Lawson Workflow Solution Driving Vertical Market Victories.

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1997--

Tied to 60 New Retail, Healthcare Licenses for LAWSON INSIGHT;

Qualex, Memorial Healthcare, Others Gaining New Efficiencies

Lawson Software, The Web Enterprise Company(TM), announced today that it has licensed LAWSON INSIGHT(TM) Enterprise Workflow to more than 60 customers, including major healthcare and retail industry "influencers," such as Blue Cross And Blue Shield of North Carolina, Memorial Healthcare System, HealthSystem Minnesota, Esprit de Corps., Footstar Corporation, Hills Department Stores and Qualex.

Offering a fully-integrated, workflow-oriented solution is helping Lawson continue to strengthen its leadership in both the healthcare and larger retail market by helping clients eliminate cumbersome, "assembly-line" manual information flow, and automating key functions such as requisition processing and invoice approval procedures. In any industry, all functions--from accounts payable to shipping to outside vendors--must share information and knowledge to deliver products or services. Lawson's Enterprise Workflow creates unimpeded, cross-functional information sharing among dispersed locations, automating necessary documentation such as letters, forms, graphics, notes, receipts and invoices and the sharing of that information among approved parties within and outside an organization.

Lawson Enterprise Workflow is embedded as a workflow engine in all of the LAWSON INSIGHT Human Resource, Financial, Supply Chain and Procurement process suite software applications. Lawson Enterprise Workflow, along with Lawson process-centric product suites, allows maximum process adaptability and standard process templates based on cross-industry best practices, but can be customized to allow for the flexibility to adapt existing--or create new--processes.

"We had been using workflow in our patient accounting area to streamline patient billings and our interface with insurance companies," says Dennis Miller, chief information officer at Memorial Healthcare System, a 1,080-bed public, integrated delivery network which is going live with LAWSON INSIGHT(TM) Financials, Human Resources and Procurement by year end. "So we were really pleased that Lawson integrated Enterprise Workflow into its products. We will now be using Lawson's Enterprise Workflow to eliminate the paper shuffle in our materials management accounts payable area to speed up all of our transactions, solve any receipt discrepancies and provide faster, more efficient reconciliations."

Industry analysts generally acknowledge the critical support role workflow is playing in competitive corporations. "As companies continue to recognize that automated business processes help them increase their bottom line, workflow-orientation is becoming an essential part of their technology buying decisions," says Clare Gillan, vice president, Applications and Information Access, International Data Corporation (IDC). "By integrating best-of-breed workflow technology with its adaptable business management process suites, Lawson Software has capitalized on this important trend by creating flexible process-centric business applications."

Qualex, a billion dollar wholesale photoprocessor--the largest in the world--keeps its one-hour processing division's requisition process efficient by using a combination of out-of-the-box requisition and customized invoice workflows.

"Lawson offers exciting technology solutions and this is an important investment," says Chris Jones, systems director for OSP, a Qualex division. "As good as the technology is though, Lawson's understanding and responsiveness during implementation is of equal value. Everyone at Lawson - ranging from its Center of Excellence support help desk, to executive management -- was committed to this project. We were live in just 12 weeks."

Balrae Associates, Inc., a Lawson strategic reseller partner, and IMC, a Lawson information technology and management consulting partner, worked with Lawson to provide a total, beginning-to-end business solution to Qualex with planning, installation, set up and configuration, as well as customized modifications to the invoice system. Rapid workflow implementation is possible because Lawson's INSIGHT Enterprise Workflow is highly compatible with Lawson's multi-tiered architecture and features best practice turnkey workflow applications. It contains a full Windows-based, graphical environment for modeling and automating complex business processes; Windows-based user/process administration and setup tools; end-to-end integration with all LAWSON INSIGHT applications; and LAWSON INSIGHT forms for the creation of users and roles.

Lawson Software, the Web Enterprise Company(TM), is a $140 million provider of web-deployable client/server business applications, specializing in financials, human resources, procurement and supply chain management. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Minneapolis, the organization employs more than 1000 professionals worldwide. Offices are located in Atlanta; Boston; Calgary; Chicago; Columbus; Dallas; Denver; London; Los Angeles; New York; Paris; San Francisco; Seattle; Toronto; and Washington, D.C., with affiliates in Europe and Africa. Additional information about Lawson Software and its products and services is available on the company's Web site, http://www.lawson.com, or by calling [phone].

Lawson and LAWSON INSIGHT are registered trademarks of Lawson Software. Other company and product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Lawson Software, Minneapolis

Judith Rothrock, [phone]

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Nancy Harrower, [phone]

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