Brittany Hayward Artist Etsy Shop Activities

Really life events and Facebook had killed my urge to blog.  Everything boils down to a status update or tweet.  I'm looking to use some of my SEO abilities and drive some rank and traffic to Brittany's Etsy shop.  So if your interested in looking or even if this is just a link for the spiders to follow that works too.  Brittany Hayward has opened an Etsy Shop

Congratulations on your graduation from SAIC, Brittany.  Very proud of you darlin'.  Good luck with your art and Etsy shop.  This might just be my favorite item ever.  Fused glass bowl

Plexus Online Wins Network Products Guide Reader Trust Award

Network Products Guide, a Silicon Valley Communications publication and a world leading publication on technologies and solutions, has named Plexus Online a winner of the 2008 Best Products and Services Award in the Online Services category.

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A Storm is Coming...SaaS

Watch the financial results and growth numbers of SaaS companies vs. those with only traditional, on-premise solutions.By Mark Symonds, CEO, Plexus Systems, Inc.

Aug. 6, 2008 -- Wang, Data General, Digital Equipment Corp., Prime, Burroughs, Perkin Elmer.
Think about it. When was the last time you heard any of those names? The late 90's -- maybe?

The point is, today they're GONE. "Gone, like Frank Sinatra. Gone, like Elvis and his Mom," to quote the band Switchfoot.

And they're gone because they didn't change with the times. They all had winning formulas in the eighties. They didn't adapt their technologies or their business models or, most importantly, their vision of computing's future. They didn't see the writing on the wall, and now they're gone.

A Storm is Coming...

As I look at the software industry today, particularly in the ERP market space, I am convinced we are in the same position that the entire computer industry was during the 1980s. We are headed for that same kind of a shakeout again.

I am seeing many companies who have not invested in their technologies beyond first or second generation. They were the big names of the '80s and '90s. They have been coasting along just by putting a new .Net front end on a very old data structure and outdated, cumbersome business logic.

That's just lipstick on a pig. They have not moved ahead, and now the ground is shifting under their feet. The landscape is changing dramatically. Totally new names are appearing -- like Plexus, Salesforce.com, Netsuite, RightNow, Ultimate and a host of others.

The industry is beginning another massive metamorphosis and the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is the catalyst.

The SaaS Landscape Today

The stuttering launch of SAP's Business By Design is a great indicator of the magnitude of change coming and the role that SaaS plays.

When CEO Henning Kagermann announced Business By Design, SAP's on-demand ERP product for small and medium businesses, he said it was the most important announcement in the history of their company. That was no exaggeration.

SAP has seen the writing on the wall. The fact that they have pushed Business By Design's delivery out another 18 months shows their commitment to the SaaS model and the importance they attribute to getting it right. They have taken a big gamble by validating the model and the market and then giving their competitors a big window of opportunity, but they are clearly committed to developing a sound product.

SAP's current transformation and the upheaval of the '80s serve as a cautionary tale for all of the other technology companies out there who are resting on their laurels and not aggressively investing in their own SaaS applications right now.

Oracle is saying SaaS is not the future. Yet I'd say their chief executive, Larry Ellison is hedging his bets because he is a majority owner in NetSuite, one of the larger SaaS companies around today.

I don't see any true SaaS strategy at QAD, Consona, Infor, Lawson or Epicor. I would be very interested to know how they plan to move ahead. They should take a cue from SAP. How much time has SAP spent on developing Business By Design? How much money? The train has left the station and these guys are still back at the platform with their baggage (literally) at their feet.
Some of the established players are scrambling. First they were denying it, thinking SaaS was a fad or for small companies or point solutions only. Now they're hustling to catch up. But I think they're facing such a daunting challenge by starting this late that some of them aren't going to make it.

That's why I predict this big-time shakeout. It's going to be bloody and ugly. SaaS just makes sense. A fully-integrated suite - rather than solutions from several partners - just makes sense. I am confident that Plexus and some of the other players who are investing the time, money and energy required to build true comprehensive SaaS solutions are going to come out on top.

True SaaS Delivers Real Value

Not surprisingly, I'm still seeing the SaaS pretenders out there. And unfortunately many analysts and media types are still fooled by software vendors who say they have a SaaS solution. With that said, it's worth repeating what true SaaS is.

A true, robust Software as a Service application:

• Is a multi-tenant system with many companies accessing one copy of the software on a shared infrastructure
• Can be accessed over the Internet from anywhere at any time with just a browser
• Is hosted at a proven, reliable, audited data center that can guarantee availability and response time
• Allows software changes and system software and hardware upgrades to be completed and available rapidly -- avoiding the new version release treadmill and customer downtime for upgrades and staff retraining
• Has software that is more bandwidth-friendly than older applications since it was written directly to the web
• Ensures 100% of the screens are accessible via the browser, not just 'portals' for suppliers or customers.

A true SaaS solution brings real value to your business because, by its very design, costs for infrastructure and development are shared by all tenants enabling each to focus investment on its core business rather than building and maintaining an IT infrastructure.

The pretenders will first try to talk you out of SaaS. Failing that, they will try to sell you aging client-server applications running on dedicated (single customer) equipment in a third party data center. This just adds cost to the vendor-customer relationship. The third party needs to make money and each instance of the software still needs to be upgraded for each customer. SaaS evolved to drive out costs and complexity in the relationship between the software vendor and the customer.

Now with all that said and with a clear picture of what SaaS is, it's important to note that the tremors are just now beginning to shake the foundation of the ERP marketplace. Watch the financial results and growth numbers of SaaS companies vs. those with only traditional, on-premise solutions. That will give you a hint of what is to come.
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New outlooks on entrepreneurism in Michigan

The companies who are experiencing growth are often the ones who are able and willing to adapt to the changing economy. Plexus Systems, a company that provides business software solutions, added 30 jobs in Michigan in 2007. In 2008, the company will create more than 100 more positions.

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Dressed for debt: Lapeer West student Brittany Hayward

Talk about building a wardrobe on credit? For the power shopper, Lapeer West senior Brittany Hayward's ensemble is the gown of your dreams. Fashioned completely out of credit and gift cards, it took two years just to collect all of the cards from stores such as Wal-Mart and Blockbuster, starting with what was in her wallet.

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Plexus Systems, Inc. Promotes Gillespie to Director of Sales

Gillespie has extensive experience in instructing and installing automated solutions. In the nineties, he launched his career as an industrial electrician for FANUC Robotics in Rochester Hills, Mich. After mastering the installation of products, he became a course developer and technical instructor on a range of high tech and basic skill topics. During most of his career at FANUC Robotics, he was the District Manager maintaining new and existing accounts for complete automated solutions.

The release in it's whole can be found HERE.

Plexus Systems, Inc. Expands Sales Organization

“These additions to our Sales team will make a great team even stronger as we work to pursue new successes among manufacturers in the medical device, aerospace and defense industries, while maintaining our strong presence in automotive manufacturing,” said Thomas Mackey, executive vice president for Plexus.

You can read the entire list of additions to our team HERE.

Plexus Online Improves Operational Efficiency for Microflex Inc.

Microflex required a complete system to run every aspect of its business -- from Sales and Engineering through Manufacturing and Shipping, including back office functions such as Accounting and Human Resources. Plexus Systems will maintain Microflex’s data and provide the software, hardware and services to support the Ormond Beach, Florida-based company’s production of automotive fuel, exhaust, and steering components.

“The Plexus Online system will allow us to integrate our business functions and streamline our enterprise so we can maintain tighter control on our processes and our costs,” said John Atanasoski, COO, Microflex Automotive. “We chose the system for its comprehensiveness in supporting and integrating every aspect of the business, and for its flexibility. It can report our data in a variety of metrics and configurations enabling better analysis and quality control.”

Read the entire release at our website: http://www.plex.com/news/News.asp?Web_Content_Key=2163

Plexus Online in the Wall Street Journal

Today Plexus Online was mentioned in the wall street journal. The story was titled: "Online Software: Buzz vs. Business" and composed By BEN WORTHEN. It features a quote from Molly Hunting, the technology manager at Shape Corp., an auto-parts manufacturer in Grand Haven, Mich. Shape Corp is one of our customers.

I can't provide you any links to the article as of yet. The Wall Street Journal is pretty locked down to their users only. If I find something I'll update this post.

Also mentioned are: MedImmune Inc., NetSuite Inc., SAP AG, Boon Inc. and Oracle Corp., just to name a few.

Sponsored Manufacturing Traceability and Compliance Paper

Plexus Systems, Inc. sponsored the Aberdeen research paper, entitled "Compliance and Traceability in Manufacturing." It is now available for a free download at www.plex.com/aberdeen. The research also shows that best-in-class manufacturers are more likely to integrate product and process data collection across the supply chain.

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Plante & Moran, Plexus in partnership

"Plante & Moran is pleased to form this alliance relationship with Plexus as we believe its solutions are truly impacting the supply chain and helping to improve business processes around the globe,” said Doug Wiescinski, a partner in management consulting at Plante & Moran. “Plexus’ deep industry and vertical focus will benefit our customers

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Honda at heart: Plexus multi-industry enterprise system

In automotive, an even tighter focus exists: Plexus Online is built with the goal of helping suppliers do business with Honda of America Manufacturing. “As a company, Plexus made it one of our strategic objectives to be the system of choice for Honda suppliers,” says Fetterman.

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BAND SPOTLIGHT: Radio Pirate DJ top unsigned band

Today this article came out in the Detroit Free Press about Radio Pirate DJ. Back in October I attended my first Radio Pirate DJ show they were quite impressive at the time.

Since October I’ve had one other chance to see them play live Radio Pirate DJ was doing a show with The Color Fred, Brittany wanted to attend so we made it a family affair. It was a great excuse to get to see the notorious venue the “Shelter” it’s the venue that Eminem made famous in his movie 8 mile. The Shelter did not hold any magic for me but I do see what the kids see in it. It’s a very up close and personal space, if you want to get close to a band the Shelter will give you that contact.

Below is a cut from the article written By B.J. Hammerstein, Detroit Free Press

Radio Pirate DJ, the Flint-based alternative rock outfit with an infectious punk flair and knack for catchy power pop, is riding high as 2008 kicks off. Heralded as one of the top unsigned bands in the nation by Web authority absolutepunk.net, RPDJ is celebrating the release of its first full-length, the self-produced "This is Life, This is Living"

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On-Demand ERP Is Here

This is an article from: http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/010807.html
Look what’s gaining traction in enterprise resource planning: A new way to run it offsite. By Lawrence S. Gould, Contributing Editor

The article mentions Plexus Online in a few places. This is my favorite cut from it. Version control is easier in a SaaS setup. Plexus, for example, has only one version of its software on a single infrastructure. “We don’t have to cast about through a thousand different client-server configurations before shipping a patch with new features. Instead, we roll out new features every day."

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Plexus Systems, Plante & Moran Form Consulting Alliance

Plante & Moran announced their partnership with Plexus Systems, Inc. “Plante & Moran is pleased to form this alliance relationship with Plexus as we believe its solutions are truly impacting the supply chain and helping to improve business processes around the globe,” said Doug Wiescinski

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