Melbourne-based ERP developer, Pronto Software, has signed up a Toronto consultancy, Business Solutions Alliance (BSA), to push its ERP software to Canadian manufacturing, wholesale, retail and distribution customers.

Pronto vice-president for North America, Terry Leister, said the new VAR deal would help Pronto expand beyond the crowded Australian market. The Canadian market was comparatively undiscovered.

"Australia is a market where we've been for a long time, and it's very competitive. All the Europeans come here, the US comes here, and then there's the domestic players," he said. "Surprisingly, in a place like Canada it was easy to get a foothold."

That said, Pronto was still growing 15 per cent compound in the Australian market, where it had six business partners and was signing up customers such as adventure products retailer Kathmandu. But it was time to explore possibilities further afield, Leister said.

"Canada is remarkably similar to Australia - culturally, demographically, and it's industry is resource- and agriculture-based," he added.

Also North America-made ERP software rarely accounted for input costing. This opened a wedge for Pronto Software - which does feature input costing -- to appeal to customers over there.

"We're expecting our operations with BSA to do about $250,000 in the first six months," Leister said.

BSA president, Marc Harris, said in a prepared statement that Pronto's PRONTO-Xi software would sell well to its Canadian manufacturing customers and probably also to distribution, services and retail sectors.

"We're confident we can really differentiate ourselves in a marketplace that has a decreasing number of very large players," Harris was quoted as saying.

BS, which has 100 customers, had already sold Pronto into a manufacturer - Paintearth Energy Services, which makes and sells equipment for the oil and gas sector.