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News Releases
April 2005 - HRWARE User Group (HUG) Meeting April 15th, 2005
November 2003 - Acquisition of PWA Group Limited
September 2002 - Microsoft Awards HRWARE for Excellence in Human Resources/Payroll
May 2001 - Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions Adds Canadian Payroll Solution
April 2001 - Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Great Plains
September 2000 - Great Plains Recognizes Outstanding Partner Achievements
March 2000 - Great Plains acquires PWA and enhances its e-Business solutions
January 2000 - E-business HR package set to change personnel procedures
April 2005 - Highlights from the HRWARE User Group (HUG) Meeting April 15th, 2005
In the very first session of the morning, "Rediscover Your Empower", attendees were asked to discuss and present the metrics they require within their organizations. A discussion ensued on how Empower, without customization, could help organizations calculate and monitor these valuable indicators. The session ended with a peek at HRWARE's latest development project focusing on HR Dashboards.
Our first guest speaker, Ian Turnball, conducted a session on Privacy Law that was both informative and eye-opening. It was shocking to realize how easily our personal information can be accessed by others without our permission, or knowledge! Privacy legislation is continuing to develop, and Ian highlighted the importance of not only complying, but of maintaining awareness of the changes rapidly occurring, and the precedents being set, in order to manage personal information both effectively and ethically.
The afternoon sessions began with our second guest speaker, John Johnson. John's presentation focused on the value of HR, and HR's expanding role as a Strategic Business Partner within the organization. Keeping his discussion on the lighter side, he also highlighted how HR Professionals themselves must develop a new awareness of their potential impact on the organization as a whole.
For the remainder of the afternoon, sessions focused directly on how Empower can continue to be a valuable tool for your organization. A review of Competency Management and the link to Org Plus reminded us of the current functionality most clients have access to, and enlightened us on how these specific aspects of the software can also assist with measurement objectives. We were introduced to general products upgrades and enhancements, most specifically the new Survey tool found in Employee Self Service.
HRWARE celebrates their 10th Anniversary this year, and we thank all those who attended, and celebrated with us.
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November 2003 - Acquisition of PWA Group Limited
Northgate Information Solutions plc (NIS LN) "Northgate", a leading supplier of software applications and outsourcing
solutions to the human resources, public sector and corporate markets, today announces the acquisition of PWA Group
Limited ("PWA") from Great Plains Software, Inc, a Microsoft subsidiary, for £2.5 million payable in cash. As part
of the acquisition, Northgate will acquire £1.7 million of net liabilities comprising mainly deferred maintenance
income.
PWA's business comprises a suite of leading HR software applications, under the brand Empower. Based in Reading, Holborn and Knutsford, PWA has a client base of over 750 customers. PWA employs approximately 65 people, although, as part of the acquisition agreement, a small number will remain with Microsoft.
For the twelve months to June 2003, PWA generated revenues of £7.1 million and made a EBITA loss of £0.4 million. Operating profits in the first quarter of 2004 were broadly break even as a result of cost-cutting measures undertaken by PWA's existing management. Northgate expects this acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership, before amortisation of goodwill and exceptional items.
The acquisition of PWA further strengthens Northgate's overall market position, widening its
HR software offer into the SME market. PWA's customer base will generate additional cross selling opportunities
for Northgate's integrated personnel and payroll software ResourceLink and will offer limited synergies through
the reduction of certain duplicated central functions. The PWA transaction complements Northgate's acquisition of
Prolog Business Solutions in 2002, which brought us a strong position in the SME payroll market and which has
already been integrated successfully within Northgate's HR division. It will also further complement the position
created by the acquisition of Carapeople, completed in June 2003 and which is being integrated in line with
management expectations.
Chris Stone, Chief Executive of Northgate, commented:
"I am delighted to announce the acquisition of PWA, a welcome addition to our already comprehensive Human Resource
offer. PWA is an excellent fit within our existing HR business. Together Empower and ResourceLink complement our
earlier acquisitions of Prolog and Carapeople, enabling Northgate to offer a comprehensive HR software and payroll
proposition to the market. Overall we now provide HR software and services to over 1,500 UK and Irish clients".
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September 2002 - Microsoft Business Solutions Recognizes Outstanding Partner Achievements
FARGO, N.D. - Sept. 24, 2002 Microsoft® Business Solutions recently recognized 30 of its 4,500 reselling partners
for outstanding achievements and extraordinary successes. The awards were presented at the Global Partner
Recognition Ceremony during Stampede 2002, Microsoft Business Solutions’ 17th annual international partner
Business Solutions reviewed several key criteria in selecting partners for special recognition, including
outstanding sales performance, exemplary technological expertise on Microsoft Business Solutions’ solutions and
services, consistently high customer-satisfaction ratings, feedback from peers and team members, and a sincere
commitment to enabling Microsoft Business Solutions’ and its partners’ mutual customers to realize their full
potential.
Partners earning special recognition at Stampede 2002 include the following:
Global Partner of the Year: TGO Consulting Inc., Markham, Ontario, Canada
Global Solution Developer of the Year: Accountable Software Inc., Exton, Pa.
Global New Partner Excellence: Integrated Systems Solutions, Orange, Calif.
Global New Solution Developer: Teamplate Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The Eagle Award: Andy Vabulas of I.B.I.S. Inc, Norcross, Ga.
Outstanding Partner for Asia/Pacific: InterDyn - Professional Advantage, North Sydney, Australia
Outstanding Partner for Africa/Middle East: Access Vision Systems cc, Johannesburg, South Africa
Outstanding Partner for Latin America: Teze, S.A. de C.V., Guadalajara, Jal, Mexico
Outstanding Partner for Europe: Touchstone Computers Ltd., High Barnet, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Outstanding Partner for Canada: Strophe Inc., Laval, Quebec
Outstanding Partner for United States, Single Location: Collins Computing Inc., Mission Viejo, Calif.
Outstanding Partner for United States, Multiple Locations: TECTURA Corp., Tempe, Ariz.
Solomon Excellence: Lighthouse Group, Norcross, Ga.
International Solomon Excellence: SWsoft Pte Ltd., Singapore
eEnterprise Excellence: ePartners Inc., Atlanta
Dynamics Excellence: RSM McGladrey Inc., Rocky Mountain, Denver
Excellence in Servicing Existing Customers: The Taylor Group, Bedford, N.H.
Partners’ Choice Developer Award: InterDyn - Professional Advantage
Excellence in Customer Care: InfoVision Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Organizational Excellence: Encore Business Solutions Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Partnering Excellence: InterDyn - LANAC Technology Corp., Chicago
Manufacturing Excellence: TECTURA Corp.
Enterprise Reporting Excellence: Solver Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif.
Project Series Excellence: AccuNet Inc., Westerville, Ohio
Human Resources/Payroll Excellence: HRWARE, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Apertum Excellence: SEF IT-Management GmbH, Solingen, Germany
Attain Excellence: eSoftware Professionals, Portland, Ore.
Axapta Excellence: Concord Business Systems Inc., Kennesaw, Ga.
FRx Excellence: Third Wave Business Systems, Elmwood Park, N.J.
Knowledge Excellence: totalBIS, Huntington Beach, Calif.
Marketing Excellence: ePartners, Irving, Texas
Corporate Accounts Excellence: Joseph Graves Associates Inc., Indianapolis
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May 2001 - Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions
Adds Canadian Payroll Solution
Acquisition Brings Integrated Human Resource and Payroll Solution to Canadian Customers
Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions announced today that it has acquired Canadian Payroll System from Intellisol Canada Company. This payroll solution addresses the needs of the Canadian market,complementing Microsoft Great Plains' Human Resource Management offering. Canadian Payroll has an existing Canadian customer base of more than 400 and is currently available as part of the Microsoft Great Plains
eEnterprise, Solomon and Dynamics product lines.
"Microsoft Great Plains is extremely pleased to expand its offering to include a proven,
integrated Human Resource and Payroll solution to our Canadian clients. Intellisol, a solution developer
with us for more than six years, has ensured the solution integrates extremely well with our solutions,"
said Garth Dean, Microsoft Great Plains, Managing Director, Canada. "We are confident that Canadian Payroll
will streamline our client's payroll processes and provide greater control over their payroll information.
When integrated with Human Resources, our clients will have the ability to store, analyze and integrate all
employee information in one central system."
Canadian Payroll's standard features include easy configuration of complex benefits and deductions, multi-bank direct deposit electronic file transfer functions, travel allowances, flexibility in defining pay code calculations and automatic batch generation. Organizations with complex payroll requirements and multiple union requirements, especially in the manufacturing, services, construction, sports team, charity and government sectors, will greatly benefit from this solution.
The Microsoft Great Plains Human Resources series streamlines labour-intensive applicant, employee management and payroll tasks through an integrated human resources and business management solution that allows human resource professionals to focus on more strategic objectives.
Intellisol International is an award winning global provider of Web-enabled, best-of-breed application software specializing in people-specific functionality. Intellisol's "People Performance Software" has been developed to provide mid-market and Fortune 1000 organizations with rich functionality for the Workforce Management and E-Project markets.
Founded in 1990, Intellisol has received numerous awards both as a company and for its products, including four times in BRW's annual Fastest Growing Private Companies List. Intellisol now has more than 11,000 customer sites in 19 countries, with global operations situated in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Fargo, N.D., USA; London, UK; Edmonton, Canada; and Singapore.
Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions provides business applications that help small and mid-sized companies become more agile in today's interconnected economy by extending specific information and procedures to employees, customers, vendors and partners. The business applications automate end-to-end business processes across financials, distribution, project accounting, electronic commerce, human resources and payroll, manufacturing, supply chain management, business analytics, sales and marketing management, and customer service and support. In Canada, Microsoft Great Plains has offices in Mississauga and Montreal.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more detailed information about May 2001 - Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions Adds Canadian Payroll Solution download the PDF file!
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April 2001 - Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Great Plains
Industry Leaders Combine to Pursue Business Solutions Vision for Small And Midmarket Companies in the Interconnected Economy.
Microsoft Corp. today announced the completion of its acquisition of Great Plains Software Inc., a leading supplier of midmarket business applications, for approximately $1.1 billion in stock.
Under terms of the acquisition, originally announced on Dec. 21, 2000, Great Plains will become a division operating within Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Services Group, led by Microsoft Group Vice President Jeff Raikes. Microsoft Great Plains will continue to be based in Fargo, N.D., led by Doug Burgum, senior vice president of Microsoft and president of the Great Plains Division, and his current leadership team.
"We are thrilled to welcome Doug Burgum and all of the Great Plains team members to the Microsoft® family of productivity offerings," Raikes said. "We share a vision of the future of business applications for small and midsized companies and how we can provide the solutions needed for these companies to succeed in an increasingly interconnected economy."
"Microsoft Great Plains will continue to enhance our solid reputation for customer service and innovative business solutions," said Burgum. "With the commitment of our 2,200 global channel partners, more than 2,000 team members, and the tremendous people and technical assets within Microsoft, we have the opportunity to reshape some of the basic assumptions that have guided commerce in the past and truly improve the lives and business success of our customers."
Microsoft Great Plains will continue to develop, market, sell and support its award-winning business applications, Dynamics, eEnterprise and Solomon, under the Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions brand. As part of Microsoft, this division also plans to provide new capabilities that complement the Microsoft Central small-business service. In addition, the integration of technologies from both companies will create a fully interconnected generation of business solutions built on the Microsoft .NET platform, accessed via a wide range of devices (such as PCs, terminals, handheld and wireless devices) and deployed either as Web-based services (hosted applications) or as on-premise, locally managed solutions according to the customer’s business need, support requirements and customization requirements.
"This is a great combination that will benefit our customers, our partners in the industry and our company," said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "The combined assets of Microsoft’s global abilities, our depth of platform technology and Great Plains’ leading expertise in business applications will make deep business solutions truly accessible to small and midmarket companies." Great Plains shareholders of record on Feb. 21, 2001, will receive 1.1 shares of Microsoft common stock in exchange for each share of Great Plains common stock. Fractional shares will be paid in cash.
About Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions
More than 140,000 businesses in 132 countries count on Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions. Microsoft Great Plains provides business applications that help small and midmarket companies become more agile in today’s interconnected economy by extending specific information and procedures to employees, customers, vendors and partners. The business applications automate end-to-end business processes across financials, distribution, project accounting, electronic commerce, human resources and payroll, manufacturing, supply chain management, business analytics, sales and marketing management, and customer service and support.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet
technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services
designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
For more detailed information about April 2001 - Microsoft Completes Acquisition of Great Plains download the PDF file!
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September 2000 - Great Plains Recognizes Outstanding Partner Achievements
Great Plains (Nasdaq: GPSI) recently recognized 25 of its reselling partners for outstanding achievements and extraordinary successes. The awards were presented at the Global Partner Recognition Ceremony at Stampede 2000, Great Plains’ annual international partner conference for its value added resellers (VARs), consultants, systems integrators and solution developers.
Great Plains reviewed several key criteria in selecting partners for special recognition, including outstanding sales performance, exemplary technological expertise on Great Plains solutions, consistently high customer satisfaction ratings, feedback from peers and team members and a sincere commitment to improving the lives and business success of Great Plains’ and partners’ mutual customers.
Partners earning special recognition from Great Plains include:
Global Partner of the Year-InterDyn-Business Microvar, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Global Developer of the Year - Mekorma, Los Angeles, California, USA
Outstanding Partner for Asia/Pacific-InterDyn-Professional Advantage, North Sydney, Australia
Outstanding Partner for Canada - Options Software & Consulting Inc., Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Outstanding Partner for Central Eastern Europe/Africa/Middle East/Latin America-Resolution Software (Pty) Ltd, Pretoria, South Africa
Outstanding Partner for Europe - Advantage Business Systems Limited, London, United Kingdom
Outstanding Partner for the United States-SMB-Diamond Software, Inc., Metairie, Louisiana, USA
Outstanding Partner for the United States-Multi Location-ePartners, Inc. Corporate, Irving, Texas, USA
Outstanding Partner for the United States-Single Location-Enterprise Resource Group, Sacramento, California, USA
New Global Partner Excellence - Infinity Computer Systems, Inc., New York, New York, USA
ASP Excellence - ManagedOps.com, Bedford, New Hampshire, USA
Dynamics Excellence - RSM McGladrey, Inc./Rocky Mountain, Denver, Colorado USA
eEnterprise Excellence - I.B.I.S., Inc., Norcross, Georgia, USA
eBusiness Excellence - Cole Systems Associates, Inc., New York, New York, USA
Enterprise Reporting Excellence - Solver, Inc., Beverly Hills, California, USA
Front Office Excellence - FMT, San Diego, California, USA
Human Resources/Payroll Excellence - HRWare, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Manufacturing Excellence - Cargas Systems, Inc., Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Project Series Excellence - Hal Weinberger Consulting, LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Excellence in Customer Care - InterDyn -TGO Consulting Inc., Markham, Ontario, Canada
Excellence in Integration - Accountable Software, Inc., Exton, Pennsylvania, USA
Excellence in Servicing Existing Customers- InterDyn - PS Technology Group, LLC, Springfield, Ohio, USA
Partners’ Choice Developer Award-Encore Business Solutions Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Organizational Excellence - Technical Micro Consultants, Los Angeles, California, USA
The Eagle Award - Marc Labossiere of Encore Business Solutions Inc., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
All products mentioned in this release are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.
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March 2000 - Great Plains acquires PWA and enhances its e-business solutions
(Taken directly from PWA's web site)
Continuing their push to expand their position as the leading global e-business solution provider around the globe, Great Plains (Nasdaq: GPSI) has acquired PWA Group Limited, the parent company of PWA Personnel Systems Limited (PWA) for US$38 million. The acquisition means that Great Plains and PWA will be able to deliver integrated e-business front office/back office solutions to mid-market organizations around the world.
With the PWA acquisition, Great Plains gains powerful e-HR solutions and further delivers on its vision of automating all process that occur between a company and its people. PWA Empower e-Xtend People allows employees to update selected human resource information about themselves via a corporate intranet. PWA Empower e-Xtend Manager provides managers with instant access to vital human resource information on their team.
"The combination of our companies will provide highly scaleable, fully integrated systems for the mid-market. Front and back office solutions integrated with leading edge HR and payroll software will be unique for this marketplace. It will make business processes faster, simpler and more efficient," comments Paul Wallace, Managing Director of PWA.
"This combination also signifies the start of shorter implementation cycles and increased cost efficiency. The new products will take the best of the world's latest technologies and development methodologies and make them work effectively for the mid-market," says Wallace.
When Great Plains announced its intention to combine with PWA, it cited PWA's established expertise in the market, company culture and the 130-team members who develop, market and support its range of HR and payroll software products as primary reasons for the combination.
PWA, founded in 1989, develops and markets a range of human resource and payroll solutions, providing full consultancy, training and management support services to more than 1,400 customers in 58 countries in six languages. PWA is based in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and has three additional UK offices and 10 international service centres.
Great Plains (Nasdaq: GPSI) is a leading provider of e-business solutions for the mid-market, which generally consists of businesses with annual revenues of US$1 million to US$250 million. Great Plains offers e-business applications for financials, distribution, enterprise reporting, project accounting, electronic commerce, human resource management, manufacturing, sales and marketing management, and customer service and support. Great Plains' solutions are sold and implemented by a unique worldwide network of independent partner organizations that share the company's commitment to lasting customer relationships. Named four times in the "Top 100 Companies to Work for in America" list, Great Plains has more than 1,800 team members worldwide.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements about the future benefits Great Plains expects to derive as a result of the acquisition of PWA Group Limited. There exist a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Such factors include: Great Plains' success in integrating PWA Group Limited into its own operations; dependence upon distribution channels; competition; customer demand, pricing, and other factors set forth in the Company's Annual Report.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered of their respective companies.
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January 2000 - E-business HR package set to change personnel procedures
A new e-business HR software package from HRWARE is set to redefine the way HR is managed. HRWARE e-Xtend connects an organization for inter-departmental communication, turning its HRWARE software into an intranet-based HR management system. HRWARE e-Xtend is available today.
HRWARE e-Xtend enables administrative work to be securely handled by line managers and gives limited file access to individual employees. This empowers line managers to take control of their own staff administration and handle much of the workload so HR can focus on the strategic issues surrounding human asset management.
"We are aware that for some companies, this will be a major cultural step which radically redefines the way HR procedures are handled," comments Kathy Tuitt, HRWARE's VP of Sales. "Indeed, with the onslaught of the e-business era many organizations are going through massive change processes right now."
By implementing the HRWARE e-Xtend server alongside the HRWARE software applications, it satisfies the HR administration needs of line managers and employees.
Tuitt explains, "This new way of handling HR will make the HR professional's day-to-day work so much simpler, empowering each to focus on the bigger issues affecting people management in their organization. Fundamentally, it will enable them to direct HR rather than manage it."
For managers, the system provides access to information about all of their team members. This lets them gain a true picture of the business realities through real-time reports. They can also simply manage compensation and benefits, appraisals, training and development, salary models, as well as absence and vacation details.
Staff can self-administer standard personnel functions, like vacation requests, training and job opportunities, and therefore ensure their personal data is always accurate and needs are handled quickly.
HRWARE markets a range of human resource and payroll software solutions developed by PWA Personnel System Ltd, providing full consultancy, training and management support services to over 1400 private and public sector organizations in 58 countries.
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