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Traditionally a battleground for ERP, industrial automation, and pure-play solution providers, Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) solutions are evolving with the rest of the software categories serving the industrial value chain. Manufacturing IT architecture is rapidly modernizing and we’re seeing a clearer connection between line of business and IT. Vendors are offering software suites that are not only becoming broader, but also more specialized for specific functionalities.
LNS Research has been covering Savigent as a MOM software provider for over four years now and unfortunately Savigent is still relatively unknown when compared to some of the larger players in the space. In this post we want to shed some light on the recent release of Savigent's MOM software, Catalyst Platform v4.0 and analyze its key enhancements, as well as provide a brief assessment of the vendor.
Strengthening MOM Software Capabilities
To help improve collaboration between line of business and IT executives, LNS Research advises companies to take a platform approach to Manufacturing Operations Management. This means companies should invest in solutions that provide:
Market leading manufacturing companies that leverage these packaged MOM solutions with such an architectural approach have experienced significant financial and operational benefits already.
Highlights of Catalyst Platform v4.0
Based on our briefings with Savigent’s Executive Vice President of Business Development, Jay Mellen and CEO David Wicker, it appears that the strategic investments Savigent has made in its product continue to move the company towards delivering the vision of a complete MOM platform.
Notable enhancements of this release are as follows:
Savigents continued success will greatly depend on the ability to invest in partnerships and added functionality. Specifically, Savigent needs to focus on large system integrators and a suite of packaged functionality that addresses the traditional areas of MOM functionality as described in the ISA-95 model.
It is important that Savigent customers and prospects continue to push the company in this direction. Over the past 6-12 months, LNS Research has been encouraged to see the progress Savigent has made in these areas. We hope over the coming year to hear additional announcements around new pieces of packaged functionality and system integrator partnerships.
It is also important that Savigent continues to look towards the future and where MOM software is going. It is not difficult to imagine scenarios where companies will start to take a hybrid approach to manufacturing IT. Eventually, almost every company will have a portion of processes that are mission critical and managed through on-premise solutions, while other supervisory processes run in the Cloud.
To address these issues, Savigent has already started making investments. With Savigent's simplified product portfolio and increased focus on embedding Windows tools, the Catalyst Platform is now poised to act as the foundation for moving the entire suite onto Windows Azure. By being Azure ready, Savigent is positioning itself as a potential leader in the Cloud MOM space as it emerges.
Finally, we’re encouraged to see Savigent mature as a software company. It should only work to the benefit of its customers if it's able to continue migrating away from being primarily a platform provider to offering a strong set of packaged software solutions.