Lawson said Monday, February 25, that it has appointed Jennifer Langer as global director of HCM product management. Lawson said that Langer “has more than 20 years of experience in the health care enterprise software industry, having served in managerial and leadership positions for Oracle, PeopleSoft, Workbrain and Neoforma.”

Additionally, Lawson said Friday, February 22, that it has agreed to acquire VasTech, a workforce management software and services specialist. Lawson said that with the acquisition, it will offer customers in the health care, hospitality and gaming industries “an advanced workforce management staffing and scheduling” product to complement its HR software offerings.

In recent years, Lawson has prioritized HR software as part of a plan under chief executive Harry Debes to make the St. Paul, Minnesota-based firm a legitimate competitor to business software titans Oracle and SAP. Last year, Lawson introduced a new set of HR applications, including tools for workforce acquisition and development.

Workforce management software, which refers to applications for handling tasks such as time-and-attendance management and employee scheduling, is a growing area. Other vendors in the field include Infor and Kronos.

Lawson said the new workforce management product will help health care organizations manage a variety of compliance and reporting challenges associated with safety initiatives, labor productivity and staffing levels.

“By combining the strong staffing and scheduling offerings from VasTech with Lawson’s industry-leading products and team, we are again addressing key business challenges that confront our customers every day,” Steffan Haithcox, health care strategy director for Lawson, said in a statement.

VasTech is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and employs 45 people. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in March.

—Ed Frauenheim