ABC retail gets Professional Advantage

System integrator and ISV Professional Advantage has won a multi-million dollar deal to deploy a 100-seat merchandising retail system for the ABC's retail chain and wholesale business.

The Melbourne integrator beat off seven other short-listed candidates in an 18-month tender. It will install a Microsoft Retail Management Solution (MRMS), using Professional Advantage Open to Buy business intelligence software.

Implementation planning is scheduled to finish by 27 February to go live by 31 August 2004.

Jeff Fouracre, retail business manager at Professional Advantage, said the deployment would be “totally integrated” but winning the deal “really came down to experience” with Microsoft software and with specific verticals.

“Professional Advantage is the first Microsoft Business Solutions partner in Australia to achieve gold certification, and the only one to obtain a second Microsoft gold certification in another category,” Fouracre said. We have specialists with over 10 years experience in implementing solutions in retail. Few companies in the world that can make that claim”

Doug Walker, general manager at ABC Retail, said Professional Advantage's business intelligence had more functionality to augment ABC Retail's Adelaide-based SAP financial system front end.

“By using MRMS, ABC Retail's buying and category managers will have complete visibility on stock holdings, down to the individual item level, and have access to up-to-the-minute purchasing behaviour. The software will save time and increase overall productivity through improved planning accuracy,” Walker said.