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Praxis continues to successfully leverage use of Great Plains within public sector


Johannesburg, 11 Jul 2005

Praxis Computing, a leading South African ICT BEE company, is one of only a handful of Microsoft`s Certified Business Solutions partners for Great Plains. In this regard, Praxis Computing focuses strongly, but not exclusively, on the public sector.

The world of financial management has been undergoing fundamental changes over the past five years within both the private and public sectors. The introduction of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) with its focus on financial governance, and in particular, the focus on procurement processes and budget management, has created many challenges for managers responsible for public money.

In addition, the shift towards more conventional accounting norms with regard to such issues as accrual accounting and the financial treatment of fixed assets has also demanded more of the public sector. It is the first time that financial officers within the public sector are having responsibilities placed upon them that are similar in nature to financial officers within the private sector who have to conform with the issues of King II, Sarbannes-Oxley and Basel II, for instance.

"Against this backdrop, one of the pressing issues for public sector organisations is the financial and performance management of projects," commented Lisa Seeley-Herbert, who heads up the `Great Plains` division within Praxis Computing. "In this regard, we are able to provide creative and flexible solutions to manage this challenge and have done so on numerous occasions over the past few years. Not surprisingly, the priorities of mid-sized public sector organisations are very different to those in the private sector. Their focus is on managing budgets, procurement and expenditure commitments and control of public funds, including levies and grants. These needs are very different to the private sector focus on the management of revenue generated by the sale of goods and services."

"These types of organisations, in particular, need good business intelligence, governance, compliance with the Public Finance Management Act and a business partner that understands their unique processes/operations and their specific needs," continued Seeley-Herbert. "They also need a company able to integrate financial systems with other business software, for example, when transactions are generated by processes and systems outside of the purely accounting environment. The requirements of the public service mean that many non-financial processes and indicators must be tracked and analysed along with financial numbers.

"Under the Microsoft banner, the Great Plains software suite continues to be enhanced and developed in a user-friendly way that is applauded by our users. We are clearly recognised as a leader in this segment of the market," concluded Seeley-Herbert, "and our continued growth and success within the public sector specifically, confirms and underpins this view. Great Plains could easily be viewed as `God`s gift to the public sector`, as it caters for pertinent features such as commitment accounting; very flexible and detailed budgeting facilities and a business portal that allows, for example, non-financial individuals to easily access and understand procurement information and other key financial numbers. Great Plains also caters for and tracks key performance indicators that are now of particular importance within the public sector, in addition to the normal financial ratios." Praxis Computing already has a significant base of clients utilising the Great Plains software. Public sector clients include several SETAs*, The Public Protector, The Foundation for Human Rights, READ Education Trust, Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the Civil Aviation Authority, The Mine Health and Safety Council, and the Independent Development Trust. Private sector clients include Peregrine Financial Holdings and SABMiller.

* The Praxis SETA solution is a fully integrated, Web-enabled software system that allows SETAs to manage core business processes such as ETQA, Learners, Levies and Grants and Operational Accounting. It utilises and integrates Great Plains and DataNet, the latter product being one of Praxis`s own in-house developments.

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Praxis Computing

Praxis Computing (Pty) Ltd is an award-winning integrated software and services company that delivers outstanding business value by understanding and integrating people, processes and technology. Praxis delivers excellent financial ERP systems, managed IT infrastructure services, specialised software for funders and SETAs, and custom software development to corporate professional services companies, government and other public sector institutions.

Praxis Computing is a black empowerment enterprise with industry-leading employment equity and significant women ownership. In 2003, co-founder and director Mirriam Zwane was awarded the African Achievers Top Woman in ICT award; and Praxis was judged and one of the country`s Top Three Most Progressive ICT Companies and one of South Africa`s Top 20 Non-Listed Companies. In 2004 Praxis was judged to be one of the country`s Top Three Black ICT Companies. Praxis is a Proudly South African company.

Established in 1993 and based in Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa, Praxis is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with certified competencies in Business Solutions and Information Worker Solutions and a Citrix Solutions Network Silver Partner.

Editorial contacts

Paul Booth
Global Research Partners
(082) 568 1179
pabooth@mweb.co.za
Mish Middelmann
Praxis Computing
(011) 484 0900
mish@praxis.co.za