May marked the end of an exciting fiscal year for Infor, a leading provider of business application software serving more than 70 000 customers. Based on preliminary financial results1, Infor expects its fiscal 2013 Q4 software licence fees and subscription revenues to grow approximately 10% in constant currency2 and approximately 9% at actual currency rates compared to its fiscal 2012 Q4. Infor expects non-GAAP Q4 software licence fees and subscription revenues3 to grow approximately 9% at both constant currency and actual rates. These figures were primarily the result of organic growth and product investment.
In addition to strong performance, the quarter also marked Infor's latest enterprise product release, Infor 10x; introduction of its next-generation social collaboration platform, Infor Ming.le; and record attendance at its annual user conference, Inforum.
"Infor's growth is outpacing the competition because the market is hungry for another option in enterprise software at the precise time we're shipping new products that deliver value and innovation. The core business applications market has been stagnant and under-served and we aim to change that," said Stephan Scholl, President of Infor.
Product innovation
Core to Infor's strategy is a laser-focus on innovation. The company has spent over $350 million on research and development in fiscal 2013 and is tracking to deliver more than 300 new products and 11 000 new features, which is an increase of approximately 150% and 100%, respectively, from record levels in 2012. Virtually every product introduced in 2013 has been designed to enhance usability by Hook & Loop, Infor's in-house design agency based at the company's Manhattan headquarters.
"Infor has introduced more new products and enhancements in the last 18 months than in the previous five years combined. This inflection point in market share gains for Infor is a direct consequence of over two years' of accelerated and unprecedented investment and the freedom to innovate and move quickly," said Duncan Angove, President of Infor. "Our consistent focus on industry-specific applications and collaboration with, and proximity to, customers are major advantages as competitors race to become infrastructure companies. Our customers are upgrading, some directly into the cloud, retiring customisations, and moving off legacy applications that haven't kept pace with the rapid changes in the business."
Among the many products Infor has already introduced in 2013 is Infor 10x, its next-generation enterprise release. These applications feature social, mobile, analytical and cloud capabilities united with Infor's industry-leading suite of solutions to make business software flexible, agile and easier to use.
In addition, the company unveiled Infor Ming.le, a social collaboration platform designed to revolutionise the way workers interact with software and with each other. Unlike the social platforms available today, Infor Ming.le is embedded within key systems like ERP and human capital management (HCM), so employees across all areas of the business can easily and automatically follow documents, assets, machines, people and processes, to speed and simplify the task at hand.
Regarding Infor Ming.le, Peter Goldmacher of Cowen & Company said: "We believe Infor is coming to market with the right product at exactly the right time."
Customer validation
Among the organisations that recently chose Infor are: Adidas, Auckland (NZ) Council, Bausch & Lomb, BMW, the British Heart Foundation, Cargill, Cigna Health, Fairmont Hotels, Flextronics, Gree Electronic Appliances, Gucci, HCA Healthcare, Intel, Pacific Life Insurance, Publix Supermarkets, Raytheon, SABMiller, Sandals Resorts, Saudi Aramco, Ticketmaster, Time Warner Cable, Walgreens, Wells Fargo, Woolworths, and the Cities of Portland, OR and Corpus Christi, Texas.
"Though our parent company runs another ERP, DAB group chose Infor because they could provide us with greater manufacturing and sales functionality, a faster implementation, and lower total cost of ownership," said Enrico Pana, Group IT Manager of DAB group, a global leader in motor-driven water pumps that recently implemented Infor in seven countries across four continents. "Implementing an ERP that manages the complexities of multinational make-to-order manufacturing in under a year is remarkable; speed is not just marketing, it is something real with Infor."
Infor also experienced record attendance at its annual user conference, Inforum. Held in Orlando, Florida, approximately 6 000 attendees were on-hand as the company unveiled Infor 10x and Infor Ming.le, and demonstrated best practices and techniques in more than 1 200 educational sessions.
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