Scala Business Solutions (SBS) has signed partnership agreements with three technology and consultancy companies in Russia to extend the reach of its iScala Collaborative EPR system into new verticals such as insurance and the oil and gas industry. The three new partners are Kinetic Strategic Solutions, a leading expert in enterprise resources and asset management; Marillion, one of Russia's primary audit companies; and Spider Management Technologies, a Russian project management consultancy.
Shamik Sinha, managing director of Scala Africa, which distributes, implements and supports SBS technologies in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, notes that the company has achieved significant success with its existing vertical-market solutions.
"Experience has proven that collaborative ERP solutions that are specifically tailored to vertical markets are faster to implement and deliver the specific functionality demanded by particular industries. By adding solutions built for the insurance and oil industries, Scala is broadening its appeal to new market sectors," he explains.
Because much of the research and development for the Scala product set occurs in Russia, it made sense for the company to partner with geographically nearby organisations.
"By combining its expertise with that of partner companies, Scala is working to offer organisations extended features for complex business management to help them stay competitive and profitable," adds Sinha.
The latest iScala version, commercially-released in September, already delivers cost-effective solutions tailored to the specific needs of companies in industry sectors such as industrial machinery, light engineering, automotive, electronics, pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods and non-profit organisations.
With the input of Kinetic Strategic Solutions, Scala will tackle the oil, gas and power engineering markets. Kinetic is the Russian representative of Indus International, reselling its enterprise assets and resources management software package. Together, Scala and Kinetic will promote both enterprise systems into the oil and gas and power engineering industries. Both solutions are based on an open Web services platform, using XML to transfer data. In the insurance sector, Marillion offers a comprehensive range of audit, tax and accounting services, as well as legislation support and services related to corporate finances management and software. As a result of the partnership Marillion will extend the range of its services to offer iScala to its customers in the insurance industry. The company also plans to integrate iScala with its own software product for the insurance industry, STINTEC. On the project management front, Spider Management Technologies has developed its own project management software package, Spider Project, to maximise the efficiency of technology implementations. The partnership with Scala will allow Spider to offer its customers a complete collaborative ERP system. "Scala's worldwide partner network, of which Scala Africa forms a part, provides custom integration, sales and deployment services in more than 120 countries, offering customers a diverse range of benefits including business, application and technical skills for its collaborative ERP software. With these new developments, Scala Africa looks forward to increasing its presence across the continent," Sinha says.
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Scala Business Solutions offers a collaborative ERP system to make business simple. Whether companies do business in established or emerging markets, or both, or even in some of the world's most difficult-to-get-to places, Scala offers them the most complete, integrated ERP, CRM and SCM solution on a Web services platform to help them increase their business efficiency and productivity.
Scala has the local know-how and expertise to deliver results for businesses anywhere in the world, gained from over 25 years working with international companies and their subsidiaries and divisions in all types of industries. Scala delivers software and services which support local currencies, accounting regulations and legal requirements in more than 30 languages in over 140 countries.
Scala is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol: SCALA). 2002 revenue was $73.4 million.
Visit Scala's Web site at www.scala.net for press information including press releases, information for investors, and company and product information.
Scala Africa
Scala Business Solutions is represented in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands by Scala Africa, which provides sales, consulting and implementation skills to a customer base of 70 companies in SA and a further 300 in the rest of Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Headquartered in Johannesburg and with offices in countries including Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, Scala Africa (Pty) Ltd, is a truly pan-African concern that offers integrated, collaborative ERP solutions to businesses across the continent. Visit Scala's Web site at www.scala.co.za for press information including press releases, information and product information.
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