Computerworld has an interview with Lawson's CEO Harry Debes, Below are some interesting excerpts from the same:

Harry Debes took over as CEO of Lawson Software Inc. in June 2005, just as the company was acquiring Sweden-based Intentia International AB, a deal that would make Lawson one of the top ERP vendors in size.

On SaaS - but I'm not sure the marketplace wants an SaaS model for all software delivery. We're not getting that feedback from our clients. I'm not aware of classic manufacturers who want that model for financials or other ERP software. If it were so, everyone would have gone there already, because the customer demand would be there.

On Oracle - I applaud Oracle for trying to make its portfolio a one-stop-shop offering wherever possible. That seems to be working for the bottom line but not the top line. The difficulty of being an acquired customer is that, in the short to medium term, you have one vendor, but you can't immediately get to one integrated solution. You still have a series of disparate products.

Competition - the good news is that the customers want choice, not just one flavor.Right now, there are a lot of media representatives and analysts telling the customer community, "Here's the deal: You can have two wines. One's a California red, and the other's a German white, and that's it. Which do you like?" The customer doesn't want just one flavor of red or white - they want the pinot and the zinfandel, too. The customer wants a choice.

Technology - As technology advances and we approach a service-oriented architecture, the interface between Lawson and other solutions becomes increasingly easier and less complicated and less of a risk for our clients.

Tags: lawson - erp - enterprise+software - ceo - interview - computerworld

Source: 1

Prashanth Rai