IBM, Navision Deal Aims To Snare Share From Microsoft Great Plains

The Armonk-based computer maker has inked a deal with independent software vendor Navision, which plans to port its Attain business application suite to IBM's iSeries platform, formerly called the AS/400. Attain is a suite focused on financial management, supply-chain collaboration, CRM and other e-commerce applications.

As a result of the deal, solution providers in the United States will have a second major vendor with which to partner for ERP and e-commerce applications.

Navision, based in Vedbaek, Denmark, competes in the same arena as Microsoft Great Plains, providing financial, manufacturing and relationship management solutions. The pact could provide IBM business partners with a robust alternative to the Microsoft offering, they said.

Larry Schiff, president of BMI International, New York, said he was among the first U.S.-based solution providers to view Navision's software eight years ago. "They had functionality running in Europe as far back as 1990 that was years ahead of what we had,and probably what we have still,in the United States," Schiff said.

Bullish on both Microsoft Great Plains and Navision, Schiff suggested solution providers would benefit from having a vendor choice in the United States.

BMI is a partner of both Navision and Microsoft Great Plains, Schiff said.

Microsoft acquired Great Plains in April 2001. Since then, the unit has been spearheading development of the company's .Net Business Framework, the foundation for Internet-enabled functionality in Microsoft Great Plains solutions.

Having Navision port its solution to the iSeries platform,a move Microsoft Great Plains hasn't made,could give IBM's platform a boost, Schiff said.

With IBM's full backing in the United States, IBM and Navision "have the best shot" at preventing market dominance by Microsoft Great Plains in the electronic ERP space, Schiff said.

"Navision is very strong in Europe," said Kim Stephenson, vice president of marketing at IBM's iSeries unit. "They've been Intel-based, with a [Microsoft Great Plains-kind of product, but they are coming over to the iSeries. We are bringing them, with the power of IBM behind them, to the Americas."

IBM's iSeries unit has been working for the past several years to build its application portfolio. Microsoft Great Plains develops its applications for Windows-only systems.