Microdata seals R2,5-million Microsoft `select` volume-licensing contract with Pioneer Food Group

End-to-end information technology solutions provider Microdata has clinched a major Microsoft Select volume-licensing contract worth well over R2,5 million with Pioneer Food Group - the biggest wheat milling and baking operation in South Africa with an annual turnover of more than R3.5 billion - for the full suite of Windows NT Server products.

The deal, running for 24 months, forms part of the roll-out of SAP R/3 enterprise application software to some 3000 Pioneer users and 2000 PCs over two years. The vast scope of this project makes it one of the biggest SAP-on-NT deployments in the southern hemisphere.

Volume-licensing through the Select option provides "very substantial" direct cost savings, according to Hubert Loubser, Pioneer`s group manager: information technology. "This is because Select is a managed licencing approach that permits us to acquire the right licences on a `just-in-time` basis. The programme also introduces a high order of flexibility plus improved control over our software license acquisitions.

"Further advantages include a much more intimate relationship with Microsoft, with positive spin-offs for support and future system development. We see this as the first step towards a full-fledged partnership with Microsoft."

Microdata, drawing on its know-how and intimate knowledge of Pioneer`s IT and business environments, tailored the Select programme to suit the customer`s needs exactly.

Barry Neethling, First Technology`s technical director, explains: "In the Select programme, price levels are determined by a total two-year forecast of acquisitions within one or more `product pools` - in Pioneer`s case, the Server Pool - and applied throughout the organisation.

"The more accurate the forecast, the more cost-effective the agreement. Working closely with Hubert Loubser and his team, we structured a deal that addresses Pioneer`s immediate and longer-range requirements in the most cost-effective manner.

The deal builds on the success of an earlier contract worth over R1 million between Pioneer and Microdata for a Microsoft Open License volume purchasing agreement.

This was negotiated during 1996/7 following Pioneer`s adoption of SAP R/3 and NT as its software strategy. This decision was taken before Sasko and Bokomo merged in May 1997 to form the Pioneer Food Group.

"All in all, the agreement contributes significantly to our encompassing objective of an IT infrastructure that liberates business mind share and shortens the decision cycle to instill the type of corporate culture that today`s aggressive markets demand," according to Hubert Loubser.

Microdata`s expertise is recognised by Microsoft itself: last September the First Technology Group (of which Microdata is a part) became one of only 3 companies world-wide to receive the sought-after 1998 DLAR (Direct Large Account Reseller) of the Year Award for success in implementing and supporting Microsoft products within large enterprises.