2017: YEAR IN REVIEW
2017 has been an exciting year for IFS. With a growing interest in adopting IoT especially in the enterprise sector, IFS continued to work with customers to raise awareness of IFS IoT Business Connector that shortens the time from ideas to tangible benefits for their IoT initiatives by providing an end-to-end architecture and the ability to turn IoT discoveries into actions. This initiative adds the ability to turn an investment in IoT connectivity and data analytics into savings through process efficiencies, and into new revenues through service innovation.
This year, IFS expanded partnerships with key partners across the globe including Middle East and Africa, and regionally, partnered with ISYX and Fasyl to expand reach in the key vertical sectors. IFS was also named leader in the Gartner 2017 Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management for the third consecutive year.
The outlook of analysts such as Gartner about the future development of the enterprise software market has been slightly revised in the past quarter, reflecting stronger-than-expected growth in the adoption of cloud technology. Industry analyst projection for the ERP market shows a growth rate of around 8% for 2017–2018 and a compound annual growth rate for the coming five years of around 7%.
IFS will continue to invest in a strategy that delivers enterprise software for customers around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. “We will also continue to work closely with our customers, to share ideas and have an open customer-centric R&D organisation, while providing an open technology that seeks to enable customers to benefit from new innovations and not aim to achieve lock-in” said Luis Ortega, Managing Director, Middle East, Africa and South Asia at IFS.
Globally, as a company IFS focused on strengthening its value proposition to clients with some major acquisitions and investments in future technology and what that would mean for the enterprises of the future. In September this year, IFS signed an agreement to make the single largest acquisition in its history with the acquisition of WorkWave. WorkWave is a provider of highly scalable, cloud-based Software-as-a-Service solutions for field service and last mile delivery and logistics industries, one of the key areas of growth for the company.
IFS completed the acquisition of Mxi Technologies, which has now solidified its reputation as a provider of aviation maintenance software solutions to defense and commercial aviation operators. This acquisition was followed by the acquisitions of Mplsystems and Field Service Management. Mplsystems is a provider of omni-channel contact center and customer engagement software that, together with IFS’s own Service Management offering, provides a complete end-to-end customer engagement solution.
Key takeaways
- IFS focused on strengthening its value proposition to clients with some major acquisitions and investments in future technology and what that would mean for the enterprises of the future.
- IFS signed an agreement to make the single largest acquisition in its history with the acquisition of WorkWavem, a provider of highly scalable, cloud-based Software-as-a-Service solutions for field service and last mile delivery and logistics industries
- IFS continued to work with customers to raise awareness of IFS IoT Business Connector that shortens the time from ideas to tangible benefits for their IoT initiatives by providing an end-to-end architecture and the ability to turn IoT discoveries into actions
- This initiative adds the ability to turn an investment in IoT connectivity and data analytics into savings through process efficiencies, and into new revenues through service innovation.
- IFS expanded partnerships with key partners across the globe including Middle East and Africa, and regionally, partnered with ISYX and Fasyl to expand reach in the key vertical sectors.