Lawson Software

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Lawson Software
Type	Public (NASDAQ: LWSN)
Founded	Minneapolis, Minnesota (1975)
Headquarters	St. Paul, Minnesota
Key people	* Harry Debes (CEO)[1] Dean J Hager (Senior VP, Divisional)[2] Robert A Schriesheim (CFO)[3]
Industry	Computer software
Products	ERP
Revenue	$750,400,000 USD (2007)
Employees	3,800 [4]
Website	http://www.lawson.com

Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) is an international software company with 4,000 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and services industries, such as healthcare, financial services, retail and public sector in 33 countries.

Merger Info

On May 3, 2006, Lawson Software and Intentia International AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of enterprise computer software, officially began operating as one company. The merger joined two of the software industry's mid-market companies and offers an alternative to larger ERP vendors.

The new company's Enterprise Resource Planning solutions fall within two main product lines: Lawson S3 and Lawson M3.^[5] Lawson S3 products and solutions help customers staff, source and serve in their respective markets including healthcare, retail, local government, K-12 education and banking and insurance. The Lawson S3 applications include Human Resource Management, Enterprise Financial Management, Supply Chain Management and Enterprise Performance Management.

Lawson M3 products and solutions are for customers who make, move and maintain goods or equipment in their markets. These include fashion and apparel, food and beverage, wholesale distribution (business) and asset-intensive industries. The applications include Enterprise Asset Management, Supplier Relationship Management, Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Management, Value Chain Collaboration, Enterprise Performance Management and Workplace Management.

Both the Lawson S3 and Lawson M3 product lines are built on industry-standard Java-based technology.

Because of the merger, Lawson can now serve manufacturing, distribution and services industries worldwide and its revenues closely mirror the global ERP marketplace, with 45 percent coming from North America, 45 percent from Europe and the remainder from Asia-Pacific.

The new Lawson motto is “Simpler Is Better.”

Technology and Products

Technology

Lawson provides open, standards-based software. Lawson’s technology platform – Lawson System Foundation 9 – combines Lawson's technology with middleware from IBM.

Lawson is building its next applications using its Landmark technology environment, a Java-based code.

The current technology behind S3 is largely built on a Cobol base.^[6]

Products

Lawson provides software solutions designed to automate business processes, foster employee collaboration and deliver detailed analyses of results. Customers manage business processes through the functionality of Lawson’s applications. Lawson products fall within two main lines: S3 and M3.

• S3 Products
  • Applications in the S3 product line are designed to help customers “staff, source and serve.” These applications primarily target services industries that include: enterprise financial management, human resource management, supply chain management and business intelligence. Lawson’s primary S3 industries include healthcare, retail, state government, local government, K-12 education and other industries.
    • Human capital management product group includes global human resources, talent acquisition, local human resources, performance management, Absence Management, Personnel Administration, Benefits Administration, Financials and Accounts Payable.^[7][8]
• M3 Products
  • Applications in the M3 product line provide solutions for customers that “make, move and maintain” goods or equipment. These applications primarily target asset-intensive industries that include: manufacturing resource planning, enterprise asset management and customer/supplier relationship management. Lawson’s primary M3 industries include fashion, food and beverage, distribution and other industries.
• Industry Solutions
  • Lawson also provides pre-configured functionality that addresses the specific business needs of certain industries. Some of these industry-tailored applications include Surgical Instrument Management, Par and Cycle Counting, Receiving and Delivery, Retail Operations, Retail InSight and Grant Management.

Services

Lawson services include consulting, implementation, project management, support and training.^[9]

Global Support Center

Lawson’s Global Support Center (GSC) has earned a Support Center Practices (SCP) Certification^[10] every year since 1998. SCP Certification quantifies the effectiveness of customer support based upon a set of performance standards and represents best practices in the industry.

Industries Served

Lawson serves niche markets within specific industries. Lawson M3 focuses on industries within manufacturing such as fashion and apparel, food and beverage, wholesale distribution and asset-intensive companies. Lawson S3 applications serve the needs of healthcare, retail, local government, education, banking and insurance.^[11] Within retail, one area of Lawson’s focus is grocery stores.^[12]

History of the New Lawson Software

Lawson Software has delivered business management solutions since the 1970s. Throughout its history, Lawson has offered technology solutions – packaged software solutions in the 1970s, open systems technology in the 1980s, and web-enabled business software in the 1990s. Today, the new Lawson continues to offer a wide variety of software, services, and support.

• The new Lawson officially begins on April 25, 2006
• June 2006 - Lawson included in new NASDAQ Global Select Market
• July 2006 - Lawson acquires Competency Assessment Solutions^[13]
• October 2006 - Lawson ranks No. 1 in ERP software cost per user in independent research firm’s report on manufacturing industry^[14]
• October 2006 - Lawson Performance Management was named a 2006 “Top Human Resource Product” by Human Resource Executive Magazine^[15]
• March 2007 - Lawson announces M3 7.1 applications for manufacturing/distribution companies
• August 2007 - Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) survey by independent research firm The Aberdeen Group ranks Lawson #1 in cost per percentage point of performance improvement gains.^[16]
• October 2007 – First public viewing of the Lawson Strategic Human Capital Management Suite at HR Technology Conference and “HCM Battle” in Chicago.
• October 2007 – AMR Research^[17] declares Lawson winner of the “Human Capital Management Battle” at HR Tech Conference in Chicago.
• December 2007 – Lawson named to Food Logistics 100 List^[18]

Leadership

Harry Debes joined Lawson in 2005 as CEO and brings two decades of experience in executive roles within the software industry. His background includes a stint at J.D. Edwards, which is now owned by Oracle Corporation. Debes encourages Lawson employees to take a more aggressive stance against competitors SAP AG and Oracle,^[19] and since his arrival, Lawson has acquired Intentia International and doubled in size. Debes’ goal is to position Lawson as a viable alternative to SAP and Oracle, and one of the first areas the company is focusing on is HR software.^[20]

See also

• Comparison of accounting software

References

External links

• Lawson Software homepage