Based on the conversations we’ve had with prospects, analysts and others in the field, we believe that most, if not all, are seeing SAP’s plans to discontinue standard support for their APO suite as the equivalent of an end-of-life plan without a directly replaceable product from SAP. That kind of uncertainty can be unnerving to say the least and only builds on existing frustrations in the market as it relates to supply chain planning solutions. As a result, many are reevaluating their solution strategy. We’ve witnessed that directly on a number of occasions, as enterprises have already replaced APO modules with RapidResponse. Given our success in this regard, we’ve established a formal upgrade program, which provides a proven technology alternative.
This offer demonstrates our confidence that RapidResponse can provide the technology capabilities, SaaS delivery, and innovation cycles that are consistent with the needs of today’s businesses and that are in question with APO’s unsupported future.
In fact, when speaking about SAP supply chain planning and APO in a Forbes article last year, Lora Cecere of Supply Chain Insights stated, “Innovation has slowed. As a result, frustration is mounting. With rising demand volatility and global market complexity, supply chain planning is more important. As a result, the gaps in the software are becoming more visible. This offers an opportunity for competitors to build something that can lay on top of the SAP architecture that can better meet the needs of the line-of-business user.” (Lora Cecere, Bumps, Cracks and Opportunities, Forbes.com, 5/20/2014)
Critical to delivering that is offering RapidResponse as a cloud service. As mentioned in today’s press release, Kinaxis was one of the first to bring the business advantages of cloud solutions to the supply chain management software market. Many large enterprises with the most complex supply chains in the world have chosen and subscribe to Kinaxis RapidResponse and have achieved improved customer satisfaction levels, productivity, and significant cost savings as a result.
This program is available immediately for SAP APO customers who are Kinaxis qualified prospects. For those of you interested in the upgrade path program, please contact us for more information.
Leave a Reply