JBS launches four ‘pay as you go’ ERP options

SME manufacturers now have another alternative to straight ERP purchase – secure, financial, distribution and manufacturing management applications, specifically built for them, at what is a surprisingly low, fixed monthly cost per user. Privately held, £3 million turnover JBS Computer Services has launched four pay as you go so-called ‘application delivery options’ (ADOs) for its JOBS IBM iSeries (AS/400) SME ERP system for companies well beyond its traditional West Midlands boundary, right across the UK and Europe. Option one is the classic locally served, sited and managed ERP system, managed by the user’s staff, and with application support from JBS. Option two is locally served but remotely managed, with the server still on-site and applications served locally to users, but system management and application software support provided remotely by JBS. Option three is remotely served and managed, with the user having a dedicated server (which could already be his existing system) and their own version of JOBS installed at JBS’ secure data centre, with the application delivered via ISDN or broadband, and all management and support provided remotely. Then option four is more like the classic ASP (application service provider) – as three, but with a shared server system. All mean deleting what is typically a considerable up-front investment, and Colin Wells, JBS’ chairman since joining the company and brining venture capital funding in 1999, says the plans are entirely flexible, with users free to move between them as their needs change. Initial typical cost is a staggering £180 per user per month, and that buys you data centre, comms line, PC and all management, maintenance and upgrades with no extras. Wells says it means smaller companies can now get much faster, lower cost, risk-free access to the kinds of applications they simply could not afford before. He also makes the point that far from rejecting the ASP concept, early SME trial users have been delighted, not least because of the security of having their system and business critical applications secured – as opposed to being vulnerable to simple theft. They’ve also found that data rates and management remotely have been every bit as good as an in-house system could deliver. Wells makes the point that modern MRP, for example, doesn’t take overnight to run – it’s a 10—30 minute run and not even slightly onerous for an AS/400 wherever it’s sited. He draws the comparison with managing a telesales desk dealing with many thousands of SKUs, and thousands of different pricing and production enquiries. He contends that to date, the main ERP vendors have done little more than pay lip service to ASP and its derivatives – and that some have derided it – because it’s difficult for companies geared to large license sales to make sustainable money that way. However, since it’s JBS’ own software and development and the firm isn’t publicly quoted, it works for him. Although, no manufacturers have yet taken the manufacturing applications themselves remotely (MRP, capacity planning and the rest), Wells is confident they will come, and it’s hard to find fault with his confidence. UK Fasteners and Carrs Paper have already moved to remotely managed ADO options with JBS, and seem delighted with what are clearly reduced IT costs and increased functionality. Carrs finance director Chris Stockley says: “The change went really smoothly, the service has been excellent and the fact that we no longer manage the server means that our staff now have the time to improve the way we use the system rather than just spending their time fighting fires. “What’s more, I have a contract that gives me a fixed cost for the delivery of our systems for the next five years, no surprises. As a company keen to get value for money, that’s a very appealing side to the ADO concept.”