DOJ buys ERP -- and not from the Big Three

IDG News Service - The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit to block Oracle Corp.'s proposed takeover of PeopleSoft Inc. is based on the argument that just three vendors meet the needs of customers seeking big-league enterprise resource planning systems: Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP AG.
But for its own ERP purchase, the Justice Department looked beyond the Big Three. The department said today that it has selected Momentum software from merican Management Systems Inc. (AMS) to run its financial management system in a deal worth up to $24 million.
That price tag places the deal on the high end of the ERP spectrum -- precisely where the Justice Department has argued that customers' choices are limited. In its legal filings, the department refers to Oracle as "one of only three vendors of high-function enterprise software" and argues that other vendors can't match the product quality, scale and support levels available from the market's three leading ERP developers.
Government agencies shop for their financial systems from an approved list maintained by a coordinating group known as the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program. Five software packages -- from PeopleSoft, Oracle, SAP, AMS and Savantage Solutions Inc. -- are currently on the list of systems that have met the organization's certification standards. The Momentum 5.0 software was certified last June, AMS said in a statement announcing the deal.
A Justice Department representative wasn't immediately available to comment on the agency's ERP choice.
The department's system is intended to reduce the time needed to procure goods and services, increase interagency communication and make reports on program performance, according to AMS. The Fairfax, Virginia-based software and services company includes government business as one of its specialties. AMS recently agreed to be acquired by Montreal-based IT services firm CGI Group Inc.
The Justice Department has purchased a number of components in the Momentum software suite, including modules for budgeting, project-cost accounting, travel accounting, acquisitions and analytics, AMS said.