From being an enterprise resource planning (ERP) evangelist in 1990s by setting up Baan Company in 1978, Jan Baan has now turned his focus on to collaboration and cloud computing.
The company hit the headlines when it got Boeing as the first giant customer for ERP solutions, Baan Company also slipped into trouble almost the way Satyam Computer Services did in India. But Jan Baan ventured out into the market again with his new technology company Cordys and is promising to make it big with cloud computing strategies. Collaborative and cloud computing are set to end the monopoly of Bill Gates, the accountant-turned-entrepreneur Jan Baan tells DNA in an interview. Excerpts:
You were an evangelist for ERP during your Baan Company days. Now, you are talking about collaboration and cloud strategies. Is the ERP gone?
No. ERP will exist for the next 20 years. But there are components that will keep changing. The ERP is too complicated. The ERP has moved into new features like PLM. So, the new technology will start replacing certain components. The users too are going to stay with it since they have invested on these technologies. But the most dangerous element is to maintain them.
What are doing with the cloud strategy now?
In the cloud, we take all those vanilla services and bring them to one basic process. All the required changes can be made in the process itself. The cloud strategy is process centric and not data centric. There is zero programming. There is lot of collaboration now. Even if we inherit some composition (or code), we build a compliance layer on that and add Google Apps. You do something for me and I do the something for you. We put it together. Instead of handcrafting the code each time, we will use vanilla systems. It’s totally cloud. In this you see more composers and not developers.
How are you unique?
First, if you compare us with others, all my competitors have a lot to offer, but it’s all M&A. There are 72 products with IBM. Therefore we could never build collaborative work space. But, we have been into that situation before. With 20 years of Baan experience and our experience with Top Tier (another company Baan had set up and sold), we have done everything from scratch four times. We are not going to do it again.
What do you offer to your clients in the cloud strategy? Is it the cost advantage?
Cost is not the only factor. But, cloud is so cheaper. It’s sometimes 10 per cent of the cost of the legacy. But, there is more value in cloud. But the advantage is my customer’s customer and my supplier’s suppliers are all on the same cloud. The value proposition is yet to be investigated by the universities. We are still at the beginning of the whole new value proposition.
Does this mean there are not going to be any monopolies in this space?
The monopoly of Bill Gates is over. Not only because of Google OS offering, there is no need for us to use one statement of Microsoft though we still respect them. But, it is no longer a monopoly. If you look to SAP or Oracle, the monopolies are over.
Does that mean the companies depending on revenue stream through licenses are going to suffer?
The beauty is most companies are still the biggest. But, it’s going to be over soon. Whether is databases or other vanilla solutions, maintenance is becoming difficult. You have to ask yourself whether you need another Y2K. Even it is becoming difficult to maintain a mobile phone these days. I no longer pay maintenance for my mobile phone. (Baan uses an iPhone). Compare Lotus Notes and Google Apps.
Where does India fit in the strategy?
I was in India in 1987. I thought I found a right place. We started with 15 people in India. We understood the market well. Most of them have a master-slave understanding in India. But, we focused on IP right from day one and I love India. There is huge potential for IP creation in India.
How is India as a market?
There are bargains. From Jewish people it might be difficult to become rich but with India it is sometimes impossible. But in a cloud scenario, it will change. It’s a competitive market and has the biggest pool of IT. And it is more than China. In fact, India can work on making use of the cloud strategies. Why not? The Indian government can actually help develop a greenfield cloud environment. The Bombay Stock Exchange may not take it immediately. But, the government can use it. Services like healthcare and many other such services can be used in a cloud environment by the government.
Are you following the Satyam case? We see a lot of similarities in Satyam and Baan Company. There were two brothers involved in Baan accounting allegations and in Satyam too there are two brothers. Even in Baan it was all about revenue recognition.
Oh yes, I do follow the Satyam case. But in Baan, all our accounts were filed. I went out of Baan before crisis (in the company). We were too much focusing on new licenses. All the accounts are still there. I tried to go back but the board had a different opinion. I thought of going back and fixing the crisis. We had 1,800 programmes that time. My idea of going back was to take 600 programmes mostly in India, take another 600 for services and fire another 600 in some locations.
But what about Satyam?
Satyam is sad. You never know how far you come into temptation.
Is it greed that caused the Satyam saga?
It’s more than greed. We also had dictators stealing $4 billion from their countries. It’s more than greed.
Have you settled the law suits that were filed against you?
We settled the class suits.
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