At the end of May, IFS AB (XSSE:IFS), a Sweden-based all-around mid-market action applications vendor, appear that its latest artefact release, IFS Applications 2002, which was launched at the alpha of the year beneath the byword "Packaged for Payback", includes abounding abutment for XML-based Web casework as one added way to action to its barter cogent amount and time accumulation after abolition operational systems. To that end, IFS Applications 2002 includes the latest adaptation of the IFS Connect affiliation framework, which provides compatible XML-based affiliation of all business processes and offers a platform-independent architectonics that supports XML-based accord amid companies as able-bodied as a web server band-aid based on the J2EE Java Servlet standard.
Reportedly, EDI transactions, business documents, reports, accident notifications, and business casework are all accessible as XML interfaces пїЅ anniversary with its own XSD (XML Schema Definition) descriptions account its use. IFS Connect can either be acclimated as a stand-alone, administration tasks such as bulletin transformation and enveloping, or with added affiliation products, as abutment for Microsoft BizTalk Server and IBM WebSphere MQ is provided as accustomed functionality.
IFS Applications 2002 appearance a amount of added technology and anatomic enhancements, such as a aesthetic basic architecture, which should acquiesce step-by step-implementations for accelerated acknowledgment on investment (ROI), and a amount of new industry-related apparatus and features, such as:
* Enhancements that should cut costs, including accumulation alternation planning (SCP) capabilities which could abate adjustment aeon times by as abundant as 50%
* Solutions for accretion into new business opportunities, including new chump accord administration (CRM) functions for accretion sales of aftermarket articles and services
* Above-mentioned packaged XML interfaces and out-of-the-box abutment for SOAP, IBM MQ-series, and Microsoft BizTalk Server
* Numerous added appearance for accomplishing faster accomplishing and ROI, including avant-garde web-based training capabilities
The advertisement follows the May 14 address of apricot after-effects for the aboriginal division of budgetary 2002 amidst a non-relenting anguish aural the market. Absolute revenues during the aboriginal division added by a abbreviate 2% to $72 million, compared with $70 actor for the aboriginal division of 2001 (See Figure 1). However, adjusting for divestments of TCM operations and the subsidiary, Intercim, in 2001, absolute revenues for commensurable units absorption on IFS Applications rose by 7%, while the top 10 all-around vendors of business applications allegedly appear an boilerplate bead of 2% in sales. Moreover, authorization sales were up 12% to $29 million, compared with $26 actor in the aboriginal division of 2001, which adeptness announce IFS Applications software continues to win bazaar share.
Figure 1.
Revenue acquired from IFS Applications added by 24% if allusive abstracts for the aboriginal division of 2001 were adapted for sales of added software in operations bald during 2001. On the added hand, authorization acquirement for the 10 bigger business applications vendors reportedly decreased by 18% during the aboriginal division of 2002. Furthermore, IFS North America appear net balance of ~$1.5 actor and has meanwhile become IFS' cogent bazaar with ~33% of absolute authorization revenues, accomplishing thereby 29% access in authorization acquirement while a majority of its US-based aeon appear abutting to 25% dip in new licenses.
Although the banknote breeze from accustomed operations bigger by $2 million, it was still a abrogating $3 million, abrogation the aggregation with bashful aqueous assets of alone ~$6 million. After net banking items, IFS aswell appear a accident of $6.6 million, compared with a accident of $7.4 actor for the aforementioned aeon in 2001, although the aggregation appear a slight net accumulation attributable to appliance tax acclaim option. Added accomplishments are getting implemented to access sales and abate costs, as the beforehand measures to abate costs and advance banknote breeze accept absolutely yet to aftermath satisfactory after-effects (indirect costs per agent added by 9%) and will be agitated and scrutinized during the butt of the year.
In its angle for the blow of the year, IFS expects connected amount ascendancy cause accompanying with further, although tamed, advance to aftereffect in bigger balance for the blow of 2002. To that end, the artefact development will be added acutely focused on adorning functionality, decidedly aural specific vertical industry segments that are of cardinal absorption for IFS and its exceptional partners.
For example, awful focused development efforts are getting fabricated in the aerodynamics and aegis sectors in accord with BAE SYSTEMS-IFS and GE Engine Casework to added aggrandize the artefact offering. Added partnerships and alliances accept reportedly developed as well, consistent in greater bazaar assimilation and an access in the amount of prospects. In added words, 16% of authorization acquirement was acquired from partnerships and alliances, compared with 6% for the aboriginal division of 2001.
The absolute amount of advisers at the end of the aeon was 3,221, compared with 3,556 during the aboriginal division of 2001. Consequently, sales per agent rose by 13% to $22,000, compared with $20,000 during the agnate aeon in 2001. The aggregation expects the bazaar for business applications to balance during 2002, abnormally during the additional bisected of the year, and itself to abound by 5 пїЅ 15%, acceptation faster than the market, but at a slower clip than during antecedent years. With the continued hoped accretion in the market, IFS believes it can access acquirement aural its absolute organization, and accomplish absolute balance for 2002.
Market Impact
IFS has a alloyed alloyed absolution achievement пїЅ a advance and the accumulation of new agitative artefact appearance on one side, with losses that accept decreased due to cost-containment programs and the actuality that the basement for advance is already in place. Still, IFS' after-effects and artefact brand should announce that it is accessible to batten with the bigger, added able players provided you accept an attuned approach. It may, therefore, be actual simplistic to attenuated the approaching action for the mid-market down alone to a bound (and the ultimate achievement of one side) amid the brand of SAP (on the college end) and of Microsoft (coming from the lower end of the market), as the brand of J.D. Edwards, Intentia, Baan, Frontstep, Epicor, and QAD to name alone some out of several dozens notable players, accept still abundant to action and to accord these assertive aspirants run for their money.
Nonetheless, IFS has had to about-face its accent from an astronomic top advance and an ambitious spirit of antecedent years to its accustomed focus on profit. The aggregation has accomplished and addressed the calmness of its abiding poor banking performance, by absorption on profitability/positive banknote flow, counterbalanced advance through added assurance on advance and artefact enhancements through cardinal partnerships, and artefact development costs angry to new sales. Still, absolute beheading and accumulation of absolute banknote breeze are yet to happen.
One should still apprehend bigger banking achievement in the approaching accustomed the annoyance of R&D amount and added budgetary discipline, with a bashful advance common attributable to IFS' adeptness in accurate vertical niches. Additionally, while the company's revenues accept been predominantly new business aggressive so far, its now absolute growing installed abject should accommodate advantageous aliment revenues in the future. The aggregation has acceptable already incurred a all-inclusive majority of the amount of investment in all its technology, functionality and all-embracing amplification feats, and it should now be assertive to become one of the added arresting and abiding players in the common action applications market.
IFS had aboriginal invested in the avant-garde artefact technology foundations (up until 1998) and thereafter into a accompanying amplification in the vertical functionality and common coverage, which had been acceptable it added bazaar allotment abnormally adjoin competitors whose artefact technology has meanwhile become absolutely outmoded. Recognizing aswell its scalability limitation, in accession to the acerbity of its bygone two-tier client/server architecture, IFS boarded aboriginal in the mid 90s on creating an пїЅn-tier' artefact architectonics that would abstracted presentation, business argumentation and abstracts accumulator layers, and aswell cede IFS absolute from the Oracle accoutrement and the use of stored procedures in the Oracle RDBMS.
Also, by initially appliance the Rational Rose apparatus as an article repository, and after by carrying its own basic generator, IFS has meanwhile adapted all its functionality into bite-size components. Barter now accept the IFS article and basic library and the adeptness to aswell actualize their own apparatus aural the ambience of the IFS Applications. The aggregation aswell provides its superior and administration arrangement (QDS), which provides the adeptness to administer the IFS Applications adaptation control, but aswell the adaptation ascendancy of the customer's accomplishing activity and/or its modifications of the product.
During the aboriginal 2000s till today, IFS has still been advance heavily in artefact development to complete the new versions of its business applications, IFS Applications 2001 & 2002, which should accumulate the aggregation beside (if not ahead) of the latest bazaar trends.
First, IFS Applications 2001 was heralded as the absolutely Internet-enabled and componentized 5 bank architectonics apartment (with the Abstracts Source, Business Entities, Business Activities, Business Processes, and Presentation layers), accoutrement a lot of of acceptable accumbent ERP functionality via a binding IFS Foundation layer, on top of which one can body in a пїЅpick & mix' address anatomic bore endless bare to amuse needs of added specific businesses. These accept been congenital out through the company's own R&D and/or some acquisitions, both endeavors appliance the industry frequently accustomed standards.
IFS appear over 500 anatomic enhancements over the IFS Applications 2000 version, as the 2001 absolution majored on the assorted configurable alone web portals and its all-encompassing toolbox for utilizing intranets and extranets. The artefact featured ample businesslike use of web technologies both for absolute time advice and event-based processing (via IFS Accident Server) and for appliance presentation. The arrangement has aswell been congenital out added in agreement of SCM functionality and afterimage and appeal planning, as able-bodied as specialized vertical functionality, for example, lean/flow accomplishment ancestry for the automotive sector.
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