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Geac suite links ERP, strategy and expense reporting

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25th Dec 2005
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Canadian ERP software developer Geac is ready to roll out an expanded software suite that integrates the Comshare and Extensity products it acquired in 2003.

Known as Geac Performance Management, the collection includes the financial consolidation, planning, budgeting and reporting facilities previously available in Comshare MPC alongside a new Strategy Mangaement module.

Also available is a Web-based Expense Reports system based on Extensity's code.

Bundled as a suite that might cost mid-market and corporate users anywhere from £50,000 to £500,000, Geac Performance Management is worth looking simply because it combines so many different functions.

Geac's plan is to roll the offering out to users of its ERP software systems. The Performance Management suite has already been implemented for Geac's mainframe-based ERP products SmartStream; eSeries & mSeries. The new suite will be ready for users of its System 21 suite by the end of the first quarter of 2004, said Geac's European marketing director Alastair Middleton.

The Strategy Management module is also a novel concept, providing tools that are designed to help managers develop strategic plans and link them into operational plans and performance measures.

The Expense Reporting module features a facility to save and reuse names of regular contacts, in part so that users can monitor expenses incurred with particular clients to ensure they are within specified regulatory limits.

Middleton described the Performance Management range as "full-bloodedly available now". Comshare MPC provides the basic consolidation and strategy core with modules for planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis. Extensity covers travel plans, payments requests, timesheets and reporting.

What has yet to emerge is how these different functions can be brought together to help companies develop strategies and refine their reporting processes. Geac has a few users in Europe who tested the suite before its launch, but the software was so far-reaching that it was hard to demonstrate the benefits in the first weeks after its launch, Middleton said.

"This is a major milestone towards implementing our performance management strategy," he continued.

"The core of CPM is there now and in the coming months - through acquisition or in-hosue development, Geac will expand the processes we cover and add depth to the applications. It's full steam ahead."

For more information about Geac Performance Management, see the developer's corporate page on AccountingWEB.

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