Which software vendors have good brand names--and which vendors should have spent some more time considering the alternatives. If you get only one chance to make a first impression, then it’s reasonable to wonder about the obvious and lasting impressions that ERP vendors names make. After all, wouldn’t you rather be a Mel than a Melvin? And in high-tech, it’s proven that the perfect name can help sell a new product or service for a long, long time. Just for some fun, here’s a naming critique of the major players in the enterprise software industry: Sage: What about the Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme? Epicor: Sounds like a frat boy’s definition of a really excellent weekend of partying: “It was an epicor bash, dude!!” SAP: “Sap.” Yeah. Infor: Seems like something got cut off. Infor-what? NetSuite: Obviously named during the dotcom boom when everyone and their brother were being christened with the prefix “Net.” QAD: One word: BAD. IBS: Um, IBS also stands for “Irritable Bowel Syndrome.” I’m just saying. Deltek: “I’m known as Deltek, and I, too, will join the Rebellion in the fight against the evil Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire.” PeopleSoft: Makes me think of warm and fuzzy thoughts—like kitty cats and cozy blankets. Ahhhhhh. J.D. Edwards: Wasn’t that a character on The Dukes of Hazzard? Lawson: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… Workday: All kinds of negative connotations associated with “workday”: too long, sometimes tedious and occasionally boring. Was “Vacationday” already taken? Agresso: We’re “aggressive,” but with a European flair! Microsoft: Wait. They sell ERP software? Seriously, for real? Intacct: The extra “c” is for the “confusion” we had at the printer’s shop, which made a mistake on our first set of business cards. Exact: Maybe we should put an extra “c”—Exacct—on our solution name, too? Oracle: In case you already didn’t know this, we are god-like: We speak the truth from on high. Do you Tweet? Follow me on Twitter @twailgum. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline. Related content opinion What CIOs Need to Know About HP's Acquisition of Autonomy Here's why you should be paying attention: it's a big analytics play that could help lead the way to making sense of all the unstructured data that's overwhelming enterprises of all sizes, says analyst Charles King. By Todd R. Weiss Aug 24, 2011 4 mins Business Intelligence Data Warehousing Data Management opinion Enterprise BI Made Simple Will a simplified version of enterprise business intelligence software spur user adoption? Gartner analyst James Richardson thinks so. By Todd R. Weiss Aug 15, 2011 4 mins Business Intelligence Data Management opinion ERP Market Shake-Up: What It Means to Your Company ERP vendors continue to merge and be acquired at a steady pace in 2011. Here are some tips on how you can protect your company's interests as the marketplace continues to shift, from analyst Albert Pang. By Todd R. Weiss Aug 03, 2011 4 mins CIO ERP Systems Enterprise Applications opinion Cut IT Costs for Older ERP Apps With Third-Party Support Some large enterprises are looking to third-party ERP support providers to reduce their maintenance and support costs by 50 percent or more rather than sticking with their existing ERP vendors. Rebecca Wettemann of Nucleus Research explains the circu By Todd R. Weiss Aug 02, 2011 4 mins ERP Systems IT Strategy Enterprise Applications Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe