We have only praise for IFS' fast growth and international expansion. Its formula for success seems simple, although apparently not easily emulated by competitors:
* a flexible and technologically superior componentized product
* a comprehensive e-commerce strategy
* deep feature-rich vertical functionality
* a number of standard APIs or XML-based interfaces
* reputable customer service & support
* prudent acquisitions and/or partnering moves in the past
Particularly at the lower end of the market segment and in regions where IFS has a strong presence (e.g., Nordic Region), it represents a generally low-cost, but viable option.
While the North American business unit, with headquarters in Tucson, AZ achieved very impressive results - a 234% revenue increase over the same period of last year - IFS' track record of successful regional implementations is still being made. Currently it is at the level of a couple of hundred customers. These results are crucial for the following two reasons: 1) to build the company's mind share in the world's most prospective business applications market, and 2) to show that the heavy investments IFS has made in North America over the past several years have begun to pay dividends. Although a newcomer in the North American market, IFS shows promise with a component-based product that enables it to more feasibly integrate traditional ERP with e-business, CRM and other extended-ERP applications. The company will also likely pursue the opportunity of preying on the customer base of currently struggling or all but vanished vendors.
IFS announced the availability of its new release, IFS Applications 2001, in August 2000. This release included 500 major product enhancements and the addition of 10 new modules. IFS Applications 2001 includes web-based components, Internet storefronts, customer relationship management (CRM) applications, connectivity to other business applications, and collaboration with process control systems with a variety of e-commerce engines. IFS Applications offers over 50 functional business components for improving business processes in medium-to-large size companies. Some major enhancements were:
* Completely integrated CRM Solution with Sales & Marketing, Call Management, Sales Configurator and WEB Store.
* Portals implemented for the whole IFS Application product suite.
* Flow manufacturing with support for Kanban.
* Integrated Business Performance solution with Data Warehouse and Cube configurator capabilities.
Despite IFS' presence in 42 countries, the challenge of further international expansion and brand awareness remains. The perception of poor scalability and less-than-global presence within the higher-end of the market are the hurdles yet to be overcome. There is also room for improvement in its currently undeveloped indirect channel, which has been a major success factor for other companies in the mid-market. Moreover, one should closely watch IFS' future profitability track. The company has posted five losing quarters out of the last six (See Figure 1), and its shareholders' confidence may deteriorate until they see a more consistent profitable performance. The mitigating factor in this regard is IFS' solid current stockholders equity.
* a flexible and technologically superior componentized product
* a comprehensive e-commerce strategy
* deep feature-rich vertical functionality
* a number of standard APIs or XML-based interfaces
* reputable customer service & support
* prudent acquisitions and/or partnering moves in the past
Particularly at the lower end of the market segment and in regions where IFS has a strong presence (e.g., Nordic Region), it represents a generally low-cost, but viable option.
While the North American business unit, with headquarters in Tucson, AZ achieved very impressive results - a 234% revenue increase over the same period of last year - IFS' track record of successful regional implementations is still being made. Currently it is at the level of a couple of hundred customers. These results are crucial for the following two reasons: 1) to build the company's mind share in the world's most prospective business applications market, and 2) to show that the heavy investments IFS has made in North America over the past several years have begun to pay dividends. Although a newcomer in the North American market, IFS shows promise with a component-based product that enables it to more feasibly integrate traditional ERP with e-business, CRM and other extended-ERP applications. The company will also likely pursue the opportunity of preying on the customer base of currently struggling or all but vanished vendors.
IFS announced the availability of its new release, IFS Applications 2001, in August 2000. This release included 500 major product enhancements and the addition of 10 new modules. IFS Applications 2001 includes web-based components, Internet storefronts, customer relationship management (CRM) applications, connectivity to other business applications, and collaboration with process control systems with a variety of e-commerce engines. IFS Applications offers over 50 functional business components for improving business processes in medium-to-large size companies. Some major enhancements were:
* Completely integrated CRM Solution with Sales & Marketing, Call Management, Sales Configurator and WEB Store.
* Portals implemented for the whole IFS Application product suite.
* Flow manufacturing with support for Kanban.
* Integrated Business Performance solution with Data Warehouse and Cube configurator capabilities.
Despite IFS' presence in 42 countries, the challenge of further international expansion and brand awareness remains. The perception of poor scalability and less-than-global presence within the higher-end of the market are the hurdles yet to be overcome. There is also room for improvement in its currently undeveloped indirect channel, which has been a major success factor for other companies in the mid-market. Moreover, one should closely watch IFS' future profitability track. The company has posted five losing quarters out of the last six (See Figure 1), and its shareholders' confidence may deteriorate until they see a more consistent profitable performance. The mitigating factor in this regard is IFS' solid current stockholders equity.
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