Leading Solutions buys Scala Australia

Scala Australia is a partner to Netherlands-based Scala Business Solutions, a $US73.4 million company which develops the software. The acquisition will see Leading Solutions pick up over 20 staff who started work at offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane today.

Frank Colli, MD at Leading Solutions, said the deal gives the reseller a software line of business and ?another string to its bow".

?We need to make sure we have a good spread across the market. It lets us go into organisations and give them a full solution. For people that want a CRM and accounting system, it allows us to deliver that as well,? Colli said.

?While Scala was primarily focused on the ERP software solution, Leading Solutions can enhance this capability providing a total IT solution from hardware and software right through to web interfacing and technical support,? he said.

But Leading Solutions ? predominantly a hardware and services provider ? is no stranger to software. In early 2000, the company launched an e-commerce site allowing customers to construct and validate quotes based on an in-house software system dubbed Picasso, developed with Aussie software developer Micro Knox.

It hasn?t as yet sold Picasso to any outside parties but Colli said it is talking to three large organisations who are interested in using the software suite.

Colli said that many of Scala?s existing customers in Australia are multinationals that use Tier 1 packages such as SAP in their central and regional headquarters but have chosen to use Scala for smaller subsidiaries.

?Scala was chosen by these companies because it provides similar functionality at a fraction of the cost per user,? he said.

The acquired business will operate as a distinct group under the Leading Solutions umbrella, similar to its Connected Systems Group, which supplies Unix systems, integration services, HP OpenView management products, network analysis and design and storage, the company said.

Scala?s latest product, iScala 2.1, includes modules for financials, logistics such as sales, purchasing and stock control, manufacturing, project accounting and service management and modules for e-business.