The market for enterprise applications for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) show several interesting characteristics.

On one hand, we can see increasingly fierce competition among software vendors, each vying for increased market share.

The competition became even fiercer as top enterprise-solution vendors such as SAP and Oracle expanded their product range to include offers that cater to the requirements of SMEs. This may mean developing scaled-down application products, as SMEs do not have the same financial strength as the corporations such as the banks, the telco companies and the airlines, and therefore they cannot afford the same investment that the larger corporations can make. In addition, their requirements are also less complex.

On the other hand, thanks to increased awareness among the SMEs that they will not be able to survive or grow without investing in IT infrastructure and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), more and more SMEs are making the necessary investments in these solutions to improve their business processes, increase their visibility and, of course, ensure increased profitability.

And then there is Microsoft, the software giant that we usually associate with desktop operating systems and Office applications. In reality, while it is still offering products for our personal productivity, Microsoft has also moved up and begun to provide solutions for the SMEs -- making the market even more crowded.

Keep in mind that software vendors, including Microsoft, rarely expand their product range and capability organically. What they usually do is acquire smaller companies with highly potential products, add them to their existing product portfolio and let these products compete in the marketplace.

Equally interesting is the fact that some companies get swallowed by the bigger ones after they have acquired the smaller catches. Microsoft, for example, acquired Great Plains in 2001 after this company had earlier acquired Solomon. Microsoft acquired the products of both companies in a single move.

To serve its SME customers, Microsoft has an arm called Microsoft Business Solutions, or MBS. It provides a series of products aimed at business users. It also consists of teams of account executives, consultants and technical staff that provide support to the customers and work closely with its channel partners.

Partners are an integrated part of any large software vendors. They have to rely on these partners as no vendor can do it all by itself. Selling software application to the business customers requires an extensive network of partners, especially if the vendor aims for nationwide coverage. Customers will require responsive technical support, troubleshooting support and enhancement recommendation once the implementation phase of the software solution has been completed.

Solomon

Solomon has become a part of the MBS group. Interestingly, it is not the only ERP solution that MBS offers to the SMEs. If you have been following Microsoft's acquisition track, you will know that there were also acquisitions of Great Plains and Navision. Interestingly, all of MBS' current ERP products -- Great Plains 8.0, Solomon 6.0, Navision 4.0 and Axapta 4.0 -- are targeted to the same market segment, the SMEs.

I first became acquainted with Solomon back in the days when it was not yet part of Microsoft. Last month, the company introduced its latest version, Microsoft Solomon 6.0, to the Indonesian mid-tier market.

Now that it is a Microsoft company, it is easy to guess that, one of the features it boasts is the full integration into Microsoft operating system and other business applications, including Microsoft Business Portal. The focus of Solomon 6.0, as explained by Laurent Dedenis, the general manager of Solomon SEA, is on project management and accounting. With improved analytical and reporting tools, it is a well-suited solution to manage construction, engineering, distribution and field service.

In Indonesia, I was told, Solomon is used by companies such as the local subsidiary of Sanyo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Some of the local companies using the solution have only 20 to 30 users.

Now, the question commonly raised by customers looking for the right business solution for their organization or division is which product they should consider and eventually use. The spectrum of available offerings can be overwhelming. The question becomes even more daunting when the alternatives come from the same company, such as MBS. How can the enterprise customers choose between Solomon, Great Plains and Axapta solutions? It can be especially confusing during the very early stage, as they are not really familiar with the strength and weakness of each of the offerings.