In addition, the company brought out a platform for the applications, called Lawson System Foundation (LSF) 9, that's based on IBM's WebSphere middleware and can exploit service-oriented architecture (SOA) technologies.

Lawson had announced plans last May to work with IBM to develop SOA interfaces for its business applications. LSF 9 replaces Lawson Technology 8.1, which supported the middleware and database products of multiple vendors.

Lawson said that LSF 9 can serve as a bridge for customers to exploit Landmark, its WebSphere-based, next-generation set of SOA technologies for linking various processes. Landmark is slated to ship later this year.

One early adopter of the integration technology, North Carolina's Buncombe County, found that LSF 9 allows IT staffers to assign user access privileges by roles and classes. The county rolled out LSF 9 last month, replacing Lawson 8, said accounting manager Sonia Burgin.

Burgin also said that the new version of Lawson's financial application significantly speeds the process of clearing uncashed checks from the system. The process now takes minutes, whereas it used to take an hour. The county is also deploying Lawson's new business intelligence software to deliver dashboards to county managers to monitor budgets and finances.