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                                                                   Exhibit 10.51

            [DENDRITE INTERNATIONAL, INC. LETTERHEAD APPEARS HERE]

                             EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
                             --------------------


     This agreement made by and between DENDRITE International, Inc., a New
Jersey Corporation ("Dendrite") as of the 22nd day of January, 1996, having its
principal place of business at 1200 Mt. Kemble Avenue, Morristown, New Jersey
07960, and Christopher J. French ("Employee"), located at 601 East 20th Street,
Apt. 8E, New York, New York, 10010.

     WHEREAS, Dendrite, its affiliates, and subsidiaries is the developer and
owner of what is referred to as Territory Management Systems and related
hardware and equipment;

     WHEREAS, Employee is or desires to be employed by Dendrite and Dendrite
desires to employ Employee as Vice President, General Counsel, of Dendrite upon
the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth and Employee desires to accept
such employment; and;

     WHEREAS, Dendrite is willing to provide certain confidential and
proprietary information to Employee for the limited purpose of enabling Employee
to carry out duties in connection with his/her employment by Dendrite.


                                   RECITAL:

     NOW, THEREFORE, it is agreed as follows:

1.   TERM
     ----

     The term of this Agreement and Employee's employment hereunder shall be one
     (1) year. At the completion of one (1) year of service, the next paragraph
     (2), Employment at Will will automatically become effective.

2.   EMPLOYMENT AT WILL
     ------------------

     Dendrite hereby employs the Employee as an at-will employee. This
     employment may be terminated at any time for any reason by Dendrite or by
     the Employee unless there is a separate written agreement setting forth a
     specific term. As a matter of courtesy and fair business dealings, the
     Employee, unless there is an emergency, will attempt to
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     provide two (2) weeks notice to Dendrite before terminating his/her
     employment in order to permit Dendrite an opportunity to replace him/her.
     Dendrite will offer similar notice to the Employee in the event of his/her
     termination if the termination is without cause. If the termination is with
     cause as determined by Dendrite, Dendrite will not be required to give
     notice of termination.

3.   TERMINATION
     -----------

     Notwithstanding above, 1, either party shall have the right to terminate
     this Agreement and Employee's employment hereunder for any reason
     whatsoever, with or without Cause (as hereinafter defined), by providing
     the other party hereto with two (2) weeks advance written notice of such
     termination. In the event that Employee's employment hereunder is
     terminated by Dendrite without Cause during the first year of employment,
     Dendrite shall promptly pay to Employee (i) the pro-rata portion of his
     annual base salary for the remaining term of this Agreement, to the extent
     not previously paid, and (ii) an amount equal to the cash value of all
     vacation time accrued and unused through the date of termination. For
     purposes of this Agreement, the term "Cause" as used herein shall mean (i)
     any gross misconduct on the part of Employee with respect to his duties
     under this Agreement or (ii) final conviction of Employee by a court of
     competent jurisdiction of an indictable offense which relates to Employee's
     duties under this Agreement or which is likely to have a material adverse
     effect on the business of Dendrite.

4.   DUTIES/EMPLOYMENT
     -----------------

     Dendrite hereby employs Employee, and Employee hereby accepts such
     employment, as Vice President, General Counsel, of Dendrite during the term
     of this Agreement. The Employee shall perform those duties as may from time
     to time be assigned to him/her and shall carry out any assignments related
     to the company or its affiliate as directed. With the employee's agreement,
     this may involve rendering services at various locations throughout the
     world. The Employee shall devote his/her full time attention, energy,
     knowledge, skill and best efforts solely and exclusively to the duties
     assigned him/her which he/she shall faithfully and diligently perform. The
     Employee shall report to Dendrite as may be required and will fully account
     for all records, data, materials or other property belonging to Dendrite or
     its customers of which he/she is given custody. Dendrite may, from time to
     time, establish rules and regulations and the Employee shall from time to
     time, establish rules and regulations and the Employee shall faithfully
     observe these in the performance of his/her duties. Employee shall further
     comply with all policies and directives of Dendrite.

5.   COMPENSATION
     ------------

     Dendrite shall pay the Employee for his/her services an initial starting
     salary on a semi-monthly basis. For benefits calculation only, the
     annualized amount is $195,000.


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     If Employee dies during the term of this Agreement, Dendrite shall pay to
     his estate all salary and vacation pay accrued and unpaid at the time of
     Employee's death.

6.   BENEFITS
     --------

     Dendrite shall provide the Employee:

     A.  Three weeks annualized vacation, earned at the rate of one and one-half
         days for each month of service between February and November.

     B.  Reimbursement for all reasonable travel, entertainment and other
         reasonable and necessary out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the
         Employee in connection with the performance of his/her duties.
         Reimbursement will be made upon the submission by the Employee of
         appropriate documentation and verification of the expenses;

     C.  Other benefits to the same extent as may be provided to other employees
         generally.

7.   INFORMATION AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
     ------------------------------------

     During the term of his/her employment by Dendrite, the Employee may acquire
     knowledge of (a) information that is relevant to the business of Dendrite
     or its affiliates or (b) knowledge of business opportunities pertaining to
     the business in which Dendrite or its affiliates are then presently
     engaged. The Employee shall promptly disclose to Dendrite that information
     or business opportunity but shall not disclose it to anyone else without
     Dendrite's written consent.

8.   DENDRITE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
     ---------------------------------

     It is anticipated that the Employee will, as a result of his/her employment
     with Dendrite, acquire information which is proprietary and confidential to
     Dendrite. This information includes, but is not limited to technical and
     commercial information, customer lists, financial arrangements, competitive
     status, pricing policies, knowledge of suppliers, technical capabilities,
     discoveries, algorithms, concepts, software in any stage of development,
     designs, drawings, specifications, techniques, models, data, technical
     manuals, research and development materials, processes procedures, know-how
     and other business affairs relating to Dendrite. Confidential information
     also includes any and all technical information involving Dendrite's work.
     The Employee will keep all such information confidential and will not
     reveal it at any time without the express written consent of Dendrite. This
     obligation is to continue in force after employment terminates for whatever
     reason.
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  9. CLIENT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
     -------------------------------

     Dendrite may, from time to time, be furnished information and data which is
     proprietary and confidential to its clients, customers or suppliers. The
     Employee will not, at any time for any reason, reveal any information
     provided by any of Dendrite's clients, customers or suppliers to anyone,
     unless provided with prior written consent by Dendrite or by the client,
     customer or supplier. This obligation is to continue in force after
     employment terminates for whatever reason.

10.  RETURN OF DATA
     --------------

     Upon termination of employment for any reason, the Employee shall return to
     Dendrite all confidential information and material including but not
     limited to all copies of any disks, notes, notebooks, blueprints, customer
     lists and any and all other papers or material in any tangible media or
     computer readable form belonging to Dendrite or to any of its customers,
     clients or suppliers.

11.  INVENTIONS
     ----------

     All work performed by Employee and all materials, products, deliverables,
     inventions, software, ideas, disclosures and improvements, whether patented
     or unpatented, and copyrighted material made or conceived by Employee,
     solely or jointly, in whole or in part, during the term of Employee's
     employment by Dendrite which (i) relate to methods, apparatus, designs,
     products, processes or devices sold, licensed, used or under development by
     Dendrite, (ii) otherwise relate to or pertain to the present, proposed or
     contemplated business, functions or operations of Dendrite, (iii) relate to
     Dendrite actual or anticipated research or development, (iv) involve the
     use of Dendrite's equipment, supplies or facilities, or (v) result from
     access to any Dendrite assets, information, inventions or the like are
     Confidential Information, are the property of Dendrite and shall be deemed
     to be a work made for hire. To the extent that title to any of the
     foregoing shall not, by operation of law, vest in Dendrite, all right,
     title and interest therein are hereby irrevocably assigned to Dendrite.
     Employee agrees to give Dendrite or any person or entity designated by
     Dendrite reasonable assistance required to perfect its rights therein.

     If the Employee conceives any idea, makes any discovery or invention within
     one (1) year after the termination of employment with Dendrite that relate
     to any matters pertaining to the business of Dendrite, it shall be deemed
     that it was conceived while in the employ of Dendrite.
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12.  RESTRICTION ON FUTURE EMPLOYMENT
     --------------------------------

     The Employee agrees that in the event employment with Dendrite is
     terminated, for any reason, with or without cause, the Employee shall not
     for one (1) year after termination of employment:

     a) Perform services that compete with or render services to any
        organization or entity which competes with Dendrite in any area of the
        United States of America or elsewhere where Dendrite does business as
        listed in Addendum 1. This list may be updated periodically after
        consultation with employee;

     b) Solicit any customers or potential customers of Dendrite with whom the
        Employee had contact while employed by Dendrite or who was a customer of
        Dendrite at any time during the two (2) years immediately before
        terminations;

     c) Request that any of Dendrite's customers or suppliers discontinue doing
        business with it;

     d) Knowingly take any action which would disparage Dendrite or be to its
        disadvantage;

     e) Attempt to solicit any employee or contractor of Dendrite to terminate
        employment with Dendrite.

13.  OUTSIDE CONTRACTING
     -------------------

     Employee shall not enter into any agreement to provide programming or other
     services to any company, person or organization outside of his/her
     employment by Dendrite which without the prior written express consent from
     Dendrite, which is (i) with a competitor(s) of Dendrite at such time, or
     (ii) shall substantially hamper or prohibit Employee from satisfactorily
     carrying out all duties assigned to Employee by Dendrite.

14.  AFTER-HOURS DEVELOPMENT
     -----------------------

     In the event that Employee shall develop any software which, pursuant to
     Section 9 herein, is not the property of Dendrite, Dendrite shall have a
     right of first refusal to publish and/or purchase the rights to such
     software. Employee shall notify Dendrite of any such After-Hours
     Development as soon as reasonably possible before or during the development
     process including a description of the intended functions of the
     After-Hours Development and the estimated date of completion.
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15.  PRIOR EMPLOYMENT
     ----------------

     Employee represents and warrants that Employee has not taken or otherwise
     misappropriated and does not have in Employee's possession or control any
     confidential and proprietary information belonging to any of Employee's
     prior employers or connected with or derived from Employee's services to
     prior employers. Employee represents and warrants that Employee has
     returned to all prior employers any and all such confidential and
     proprietary information. Employee further acknowledges, represents and
     warrants that Dendrite has informed Employee that Employee is not to use or
     cause the use of such confidential or proprietary information in any manner
     whatsoever in connection with Employee's employment by Dendrite. Employee
     agrees, represents and warrants that Employee will not use such
     information. Employee shall indemnify and hold harmless Dendrite from any
     and all claims arising from any breach of the representations and
     warranties in this Section.

16.  REMEDIES
     --------

     The parties agree that in the event the Employee breaches or threatens to
     breach this Agreement, money damages may be an inadequate remedy for
     Dendrite and that Dendrite will not have an adequate remedy at law. It is
     understood, therefore, that in the event of a breach of this Agreement by
     the Employee, Dendrite shall have the right to obtain from a court of
     competent jurisdiction restraints or injunctions prohibiting the Employee
     from breaching or threatening to breach this Agreement. In that event, the
     parties agree that Dendrite will not be required to post bond or other
     security. It is also agreed that any restraints or injunctions issued
     against the Employee shall be in addition to any other remedies which
     Dendrite may have available to it.

17.  APPLICABLE LAW
     --------------

     This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
     laws of the State of New Jersey
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18.  NOTICES
     -------

     In the event any notice is required to be given under the terms of this
     Agreement, it shall be delivered in the English language, in writing, as
     follows:

     If to the Employee:      Christopher J. French
                              601 East 20th Street, Apt. 8E
                              New York, New York 10010

     If to Dendrite:          Dendrite International, Inc.
                              1200 Mt. Kemble Avenue
                              Morristown, New Jersey 07960

     With a copy to:          Norris, McLaughlin and Marcus
                              721 Route 202-206, P.O. Box 1018
                              Somerville, New Jersey 08876-1018
                              Attention: Pat Collins

19.  NON-ASSIGNABILITY
     -----------------

     The Employee's rights or obligations under the terms of this Agreement or
     of any other agreement with Dendrite may not be assigned. Any attempted
     assignment will be void as to Dendrite. Dendrite may, however, assign its
     rights to any affiliated or successor entity.

20.  BINDING AGREEMENT
     -----------------

     This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the
     Employee's heirs and personal representatives and to the successors and
     assigns of Dendrite.

21.  INTEGRATION
     -----------

     This Agreement, together with any other written agreements between the
     parties, represents the entire understanding of the parties. No
     representations, oral or otherwise, with respect to the subject matter of
     this Agreement have been made by either party.

22.  WAIVER
     ------

     This Agreement may not be modified or waived except by a writing signed by
     both parties. No waiver by either party of any breach by the other shall be
     considered a waiver of any subsequent breach of the Agreement.
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23.  JURISDICTION
     ------------

     The State of New Jersey shall have exclusive jurisdiction to entertain any
     legal or equitable action with respect to this Agreement except that
     Dendrite may institute suit against the Employee in any jurisdiction in
     which the Employee may be at the time. In the event suit is instituted in
     New Jersey, it is agreed that service of summons or other appropriate legal
     process may be effected upon any party by delivering it to the address in
     this Agreement specified for that party in Section 13.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have signed this Agreement on this 22nd day of
January, 1996.

                                             DENDRITE INTERNATIONAL, INC.

                                             /s/ Christopher J. French
                                             ----------------------------
                                             Signature
                                             Christopher J. French

                                             /s/ A. A. Simonelli
                                             ----------------------------
                                             A. A. Simonelli
                                             Vice President, Administration
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                                  ADDENDUM 1
                        (See 12a of Employee Agreement)


                                  COMPETITORS
                                  -----------

NAME
----

Walsh

Sales Technologies

CorNet

TVF/Cegedim/ISS

NEC

Windsoft

Epsilon

Aurum

IMS

Pheonix