With the support of QBS input, a first rough analysis of the websites of several leading ERP vendors reveals the following picture:

• Infor provides and/or supports an impressive array of solutions. The Solutions page on their website boasts no less than 68 (!) different solutions in the domains of ERP, CRM, HCM, PLM, SCM and EFM. In several cases, it’s unclear exactly which of the solutions is being presented here. In any case, these include Infor LN (previously Baan), Infor LX, Infor M3 (previously Movex), Infor System21, Infor Pegasus, Infor Evolution and Infor SunSystems. From the website, it’s not immediately clear which solutions comprises the most strategic offering(s). But would really all 68 be of strategic value for Infor?

• Microsoft supplies and/or supports four different ERP solutions: Dynamics AX, Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP and Dynamics SOL. The two last are in use in the English speaking countries only; the first two worldwide. Dynamics AX is offered to larger (international) companies. Dynamics NAV, GP and SOL are the solutions for the small and medium sized companies. Dynamics AX, NAV and GP are cloud ready and appear to be strategically important for Microsoft.

• Oracle provides and/or supports the Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle JD Edwards, Oracle Peoplesoft and Oracle Fusion Applications, among others. For Oracle JD Edwards there are even two solutions: World and EnterpriseOne. Here, Oracle Fusion Applications would appear to be the main strategic platform for the future. Although the company seems to be struggling for many years in bringing this solution to the market.

• Sage supplies and/or supports an impressive series of ERP solutions. It starts with Sage Line 50, Line 100, Line 200 and Line 300. These are their traditional product lines. On top of that there is a series of cloud offerings called Sage One, Sage Live, Sage Impact and Sage X3. The last one seems to be the strategic Sage offering. But is X3 the cloud solution that really has a fit with all their existing customers?

• SAP provides and/or supports SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business All-in-One, SAP Business ByDesign, SAP Business One, SAP ERP and SAP R/3. SAP positions Business One as a solution for small businesess. All-in-One and Business ByDesign for medium-size companies and S/4HANA for enterprise companies. Business ByDesign seemed to be their strategic cloud offering. However, after various attempts in bringing Business ByDesign to the market, last year it was ‘moved’ to their partner channel. It’s unclear what the impact of that move is.