from DSSResources.com

Pennsylvania's Montgomery County completes multi-suite Lawson implementation ahead of schedule, on budget

Lawson Applications Provide County with Real-Time Business Information, Enabling Timely and Better-Informed Decision Making

ST. PAUL, Minn., July 27, 2005 -- The latest Lawson Software (Nasdaq:LWSN) applications are helping Montgomery County, Pa., automate financial and purchasing processes through a single, integrated system that provides an accurate view of real-time data across the county's operational areas. The county went live on Lawson's Financials and Procurement Suites in October 2004 - on budget and nearly one month ahead of schedule. IBM Business Consulting Services, a Lawson consulting partner, provided implementation services.

Montgomery County is the third-largest county in Pennsylvania with more than 750,000 residents. The implementation project included 400 users spread across all 100 county operating departments, which provide a wide range of services from child welfare and health and human services to housing development and general government administration.

The Lawson applications replaced a 20-year-old mainframe system the county used to manage its financial and purchasing processes, supported by manual, "shadow" systems and spreadsheets. These systems required time-consuming, paper-based processes for entering, locating and retrieving operational data. By automating the county's core business processes, the integrated Lawson applications now help county managers reduce time and resources spent on administrative tasks while improving financial and purchasing capabilities.

"We've implemented a system that provides faster access to reliable, consistent information, enabling us to make better-informed decisions and serve our constituents more efficiently," said Jack Pond, CIO, Montgomery County. "We now look to complete tasks in hours as opposed to days and weeks. The system has dramatically transformed the way we operate."

The county's mainframe system required duplicated effort and longer processing time to complete simple tasks, such as creating budget spreadsheets. With streamlined purchasing and financial processes, the county is now able to share real-time information between key departments, greatly reducing errors or lost information and boosting overall efficiency and productivity. For example, the county has shortened its requisition-to-purchase order cycle via online requisitioning and an automated approval process. Employees create requisitions electronically and the system routes and tracks them from approval of the purchase order to vendor payment. This enables the county to more effectively manage expenditures to meet budget requirements.

"The Lawson system provides us with more control over our key business processes, minus the added effort required under our old system," said Pond. "Specific actions now automatically trigger critical tasks, such as purchase requests, approvals and payments. Because of these time savings, we can better use limited resources and transition staff into other, more strategic positions."

When Montgomery County began the implementation in February 2004, county managers recognized both the cultural and technological changes required for success. The new technology transformed the jobs of users that previously used mainly manual, paper-based systems. As a result, the county involved end-users throughout the entire implementation to secure buy-in at all levels of the organization.

The county partnered with IBM Business Consulting Services to manage the implementation along with a user-led project team of 14 county employees from all major departments. IBM worked with the county's project team to establish desired business processes and then employed a "train-the-trainer" approach to rapidly deploy business process changes and the knowledge needed for users to leverage the strengths of the new system in their everyday jobs. This ensured lead adopters and trainers understood the technology and felt confident in championing the new processes in their departments.

"As local governments balance an environment of fiscal restraint with increased accountability, greater operational efficiency and financial visibility is critical," said Ken Munson, Lawson industry marketing director, Government and Education. "IBM and Lawson offer the products, services and best practices expertise local governments need to improve operational performance and enhance service to constituents."

Lawson serves more than 100 government and education clients, including three of the top six digital state governments and four of the 25 largest school districts in the United States. Lawson's software is in use at almost 3,000 schools with combined enrollments exceeding 1.75 million students and 200,000 staff members. School districts, cities, counties, state governments, publicly owned utilities, municipal districts and membership organizations rely on Lawson's solutions to help meet the needs of a variety of stakeholders - students, constituents, members, employees, vendors and the community - while maximizing limited budgets.

About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides business application software and consulting services that put time on the side of services organizations in the healthcare, retail, government and education, banking and insurance and other markets. Lawson's software suites include enterprise performance management, distribution, financials, human resources, procurement, retail operations and service process optimization. With headquarters in St. Paul, Minn., Lawson has offices and affiliates serving North and South America, Europe and Africa. Lawson Software and Lawson are registered trademarks of Lawson Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

About IBM Global Government Industry

IBM is the industry leader for end-to-end eGovernment solutions. For more than 75 years, the world's largest information technology provider has helped governments transform themselves to meet the demands of constituents, contractors and employees. IBM's broad range of capabilities and expertise - hardware, software, research, consulting and services - has enabled better collaboration between governments across the world.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that contain risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements contain statements of intent, belief or current expectations of Lawson Software, Inc., and its management. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the potential results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The company is not obligated to update forward-looking statements based on circumstances or events that occur in the future. Risks and uncertainties that may cause such differences include but are not limited to: uncertainties in the company's ability to realize synergies and revenue opportunities anticipated from the Intentia International acquisition; uncertainties in the software industry; global military conflicts; terrorist attacks in the United States, and any future events in response to these developments; changes in conditions in the company's targeted service industries; increased competition and other risk factors listed in the company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as included in other documents the company files from time to time with the Commission.



Terry Blake, 651-767-4766
terry.blake@lawson.com

DSS Home |  About Us |  Contact Us |  Site Index |  Subscribe | What's New
Please Tell 
Your Friends about DSSResources.COM Copyright © 1995-2021 by D. J. Power (see his home page). DSSResources.COMsm was maintained by Daniel J. Power. See disclaimer and privacy statement.