2017 Infor Lawson

Survey Results

Surety Systems developed the 2017 Lawson Survey to allow users to compare their experience and thoughts to others’ in the larger Lawson client community. This survey reports the results of over 180 Lawson client managers. It aims to serve as a benchmark for the Lawson community as a whole. This year’s survey explores topics ranging from version and function usage to Lawson business challenges. The survey’s results are presented graphically to provide a summary of participant responses.

Data was collected during a 8.5-week period from August through October in 2017. Our survey was open to all participants through our website, www.SuretySystems.com, and we encouraged participation with email invitations and through various social media outlets.

PARTICIPANTS

180+

Participants

All participants live and work in United States for companies who currently utilize the Lawson offering.

78%

Have 7+ years of experience

When asked how long their organization has used Lawson/Infor, 78% of respondents said they’d used the system for 7+ years.

86%

Work directly on Lawson or manage those who do

49% of participants work directly with Lawson; 37% manage or lead those who do.

Below, you’ll find results from this year’s survey, including the actual question text we asked participants and visual representations of their responses. We’ve included analysis where context or additional information could be useful.

PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS

What is your responsibility
within Infor/Lawson? 

HR/PR

Financials

Procurement

IT (Development, System Admin, Support)

What is the primary industry of your organization? 

Healthcare continues to be the prominent industry, by far, with public sector companies in a distant second place. The “other” category included organizations ranging from education to non-profits.

2017 Survey Results

VERSION

What version of Lawson/Infor is your organization currently running?

8x   3% 9.x   24% v10   69% Infor Xi   2% I don’t know   2%

UPGRADE

Do you plan to upgrade your Lawson system within the next 12 months?

  •  No
  •  Currently upgrading
  •  Yes

UPGRADE VERSION

v10 vs. Xi

When asked about the version they were currently running, participants seem to heavily favor version 10 (69%) – this is notable since last year 49% respondents said they were on 9.x. Adoption of Xi remains low, even among those currently planning an upgrade.

  •  v10
  •  Xi

UPGRADE APPROACH

How do you plan to approach your upgrade?

Upgrading to v10
Upgrading to Infor Xi
  • Use internal staff, but may need outside consulting
  • Use internal staff only
  •  Use a consulting firm
  •  Use Infor/Lawson directly
  •  Undecided

Regardless of which version they are planning to upgrade to, survey respondents seem to feel that an upgrade will require outside help—either from Infor or from a consulting firm.

LANDMARK APPLICATIONS

Are you using any Landmark Applications?

  74% said YES          6% said NO

What Landmark applications do you currently utilize? (Select all that apply)

Year over year, we’ve seen a significant increase of companies using Landmark applications, from 57% last year to 74% this year. All of the applications included on survey saw an increase in use.

What Landmark applications are you considering (or in the process of) implementing? (Select all that apply)

TIMEKEEPING SOLUTIONS

What timekeeping solution(s) do you utilize?

Did you know?

In addition to providing Lawson consultants,

Surety Systems also offers senior-level Kronos expertise.

See our 2017 Kronos Survey Results here.

HL7 INTERFACE ENGINE UTILIZATION FOR HEALTHCARE CLIENTS

What engine(s) do you use?

Interested in more information on HL7?

Click here to see our Core Health Technology survey.

HOSTED STATUS

Where is your Lawson System hosted?

  • On-Premise
  • Off-Site (cloud-based or hosted)
  •  Combo of both
  •  I don’t know

Are you considering moving a cloud-based system?

 No       Yes

For Clients already in the cloud, how has the cloud impacted your need for in-house Lawson expertise??

72.7%

Stayed the same

11.4%

Decreased

15.9%

Increased

Our data shows that the majority of participants (61%) are still based on-premise, but those hosting their Lawson system off-site has grown significantly. Last year, 79% of users reported being hosting their system on-premise, only 16% were off-site. This year, that number has grown to 31% in the cloud.

This is despite 73% of those who have moved to the cloud saying their need for in-house Lawson expertise has stayed the same and more than 15% saying their need for in-house expertise has actually increased.

WORKLOAD

How would you best complete this sentence? Our Lawson WORKLOAD will ____ in the next 12 months.

BUDGET

How would you best complete this sentence? Our Lawson BUDGET will _____ in the next 12 months.

INTERNAL TEAM

How well staffed is your current group?

40%

60%

short staffed

fully staffed

As per usual in the business world, workloads are expected to continue to increase while budgets are anticipated to stay much the same. Despite this, we saw a decrease in the number of survey respondents who indicated that they are currently short staffed (from 51% last year to just 40% this year), but the percentage of companies that are short staffed is likely to grow as workloads continue to increase.

SATISFACTION

On a scale of 1-15, how satisfied are you with the Infor/Lawson product?

  • Poor
  • Fair
  •  Good
  •  Very Good
  •  Excellent

NEW ERP SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

Is your organization currently implementing or considering a new ERP system?

  •  No
  •  Yes, we are currently looking at options
  •  Yes, we are in the process of implementing

LOOKING AT AVAILABLE ERP SYSTEMS

What new ERP system(s) are you currently considering migrating to?

Overall, the percentages of companies that are satisfied with Lawson has increased year over year, likely due in some part to the general shift to more recently released version versions of the software.

Despite this, 25% are currently considering other options (with an additional 2% actively in the process of making the switch to another platform), with no clear winner among those systems being considered.

When compared to the generally high satisfaction Lawson customers seem to have with the product itself, it seems unlikely that most companies will ultimately decide to change systems.

Conclusion

The Lawson community continues to show strong usage of the product and an increase in their loyalty to the platform. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in this survey. We trust you will find these results helpful as a Lawson user.