In a survey done by the US industry analysis firm, the Yankee Group, QAD has been named as contender to watch against even industry leaders, SAP and Baan.In India, QAD has emerged as the second largest ERP vendor with 15 per cent market share gauged by new customers as against eight per cent last year, according to IDC's Directions 2000 survey. It is the only company which has increased its market share substantially while that of Oracle, Baan and SAP has actually come down in the last one year.

In terms of overall market share, QAD is just behind Baan with 12 per cent share as against 13 per cent of Baan.

Asian companies that have chosen QAD software include HLL, Godrej Soaps, Gestetner, Tata Leibert, GE Lighting (India) Ltd, Bacardi Martini, Mahindra Ford and DCM Benetton. In addition, multinational companies such as Black & Decker, Daewoo, Ford Motor, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft and Philips are QAD's clients.

QAD's market position appears to have strengthened due to its partnerships with all platform majors such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems. As a result, the company has experienced rapid growth in both UNIX and Windows NT sales.

In 1998, NT-based systems represented 30 per cent of its business, up five per cent from the previous year. The remaining 70 per cent consisted of UNIX sales. QAD also allies itself with innovative product partners to deliver comprehensive industry-specific solutions for its target markets.

According to the Yankee group report, QAD is leading JD Edwards in mainstay UNIX sales despite its focused vertical marketing strategy aimed exclusively at the automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and medical products industries.

``QAD's industry-specific marketing approach, strong global distribution network and emphasis on customer service, has established it as a highly respected position in the enterprise space,'' the group said in its report. ``This has created a very satisfied and loyal customer base providing significant growth,'' it added.

The company has established itself as the dominant ERP software provider worldwide to mid-range manufacturers, building an installed base encompassing more than 4,000 sites. With its flexible, scalable enterprise solution, QAD directly addresses the needs of these companies with software that can support their rapid growth.