to understand, offer more value for smaller installations, and includes network products as a part of the base package. And, as always, members of our Works subscription program can make single-user runtime versions of their applications for free."
For MITS, notes Fred Owen, the main business objective is to complement and add value to enterprise software systems by providing quick, easy access to information and allowing users to see their information in new ways. "MITS products extend the usefulness, competitiveness, and life of MultiValue-based systems," he says. "MITS solutions let any type of organization leverage the value of data, software, and processes that are already in place and are a wise investment because they yield a strong return on a comparatively nominal financial commitment."
The need to evolve in order to survive is cited by Lee Bacall of Binary Star. "Charles Darwin once said, 'It is not the strongest species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change,' " says Bacall. "Our focus at Binary Star has centered on enabling organizations to quickly adapt to changing business conditions and improve access to information while minimizing long-term and short-term support requirements."
The entire special section is included in the March print edition of DBTA. To stay on top of all the trends, subscribe here. To access the special section in this special section in the March e-edition of DBTA, go here.