InterPro Begins Buying Spree, Focusing On Schedules

<B> InterPro Begins Buying Spree, Focusing On Schedules</B>

By Mary Ann McNulty

<I>Pleasanton, Calif.</I> - Starting an acquisition spree that could number five companies by year-end, InterPro Expense Systems Inc. last month bought two companies that develop and market time, attendance, labor management, graphical pay calculations and employee scheduling software.

Planning to integrate the applications of these companies with its existing expense management software, InterPro Expense Systems acquired SmartTime Software division of ASA International Ltd., the developer and marketer of SmartTime time, attendance and labor management software and SmartRules graphical pay calculation software.

InterPro also acquired Timepoint Corp., developer of Timepoint Employee Scheduling used to schedule shift workers, vacations and overtime.

With the acquisitions, InterPro appears to be adopting a strategy similar to several other expense vendors--including Concur, Captura and Extensity--that have acquired or developed a suite of applications for purchasing, human resources or operational management.

Enterprise solution vendors like Ariba, Oracle, Peoplesoft, SAP and newcomer Solix Internet, meanwhile, are adding expense as one of a whole range of corporate management applications. In doing so, most are noting that corporations are no longer interested in single point applications that require separate deployment and training.

"InterPro's acquisition of Timepoint brings the company a step closer to realizing its vision for its future--a fully integrated suite of applications focused on helping the large employer manage all aspects of its relationship with its employees," said Ted Comfoltey, CEO and president of InterPro.

Timepoint president Tom Benson will continue with InterPro in product management. Former SmartTime president Kevin Rhone also remains with InterPro as vice president and general manager of its new Workforce Management division. The unit is charged with integrating, developing and marketing the new product offerings.

"By combining the Timepoint and SmartTime applications, we see an opportunity to create an end-to-end workforce management solution that will provide our collective customer base with an integrated planning, scheduling and tracking solution. The benefit to the customer will be increased control over planning and labor costs," Rhone said.