Event Summary
Seemingly
unfazed by (although certainly aware of) a tough economic environment and/or
by its heavyweight competitors' recent initiatives, ACCPAC International
(www.accpac.com), an independent subsidiary
of Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) that
has been offering accounting and a broader range of other enterprise business
solutions for small and mid-size businesses, continues to expand its products
footprint and operations worldwide. To that end, its latest product offering
now ranges from accounting to include customer relationship management (CRM),
human resource management system (HRMS), manufacturing, warehouse management
system (WMS) and many aspects of e-commerce. On December 18, ACCPAC also announced
that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) relating to a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of common
stock. All of the shares are being offered by ACCPAC International, Inc., and
the offering will be managed by RBC Capital Markets, SoundView
Technology Group and Adams, Harkness & Hill,
Inc. Although the registration statement relating to these securities
has been filed with the SEC, it has not yet become effective. These securities
may therefore not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time
the registration statement becomes effective.
During the past year ACCPAC has announced the following:
-
Acquisition of AGS Software, Inc. for point-of-sale software
(POS)
-
Acquisition of eWare Limited for CRM software
-
Acquisition of manufacturing software from Lahey Software
-
Release of ACCPAC Advantage Series version 5.0 for a 100%
web-based accounting solution for mid-sized companies.
-
Release of ACCPAC Advantage Series for the Linux
desktop
-
Release of ACCPAC Exchange the first Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI) offering to integrate mid-market accounting applications with IBM
Business Exchange Services, aimed at delivering affordable EDI transaction
documents over the Internet.
-
Release of Simply Accounting 2003 the new version of its
integrated accounting program for small offices/home offices (SOHO).
-
Formation of the ACCPAC Sales Success Distribution Program
a global distribution program for ACCPAC third-party developers.
-
An agreement to collaborate with CGA Online Services Corporation
to develop CGA Online a new web-based online system that
will provide a single source of information and services for Certified General
Accountants (CGAs)
This
is Part One of a four-part note.
Parts
One and Two will detail recent ACCPAC announcements.
Part
Three will discuss the Market Impact.
Part
Four will cover Challenges and make User Recommendations.
ACCPAC ePOS
Most
recently, on January 14, ACCPAC announced that it acquired all assets of AGS
Software, Inc. of Toronto, ON, Canada, including the point-of-sale
(POS) software developed by AGS. The POS application reportedly offers extensive
storefront automation, an intuitive web-based interface and support for multi-site
operations. An addition to ACCPAC's suite of business management applications,
the product is also reportedly fully integrated with the flagship ACCPAC
Advantage Series accounting software, and will be marketed as ACCPAC
ePOS. AGS Software President Marc Cashman is joining ACCPAC as Director,
ePOS Strategic Sales, and all former AGS employees have been offered positions
at ACCPAC.
ACCPAC ePOS automates the point-of-sale customer checkout process. The product makes customer and product information instantly accessible, and handles discounts, layaways, automated electronic payment processing, reporting and more. Engineered to run from a Web browser, it is able to automate multi-site retail operations and integrate into a centralized deployment of ACCPAC Advantage Series.
ACCPAC eCRM
On
December 20, ACCPAC announced that it has acquired eWare Limited,
an Ireland- based developer of CRM software. Since a private label version of
the eWare software, ACCPAC eCRM, has been actively marketed
by ACCPAC for the past 18 months under an OEM (original equipment manufacturer)
agreement with eWare, the product will continue to be marketed as ACCPAC eCRM.
Ivan MacDonald, eWare President and CEO, Greg Casey, eWare Executive Vice President,
and Alan Wyley, eWare Executive Vice President and COO, together with the entire
eWare staff, are reportedly joining ACCPAC.
ACCPAC eCRM is a business application designed to integrate a user organization's interactions with its customers, trading partners and prospects across the enterprise by providing sales force automation (SFA), call center automation, marketing automation, customer and partner Internet self-service, and integrated workflow. To that end, sales team leaders should be able to oversee up-to-the-minute opportunity management activities including sales cycle analysis, territory alignment, call-list assembly and proposal generation. Customer care specialists should in turn be able to use ACCPAC eCRM incident logging, tracking, escalation and resolution management functions to enhance service levels and overall customer satisfaction, while marketing executives should be able to manage campaigns from concept and execution to lead distribution and measurement. The system also includes an integrated workflow engine allowing businesses to implement "rules based" information processing and dissemination throughout their organization.
ACCPAC
eCRM is reportedly also a completely Web- and wireless-based CRM solution, providing
the above-mentioned functionality through a Web browser, personal digital assistant
(PDA) or wireless application protocol (WAP) enabled device, allowing thereby
users to access and update the system at anytime, and from almost anywhere.
Available in three editions (i.e., Small Business, Corporate,
and Enterprise Edition), ACCPAC eCRM also integrates with ACCPAC
Advantage Series and ACCPAC Pro Series flagship back-office
accounting product suites.
The
integration was announced in August during the company's "Partnership
2002" conference in Las Vegas, NV, and it should enable access to back
office transactional data as well as vital customer, partner and prospect contact
information, and should thereby result in a familiar, complete and unified view
of customer data from a single point. Bi-directional integration reportedly
allows data to be updated e.g., in either ACCPAC eCRM or ACCPAC Pro Series,
with both systems updated instantly. ACCPAC eCRM can also be deployed either
in-house or as hosted solution at ACCPAC Online (www.accpaconline.com),
ACCPAC's application hosting facility that leverages CA's technologies.
ACCPAC Pro Series Manufacturing
Another
recent notable acquisition took place on September 4, when ACCPAC announced
that it has acquired the full line of manufacturing software developed by Lahey
Software. Like its CRM counterpart, this product has been designed
to integrate with ACCPAC Pro Series accounting software and has been popular
with ACCPAC Pro Series users for more than a decade. Thus, the modules will
be marketed under the ACCPAC brand as ACCPAC Pro Series Manufacturing.
The product includes the following four modules each designed on the ACCPAC
Pro Series architecture:
-
The Production Entry module is designed for companies that
need bill of materials (BOMs), sales kit, configuration and backflush processing
by supporting up to 99 BOM levels and real-time costing from ACCPAC
Pro Series Inventory Control. Modular and variable BOM types are
also available to handle product configuration issues with speed and flexibility,
as well as maintaining fewer BOMs.
-
The Work Orders module is designed for manufacturing firms
that require work order processing, component allocation, routing and material
requirements planning (MRP) features. Work Orders can be automatically generated
from sales order requirements, inventory shortages, or inventory requirements
forecasting, while, by defining work centers and operation steps, users can
create flexible labor routes.
-
The Shop Control module provides shop floor capacity scheduling,
"what-if" planning capabilities, and work-in-process (WIP) tracking for production
managers who require manufacturing resource planning (MRP II). It imports
open work orders with defined routes, identifies bottlenecks, and calculates
work order completion dates, while "what-if" plan order scenarios can be created
to view resource requirements without affecting real-time purchasing decisions.
-
The Project Accounting module provides a budget and costing
tool for project accounting and job cost management. Its design allows for
up to four levels of cost tracking with job, phase, category, and cost-type
definition. The job account mask supports the optional use of phases and/or
categories, and cost-types are user-definable.
The
product builds up on ACCPAC Pro Series 7.0, which is a core accounting suite
with source code availability. It is one of ACCPAC's two accounting suites for
small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) that forms the foundation for a broader set
of applications covering front office, back office and warehouse needs among
others. Version 7.0 has been available through ACCPAC Solution Providers worldwide
since the company's announcement at "Partnership 2002". Designed for small to
medium size businesses who demand integration between their back-office accounting
and vital front-end functions, the release provides advanced accounting features,
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 support, plus the crucial ability
to modify the source code to meet specific business needs. A key enhancement
in version 7.0 is also an entirely new object-oriented development framework
that should enable easier integration with new databases and operating systems.
In
addition, the framework reportedly offers enhanced integration with other ACCPAC
business applications such as ACCPAC eTransact for e-commerce,
ACCPAC eCRM, and the also newly announced ACCPAC Exchange for
Internet-based Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). ACCPAC Pro Series
7.0 has a new object based design that should improve user efficiency;
it supports XML (eXtensible Markup Language) exporting and should give users
a broader choice of databases and the ability to manage multiple tasks at once.
The vendor believes this new design should provide for adaptability to support
emerging business technologies and is a platform for long-term growth. In addition,
version 7.0 reportedly includes a range of improvements in customizability,
usability, security and data drill-down. Consequently, long-time ACCPAC Pro
Series Solution Providers have reportedly lauded the advancements in the Pro
Series software.
ACCPAC Advantage Series version 5.0
Also
in August, ACCPAC announced the release of the full suite of modules of ACCPAC
Advantage Series version 5.0, its chief foundation offering now providing
mid-market companies with a 100% web-based accounting solution. The suite includes
seven modules: System Manager, General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable,
Order Entry, Inventory Control, and Purchase Orders.
Moreover,
Advantage Series 5.0 is the ACCPAC's chief offering, and it serves as a foundation
for ACCPAC's comprehensive line of business management applications, including
CRM, HR, e-commerce, WMS, and more. Like its CRM sibling, the Advantage Series'
product architecture provides for access to the accounting system via an Internet
browser and web-enabled devices such as mobile phones and PDAs. In addition,
the architecture reportedly allows for a variety of options designed to provide
businesses the benefits of open platform choice, rapid as businesses can choose
Microsoft Windows NT or Linux operating systems and select
from a variety of databases, including Microsoft SQL, IBM
DB2, Oracle, or Pervasive.SQL.
In
addition, Advantage Series is available as a hosted solution, at ACCPAC Online,
or may be deployed on premises, while its customers can reportedly extend their
solutions to include a full range of business management applications including
ACCPAC eCRM, ACCPAC HR Series, ACCPAC
eTransact, ACCPAC Warehouse Management System and
more.
ACCPAC Advantage Series for the Linux Desktop
Incidentally, ACCPAC announced at its "Partnership 2002" conference the release of ACCPAC Advantage Series for the Linux desktop, making it likely the mid-market's first accounting application to support deployment on both Linux servers and Linux desktops. ACCPAC attributes this feat to the fact its Advantage Series is an accounting solution built on an object-oriented, multi-tiered architecture that enables it to relatively easily integrate new emerging technologies. The reported growing use of Linux on the desktop, coupled with the availability of ACCPAC accounting applications, should provide mid-market clients with a non-Microsoft choice and the potential for significantly reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) in managing their accounting systems.
This
concludes Part One of a four-part note.
Part
Two will continue detailing recent ACCPAC announcements.
Part Three will discuss the Market Impact.
Part
Four will cover Challenges and make User Recommendations.