Leading Industry Analyst Firm Recognizes Lawson in the Midmarket Accounting Marketplace.

Business Editors

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2000

GartnerGroup has recognized Lawson Software in the midmarket accounting marketplace. GartnerGroup defines the midmarket accounting space as "...enterprises and their divisions and sites generating revenue between $50 million and $800 million annually." According to GartnerGroup, those companies recognized as midmarket accounting leaders, "...provide technology and performance at a suitable price point for midmarket enterprises, while offering functional breadth and depth."

GartnerGroup bases a vendor's position in the Magic Quadrant on a combined measure of completeness of vision and ability to execute. In the midmarket accounting Magic Quadrant, GartnerGroup planning assumptions state, "By 2003, 50 percent of midmarket financial applications will be delivered via application hosting (0.8 probability)," and, "By 2004, 90 percent of midmarket financial applications will incorporate e-business capabilities that extend these applications to suppliers, customers and employees (0.8 probability)."

"Lawson's move into the GartnerGroup Midmarket Accounting leader quadrant continues to validate the company's rising position in the market, its execution in delivering leading-edge functionality via application hosting and its continued commitment to developing and delivering e-business solutions for midmarket financials," said Dean Hager, executive vice president, Lawson Software. "Lawson's vision and execution in delivering 100 percent Web-addressable solutions without exception are driving considerable momentum. Lawson is gaining market share in targeted vertical markets and in e-business solution markets that address the efficiency needs of mid-size and large enterprises."

According to GartnerGroup, "Midmarket enterprises are leveraging e-business to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, make the supply chain more efficient and raise employee productivity," and "Browser-based user interfaces are becoming a minimum requirement for any e-business application because of the need to interact with customers and employees over the Internet." GartnerGroup also states that, "Tighter resource constraints in the midmarket highlight the importance of service delivery channels and application service provider (ASP) options to reduce costs and improve accessibility to vendor applications."

Lawson Software was among the first enterprise solution vendors to offer Web-enabled applications, first delivering its Web-based Self-Evident Applications(TM) to the market in 1996. With the delivery of lawson.insight(TM) 8.0 this year, Lawson introduced a wide array of e-business and e-commerce applications and extensions to help customers make the transition into e-business processes. Lawson Software currently has more than 40 ASP partner organizations delivering lawson.insight and Lawson-powered solutions via its LawsonTone remote computing program.

Lawson Software is leading provider of integrated e-business solutions. Lawson offers role-based Self-Evident Applications(TM) (SEA), transaction engines and e-business extensions powering financial, 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, Africa and Asia. 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.