Lawson Software
Encyclopedia
Lawson Software is an international software company with 4,000 customers in manufacturing
, distribution
, maintenance and services industries, such as healthcare, financial services
, retail
and public sector
in 33 countries.
from IBM
.
Lawson is building its next applications using its Landmark technology environment, a Java-based code.
The current technology behind S3 is largely built on a COBOL
base.
On May 3, 2006, Lawson Software and Intentia
International AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of enterprise computer software, officially began operating as one company. The merger joined two of the software industry's mid-market companies to offer an alternative to larger ERP vendors.
The merger enabled Lawson to serve manufacturing, distribution and services industries worldwide. It revenues closely mirrored the global ERP marketplace, with 45 percent coming from North America, 45 percent from Europe and the remainder from Asia-Pacific.
On April 26, 2011, It was announced that Lawson has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by GGC Software Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital and Infor AKA Infor Global Solutions
, in a transaction valued at approximately $2 billion. This transaction marked the culmination of Lawson’s evaluation of strategic alternatives and review and negotiation of the proposal from Golden Gate and Infor. The transaction is expected to close at the end of Q3 2011.
As of April 26, 2011, Lawson had more than 4,200 employees in 40 countries. Employees work in key offices across the globe, including: St. Paul, MN., USA; Stockholm, Sweden; Manila, Philippines; and the UK.
More recent acquisitions:
In June 2011, Lawson Software was acquired by Infor Global Solutions and Golden Gate Capital.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, distribution
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
, maintenance and services industries, such as healthcare, financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...
, retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
and public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
in 33 countries.
Technology
Lawson provides open, standards-based software. Lawson’s technology platform – Lawson System Foundation 9 – combines Lawson's technology with middlewareMiddleware
Middleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...
from IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
.
Lawson is building its next applications using its Landmark technology environment, a Java-based code.
The current technology behind S3 is largely built on a COBOL
COBOL
COBOL is one of the oldest programming languages. Its name is an acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language, defining its primary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems for companies and governments....
base.
Products
Lawson provides software solutions designed to automate business processes, foster employee collaboration and deliver detailed analyses of results. Customers manage business processes through the functionality of Lawson’s applications. Lawson products fall within two main lines: S3 and M3.- S3 Products
- Applications in the S3 product line are designed to help customers “staff, source and serve.” These applications primarily target services industries that include: enterprise financial management, human resource managementHuman resource managementHuman Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...
, supply chain managementSupply chain managementSupply chain management is the management of a network of interconnected businesses involved in the ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers...
and business intelligenceBusiness intelligenceBusiness intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
. Lawson’s primary S3 industries include healthcare, retailRetailRetail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
, state governmentState governmentA state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...
, local governmentLocal governmentLocal government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
, K-12 educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and other industries.- Human capital management product group includes global human resources, talent acquisition, local human resources, performance management, Absence Management, Personnel Administration, Benefits Administration, Financials and Accounts Payable.
- Applications in the S3 product line are designed to help customers “staff, source and serve.” These applications primarily target services industries that include: enterprise financial management, human resource management
- M3 Products
- Applications in the M3 product line provide solutions for customers that “make, move and maintain” goods or equipment. These applications primarily target asset-intensive industries that include: manufacturing resource planningManufacturing resource planningManufacturing resource planning is defined by APICS as a method for the effective planning of all resources of a manufacturing company...
, enterprise asset managementEnterprise Asset ManagementEnterprise asset management means the whole life optimal management of the physical assets of an organization to maximize value. It covers such things as the design, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance and decommissioning/replacement of plant, equipment and facilities...
and customer/supplier relationship management. Lawson’s primary M3 industries include fashionFashionFashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, food and beverageFood and BeverageF&B is a common abbreviation in the United States and Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong. F&B is typically the widely accepted abbreviation for "Food and Beverage", which is the sector/industry that specializes in the conceptualization, the making of, and delivery of foods...
, distributionDistribution (business)Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
and other industries.
- Applications in the M3 product line provide solutions for customers that “make, move and maintain” goods or equipment. These applications primarily target asset-intensive industries that include: manufacturing resource planning
- Industry Solutions
- Lawson also provides pre-configured functionality that addresses the specific business needs of certain industries. Some of these industry-tailored applications include Surgical Instrument Management, Par and Cycle Counting, Receiving and DeliveryDelivery (commerce)Delivery is the process of transporting goods. Most goods are delivered through a transportation network. Cargo are primarily delivered via roads and railroads on land, shipping lanes on the sea and airline networks in the air...
, Fashion Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and GrantGrant (money)Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
Management.
- Lawson also provides pre-configured functionality that addresses the specific business needs of certain industries. Some of these industry-tailored applications include Surgical Instrument Management, Par and Cycle Counting, Receiving and Delivery
- User Experience Platform
- Lawson Smart Office is built using .NET Framework.NET FrameworkThe .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
and Windows Presentation FoundationWindows Presentation FoundationDeveloped by Microsoft, the Windows Presentation Foundation is a computer-software graphical subsystem for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. WPF, previously known as "Avalon", was initially released as part of .NET Framework 3.0. Rather than relying on the older GDI...
. It gives the user the advantage of a native Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
application and aims to deliver a superior user experience. Lawson Smart Office was demonstrated by MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
at PDC (briefly at 00:01:29 and extensively at 00:04:55) and TechEd (about 00:40:00) events in 2008. It also shows on page 2 in Microsoft's Book of WPF.
- Lawson Smart Office is built using .NET Framework
Services
Lawson services include consulting, implementation, project management, support and training.Company history
Lawson Software has delivered business management solutions since the 1970s. Throughout its history, Lawson has offered technology solutions – packaged software solutions in the 1970s, open systems technology in the 1980s, and web-enabled business software in the 1990s.On May 3, 2006, Lawson Software and Intentia
Intentia
Intentia was a software company founded in 1984 and served over 3,000 customer sites in some 40 countries around the world. It provided applications such as customer relationship management, supply chain management and asset management...
International AB, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of enterprise computer software, officially began operating as one company. The merger joined two of the software industry's mid-market companies to offer an alternative to larger ERP vendors.
The merger enabled Lawson to serve manufacturing, distribution and services industries worldwide. It revenues closely mirrored the global ERP marketplace, with 45 percent coming from North America, 45 percent from Europe and the remainder from Asia-Pacific.
On April 26, 2011, It was announced that Lawson has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by GGC Software Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital and Infor AKA Infor Global Solutions
Infor Global Solutions
Infor Global Solutions is a privately held U.S. software company that specializes in enterprise software ranging from financial systems and resource planning to supply chain and customer relationships.-Company overview:...
, in a transaction valued at approximately $2 billion. This transaction marked the culmination of Lawson’s evaluation of strategic alternatives and review and negotiation of the proposal from Golden Gate and Infor. The transaction is expected to close at the end of Q3 2011.
As of April 26, 2011, Lawson had more than 4,200 employees in 40 countries. Employees work in key offices across the globe, including: St. Paul, MN., USA; Stockholm, Sweden; Manila, Philippines; and the UK.
More recent acquisitions:
- In July 2006, Lawson acquired Competency Assessment Solutions
- In January 2010, Lawson acquired Healthvision
- In December 2010, Lawson Software acquired human-resources software vendor Enwisen for $70 million.
In June 2011, Lawson Software was acquired by Infor Global Solutions and Golden Gate Capital.