ERP Solutions.

Helping businesses stay competitive

Enterprise Resources Planning solutions are increasingly becoming the answer to staying competitive in a tough global business world. In fast-changing Latin America, ERP systems enable companies to stay flexible and respond quickly to new market conditions.

ERP solutions give companies real-time access to many types of information and enable them to share data. Typically based on client/server architecture, they have graphical user interfaces and run without specific hardware requirements. They allow companies to integrate their sales, finance, manufacturing, distribution, customer service and other functions.

One example is Platinum ERA, an award-winning enterprise application suite for the Microsoft BackOffice platform developed by Platinum software Corporation of Irvine, California. The company, one of the 10 largest ERP vendors in the world, is a leading provider of customer-centric enterprise applications for mid-sized businesses, with more than 10,000 customers around the world and in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On the heels of its merger with DataWorks, the company is broadening Platinum ERA to integrate its front office functionality, including sales force automation and customer service and support, across all of its enterprise application families, including the Avante and Vantage manufacturing solutions.

Platinum ERA 7.0 is built on the foundation of the Platinum SQL product line, tightly integrating the company's front and back office application suites. Fully Internet enabled, Platinum ERA incorporates leading Microsoft technologies; its advanced functionality includes supply chain management and enterprise business intelligence tools.

In addition, Platinum SQL is available in several languages, including Spanish, and is designed to address Latin American requirements. "We can address the needs of companies in a wide range of industries, including service companies, hotels, retailers, manufacturers and distributors," says Pascal Van Dooren, regional director for Latin America.

Platinum Software recently was selected as winner of the 1998 Industry Solution Award for "Best Customer Service and Support Solution," its third award won in two years. An independent panel of judges gave the recognition for Clientele(r), Platinum's leading customer relationship management solution. For more information about this and other Platinum Software solutions, please see www.platsoft.com.

PeopleSoft: Growing at the rate of 100% a year, PeopleSoft entered Latin America three years ago to find an eager market for its innovative software solutions, which meet the changing business demands of organizations within broad functionalities, including finance, distribution, human resources, manufacturing and performance management, as well as industry-specific application modules.

"Our growth in Latin America has been great," says Diego Gomez, director of sales, marketing, alliances and business development for the region. "There's been a slowdown in some ERP markets, but we haven't seen that in Latin America."

PeopleSoft's ERP suite is differentiated from others by what the company calls ERO -- optimization of all the resources, not just the planning. Solutions sold in Latin America are specifically localized.

At the same time, PeopleSoft is integral to moving customers and prospects to the Internet economy via PS BN, or PeopleSoft Business Network.

A new product, EPM (Enterprise Performance Management), allows top-level management to analyze all the variables governing their company's performance from the convenience of their desktop. "It's an excellent tool for executives," explains Gomez. "It puts it all at your fingertips the way you want it. Our ERO offers you the functionalities to cover and plan and optimize the different processes across departments. Our EPM is an analytical application that will collect, transform, and deliver relevant information for analysis and strategic decision-making."

For more information about PeopleSoft, please see www.peoplesoft. corn.

SAP: Building on the functionalities of its R/3 enterprise application system, Fast-growing SAP continues its expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean, adding new products that enhance the front office--as well as core product solutions for specific industries like retail, utilities, and oil and gas.

"Since SAP began in the Latin American market five years ago, our growth has doubled each year in the different SAP subsidiaries, becoming one of the fastest-growing SAP regions worldwide," says Alexander Ott, vice president of Latin America. "Our Latin American customer base increased in 1998 to a total of 700 satisfied clients. SAP is now the clear market leader in Latin America, with almost 50% market share, as per IDC. The localization of our products and the hiring of local management were key for our success."

Pietro Tomassi, managing director of SAP's Andina region and the Caribbean, agrees, adding that localization to each country makes SAP software even more attractive. "The interesting part is that our growth is in the new markets, like Colombia," he adds.

In addition to serving the installed base of R/3 customers, SAP now offers localized versions of its New Dimension modules, which enhance specific functions--sales force automation, for example, or the new Business Information Warehouse system.

For the Mexico-Central America region, that means even more growth. "We are pursuing an aggressive strategy for selling our system to the large segment of companies in Mexico that have sales in the range of $10 million to $70 million," says Raul Vejar, managing director. "We recently had a customer who implemented the logistics (sales, production, distribution, procurement) and financial modules in just 11 weeks, which we are very proud of being able to do in such a short time."

In Brazil, the ERP market is growing at 34%a year, says Augusto Pinto, managing director. "Not only large companies, but more and more small and medium companies are becoming aware of the importance of having ERP software to be competitive," he says. For 1999, SAP Brazil will focus on the telecom, utility, banking, public sector, consumer products, retail and media industries.

The outlook for SAP and the companies who use its systems is bright. "There are still lots of companies that need ERP software to automate their business processes," concludes Nicolas Brunswig, managing director of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay. "And in spite of these crisis times, the economic fundamentals are basically healthy."

SAP has 12 offices in nine countries in Latin America and employs more than 1,100 people. For more information, see www.sap.com.

J.D. Edwards: In Latin America, J.D. Edwards is a market leader in ERP systems--with three direct offices and six business partners/exclusive distributors in the region. J.D. Edwards was established in Latin America in 1989, and it is the only ERP vendor with more than 600 customers and more than 1,000 employees in the region. The Denver-based company markets Y2K-compliant integrated enterprise software on multiple computing platforms for distribution, finance, human resources, manufacturing, oil and gas, and supply chain management.

J.D. Edwards provides Idea to [Action.sup.TM] software for managing the enterprise and supply chain. The company's integrated applications give customers control over their front office, manufacturing, logistics/distribution, human resources and finance processes for the consumer, industrial and services industries. J.D. Edwards enables Idea to Action with [ActivEra.sup.TM], a collection of tools and technologies that extend J.D. Edwards' SCOREX supply chain solution and [WorldSoftware.sup.TM] and [OneWorld.sup.TM] enterprise business software.

ActivEra allows customers to change their enterprise software quickly and easily during and after implementation. The company's solutions operate in multiple computing environments, including Windows NT(r), U and OS/400(r), and are [Java.sup.TM] and HTML enabled. For more information, see www.jdedwards.com, or wwwjdedwards.com/americalatina.

Oracle Corp.: The world's second-largest software company and the leading supplier of software for enterprise information management, is growing dramatically in Latin America, doubling its size in the past three years and anticipating 25% growth even in a slowing economy, says Sebastian Gunningham, vice president of Latin America.

The reason: A two-pronged approach to the technologies that enterprises need in Latin America--ERP (back office) solutions and CRM (customer relations market management) for the front office.

Because Latin America has lagged in readying itself for Y2K, Oracle's Fast Forward 2001 product has been selling well. "We've had tremendous success with it because it's a 30-day, low-cost integrated implementation project for all of our ERP solutions," Gunningham says.

Even more exciting is the market's reception to Oracle's CRM front office solutions, which enable companies to market one-on-one to customers, build customer loyalty and implement web-based selling. "We have some very aggressive product offerings, such as a call-center product known as Versatility," Gunningham noted. "In fact, in the past four months, we have had 60 ongoing CRM projects in the region. We believe that CRM is going to be two to three times bigger than ERP."

Gunningham expects continued growth in Latin America despite tricky economic times. "In our sector, technology is still part of the solution, even if you have a problem," he says.

Oracle has 11 offices in Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information, see www.oracle.com.

Global DataTel: What can ERP solutions do for your business? "Typically, your efficiency level goes up 25 to 50%," says Richard Baker, CEO of Global DataTel, which offers continent-wide information system expertise in enterprise resources planning and other areas. "It changes dramatically the way people do business. Instead of disparate systems, they are all-encompassing. You have information moving fluidly along across the company."

Global DataTel recently implemented a full ERP solution for a multinational pharmaceutical company in Columbia. "If it takes 12 different chemicals to make an antibiotic, the old approach would be to send out 12 purchase orders," Baker explains. "With ERP, you automate the whole process. You can do everything -- even the bids and the inventory control. It's also great for salespeople. They can go on the company's Intranet and find out availability, changes in pricing, or even whether a client is on credit-hold."

Global DataTel, a first-tier IBM Business Partner, is the Latin American leader in medium to large system integration projects. Global also partners with Compaq, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco, and is a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider, Lotus Premier Team Provider and exclusive distributor of JBA International, an ERP solution company.

The company is a reseller of Global One services, such as high-speed digital access, including satellite uplink, dedicated Internet access, and Internet e-commerce solutions. As such, it offers single-source solutions for voice and data needs.

In March, the company launched e-Latin American On-Line (www.ehola.com), a branded multilingual Internet portal and the first region-wide network of Internet access providers, covering 80% of the population.

Global Data Tel has 12 offices in seven Latin American countries, with expansion plans throughout 1999. For more information, see www.globaldatatel.com.

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