Software as a service ERP goes large at Infor

The SaaS version of Infor ERP SyteLine is the same core solution, accommodating true mixed-mode manufacturing, from repetitive to engineer-to-order, for industries like industrial equipment and machinery, high-tech and electronics, metal fabrication, aerospace and defence – but now offered by Infor’s Hosting Centre. It includes an advanced planning engine, automated materials and inventory management, and support for complex product configuration, as well as business intelligence and customer and supplier management modules, and is priced at $149 per user per month, managed by Infor, or hosted, with a traditional perpetual license fee plus $65 per user per month. Meanwhile, the SaaS option for Infor EAM Business Edition, offers manufacturing SMEs the same full enterprise asset management as before, but again, with flexible on-demand serving and priceing. Says Kevin Piotrowski, director, discrete industry & product marketing, Infor. “Through software-as-a-service, [Infor ERP SyteLine] is now available at a low monthly price and without the need to manage infrastructure or software maintenance. Infor gives customers the freedom to choose the model that is best for them.” He makes the point that for companies wanting to implement additional functionality rapidly but at low initial cost, the monthly subscription-based pricing will be attractive. Users acquire the same functionality but select how they want to pay for the software and whether they want to purchase a traditional license or subscribe to the software. It’s much the same with Infor EAM, according to John Murphy, director, EAM, Infor. “The addition of a SaaS Subscription option gives customers greater choice and flexibility to take advantage of the capabilities of Infor EAM Business Edition, without a large up-front investment or the need to manage IT infrastructure.” As for Infor’s hosting centre, it features a ‘multi-tenant’ architecture, where a single instance of the software serves multiple customers. That, says the company, allows Infor to offer the functionality at a lower cost than with traditional hosting, which requires separate hardware for each customer. “Our expertise in software-as-a-service offerings dates back almost a decade,” claims Jim Plourde, vice president, SaaS Solutions, Infor. “Through the economies of scale associated with true multi-tenant SaaS, we can deliver the performance, security and high-availability that are crucial to manufacturing ERP applications.”