Mogens Elsberg, appointed to the role this week, said he will be focusing on adding new channel partners as well as expanding existing channels to drive stronger growth for the Navision product line.
We’re aiming to grow MBS [Microsoft Business Solutions] worldwide, he said.
Even though Navison is available in 40 languages and localized versions, Elsberg feels that Asia is an under-penetrated market at the moment. He said Navision would be looking to strengthen distribution capabilities in this region in 2005.
Microsoft signaled its interest in the enterprise applications space after snapping up mid-range accounting software vendor Great Plains Software Inc in 2001 and Danish business applications developer Navision A/S in 2002.
Microsoft has since worked hard to integrate these divisions as part of its assault on the wider mid-market enterprise applications sector. Initiatives like Microsoft CRM are the first fruits of this strategy.
Towards the end of last year Microsoft released a new upgrade to the Navison product suite that tightened up integration with the rest of its technology stack. Navision 4.0 has now grown to include functional modules for finance, customer management, manufacturing, supply chain management, analytics and e-commerce.
Microsoft promises even tighter integration in future releases of the software.
Elsberg joined from Aston Business Solutions – a leading MBS provider for mid-sized companies – that was later snapped up by Tectura Corp. He replaces Rene Stockner, who left last November to join a small Danish start-up.
