Lawson and IBM Target Retailers and Manufacturers in Germany

Published: November 26, 2007

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

ERP software supplier Lawson Software has a much tighter relationship with IBM these days after it acquired European ERP software supplier Intentia International and after Oracle ate PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, and Siebel Systems. IBM's latest thing in the midrange is precision customer targeting, and Lawson is, like other independent software vendors, trying to dance to the tune that Big Blue is calling.

In February, IBM and Lawson inked a general deal to sell more software and server iron to SMB customers across the world, and then following in the spirit of IBM's Vertical Industry Program (VIP) for System i sales, announced a follow-on agreement in North America to peddle Lawson software modules for companies engaged in the banking, insurance, and manufacturing industries. Last week, IBM and Lawson expanded their reseller agreement to push ERP systems based on IBM servers to retailers and manufacturers in Germany. In both cases, IBM's techies and Lawson's techies design the solution, and then they sell and implement it at customer sites.

According to the ERP vendor, Lawson and IBM have been partners since 1975--back in the mainframe era of MRP software--and have 3,000 joint customers. Lawson has only 4,000 customers overall, so you could say without any stretch that Lawson customers tend to favor IBM server platforms--particularly the System i platform. Lawson's decision to put its Lawson System Foundation suite atop IBM's WebSphere middleware has thus far driven nearly 1,000 customers who upgraded to the latest Lawson releases to install that software on WebSphere. Lawson's S3 and M3 suites run on IBM's DB2 databases, WebSphere middleware, and atop of its System i, p, and x servers. (Other databases and server platforms are, of course, also supported by Lawson.)

"SMBs need simpler, more powerful technology solutions that will help them compete and succeed in today's competitive environment, but will also provide the power and scalability they need as they grow and expand their business footprint," said Jim Corgel, general manager of IBM developer relations. "The solutions Lawson offers, coupled with IBM hardware, middleware and services are the right fit for companies in the specific markets that we are targeting with this expanded reseller agreement."

In a related announcement, IBM's Global Business Services division is now able to peddle two customized products based on the Lawson M3 ERP suite (formerly known as Movex and developed originally by Intentia). The first is called the Express Food and Beverage Solution and the other is called the Express Fashion and Apparel Solution. The solutions include customizations made by IBM specifically for mid-size North American customers, according to Lawson. Exactly what these customizations are, and what premium IBM is trying to charge for them (if any) is unclear.

As is always the case with such deals, the financial terms of the deal between IBM and Lawson were not divulged.

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