Lawson Announces Breakthrough @Business Platform.

Business Editors & Technology Writers

eBusiness Conference & Expo 2000

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2000

Serves Unique Needs of Application/Business

Service Provider Industry; Delivers Multi-tenancy

as First Available Component of @Business

Lawson Software today is announcing the Lawson Software(R) @Business Service Provider Platform for application service providers (ASPs) and business service providers (BSPs). Lawson also is announcing general availability of Multi-tenancy, the first delivered component of Lawson @Business. Lawson is making the announcement at a press conference (live and archived Webcast link at http://www.lawson.com) coinciding with the eBusiness Conference and Expo in New York City.

Based on the shared business objects which power lawson.insight(TM) e-business engines, Lawson @Business represents a breakthrough approach to serving the ASP and BSP markets. The Lawson @Business Service Provider Platform offers service providers a robust technology platform, plus pre-configured solutions and tools specifically engineered for a hosted environment. It will allow LawsonTone(TM) ASP and BSP partners to quickly develop and deliver `Powered by Lawson(TM)' e-services to their selected target markets. Lawson @Business is designed to be flexible enough to meet the varied development needs of service providers, and fully scalable to meet the functionality requirements of end-user organizations, with an emphasis on the needs of fast-growing companies.

"We learned from our relationships with LawsonTone(TM) partners that service providers invest considerable resources in developing value-added, industry-specific e-services based on enterprise applications," said Eric Morgan, executive vice president, eMerging Markets, Lawson Software. "The advent of Lawson @Business lets us help our service provider partners get to market faster, secure more market share and create competitive barriers to entry. With Lawson @Business, we give service providers the solutions they need to succeed."

Multi-tenancy, the first delivered component of Lawson @Business, is a unique technology solution that leverages Lawson's open, object-based, Web-addressable architecture to allow ASPs and BSPs to securely host multiple customers on a single set of Lawson applications. Multi-tenancy delivers to LawsonTone(TM) partners unprecedented configuration flexibility, enabling their customers to scale from a single Lawson environment to a shared application and/or database environment using just one set of Lawson applications. ASPs and BSPs can use Multi-tenancy to gain a competitive pricing advantage, leveraging economies of scale to reduce infrastructure costs while offering high-value, fully secure solutions and e-services to small and mid-size customers.

"From a partner perspective, Multi-tenancy adds considerable value to Lawson's offerings for the service provider market," said George Klauser, president and chief executive officer, Virtual Growth. "Virtual Growth was among the first to offer a Lawson-powered e-service, and we were pleasantly surprised at the flexibility and adaptability of the Lawson system. Multi-tenancy will make it even easier for us to set up and service customers, since we don't have to do a new installation of application code for each new subscriber."

      Multi-Tenancy provides LawsonTone partners with multiple choices
of system configuration to fit their unique needs. These
configurations include:

--  Single Customer Environment - Supports a single application
    product line with one data area.
--  Customer Shared Application Environment - Supports a single
    application product line with multiple data areas, one for each
    customer or business need.
--  Customer Shared Application and Shared Database Environment-
    Supports a single application product line with multiple customers
    within one data area or multiple data areas.

"Lawson has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to play a leadership role as a technology innovator," said Laurie McCabe, vice president, Summit Strategies. "Lawson is also one of the few enterprise application vendors to embrace the ASP market with a comprehensive partner strategy based on a shared success business model. With its open architecture and new Multi-tenancy solution, Lawson is taking this strategy one step further by offering ASPs a technology solution that lets them get to market fast with industry-specific solutions, and offer them at a very competitive price."

Lawson Software is a leading provider of integrated e-business solutions. Lawson offers role-based Self-Evident Applications(R) (SEAs), transaction engines and e-business extensions powering financials, human resources, supply chain, analytic, enterprise relationship management and e-commerce solutions. IDC states that Lawson is "...primed for the next generation of enterprise-applications utility." According to the Aberdeen Group, "Lawson's commitment to Internet application standards and the delivery of e-business-enabling enterprise applications...should propel it to the forefront of this market space." Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. and London, Lawson has offices and affiliates serving North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Additional information about Lawson Software is available on the Web at http://www.lawson.com, or by calling [phone], ext. 100.

Lawson, Lawson Software, LawsonTone, lawson.insight, lawson.community, lawson.consulting and Self-Evident Applications are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lawson Software.

Other company and product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.