JBA: Will it remain "@ctive Enterprise"?
P.J. Jakovljevic - October 1, 1999

Vendor Summary

JBA International is a global supplier of integrated enterprise management software for midsize companies involved in the manufacture, supply and service of industrial and household goods. Founded in 1981, with headquarters in Birmingham, UK, JBA International is the sixth largest ERP vendor with $480 million in revenue in 1998 (approx. 3% of the global ERP market). The Company has a history of continuous growth since its inception, but fiscal 1998 was the first non-profitable year in the Company's history. JBA's initial success was based on Business 400, an integrated suite of manufacturing, distribution and financial software for the AS/400, which was complemented by vertical industry solutions Drinks 400 and Style 400. In 1995, JBA delivered System 21 as an evolutionary successor to Business 400, in tandem with JBA's business intelligence package, Advanced Information Management System (AIMS). Since then, JBA has expanded into several more markets. In 1998, JBA launched System 21 Version 4, which is component-based, cross-platform, and Internet enabled. In 1999, JBA launched its @ctive Enterprise Series product line, which allows customers to dynamically model and continuously update their business processes, by using the following components: JBA @ctive Modeler (drag-and-drop graphical business process design tool), JBA @ctive Processes (a family of predefined business process templates based on the Supply-Chain Operations Reference 'SCOR' model), JBA @ctive Business Intelligence, JBA @ctive Supply Chain Management, and JBA @ctive e-commerce. More than a half of the Company's revenue comes from service and support. JBA distributes, implements and supports its products worldwide through a partner network consisting of subsidiaries and dedicated partners in more than 53 countries around the world, and derives 25% of its revenue from the non-European market. By the end of 1998, the Company had more than 4,400 customers and over 2,900 employees. JBA International went public in 1994 and it trades on the London Stock Exchange. The Company is currently in the process of being acquired by GEAC Computer Corporation Ltd., a large Canadian software company...