Chinese enterprise management software and e-business application solution provider Kingdee International Software Group has announced that the company has acquired the Shenzhen-based professional collaborative software provider Firstsoft for CNY10 million.

Collaborative software refers to application software that can help individuals or organizations realize communication and collaboration. Its coverage is now far beyond the range of previous office automation software. According to the latest report on the development trend of the collaborative software market released by the Chinese ICT research firm CCW Research, in 2009, the Chinese collaborative software market increased by 48.7% year-on-year CNY2.81 billion.

Founded in 1998, Shenzhen Firstsoft focuses on products in eight major sectors, including knowledge management, document flow, business approval, work management, resource management, collaborative communication, decision analysis, and data exchange. It has a professional team of nearly 100 people and its clients are mainly in manufacturing, energy, food, finance, and real estate industries.

Kingdee has established an independent product business unit, which is the company's collaborative product business department, to integrate Kingdee and Firstsoft's talents and development resources. The new department will provide collaborative working platform solutions and services to Chinese enterprises and government units, and will achieve seamless integration with Kingdee's enterprise resource planning products, including EAS, K/3, and KIS.

Tian Rong, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Kingdee, told local media that taking the collaborative platform as its core, Kingdee's collaborative product business department will straighten the collaborative office process and combine various systems, including enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, Business Intelligence, human resources, and product lifecycle management, to realize the boundless information flow in the collaborative working of enterprises and to maximize the value and competitiveness of its customers. It will also create a new collaborative platform idea named Work-In-One to provide collaborative applications to group enterprises, small- and medium-sized enterprises, small businesses, and government units with four series products.