QAD Opens Explore 2011 With Major Technology Announcements

May 11, 2011 - PRLog -- QAD Inc. (NASDAQ- QADA, QADB), a leading provider of enterprise business software and services for global manufacturing companies, today announced major enhancements to its software and technology during the opening sessions of its four-day QAD Explore 2011 Customer Conference at the Marriott Rivercenter hotel in San Antonio, Texas being held May 9 – 12, 2011.

Karl Lopker, chief executive officer for QAD, welcomed a full house of global manufacturing customers, partners, vendors and consultants with the conference’s opening address. Lopker discussed the state of the manufacturing industry, including indicators of continuing economic recovery and a return to growth. He also discussed QAD’s plans for an intensified focus on customer engagement and QAD’s vision for its global manufacturing customers: the Effective Enterprise. This over-arching vision aims to enable all of QAD’s customers’ business processes to be working at peak efficiency and perfectly aligned with their strategic goals.

QAD founder and President Pam Lopker followed with an energetic keynote outlining QAD’s technology vision for the Effective Enterprise, which includes enhanced business processes, a mobile strategy and QAD On Demand, QAD’s Cloud solution delivered in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

Bill Keese, senior vice president of Research and Development for QAD, announced the launch of QAD Enterprise Applications 2011 Enterprise Edition (QAD 2011 EE). This “go-to platform”, provides global manufacturing companies the required tools to become an Effective Enterprise. QAD 2011 EE includes several enhancements to its Enterprise Financials module and Planning and Scheduling Workbenches, and changes to more than 50 reports, browses and inquires in its Manufacturing and Supply Chain applications.

Aberdeen Group Research Director Kevin Prouty underscored Pam Lopker’s address with his afternoon session on Cloud computing for ERP and how QAD’s SaaS model, QAD On Demand, is impacting market adoption and development trends. Gordon Fleming, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for QAD, provided additional insight into QAD On Demand, as he highlighted why QAD customers are increasingly choosing this solution. QAD offers full strength ERP that can be deployed on premise, on demand or as a hybrid model.

“We are extremely pleased to again host Explore,” expressed Pam Lopker. “It’s been encouraging to see so many of our customers attend, given the challenges that the manufacturing industry has experienced during last few years. The validation for our strategic direction, the excitement for our latest solutions, and the fellowship that our customers share, are all strong indicators that Explore has been well received.”

QAD Explore 2011 continues through Thursday, May 12, 2011; to learn more, visit: www.qad.com/explore, or for live updates, visit: http://exploreblog.qad.com.

About QAD
QAD is a leading provider of enterprise applications for global manufacturing companies specializing in automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and life science products. QAD applications provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time. For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805-566-6000, or visit the QAD web site at www.qad.com.

“QAD” is a registered trademark of QAD Inc. All other products or company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to Investors: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving demand for the company's software products and products that operate with the company's products; the company's ability to sustain license and service demand; the company's ability to leverage changes in technology; the company's ability to sustain customer renewal rates at current levels; the publication of opinions by industry and financial analysts about the company, its products and technology; the reliability of estimates of transaction and integration costs and benefits; the entry of new competitors or new offerings by existing competitors and the associated announcement of new products and technological advances by them; delays in localizing the company's products for new or existing markets; the ability to recruit and retain key personnel; delays in sales as a result of lengthy sales cycles; changes in operating expenses, pricing, timing of new product releases, the method of product distribution or product mix; timely and effective integration of newly acquired businesses; general economic conditions; exchange rate fluctuations; and, the global political environment. In addition, revenue and earnings in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software industry are subject to fluctuations. Software license revenue, in particular, is subject to variability with a significant proportion of revenue earned in the last month of each quarter. Given the high margins associated with license revenue, modest fluctuations can have a substantial impact on net income. Investors should not use any one quarter's results as a benchmark for future performance. For a more detailed description of the risk factors associated with the company and the industries in which it operates, please refer to the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2011 ended January 31, 2011.

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Founded in 1979, QAD has been recognized as a leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications for global manufacturing companies. Today, QAD enterprise applications leverage advances in Internet and enabling technologies to provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time.

QAD enterprise applications are focused and optimized for select manufacturing industry segments: automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and life sciences.