Actian, Intacct and NetSuite are setting the bar higher in addressing customers’ needs for the coming year. We asked these three heavyweights in the business software space, each a leader in its market segment, what they’re investing in to help enable customers to achieve their desired business outcomes.
Here’s what you need to know about gaining a competitive edge for your business, as explained by Mike Hoskins, Actian’s CTO; Rob Reid, Intacct’s CEO; and Dan Miller, NetSuite’s general manager of software vertical and vice president of finance.
In 2015, we’ll see the conversation move from the flavor of Hadoop to the analytic outputs layered on top of and the infrastructure around Hadoop that will drive business value.
Actian is leading the way to the Brave New World beyond the Hadoop distribution discussion to help organizations gain the promised value from Hadoop analytics. We’re transforming Hadoop from a data lake into an industrial-grade analytics engine that drives real revenue and real business transformation for organizations, no matter where they are on their analytics journey.
In 2014, Actian introduced the Actian Analytics Platform – Hadoop SQL Edition, which changed the Hadoop analytics game forever by giving millions of business SQL users the ability to perform high-performance big data analytics in Hadoop. In 2015, we’ll continue to supercharge enterprise-wide adoption of Hadoop by providing the analytics infrastructure organizations will need to achieve the business outcome they desire.
As the source, types and amounts of data continue to expand, so will the need for different analytic outputs. Actian prepares its customers for the rapid pace of technology evolution by providing an analytics infrastructure platform that can ingest any type and size of data from any source, transport it into Hadoop in a way that any analytics engine can use it, use a variety of advanced analytics techniques and outputs to identify meaningful correlations and patterns in near real time, and prompt business actions that deliver value based on those insights. No matter the chosen analytic output, Actian customers can get there with the Actian Analytics Platform.
— Mike Hoskins, Chief Technology Officer, Actian
At Intacct our top priority is understanding our customers’ most important challenges, opportunities and requirements so that we can deliver better business value to them. Our strategy is shaped through continuous interactions with customers such as Executive Advisory Board meetings, on-site business reviews, social interactions surrounding ideal solutions and consulting, product roadmap sessions and hands-on previews, and our annual customer conference.
We are constantly expanding our involvement with online communities and local user groups to get closer to our customers and to have our customers get closer to one another. By knowing the business needs of our customers, and maintaining a continuous loop of listening, investigating, and taking action, our quarterly software updates always deliver valuable solutions and services that delight both new and long-term customers alike.
— Rob Reid, CEO, Intacct
We’re going to continue delivering end-to-end solutions the market demands with strong industry-specific functionality. That means solutions that help cloud, Internet and traditional software companies address the following challenges:
- Global and multi-subsidiary financial management. NetSuite will continue to address the needs of companies growing globally with support for multiple currencies, languages and taxation and regulatory requirements. More specifically our multi-book functionality facilitates compliance with multiple accounting standards around the world. We’ve already announced support for the upcoming EU VAT change and will address future changes in 2015 as they appear.
- Complex revenue recognition and billing. Software companies confront significant challenges with recognizing revenue thanks to revenue streams that span subscription, product usage and services. At the same time rev rec regulations continue to evolve, and NetSuite is at the forefront of working with companies as they begin to prepare for the adoption of ASU 2014-09. We will continue to provide and enhance our robust, flexible software that addresses both current and future needs.
- Optimizing recurring and subscription revenue streams. NetSuite will also continue to provide software companies with the sophisticated financial software they need to ensure they’re feeding their recurring revenue engine through our solutions that tackle billing, subscription management, contract renewals and upsell/cross-sell.
- Maximizing the efficiency of embedded professional services teams. NetSuite has already released the only cloud-based Services Resource Planning system, bringing together the world of ERP and Professional Services Automation. We’ll continue to enhance that system and educate the marketplace on the importance and value of SRP.
- Enhanced, intuitive user interface. NetSuite has been a pioneer in user interface design, leading businesses away from the Windows desktop metaphor and leading the way with features like in-line editing and incorporating AJAX technologies. We will continue to refine and enhance the UI to ensure users get the best experience possible.
- Mobile support. With recent releases for both Android and iPhone, NetSuite will continue to lead the way creating applications that customers can use to run a business anywhere their smartphone or tablet takes them. Strong, sophisticated mobile capabilities will continue to be a focus for us in the coming years as people continue to expect greater mobility from enterprise applications.
- A strong, reliable partner ecosystem. Last year, NetSuite introduced the Built for NetSuite program, a way for customers to verify that our partner solutions have been built to NetSuite’s high standards and best practices. We’ll continue to verify partner solutions and add only the best partners that deliver value to our customers.
— Dan Miller, GM of software industry vertical and vice president of finance, NetSuite
Mike Hoskins is chief technology officer at Actian. He directs Actian’s technology innovation strategies and evangelizes trends in big data, and cloud-based and on-premises data management and integration. Mike is a respected thought leader who has been featured in TechCrunch, Forbes.com, The Register and Scobleizer. He speaks at events worldwide including Strata, DeployCon, and Structure Big Data. Mike received the AITP Austin chapter’s 2007 Information Technologist of the Year Award for his leadership in developing Actian DataRush. Follow Mike on Twitter.
Robert Reid is CEO of Intacct Corporation, a leading provider of cloud financial management and accounting software. With more than 30 years of experience in the software industry, Rob has a proven track record of driving explosive growth at innovative companies, and has demonstrated a deep expertise in bringing cloud computing to the world of business applications.
Daniel Miller is general manager of NetSuite’s software vertical and vice president of finance. He brings over 25 years of professional experience to NetSuite, most recently as SVP and CFO of Nexant where he managed accounting and IT corporate service groups, and led financing initiatives to support strategic growth plans. He began his career as a senior accountant with Deloitte & Touche, subsequently serving as senior treasury manager for Genentech and corporate controller for Extreme Networks before moving to executive roles.