Microsoft launch welcomed by mid-market accounting vendors
14th November 2005 Last week's launch of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 has been well received by mid-market finance and performance management vendors such as Systems Union as well as Access Accounting which also provides systems to the SME market. Damian Traynor, Global Marketing Director of Systems Union Group told FSN, "We are working hand in hand with Microsoft around the world and see it as a complementary to our product initiatives." Alistair O'Reilly, MD of Access Accounting and winner this week of the Accountancy Age mid-range software package of the year award said, "We've been championing Microsoft SQL Server since 1998 and this news will drive more people to standardise on an industry platform. It's good news."
System Union Group's Traynor is upbeat about the prospects for SQL Server 2005, though not convinced that the BI aspects of the product will have a major impact. "Whilst Microsoft may wish to see this announcement as offering Business Intelligence in the mid-market we see this as very much an infrastructure play. It remains to be seen if end users can generate KPI reporting without the support of IT professionals. However, it's a good thing that this is going to raise the profile of BI in the mid-market and make it available to a much wider audience."
"Some businesses may be tempted to build BI utilising the facilities they are given within Analysis Services and Reporting Services but they should ask the question, is it really the BI that they want? Others will need much more sophisticated budgeting, planning, KPI reporting and analysis. We've seen it before with Microsoft CRM which provides a basic level of functionality beyond Outlook but isn't sufficient for sophisticated users. As for the database, it is priced for the mid-market and will be a major driver for mid-market growth."
Clemens Riedl, Marketing Director of Exact Software, told FSN that the scalability of SQL Server 2005 is now very important. "More and more people in organisations need access to information over the web. In the past, a company with around 700 employees might have allowed 50 end users access to the ERP system but as functionality broadens it is important that more people can tap into this resource. SQL Server could easily allow 200 people affordable access with adequate performance."
Reidli also sees the BI components as development of infrastructure rather than a sophisticated BI solution. "The capabilities in the product will help us to deliver a better BI offering," he said.
Alistair O'Reilly, MD of Access Accounting was also very positive about the impact of the announcement on the mid-market. "We've backed SQL Server from the beginning and have deep skills in the product. We're delighted that SQL Express will support the lower end of our market up to 10 users. The scalability of the database gives our customers the freedom to store all of the information they need for transactions and represents good value for money."
O'Reilly also believes that the latest Microsoft offerings could simplify the management of the mid-range systems displacing some of the in-house utilities built by Access Accounting and enhancing some of their BI offerings. However, O'Reilly is in no immediate hurry to take on the full breadth of Reporting Services. He told FSN, "We will continue to rely on Crystal Reports for some time to come in order to avoid the cost of retraining people in the short term."
"We've been involved in these developments for around 9 months and are very comfortable that we are ready to take full advantage of this release," he added.
