WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textAI commercialization and regulatory scrutiny are reshaping the market. Product announcements from SAP, Unit4, Deltek, Sage Intacct, and NetSuite highlight continued investment in cloud distribution, verticalized functionality, and embedded AI—often via hyperscaler marketplaces and agent frameworks—while transactions such as SYSPRO acquiring riteSOFT and Advantive acquiring PINPoint reinforce the ongoing push toward capability-led M&A in manufacturing and asset-centric environments. Partnerships like Pipefy with Oracle reflect the race to operationalize generative AI beyond experimentation, while the antitrust ruling involving SAP and the shareholder investigation into Lamb Weston Holdings serve as a reminder that legal, regulatory, and governance forces remain an active counterweight to rapid innovation.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds, including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendor. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNRK47Sjt-UQuestions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/🔗Robert Kramer: linkedin.com/in/robert-kramer-58239b22/🔗Thomas Wieberneit: linkedin.com/in/thomaswieberneit/🔗Jan Burian: .linkedin.com/in/janburian/🔗Jon W. Hansen: linkedin.com/in/jwhansen/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us a textDigital transformation trends for 2026 reflect a convergence of sustained macroeconomic pressure and meaningful shifts in enterprise-level decision-making, requiring organizations to adopt a more disciplined, systems-oriented approach to technology and investment. While the external environment is expected to remain broadly consistent with 2025—marked by geopolitical volatility, tariffs, constrained supply chains, and modest economic growth—policy-driven forces around data sovereignty, regulation, and national security are increasingly reshaping cloud strategies, workload placement, and vendor risk exposure. At the same time, relatively stable interest rates reinforce a cautious capital environment where ROI, resilience, and operating efficiency take precedence over experimentation. Against this backdrop, enterprises are re-evaluating architecture, operating models, and software portfolios with a sharper focus on long-term viability, while vendors recalibrate product strategies to align with buyer demands for pragmatic value rather than speculative innovation.In this episode, our host Sam Gupta discusses the top 15 digital transformation trends in 2026. He also discusses these trends from multiple perspectives, including geopolitical, commercial, and behavioral. Finally, he shares what executives need to do to prepare for these trends.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVvT9ZmFam4Read: https://www.elevatiq.com/post/digital-transformation-trends/Questions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/r-58239b22/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textAI-native ERP systems are rapidly reshaping the enterprise software landscape by challenging long-standing assumptions about how ERPs are selected, implemented, and evolved over time. As AI becomes embedded directly into configuration, development, and daily workflows, practices once viewed as risky—such as extensive customization, rapid iteration, or even building ERP capabilities in-house—are becoming increasingly viable. Rising commercial software costs are further forcing executives to revisit the traditional buy-versus-build calculus, particularly as AI-first platforms promise faster deployments, more adaptable architectures, and experiences tailored to specific operating models. However, the category remains early, raising critical questions around governance, scalability, reliability, and long-term support. In this context, Everest ERP’s AI-first approach offers a practical lens into how AI-native architectures can accelerate time-to-value while redefining what buyers, implementers, and business leaders should expect from ERP systems over the next decade.In this episode, Sam Gupta hosts Sandeep Chopra, co-CEO, Everest, to discuss how AI  impacts ERP strategy for companies.Video: https://www.elevatiq.com/events-and-webinars/your-erp-strategy-is-about-to-break-ai-is-rewriting-the-playbook/Questions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/🔗Sandeep Chopra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandeep-chopra-ca/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us a textA mix of product launches, acquisitions, funding rounds, and legal developments illustrates how enterprise software vendors are simultaneously accelerating innovation while navigating increasing market and regulatory complexity. Salesforce’s updates to Marketing Cloud Next and Agentforce 3, alongside new capabilities from Cordial and SAP, point to a continued push toward AI-driven engagement, automation, and cloud-native commerce experiences. Strategic acquisitions by Accenture and SYSPRO reinforce the importance of deep industry and manufacturing expertise embedded within digital transformation platforms, while Unit4’s ERPx release on Azure and Campfire’s Series A funding highlight momentum behind modern, AI-first ERP architectures. At the same time, antitrust scrutiny involving SAP and investor investigations such as the Lamb Weston case underscore the growing governance, compliance, and risk considerations shaping the enterprise technology landscape. Collectively, these developments reflect a market evolving on multiple fronts—technological, structural, and regulatory—at the same time.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds, including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendor. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj8yp0QFWSoQuestions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/🔗Robert Kramer: linkedin.com/in/robert-kramer-58239b22/🔗Michael Fauscette: linkedin.com/in/mfauscette/🔗Jan Burian: .linkedin.com/in/janburian/🔗Jon Reed: linkedin.com/in/jonerp/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us a textPublic sector organizations operate under a fundamentally different set of constraints and expectations than their private-sector counterparts, making CRM selection a strategic decision rather than a purely technical one. Before reviewing our Top 10 Public Sector CRMs in 2025, it is important to align on how success is defined in this environment, where accountability, transparency, and service continuity often take precedence over revenue growth or pipeline velocity. Government agencies, municipalities, and public institutions must support complex case management, constituent engagement, regulatory compliance, and multi-year programs, frequently within rigid budget cycles and procurement frameworks. As a result, public sector CRMs must prioritize governance, data security, accessibility, and long-term adaptability, rather than simply replicating commercial sales or marketing use cases.In this episode, our host Sam Gupta discusses the top 10 Public Sector CRMs in 2025. He also discusses several variables that influence the rankings of these Public Sector CRMs. Finally, he shares the pros and cons of each CRM system.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rk74lc0LbYRead: https://www.elevatiq.com/post/top-non-profit-crms/Questions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/r-58239b22/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textA wave of funding announcements, acquisitions, and product launches highlights how quickly AI, data, and customer engagement technologies are converging across the enterprise. Significant financings for PhysicsX, Vultr, and Vellum signal strong investor confidence in platforms that support AI-native workloads, applied intelligence, and modern infrastructure, while Capgemini’s acquisition of WNS underscores growing demand for large-scale, technology-enabled business transformation services. On the customer and marketing side, deeper integrations and feature expansions from CallMiner, Hightouch, Insight7, Jasper, Oktopost, and Salesforce reflect a shift toward real-time intelligence, personalization, and content automation embedded directly into core CRM and contact center ecosystems. Collectively, these developments suggest the market is moving beyond point solutions toward tightly integrated platforms that combine data, AI, and execution at enterprise scale.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendors. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKJ7uZQ3sRAQuestions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/🔗Robert Kramer: linkedin.com/in/robert-kramer-58239b22/🔗Thomas Wieberneit: linkedin.com/in/thomaswieberneit/🔗Jon W. Hansen: linkedin.com/in/jwhansen/🔗John Santaferraro: linkedin.com/in/johnsantaferraro/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us a textHigher education institutions operate in an environment where academic mission, financial sustainability, and long-term stakeholder relationships must coexist—placing unique demands on enterprise systems. Before reviewing our Top Higher Education CRM Systems in 2025, it is essential to clarify how CRM success is defined in this context, where engagement extends far beyond traditional recruitment or advancement functions. Universities must manage complex, multi-decade relationships with prospective students, current learners, alumni, donors, faculty, research partners, and governing bodies, often across decentralized colleges and departments. As a result, higher education CRMs must emphasize lifecycle visibility, data governance, cross-functional coordination, and compliance, rather than narrowly focusing on transactional interactions or short-term conversion metrics.In this episode, our host Sam Gupta discusses the top 10 Higher Education CRMs in 2025. He also discusses several variables that influence the rankings of these Higher Education CRMs. Finally, he shares the pros and cons of each CRM system.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suOIiIoZDFARead: https://www.elevatiq.com/post/top-non-profit-crms/Questions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/r-58239b22/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textRecent announcements across enterprise software, AI platforms, and services point to an accelerating convergence of intelligence, automation, and scale. Product expansions from Deltek, CallMiner, and Hightouch reflect a push to embed advanced analytics, personalization, and contextual intelligence directly into operational systems, while launches from Intellistack and Kognitos highlight growing demand for no-code and neurosymbolic approaches that reduce dependence on scarce technical talent. Strategic transactions such as IFS acquiring TheLoops and Capgemini acquiring WNS signal a broader shift toward end-to-end, AI-enabled business transformation that blends software, services, and domain expertise. At the same time, substantial funding rounds for PhysicsX, Vellum, and Vultr underscore continued investor confidence in platforms that support AI-native workloads, from applied engineering intelligence to workflow orchestration and cloud infrastructure. Collectively, these moves suggest the market is moving beyond experimentation toward integrated, production-grade AI capabilities embedded across the enterprise stack.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendors. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NufAeaJoPwIQuestions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/🔗Robert Kramer: linkedin.com/in/robert-kramer-58239b22/🔗Brian Jackson: linkedin.com/in/urbanpaddler/🔗Michael Fauscette: linkedin.com/in/mfauscette/🔗Donald Farmer: linkedin.com/in/donalddotfarmer/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us a textSelecting the right CRM in the K-12 education sector is less about sales enablement and more about orchestrating complex, long-lived relationships across an entire educational community. Before we present our Top K-12 Education CRMs in 2025, it is important to align on what success looks like in this context—where the “customer” spans students, parents, teachers, administrators, district leadership, and external partners, each with distinct engagement cycles and data needs. K-12 organizations require platforms that can manage enrollment journeys, communications, compliance, and support interactions over many years, often under strict regulatory and budgetary constraints. As a result, CRM selection in this space prioritizes governance, data integrity, and lifecycle visibility over traditional pipeline management or revenue optimization.In this episode, our host Sam Gupta discusses the top 10 K-12 Education CRMs in 2025. He also discusses several variables that influence the rankings of these K-12 Education CRMs. Finally, he shares the pros and cons of each CRM system.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIIesikgPkoRead: https://www.elevatiq.com/post/top-non-profit-crms/Questions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/r-58239b22/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. 

Send us a textRecent product launches, acquisitions, and funding announcements underscore how rapidly enterprise software and AI platforms are evolving across both horizontal and vertical use cases. Vendors such as Orbit Analytics, Deltek, and Advantive are extending core operational solutions with deeper analytics, compliance, and decision-support capabilities, while companies like Pipefy, Aquant, Kognitos, and Intellistack are pushing AI further into everyday workflows through agents, retrieval-augmented conversations, neurosymbolic reasoning, and no-code automation. Strategic moves like IFS acquiring TheLoops highlight growing demand for AI-driven operational intelligence embedded directly into ERP ecosystems, rather than bolted on at the edges. At the same time, significant growth financings for PhysicsX and Vultr signal continued investor confidence in infrastructure and applied-AI platforms that can support increasingly compute-intensive, industry-specific use cases. Together, these developments point to a market shifting from experimental AI features toward scaled, production-ready capabilities tightly integrated with core enterprise systems.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds, including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendor. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw7jW3wPtFQQuestions for Panelists?🔗Sam Gupta: linkedin.com/in/samguptausa/🔗Robert Kramer: linkedin.com/in/robert-kramer-58239b22/🔗Thomas Wieberneit: linkedin.com/in/thomaswieberneit/🔗Kenneth ("Kengon") Gonzalez: linkedin.com/in/kengon/🔗John Santaferraro: linkedin.com/in/johnsantaferraro/Background Soundtrack: Away From You – Mauro SommFor more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs. rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.