Beyond the Four Walls

With mergers and acquisitions currently stealing so many IT headlines, it seems as though a quiet lull has settled across the industry, making otherwise newsworthy items appear dull. Sure, my e-mail inbox is saturated to capacity with more "exciting" press releases than you can shake a scorecard at, however, the news itself carries a "been there, done that" feel. SAP's purchase of retail software maker Khimetrics is big news, however, it's not exciting because it's not surprising. Home-spun Web sites like Erpgraveyard.com now provide a running history of the latest consolidation concerns, as if to point a laughing finger at the absurdity of the perpetual activity of buying and selling within the IT vendor community.

The hotbed of M&A activity is actually a strong indication that IT functionality has reached a point of maturity. Yes, there will always be customization and consulting fees to fret over. But there is a tech solution that can address any type of business challenge today. Due to the maturity level of today's IT functionality, revenue is expanding beyond the four walls, a point underscored nicely during the closing keynote panel at the recent CGT Conference by Mike Haas, VP and Group CIO, Johnson & Johnson. "The most significant challenge for us is to identify what is truly going to drive incremental growth for both our retail friends as well as for ourselves," said Haas.

This month's cover story on Tasty Baking (Page14) is the epitome of a how a company has cleaned up its internal systems in order to drive incremental growth outside of the company's four walls. As a compliment to this story, check out the Insights piece from Aberdeen on mid-market ERP (Page 10). Be sure to also take in our annual awards coverage (Page 17). Each profile is a prime example of how companies are using technology as a gateway to bigger and better business opportunities. Now that's what I call exciting.