Indian ERP solution on Net by ESS

Delhi-based Eastern Software Systems (ESS) has

become the first Indian company to provide an ERP (enterprise resource

planning) solution on the Internet.

The company has also received venture investment of Rs 10 crore from

Citibank Venture Funds, FMO of Holland and Intel Corp. These three

investors together will hold 80 per cent equity in ESS. According to ESS

Chairman and Managing Director Anil Bakht, they have also expressed

interest in financing the company's future expansion plans.

The company offers its customers the facility of using its ERP package

MakESS off the Web by paying a rental of Rs 9,000 per month. Though this

is inclusive of functions including storage of ERP data, the clients will

have to bear costs of the network on which they want to deploy the

solution. ``The easiest and cheapest way is to get a dial-up link to the

Internet. If you want more robust links and can afford them, you can go in

for leased lines, VSAT links, etc. You can even deploy `MakESS on the Net'

on a corporate intranet that can be managed by a third-party,'' said ESS

Director Sanjay Agarwala.

Client organizations need not invest in expensive computing equipment

and ERP software solutions, nor do they have to worry about implementation

schedules, expensive maintenance contracts or developing technology

expertise in-house, as ESS will do all this through `MakESS on the Net'.

ESS is offering this service through tie-ups with local ISPs. The

company has now entered into an agreement with two ISPs and hopes for at

least 10 over the next year. Mr Bakht said he hoped to convince at least

20-30 customers to adopt this revolutionary model of ERP deployment during

the same time.