Enterprise Software Survey: ZDNet Content Marketing

December 8, 2015

“Research: Enterprise Software Rising with 69 Percent Usage” caught my attention. I like numbers which suggest two thirds adoption of software which seems ubiquitous to me. So the write looks like news. It sounds like news. Sort of news I think.

The write up is a marketing pitch for a new study by ZDNet and its for fee research arm Tech Pro Research. “Enterprise Software: Advantages, Opportunities, Challenges” studies enterprise software. I am not exactly sure what “enterprise” means in the ZDNet world. My hunch is that the term embraces commercial enterprises which buy products from the ZDNet advertisers. I could be wrong, of course, because enterprise may mean, the local dry launderette entrepreneur.

The article discloses some interesting factoids, which I assume ZDNet and a host of enterprise software sales people believe are solid gold. None of the gold foam stuff.

I noted these points:

Enterprise software has a definition I found surprising. I learned:

Enterprise software encompasses a variety of functions, including asset management, business intelligence, CRM utilities, data processing, databases, financial applications, identity management, retail software, process management and resource planning. It can run on either individual machines or on centralized servers, whether in-house, located in the cloud or a hybrid combination.

No, enterprise search, no analytics, no Big Data, and no enterprise cyber security. Yikes. The mid tier consultants are probably perspiring in their home offices due to these omissions.

I found this factoid interesting: nine percent of the sample do not currently use an enterprise software solution but are considering one in the next year and 22 percent do not use enterprise software and are not planning on changing their stripes next year. That works out to 31 percent of the sample not doing the enterprise software thing even though, I assume, the companies in the sample were enterprises. I said, “Huh. Imagine that.”

Even more puzzling was the list of enterprise software deployed in the last 12 months by the sample.

Human resources
Storage
Databases, note the plural
Big Data
Mobile

Now the paragraph I quote about the functions of enterprise software did not include Big Data. What’s the scoop, ZDNet. Is Big Data an enterprise application or not? My view is that Big Data is for the folks who understand analytic-type stuff. Most enterprises have precious few of these types of people. Another fascinating point.

The preferred vendors identified in the write up came at me from left field. I admit I am not in the know like the real journalists at ZDNet. Here’s that listing:

Adobe Systems
Dropbox
Google
LinkedIn (my goodness)
Microsoft

But the un-preferred vendors is more intriguing. This group includes:

CA Technologies
Oracle
Red Hat
SAP

I assume that each of these companies will be really thrilled to meet with the ZDNet ad sales professionals.

If you want more, you will be able to explore the opportunities by diving into the for fee version of the study.

Stephen E Arnold, December 7, 2015

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Enterprise search, Marketing, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.