J.D. Edwards Outsourced Applications Help Construction Projects Stay On Time, On Budget
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 1999--
Outsourcing Flexible Software That Puts Ideas Into Action Quickly and Provides Relief from IT Staffing Shortage, Costly Upgrades
Enterprise business software provider J.D. Edwards & Company (Nasdaq:JDEC), announced today that its Network Application Services (NAS) application outsourcing program provides enterprise software services to three leading construction companies through its partner, World Technology Services (WTS).
IREX Corp., Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Group, and J.R. Abbott Construction Company have all chosen to lease J.D. Edwards enterprise software from WTS to meet IT staffing shortage challenges, focus on core business competencies and gain more timely access to critical information.
IREX Corp. faced a shortage of trained IBM AS/400(R) professionals and also needed costly hardware upgrades. With its on-site IBM AS/400 lease running out, IREX turned to outsourcing for the cost flexibility and to relieve the pressure of finding trained professionals in a tight job market.
"By outsourcing our J.D. Edwards WorldSoftware(tm) with WTS, we don't have to worry about the availability of skilled IT candidates and we still enjoy the benefits of a flexible enterprise software solution that can grow and change as we do," said Lori Pickell, treasurer and MIS director of IREX Corp.
The IREX MIS department supports two unique disciplines: construction and distribution. "One of the reasons we chose J.D. Edwards software was its ability to handle both construction and distribution applications in one integrated software solution," Pickell said. "In WorldSoftware, everything from payroll to job cost and inventory to sales orders is integrated to provide us the up-to-date information necessary to manage our business."
Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Group also weighed outsourcing against costly hardware upgrades, and additional overhead costs such as programming expenses and additional staff. "When we looked at outsourcing, it came down to two issues -- confidence in the application and confidence in the service element, that the provider could work with the unique needs of the construction industry," said Dave Miller, controller at Hathaway. "Our confidence in outsourcing WorldSoftware applications with WTS met those needs for us. We can now produce reports that provide critical data to keep construction projects on time and budget, instantly. Previously, they could take up to six weeks to produce. Also, the speed of change that the software can handle has helped us tremendously -- we merged with another company and were able to integrate it into our existing IT infrastructure in only three months."
J.R. Abbott Construction also needed access to real-time information, but wanted to focus less on technology issues and more on positioning itself strategically for the future and on its core business of construction. "We have project managers on the job nationwide that need real-time data to forecast job costs for period-end closings," said Art Solbakken, executive vice president at J.R. Abbott.
"J.D. Edwards software allows seamless forecasting for our project managers and as a result, they can provide faster, more confident closing schedules. The combination of WTS' skills and J.D. Edwards' WorldSoftware gives our project managers such a huge toolbox to choose from, they hardly know which tool to pick," added Solbakken. J.R. Abbott can also access suppliers' account status and provide access to project data, both in real-time, for remote jobs over dedicated and/or dial-up connections.
WTS, a Seattle-based network and application hosting, integration and support company, provides application outsourcing services to companies nationwide including construction, engineering, manufacturing and distribution.
"Our partnership with WTS allows customers to put their ideas into action with our flexible software and benefit from WTS' wealth of industry knowledge and technical experience," said Tom VanBuskirk, director of J.D. Edwards' NAS program. "This is a big advantage for our customers who deal with industry-specific issues and also need an expert to handle their outsourced enterprise applications."
About World Technology Services
For the past 13 years, World Technology Services (WTS) has provided IT services to multi-national U.S. based companies. Outsourcing services include implementation, training, development and support of J.D. Edwards software, and wide area network installation and support. The WTS charter is to provide a total IT solution to its customers. WTS also provides access to corporate file servers, electronic mail and the Internet. For further information, contact the company toll free at 877/987-7253.
About J.D. Edwards
J.D. Edwards provides Idea to Action(tm) software for managing the enterprise and supply chain. The Company's integrated applications give customers control over their front office, manufacturing, logistics/distribution, human resources and finance processes for the consumer products, industrial and service industries. J.D. Edwards enables Idea to Action with ActivEra(tm), a collection of tools and technologies that extend J.D. Edwards' SCOREX supply chain solution and OneWorld(tm) and WorldSoftware(tm) enterprise business software. ActivEra allows customers to change their enterprise software quickly and easily during and after implementation. The Company's solutions operate in multiple computing environments, including Windows NT(R), UNIX(R) and OS/400(R), and are Java(tm) and HTML enabled.
Founded in 1977, J.D. Edwards is headquartered in Denver and posted fiscal 1998 revenues of $934 million. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Company at 1-800-727-5333, or via the Internet at www.jdedwards.com.
Note to Editors: J.D. Edwards is a registered trademark of J.D. Edwards & Company. OneWorld and Configurable Network Computing are trademarks of J.D. Edwards World Source Company. All other product names and companies referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The historical results stated above are not necessarily indicative of the results of any future period.
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J.D. Edwards
Elise Brassell, 303/334-2572
elise_brassell@jdedwards.com
or
The Weber Group
Bethany Weiss, 650/463-8644 |
