From the May 24, 1996 issue of Midrange Systems.

Synon Tools up for Financial Launch

by Al Gillen

SAN FRANCISCO -- Breaking from its tools-only focus, Larkspur, Calif. -based Synon Inc. announced it is selling a suite of financial software products to the AS/400 market. The Synon/Financials system, which includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, general ledger, budgeting and management reporting, was created using Synon's flagship AS/400 CASE tool, Synon/2E.

The move puts the company into a competitive posture with some of its business partners, that make application software, including financial products, for the same market. To distance the application product from the tools business, the company set up a stand-alone business unit called Synon Application Business Division to manage the marketing and sales of the application.

"For the last couple of years, Synon was looking for a way to make money outside of tools," recalls Larry Caretsky, VP and General Manager, SMA Business Unit. Two years ago the company developed the first release of the financial package, and began selling it into Australia and the United Kingdom. "We quietly began a process of marketing these products on our own."

Caretsky claims a key differentiator for Synon is that it sells the actual software, not just a run-time license. Customers that buy Synon/Financials can tightly integrate them into their home-grown applications that are developed using Synon/2E.

The company claims to have 75 installations worldwide, with the bulk of these in Europe. Caretsky says Synon's 5,000 installations around the world- primarily sites using Synon/2E - serve as a reference for the company. This is also the first place the company expects to have success selling Synon/Financials. "It's the buy vs. build mentality," says Caretsky.

Synon is targeting customers with annual revenues of $50 million to $350 million market. The price of the product ranges from $33,500 to $350,000 on a CPU-based price structure.

One independent Synon/2E developer that specializes in distribution, supply chain and warehouse management, finds Synon's announcement to be positive news. "We welcome anything that involves the proliferation of [Synon's] products," says Tom Zsolt, director of marketing and business development at Richmond Hill, Ontario-based Cantoc Business Systems Inc. "I'd like to see the family of Synon applications grow." Zsolt notes that System Software Associates Inc. (Chicago) has had good success employing a similar strategy. "AS/Set has always been sold with BPCS," he points out.

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