Leading Research Firm Declares Lawson Software Winner of Human Capital Management Battle

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2007

Company's compelling demonstration of strategic HR capabilities tops technology offerings shown during HR Technology Conference

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Lawson Software (Nasdaq:LWSN) today announced that AMR Research, a leading industry analyst research firm, declared Lawson the victor over Oracle and Workday in the 'HCM Battle' that took place Oct. 11 at the HR Technology Conference in Chicago. The demonstration pitted Lawson against the other vendors to demonstrate their respective HR technology offerings. Lawson provided the first public view of its new Strategic Human Capital Management application suite, a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering that combines core human capital management (HCM) functionality with the latest advancements in strategic HCM, including talent management - in one comprehensive, global solution.

In the October 2007 report, "HR Technology Conference 2007 Showcases HCM Momentum," Lawson was noted as the winner of the HCM Battle for its ability to showcase how its Strategic Human Capital Management solution will integrate into the rest of an organization's business.

"[Lawson] focused its manager self-service portion of the demonstration entirely through Microsoft Outlook integration. It also gave the best illustration we have seen to date of corporate social networking and web services used in HCM, showing a hypothetical employee of one of its new HCM suite customers using a web services plug-in to her Facebook page to encourage people to apply to work at her company (and get the referral bonus of course). So simple, but so savvy, and that will drive the success of strategic HCM, from the bottom up," said author Christa Degnan Manning in the report.

Lawson Strategic Human Capital Management is designed to help organizations strategically manage, develop and retain employees and improve organizations' abilities to identify and develop top talent and emerging leaders. It also helps increase profitability by linking an organization's people to its business strategy.

Lawson's new suite, to be delivered via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, is being developed using the Lawson Landmark Application Designer, allowing Lawson to design it for service-oriented architecture (SOA) environments. Using Landmark, Lawson simplifies applications by reducing the amount of code needed for development, which can significantly reduce the work needed for organizations to implement and use the applications. In addition, SOA increases flexibility by allowing maintenance and upgrades to be made when and where they are needed.

Lawson's "best of suite" approach to its new HCM software offering combines core HCM functionality - payroll, benefits management, employee self service and other core tools that organizations need to manage their global HR needs - with strategic HCM functionality, including talent management and other advanced capabilities.

"Our victory in the HCM Battle validates that we've built a product that has the real needs of our customers in mind," said Larry Dunivan, vice president of Global Human Capital Management Products for Lawson. "We will continue to listen to the needs of our customers while we deliver an innovative solution that embraces Web 2.0 capabilities, such as Facebook integration, while delivering core global HR and talent management."

Lawson also recently announced its first charter implementation customers for Lawson Strategic Human Capital Management, including Commerce Bank, a $48 billion regional financial services provider with 15,000 employees and more than 450 stores serving much of the East Coast; France-based Manitou, the world leader in the manufacturing and distribution of rough terrain forklift trucks; and Sitel, a global Business Process Outsourcing services provider with 67,000 employees located in 27 countries.

More than 1,100 companies use Lawson Human Capital Management applications to manage talent, automate administrative HR processes and help HR staff focus on more strategic, value-added employee initiatives. Lawson Human Capital Management applications provide organizations with the information they need to maximize workforce potential, while helping HR leaders contribute to organizational excellence with applications that directly support business operations.

The AMR Research report "HR Technology Conference 2007 Showcases HCM Momentum" is available online at www.lawson.com/wcw.nsf/pub/shcm.> About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to 4,000 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and service sector industries across 40 countries. Lawson's solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at www.lawson.com.