UNIT4 Warns Buyers Against Black and White View of Cloud Adoption

SLIEDRECHT, The Netherlands, February 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- UNIT4, the world's leading provider of business software for fast changing organizations, today cautioned ERP solution buyers against buying into "all or nothing" cloud computing models being promoted by some industry technology analysts.

A number of reports published in December/January, providing predictions for cloud computing in 2011, promote the one and two dimensional views held by some industry analysts, suggesting that multi-tenant cloud is the only way to gain the advantages inherent to cloud computing.

"We're not exactly sure what is driving some of these analysts to such black and white views but they are causing confusion among the buyer community they are supposed to serve," said Ton Dobbe, Vice President of Product Marketing, UNIT4. "What we are seeing and hearing from software buyers is very different. UNIT4 has a direct line to nearly 6,000 organizations and the reality is that these analyst predictions have little or no bearing on what much of the largest buyer segment - the mid-market - is asking for from vendors. This holds particularly true for the highly volatile market segment that we call Businesses Living IN Change (BLINC). Today's cloud solutions are starting to come of age when it comes to functional scope, and although they serve the needs of many organizations, they do not support the needs of a rapidly growing group of organizations that experience ongoing pressures from business change."

UNIT4 has successfully installed several hundred organizations both on multi-tenant cloud solutions, but also a growing number on hybrid, virtualized cloud computing models that are reaping substantial cost savings. In a recent case study, ( http://www.unit4.com/products/agresso-business-world/vita-cloud-angel) the CFO of one European client, PRI Pensiongaranti, reports that UNIT4's hybrid cloud computing model has quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly met all of the company's cloud computing requirements - without the underlying data security, data residence and change control concerns that are still driving many ERP buyers away from pure cloud computing models.

"The underlying architecture of an application, whether cloud or on-premises, either supports easy change or it doesn't," Dobbe continued. "Rapidly changing companies in particular are seeking technology options that meet their own unique business requirements. Consequently the organizational and operational effects when dealing with reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, compliance and regulation etc, are still not addressed by the majority of on-premises or cloud solutions. It's therefore likely that the key drivers for replacement of on-premise ERP will continue in the cloud era. The big ERP companies have successfully glossed over this issue and convinced some industry analysts that cloud technology solves the change problems these companies have always had. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Instead, UNIT4 advises enterprise solution buyers to focus on their business requirements first, then their technology management preferences, and only then their deployment models. Focusing only on rapid-change organizations that UNIT4 calls BLINC, UNIT4 offers two change-supporting cloud-based solutions with a choice of deployment options:

    - A full ERP suite mode for Agresso Business World (called Vita Cloud
      Angel (TM))

    - A financials-suite- only approach for Coda Financials (called Coda
      Cloud Rebel (TM)), for organizations preferring to mix and match their
      own best of class solution set.

About UNIT4

UNIT4 (http://www.unit4.com/) is a global business software and services company aimed at helping dynamic public sector, and commercial services organizations to embrace change simply, quickly and cost effectively in a market sector it calls 'Businesses Living IN Change' (BLINC)(TM). The Group incorporates a number of the world's leading change embracing software brands including Agresso Business World, our flagship ERP suite for mid-sized services intensive organizations and Coda, our best-of-class financial management software.

With operations in 17 European countries, as well as 7 countries across North America, Asia Pacific and Africa and sales activities in several other countries, revenue of EUR379.4 million was realized in 2009. UNIT4 is headquartered in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands and has over 4,000 employees. It is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and is included in the Amsterdam Midcap Index (AMX). For more information on UNIT4 or any of its operating companies, please visit the website at http://www.unit4.com or contact:

    Emma Hoyle

    Group PR Manager
    UNIT4
    +44-1423-537-977
    [email protected]

SOURCE UNIT4