Can you believe we are nearly two decades into the 2000s? Imagine the insanity of Y2K—is now two decades ago. Knowing this, we are only a couple months away from “prediction season,” a time each fall and winter where every analyst looks at the trends for the coming year to discuss what’s on the horizon in coming years.
However, we would like to drop a prediction early and expand out the window over a few more years, asking “what can you expect from Acumatica in coming years?”
First, a Look Back
Now over ten years old and fresh off a major investment from EQT partners, Acumatica’s last ten years have been intense, with the company gaining nearly 5,000 customers, a partner community to be envied, and a diverse base of end users thanks to its unique licensing and pricing model. Knowing this, the company thrived on innovation and strategy, knowing what steps they needed to take to grow and planning their growth and improvement in phases over the years.
According to a recent interview with SMB Group, Acumatica is now entering phase three of its existence, a time where they solidify their name in the ERP world and reinforce their brand with customers.
Phase One (2008-2013)
Acumatica spent its first five years—which it calls Phase One—building its solution and reaching milestones for 100 installed base customers and $5 million in annual revenues. From the beginning, Acumatica developed its suite of integrated business management solutions, including financials, distribution, CRM, project accounting as a platform, not just as a collection of applications. The vendor also started with—and has stuck to—a partner-centric sales model.
Phase Two (2013-2018)
With a satisfied customer base and a product that worked, Acumatica then turned its attention on growth, marketing, and customer satisfaction. In the second phase, the vendor’s installed base rose to 4,000 accounts, and annual revenues climbed to over $40 million, and its reseller network increased to over 400 partners. Relying on a partner-only model, they added some big names in the VAR industry by offering and delivering some of the best support in the industry. What got them through Phase Two?
- Commitment to Partner Innovation: With an open source API, they gained ISVs in addition to VARs, and today’s Acumatica customers can get a custom solution that works for their exact needs.
- Flexibility Customers Need: Acumatica has always offered customers a choice of both on-premises and cloud solutions. Having an on-premises option allowed Acumatica to cast a wider net than would have been possible if it launched as a cloud-only ERP provider.
- The Ability to Pivot: In the early years, Acumatica was built in the cloud but trusted on-premises. In fact, 90% of its sales in its first year were for perpetual licenses. However, the team saw the long-term benefits in the cloud, allowing businesses the freedom to switch when comfortable and educated about the cloud. Today, subscription sales account for 89% of Acumatica’s new sales.
- Customer Commitment: Customer experience has been a high priority for Acumatica from its inception. Acumatica has continued to differentiate against some of its rivals by including top-tier support and sandboxes in its standard subscription contracts.
What’s in Store for Phase Three?
When it comes to the future of Acumatica, the company is driven by their core values of customer satisfaction and innovation, but as they forge into 2020 and beyond, Phase Three will be aggressive. According to the SMB Group interview, Phase Three will include the following:
- Continued technology investments to improve usability, automate workflow and process automation, and develop deeper functionality in both horizontal modules (e.g. financials, CRM, project management, inventory, etc.) and in industry editions. Acumatica also plans to build cross industry workflow capabilities for customers that have businesses that straddle more than one industry—such as retail and distribution.
- Focusing on new technologies that can provide customers with fast time to value.
- Improving metrics tracking to provide customers with faster time to value when they go live, and more proactive and efficient support resolution throughout the solution life cycle.
- Build its customer community and connections with more training and events, free support and access to executives.
Learn more about this strategy here.
Big Things in Store: Acumatica and MIBAR
Especially in the wake of the big news in June—the acquisition by EQT Partners, Acumatica is ready and able to grow. At MIBAR, we joined the Acumatica Partner community early on and as one of the leading providers of implementation and support for businesses like yours, we are proud to work with this expanding, innovative company.
MIBAR is a leading Acumatica NYC Partner. Learn more about our work with Acumatica and contact us for a free consultation.
Additional Acumatica Resources
Acumatica Joins Forces with IFS to Create ERP Powerhouse
