Navajo Nation selects J.D. Edwards' software

The Navajo Nation, the largest Native American tribe in the Southwest and the largest Native American government in the country, has chosen business automation software from J.D. Edwards & Co. to increase productivity and efficiency, according to the Denver-based company.

J.D Edwards will provide the Navajo Nation with J.D. Edwards 5 software applications, including ERP 8.0, to improve government services to the tribe's members. The multimillion-dollar deal includes software, training and consulting with an enterprise seat license. It is J.D. Edwards' largest public-sector win, according to the company.

J.D. Edwards, with Deloitte & Touche LLP of New York, will help the Navajo Nation implement the solution and provide training support to the tribe.

"Within the Navajo Nation, we have many unique departments that serve a number of different roles and functions for our membership," said Bobby White, controller for the tribe. "We required a software package that is flexible enough to be used in multiple departments and enables our work force to quickly adapt to changes within those departments."

According to J.D. Edwards, the tribe evaluated other products, including those from Oracle and SAP, before choosing its software.

The tribe's implementation goal includes automating business processes across a vast area and numerous locations, including time entry, approvals and purchase orders. This automation will enable the Navajo Nation to allocate more time and resources to other tasks, increasing efficiency, according to J.D. Edwards.

J.D. Edwards 5 is a family of modular, Web-enabled collaborative enterprise software products and services. It is designed to enable customers to match specific software components to specific business requirements while maintaining the value of their IT investments, the company said.

Spanning Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, the Navajo Nation covers more than 26,800 square miles and has more than 250,000 members. Approximately 80 percent of its members live on or near the reservation. Its government, in Window Rock, Ariz., oversees the financial and human resources administration of more than 6,000 employees with an annual budget of more than $400 million.