Rootstock, a leading Cloud manufacturing and supply chain ERP solution provider, recently announced its acquisition of Kenandy Inc., a developer of Cloud ERP software.
As noted in the announcement, the acquisition solidifies Rootstock Software’s standing as a leading developer of Cloud ERP applications focused on the needs of manufacturers, distributors and supply chain organizations utilizing the Salesforce Platform.
See the full announcement via PR Web.
Ultra Looks Deeper
Ultra was pleased to recently connect with Patrick Garrehy, the Founder, President, and CEO for Rootstock Software, who addressed the following questions.
Ultra: What does this merger mean to manufacturing and distribution teams who are just now evaluating the Cloud ERP deployment model?
“They now have a bigger, stronger, and more functional alternative to consider – Rootstock on the Salesforce Platform. We believe the Cloud, and particularly Rootstock on the Salesforce Cloud Platform, offers a compelling value proposition for manufacturers and distributors for several reasons.”
“First, manufacturing and distribution have become much more customer- and service-centric than in the past. With CRM and ERP joined at the hip on one platform, product-based companies are in a better position to out-service their competition. The system of engagement and the system of record work together as one. You’ll know more about the customer, you’ll be able to compress cycles out of interactions between departments and you’ll be able to deliver faster.”
“And finally, you’ll have everyone in your company on the same page, which translates into a better customer experience. The customer will no longer be caught in the middle between departments. By offering a more intimate and personal customer experience with our combined CRM and ERP applications, you can stay ahead of the competition.”
“Secondly, the Salesforce Platform was designed to adapt and change. It allows mere mortals to add fields, add objects, create dashboards, change workflows, manage security, etc. It is a “clicks,”,not “code,” approach. This is a drastic difference from legacy ERP systems, which are not only expensive, but also difficult to customize and maintain. Not all Cloud systems were built this way. Some are really just legacy applications hosted in a data center.
“And thirdly, the technology opportunities available to manufacturers and distributors today are unprecedented in my 40+ years in this industry. The problem for manufacturers is that they can’t take on all these new technologies when they are weighed down by legacy, on-premises-based systems, with their budget-draining maintenance and consulting fees. Rootstock’s Cloud ERP and the Salesforce Platform enable firms to consume and utilize more of this new technology.
“I could go on about our incredible costing capabilities, project manufacturing, the AppExchange, the Salesforce IoT Cloud, Einstein AI and analytics, but your readers don’t have all day! The short answer to your question is manufacturing and distribution teams have a robust Cloud ERP alternative to consider on a modern Cloud platform – Rootstock Cloud ERP.
Manufacturing and distribution teams have a robust Cloud ERP alternative to consider on a modern Cloud platform
Ultra: How will the Kenandy solution suite be integrated into Rootstock’s solution portfolio?
“Kenandy products will continue to be supported as a separate product line. Over the next several months, we will evaluate potential product synergies and where we might combine pieces of the applications.”
“At the moment, there is very little overlap between the pipelines and target markets. We might elect to have each product focused on a particular industry, but that has not been determined yet. We are looking at all the options.”
Ultra: How does this acquisition position Rootstock against other Cloud ERP players?
“There are many functional reasons which I could go into, but there is a larger, more strategic trend at play here. Increasingly, we are seeing ERP evaluations encompass much more than functionality (i.e., how many levels in a BOM), which, in many instances, are just table stakes. Businesses are now also evaluating the underlying platform because they are beginning to understand the business, technical and economic ramifications of their choice in platforms. This is because customers are becoming more educated and Cloud platforms are maturing.”
“We’ve seen this same pattern in computing for many years. In the 1980s, companies began to standardize on hardware platforms. Then in the 1990s, we saw companies begin to standardize on databases. All of this was to make sure everything was integrated and played nicely together. In the early 2000s, we saw point solutions in the Cloud proliferate, followed by true Cloud platforms in the last 5-10 years. Early Cloud application adopters found themselves with multiple Clouds and were presented with many of the same integration, data fragmentation, and user-experience issues that early generations of computing faced. Companies are looking to simplify and consolidate onto fewer Cloud environments to address these issues.”
“Now that the Cloud market has matured, we are seeing it consolidate, with winners being chosen. We were fortunate to pick the Salesforce Platform, which has consistently been selected by Gartner as the leader in the Enterprise Cloud application quadrant. Meanwhile, we have emerged as the leading Cloud ERP system for manufacturing and distribution on the Salesforce Platform. As companies start making these strategic decisions, we think we have a winning combination by delivering robust ERP functionality on the premier Cloud platform.”
Learn More
Get more information by visiting the Rootstock website.
For additional insight and analysis of Cloud ERP, download the informative white paper entitled: “5 Steps for Developing a Cloud ERP Transformation Plan.”
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