IFS Endorses Project-Centric Approach with Applications for the Global Economy
SCHAUMBURG, Ill., October 15, 2007- IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announced today major functional enhancements supporting Project-Centric industries. The solution provides a comprehensive application for all aspects of project, contract and asset management.
The enhanced solution, developed with customers including Aker Yards and First Engineering, supports businesses operating in industries such as Construction & Contracting, Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI), Project-based manufacturing as well as asset-oriented companies. IFS' components for project-centric industries support the complete process, covering the whole project lifecycle.
The technology focuses on managing projects, contracting and subcontracting, risk management, cost management, resource allocation and payment processes, while also providing the tools to support project budgets and forecasting.
"There's a huge demand in the market from companies who are tired of trying to force-fit applications designed with a product focus into project-driven work," IFS CEO Alastair Sorbie said. "An essential element of project work is the ability to interact and collaborate with suppliers, partners and customers. Most traditional monolithic applications don't make this easy, whereas our project-centric approach enables companies to communicate and also measure success within a partnership.
"Since the mid-90s we've been developing components tailored to the needs of our customers in the project-based industries. As companies increasingly need to support enterprise-wide projects - running simultaneously and often on a global scale - these advances in application functionality are in demand outside of the original target industries."
Key features of IFS Applications for Project-Centric Business include:
Sales contract management enabling flexible contract numbering and improved support for copying contracts and retention management. Improved invoicing workflow and customer address selection on invoices and applications allow greater flexibility and speed.
Subcontract management supports all contractual stages and includes task management, change history and revision control along with multiple options for approval processes. Flexible payment processes, calculation and valuation methods enable agility and accuracy.
Project budgeting and forecasting allows the creation of project-specific budgeting and proactive budget control along with multiple project forecast versions. The Periodic Cost Graph allows a graphical view of project performance against time and budget, and users can also use Project Snapshot to view detailed information from any given date and time.
Risk management functionality provides a qualitative analysis of risk and the ability to manage risk throughout the lifecycle of the project, with constant review and evaluation through severity ratings. The progress of risk reduction can be tracked, along with the overall expenditure.
IFS Applications for Project-Centric Business also integrate with Primavera Project Management, which means information can be imported from, and exported to, this external project planning module.
"Project professionals remain challenged by business solutions that force-fit production and manufacturing applications to meet the needs of knowledge-based information workers," Forrester Principal Analyst Ray Wang wrote in the May 2007 report, Introducing Project-Based Solutions. "As enterprises continue the shift to a service-based and project-based world, project-based solutions (PBS) are the only applications category that enterprises can rely on to deliver process automation, process improvement and innovation for this new world of work. PBS transcends traditional functional boundaries of project management, ERP, CRM, and supply chain management (SCM) to include requests from areas like project accounting, change management, time/expense and analytics that surround the work being accomplished."
About IFS and IFS Applications
IFS (OMX STO: IFS), the global enterprise applications company, provides solutions which enable organizations to respond quickly to market changes-allowing resources to be used in a more agile way to achieve better business performance and competitive advantage.
IFS was founded in 1983 and now has 2,600 employees worldwide. IFS has pioneered component-based ERP software with IFS Applications, now in its seventh generation. IFS' component architecture provides solutions that are easier to implement, run and upgrade. IFS Applications is available in 54 countries in 22 languages.
IFS has over 600,000 users across seven key vertical sectors: aerospace & defense; automotive; high-tech; industrial manufacturing; process industries; construction, contracting & service management and utilities & telecom. IFS Applications provides extended ERP functionality including customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), product lifecycle management (PLM), corporate performance management (CPM), enterprise asset management (EAM) and maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities. More details can be found at www.ifsworld.com.
For further information, please contact:
Charles Rathmann
Phone: 262.317.7419
E-mail: chuck.rathmann@ifsna.com
Kristy Mills
Phone: 262.317.7476
E-mail: kristy.mills@ifsna.com
