Small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to invest in an accounting system may want to consider Solomon Software. Designed specifically for mid-market businesses, Solomon Software is available for specific industries such as project-based companies. Besides the Project Series, other applications include the Financial Series, Service Series, Distribution Series, Light Manufacturing Series and E-Business Series.

To date, the company has established more than 250 installations of Solomon IV in the region. In an interview with IT Singapore, Laurent Dedenis, general manager, Solomon Software South East Asia outlined the company’s plans for the new millennium.

"Solomon Software will be focusing on the higher end of the SME market – the true medium-sized enterprises. Typical companies that we are targeting will have 15 to 25 users on the ERP package. The people using the total integrated system will include the purchasing manager, project manager, financial department staff and the warehouse person. Such companies are typically dynamic in operation. Our competitive advantage is the flexibility of the system. We believe Solomon is one of the most flexible solutions in the market in terms of customizability and process change," said Dedenis.

According to Dedenis, process change refers to process re-engineering – the way the company operates or re-invents. He explained:"Previously people used to buy software based on a set of features. 10 years ago, the market was feature-driven or rather application-driven. This was typical of mid-market companies that had a tendency to use standardized process. In other words, if they want to change order processing or purchase order, they had to buy a higher-end system. Now most of the companies that our resellers are dealing with want more than that. Besides the set of features, these companies are also looking at the platform, and the workflow process. Companies such as manufacturing or distribution will use certain processes that they consider their competitive edge. In any application, process is the most complex thing to change as it involves database, modules and a different way of doing things. Process is the ultimate flexibility that you can give to your client. If a mid-market package like Solomon can customize the process to the needs of the company and do it in a nice way, it can offer a competitive advantage to these companies."

Dedenis also noted that unlike smaller companies, mid-market companies tend to have higher expectations. They may not want the Big Five consultants, but still a higher level of consultancy is expected. To meet these needs and to prepare the channels for the new challenges, Solomon Software will be training their channels this year. Training for resellers in Asia is conducted in Singapore. It is an ongoing training session conducted every two months for different modules.

According to him, a complete integrated systems that includes a bit of everything is not ideal for mid-market customers.

With more vendors offering complete integrated system for SMEs, vendors must complete not only on price and features but also in terms of service and support.

According to Dedenis, SMEs must evaluate more than one system before making a purchase. "What is really becoming a problem now is identifying these competitive systems. Solomon’s competitors can be reduced to five or six since we are focusing on mid-market customers. Our competitive edge is the flexibility of our software which is due to the architecture. Also we have been here for five years and thus have a good understanding of the market. To date we have about 170 customers in Singapore using our Windows product. The way we segment the market is also acceptable. Our channel support is good with 30 value-added resellers in the region, 20 of which are active resellers. The way we approach the market and change the application also accounts for our success."