ERP vendor opts for Java

NEWS Software vendor Intentia's latest product - a Java-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) package - will not make the company money in the short term, but will secure its place in the market, according to Mike Nutter, the company's managing director of European business. Nutter said: "We're not expecting instant revenue. We have 3,600 customers worldwide and we don't expect them to move to the Java version for the next three to four years. But this product is a statement of our direction and shows the market where we are going." Nutter claimed writing Movex version 11 is "100 per cent pure Java", and will give users an easy upgrade path from the current version. "There is a significant reduction in code writing due to the componentisation and ability to upgrade parts of the ERP package, whereas in the past you'd have to upgrade all of it." Gary Barnett, analyst at Ovum, agreed. "Java does lend itself more to component-based development and if it is well designed it will be readily modifiable." However, Barnett added: "It's a fairly progressive view, but it's still early days to sell a Java-based ERP product. ERP is frequently a financial rather than technical sell the finance director only cares about cost and performance." Leading ERP vendors, SAP and Baan, were unavailable for comment.