Enterprise Computing Solutions Leader is First to
Offer
Integrated Business Process Modeling
DENVER and SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (April 11, 2000) —
J.D. Edwards & Company (NASDAQ: JDEC), a leading supplier of
e-Business software solutions that deliver speed and agility, and
Proforma Corporation, a leading provider of Business Process Modeling
solutions, today announced they have entered into a software and
services agreement aimed at providing J.D. Edwards’ customers faster
application implementation times and lower project costs – two
important aspects for customers seeking to achieve a richer bottom line
in the competitive New Economy. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Under the agreement, J.D. Edwards will license a
special version of ProVision Workbench™, Proforma’s industry-leading
Business Process Modeling software. The process models of ProVision will
allow J.D. Edwards’ customers to visually tie together processes and
organizations, and link the detailed tasks in those processes directly
to their enterprise software applications. The companies also will
provide ongoing development support and services for customers.
J.D. Edwards will market ProVision Workbench under
the name ActivEra™ Solution Modeler, part of the company’s ActivEra
Solution Accelerator Suite, which is a key component of J.D. Edwards’
Active Foundation set. J.D. Edwards ActivEra Solutions, which comprises
Active Foundation, provides organizations with a standards-based,
interoperable and highly customizable infrastructure to support their
business initiatives. The leading-edge capabilities, ranging from
procurement and back-end infrastructure to web-based sales force
automation and customer relationship management, are linked seamlessly
to empower an enterprise to leverage information assets in the most
agile e-Business environment available today.
The Solution Modeler will be available to all J.D.
Edwards' customers as a standard module to help them visualize,
understand and easily change their business processes—both before and
after implementation—reducing the cost and time involved.
Proforma is working with J.D. Edwards to develop system interfaces and
will build additional software components. Additionally, J.D. Edwards is
releasing a set of more than 500 business process models that can be
used as templates that will link directly to OneWorld™.
"J.D. Edwards’ agreement with Proforma is
important to helping our customers quickly understand our integrated
ActivEra Solutions framework and how it meets their business need for
creating value in the New Economy," said Gina Ashby, a vice
president with J.D. Edwards. "In short, we are empowering our
customers to rapidly change their software using business experts –
not software engineers. With Proforma’s ProVision Workbench tool, we
are able to take this a step further by having customers establish their
business processes first, and then configure software to fit their
changing needs."
"The Proforma/J.D. Edwards partnership provides
J.D. Edwards’ customers the ability to visualize how their business
processes work and how they can be implemented quickly," said Ron
Pellegrino, president of Proforma. "This solution will provide the
tools that enable J.D. Edwards’ customers to continually adjust to
their constantly changing business environment. Proforma is excited
about assisting J.D. Edwards in implementing its vision."
About Proforma
Proforma Corporation provides software and services
that help companies visualize and understand their business processes,
resulting in improved performance in today’s e-Business and
traditional business environments. Founded in 1994 by business process
improvement experts and technology specialists, Proforma offers a unique
combination of first-hand experience, consulting, training and tools
that deliver insight into an organization’s processes. This
information is useful as a launching point for the design and
implementation of business systems, or is valuable simply as a means of
charting internal processes and organizational structure. Proforma
counts many of the Fortune 500 companies as its customers, including
General Motors, American Express and MCI/WorldCom. For more
information, go to www.proformacorp.com.
About J.D. Edwards
J.D. Edwards provides Idea to ActionTM
software for managing the virtual enterprise and supply chain. The
Company's integrated applications deliver agile e-Business solutions
that give customers control over their front office, manufacturing,
supply chain, logistics/distribution, human resources and finance
processes for the consumer products, industrial and services industries.
J.D. Edwards enables Idea to Action with ActivEraTM, a
collection of tools and technologies that extend J.D. Edwards’
OneWorld TM and WorldSoftware TM enterprise
business software and its active supply chain planning solutions.
ActivEra allows customers to change their software quickly and easily
during and after implementation. The Company's solutions operate in
multiple computing environments, including Windows NT®, UNIX®
and OS/400®, and are JavaTM and HTML enabled.
Founded in 1977, J.D. Edwards is headquartered in
Denver and posted fiscal 1999 revenues of $944.2 million. Additional
information can be obtained by contacting the Company at 1-800-727-5333,
or via the Internet at www.jdedwards.com.