Posts Tagged ‘ERP’
July 30, 2020
In July 2000 I was on top of the world. My co-founders and I had just sold “Exonet”, our New Zealand-based financial software start-up, to an Australian listed company called “Solution6” for AU $30M.
It was the culmination of a fast and furious two years since we started the business. I was the developer who had the outlandish idea to start writing an accounting system and bring in co-founders Maurice Bryham and David McKee Wright to help build a business around it.
Exonet was a “new generation” ERP client-server accounting system with a Windows interface, running on an SQL database. It was all new technology back then, when most accounting systems for SME businesses were still running on MS-DOS with proprietary databases.
Exonet opened offices in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. Hwa Lian Tan led our business in Singapore and Simon Butler led our Australian business. Simon’s M&A experience was invaluable in our negotiations with Solution6.
Due to widespread fears about how old accounting software would handle the year 2000 and the market’s desire for the new technology that Exonet was built on, our sales “went ballistic” from the start and exhibited the upward “hockey stick” sales trend that software start-ups still aspire to. This was what attracted Solution6 to acquire us.
Exonet’s main investor was a VC company called IT Capital. At the time of the exit, I recall they had been with Exonet for about 18 months, had invested NZD $1.5M and effectively owned about a third of the business. A $12.7M return on an 18 month investment of NZD $1.5M – that’s still got to be one of the best investments ever made in the business history of New Zealand!
Following its acquisition of Exonet, Solution6 merged with another large Australian software business called MYOB (“Mind Your Own Business”) and so the Exonet software was renamed to MYOB-EXO. Today MYOB-EXO is perhaps the most widely used of the mid-market ERP accounting packages in Australia and New Zealand, with many thousands of companies using it.
Some of the lessons I learnt from the Exonet experience are;
- Success comes from a combination of skills, lots of hard work and lots of luck.
- Much of the skill required is in recognizing the luck that surrounds you, and knowing what to do with it.
- Business success invariably comes from a team of people; specifically, the combined skills, motivation and dedication of those people and the interplay of how they work together.
- It’s all about the journey, not the destination.
After the exit, I worked for the Exonet business within Solution6 for a short while and then decided to take some time out, away from business. It was during that time out I realized that, although I reached the destination of an exit, I still missed the journey of getting there. I missed the energy and engagement of the business world, so I dived back in again and co-founded two new software businesses; Enprise and Datasquirt.
Much of the skill required is in recognizing the luck that surrounds you, and knowing what to do with it.
Enprise became of a group of businesses, of which two operated internationally, with a particular emphasis on the United States. One of those was EMS-Cortex, a SaaS software provisioning system that we sold to Citrix in 2011 for US $11M. Also in 2011, we sold ASX-listed Datasquirt to Silicon Valley-based LiveOps for a similar price.
The international software business experience and contacts I gained through Enprise and EMS Cortex set me up for my current role as CEO of Datagate, where I am now based in Vancouver, Canada. Datagate is a SaaS billing solution for MSPs who sell telecom services, which we sell into the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Another thing I’ve learnt over the last twenty years since the Exonet exit; it normally takes much longer than two years to build a good business!
Posted in Billing, Cortex, Datagate, Datasquirt, Enprise, ERP, MYOB EXO, New Zealand IT Industry, SaaS | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Datagate, ERP, exo-net, Exonet, MYOB, MYOB EXO, Solution6, Telecom Billing
November 22, 2013
Grayling, the world’s second largest independent PR consultancy, presently uses AccountAbility in ten countries and plans to roll it out to a further 18 countries over the next 12 months. Prior to using AccountAbility, the Grayling group of companies used several disparate systems that were not able to meet their needs.
AccountAbility delivers the functionality that Grayling requires as a global agency. The fully integrated solution facilitates the management of global business structures and includes an outstanding multi-currency capability. Eliminating the need for different systems, AccountAbility allows the company to consolidate information and report across their entire network with full reporting capabilities including job, production time, resourcing, financials and in particular profitability. The all important revenue tracker, has for the first time, given the Global CFO the ability to track global client revenues in real-time, giving him a single source of the truth.
Grayling selected AccountAbility on its strength as a vertical solution, built specifically for the marketing communications sector, as well as it being Cloud technology that meets the complex needs of a modern agency. The ease and speed of implementation was a key factor, as was the total cost of ownership. The solution offers full functionality with an intuitive interface, allowing ease of use to any level of user across the business.
I am very excited about Enprise’s investment in Accountability, as it is now a globally-proven, high-growth solution with first-mover advantage in its huge vertical market. Enprise will be working closely with Accountability in the coming years in order to help achieve the significant potential of this innovative solution.
Posted in Accountability, Cloud, ERP, New Zealand IT Industry, Project Costing | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accountability, Cloud, Cloud ERP, Enprise Group, EnpriseGroup, ERP, Job Costing
August 20, 2013
This week Enprise Group announced its investment in Melbourne-based Cloud Solution developer, Accountability Access Pty Ltd.
Accountability is a Cloud-based Job Management and Accounting solution designed specifically for creative and communication agencies. Its customers are typically multi-branch, multi-national businesses in the creative, communication and advertising industries who want an easy to use, pay as you go, Cloud solution to process and track the accounting and billing of their projects. The solution includes a full browser based client, an iPhone/iPad applications and is built on the latest Microsoft technology with multi-currency, multi-lingual capability.
I am excited about this investment, as it signals the start of another global sales partnership for Enprise Group with Accountability. Accountability is a superb product with huge market potential and Enprise has the experience, capability and global footprint through its channels in North America, Europe, Africa and Australasia to significantly boost the existing Accountability sales channel.
A new business unit will be set up within the Enprise Group specifically to market and support Accountability. It will be able to leverage the resources of the group, including the depth of accounting and job costing expertise of our team, plus our branches in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne and Pretoria.
Posted in Accountability, Cloud, ERP, Multi-tenant, New Zealand IT Industry, Virtualization | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accountability, Accounting, Agencies, Cloud, Communication, Communication Agencies, Enprise, EnpriseGroup, ERP
March 29, 2013
This week I was delighted to welcome Corban Slabbert back to Enprise as our South African based Technical Account Manager for the EMEA region.
Corban was one of our original team members, when we launched the Enprise business back in late 2002. She has extensive technical, accounting, ERP & business experience. Having her back in the Enprise team is a major gain for Enprise, our partners and our customers.
Corban is based in Pretoria East, S.A. and will offer sales and product support to Enprise’s partners in Africa, the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe, for the full range of Enprise solutions for SAP Business One.
Having Corban now based in South Africa is demonstration of Enprise’s commitment to our partners and customers in Africa, the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe. We will now be able to give more immediate support and assistance for Enprise products to our partners in this region.
Corban is presently spending time with the Enprise Software team in Auckland, before heading back to South Africa to start her new role in mid April.
Posted in Enprise Job Costing, ERP, Project Costing, SAP Business One, Sap Isv | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Enprise, Enprise SW, EnpriseGroup, EnpriseSW, ERP, Job Costing, SAP Business One
October 15, 2012
I’m often asked why I continue to be so passionate about MYOB EXO, which is a mid-market ERP accounting system that I started developing back in the late 1990’s and then sold to an Australian corporate more than twelve years ago.
My response is as follows;
- MYOB EXO, formerly known as “Exonet”, is today the top-selling ERP system in Australasia that is aimed at the “M” of “SME”. MYOB EXO accounts for 14% of new purchases of mid market ERP systems in Australia and New Zealand. No other mid-range system can match that in this very fragmented market.
- MYOB EXO has been built from the ground up by people in Australasia for businesses in Australasia. It contains all the functionality most Australian and New Zealand businesses require and includes no unnecessary complexity that is needed by businesses in other countries.
- The MYOB EXO suite of software is sold and supported by a base of experienced and knowledgeable re-sellers on both sides of the Tasman. There is no shortage of options when it comes to sales and after-sales support. This is an important consideration and many international packages sold locally cannot say the same.
- MYOB EXO is built on highly scale-able Microsoft technology which works superbly on all modern computers as well as the latest data centers for Cloud deployment and/or virtualization. Furthermore, it’s easy to extend and integrate with other software solutions, making it the ideal choice for growing and/or geographically distributed businesses.
- After fourteen years plus of passionate development, the MYOB EXO suite is now packed with modules, features and functions to give businesses competitive advantage and run like clockwork, giving managers the up-to-date visibility they need to guide their businesses forward in these challenging times.
Q: Would I bet my business on MYOB EXO? A: Yes of course, I have done so for the last fourteen years and will continue to do so for at least the next fourteen.
Nobody knows MYOB EXO better than my team at Enprise New Zealand and Enprise Australia. We welcome inquiries.
Posted in ERP, MYOB EXO, New Zealand IT Industry | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accounting Software, Cloud, EnpriseAU, EnpriseNZ, ERP, Exonet, MYOB, MYOB EXO
September 24, 2012
Last week, on Friday 21st September at DSQ Holdings Ltd’s Annual General Meeting, shareholders voted to approve the acquisition of Enprise. This is the beginning of a major new chapter in the evolution of both Enprise and DSQ (formerly Datasquirt), which will now become one and the same.
The new combined business will be named Enprise Group Limited, which will be a public New Zealand company, listed in Australia with over 350 shareholders.
This is a very positive development for all stakeholders (customers, partners, staff and shareholders) of both Enprise and DSQ.
The new Enprise Group will retain its focus on all aspects of delivering high-quality business software, solutions and services to small and medium sized enterprises. It will have offices throughout New Zealand and Australia (Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington and Hamilton) in addition to its international channel of around 100 reseller partners throughout the USA, Canada, UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Enprise is a stable and profitable platform for growth, with three business units; Enprise Solutions NZ, Enprise Solutions AU, Enprise Software plus the joint venture, 2Cloud.biz.
Enprise Software is an SAP Gold Software Solution Partner that develops solutions for SAP Business One which is sold through an international partner channel.
Enprise Solutions is a top MYOB Platinum Partner in both New Zealand and Australia, which sells and supports the market leading MYOB EXO suite of business software.
2Cloud.biz is a joint venture, offering Cloud delivery of popular ERP solutions through established reseller channels. Presently, the business is focused exclusively on Cloud delivery of MYOB EXO and associated solutions to the Australasian market.
The new Enprise Group will exploit a range of growth-driving opportunities for its customers and for itself; including the shift to Cloud Computing, Mobile Solutions, Regional Expansion and new “Big Data” processing technologies.
I will be discussing various aspects of the new Enprise Group and its growth opportunities on this blog, over the coming weeks.
Posted in Cloud, Communication, Datasquirt, Enprise Job Costing, ERP, MYOB EXO, New Zealand IT Industry, Project Costing, SAP Business One, Sap Isv | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accounting Software, Cloud, Datasquirt, Datasquirt CONTACT, Enprise, Enprise Group, Enprise Job Costing, Enprise Software, EnpriseAU, EnpriseGroup, EnpriseNZ, EnpriseSW, ERP, Exonet, Hosted Applications, Hosting, MYOB, MYOB EXO, SAP, SAP Business One, SAP ISVs
September 12, 2011
This week Enprise Australia signed an agreement to take over service and support for 270 customers of MYOB’s Employer Services software from across Australia.
Enprise is very well placed to provide a seamless changeover for these MYOB Employer Services customers. We have an existing customer base of more than 700 businesses across Australasia and a well-established helpdesk operation, backed by a highly experienced consulting and product technical team.
Our plan for Australasia, is to provide superior support for over 1,000 signed up customers within the next 12 months. We have the systems and processes in place to achieve this.
Posted in ERP, MYOB EXO | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accounting Software, Enprise, Enprise Australia, EnpriseAU, EnpriseGroup, EnpriseNZ, ERP, MYOB, MYOB EXO, MYOB Support, Payroll Software
April 24, 2010
Here is a rare photograph of Elliot Cooper, co-founder and CFO of the Enprise Group.
Elliot and I have worked together in several businesses over the last 15 or so years, firstly at PC Direct, then at Exonet and now at the Enprise Group. He’s a legendary finance man and a great accounting software designer – with a particular interest in Job Costing (or Project Costing). Elliot was very instrumental in the design of both Enprise Job Costing for SAP Business One and prior to that the Exonet ERP system.
With Elliot’s significant input into its design, it’s no wonder that Enprise Job Costing is so strong in the area of General Ledger integration with SAP Business One.
Posted in Enprise Job Costing, ERP, MYOB EXO, Project Costing, SAP Business One, Sap Isv | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accounting Software, Enprise, Enprise Group, Enprise Job Costing, ERP, Exonet, Financial Systems, Job Costing, MYOB EXO, Project Costing
April 22, 2010
Speaking as someone who is involved in the global SME ERP Industry through Enprise NZ and Enprise Software, involved in the Cloud Control Panel & Hosting industry through EMS-Cortex and involved in the Business Messaging and Social Media Industry through Datasquirt; here is my prediction of how ERP Software will be sold in the new decade that we are now entering;
Sales Process
- Firstly, the prospective customer will search the Internet for an ERP Solution and ERP Reseller that look suitable for their type of business. This will involve the use of a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo and would include searches of web sites and various Social Media including Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube, Facebook and others.
- The prospective customer will then contact the ERP Reseller via Email, Instant Message, Voice Call or Social Media Tweet, asking for more information and a demonstration of the ERP solution.
- An initial consultation/discussion will follow via Email, Voice Call, Social Media etc to determine whether the fit between the ERP Solution and the customer requirements is such that a product demo is warranted.
- The ERP Reseller will then set up a temporary demonstration ERP solution in the Cloud using their own portal in the Cortex Cloud Control Panel. The demonstration system would be a clean installation of the ERP demo, complete with its own clean virtual database server and (optional) desktop environment. The exact solution, including add-on industry vertical components and temporary user accounts can be selected and configured in the Cortex portal. This demo system would be provisioned, up and running within minutes of being requested on the portal and would be set to last for a predetermined duration for the purposes of the demonstration.
- The ERP Reseller would then either visit the prospective customer and demonstrate the ERP solution on-site (geography permitting) using a computer connected to the Internet or will demonstrate via a web meeting tool such as GoToMeeting or WebEx.
- The prospective customer might then want to spend further time trying out various aspects of the demonstration system after the ERP Reseller has finished demonstrating it. If the ERP Reseller agrees to this then they can arrange for the demonstration system to be kept alive in the Cloud for a longer duration to enable the prospective customer to continue with their own trial use of the system.
- If/when the prospective customer decides to purchase the ERP system, the ERP Reseller would go back into their portal on the Cortex Control Panel, delete the demonstration system and configure a new live ERP system. The company and user names would be entered into the Cortex portal and also any additional up-sell items would also be included, such as Exchange Email accounts, SharePoint, Blackberry, VOIP accounts, Backups, Firewalls, Hosted Desktops (eg XenApp, XenDesktop), Payroll Access etc.
- Application licensing information would be sent via Web Services to the respective vendors (eg Microsoft, Citrix, SAP, MYOB etc) and licences would be generated and applied back to the new hosted system via web services.
- The Cloud-delivered ERP solution is now live, up and running. The ERP Reseller’s consultants can now access the system to configure the ERP Solution to the requirements of the customer.
- The ERP Solution is now live in the Cloud and can be accessed from anywhere via the Internet. This includes all the branch and home locations of the customer as well as the ERP Reseller and the ERP and other software vendors.
Applying Upgrades and Patches to the ERP System
Prior to a new upgrade or patch being applied to a live ERP system, it must be tested against the individual customer’s data and processes to ensure that the software changes work correctly and cause no disruption to the business.
To enable this testing process, the ERP Reseller will go into their portal of the Cortex Control Panel and request a temporary test copy of the live ERP Environment. This enables the ERP Reseller’s consultants, in conjunction with the customer’s staff, to test the new software version and identify any possibly reconfiguration issues on the test system.
Once the testing process is completed and signed off, the ERP Reseller can go back into their portal of the Cortex Control Panel and apply the upgrade to the live system. They can also delete the test system when they are finished with it.
Support
Support of the ERP System by the ERP Reseller and the ERP Vendor is a lot easier, more efficient and less costly under this new model for the following reasons;
- Because the ERP System and its virtual operating environment was provisioned by Cortex, it would be done the same every time, using best practices, using the correct program versions and configuration. These things are therefore known to the support personnel and not subject to variation.
- The support personnel have quick and easy remote access to the hosted ERP solution (subject to permission from the customer to access their system and data).
The model works better for everyone involved in the ERP system sale. The customer, the ERP Reseller and the ERP and other software vendors.
The Customer gets:
- Extended Access to a Demo System
- Reduced Capital Outlay
- Faster Implementation
- Reduced management overhead of looking after local server & infrastructure
The ERP Reseller gets:
- Up-sell opportunities
- Faster Implementation – freeing up time to sell more!
- Repeatable Cookie Cutter implementations
- Easier to Support
The Vertical Solution Vendor gets:
- Opportunity to list solutions on the Cortex Portal
- Easier Support on a Known Environment
The ERP Vendor gets:
- Faster Implementations = More Sales
- Easier & Less Expensive Support
- Better Product Performance in a Correct Known Environment
Posted in Cloud, Communication, Cortex, Datasquirt, Enprise Job Costing, ERP, Multi-tenant, MYOB EXO, SAP Business One, Sap Isv, Virtualization | 1 Comment »
Tags: Citrix, Cloud, Cortex, Datasquirt, EMS-Cortex, Enprise, ERP, Hosted ERP, Microsoft, MYOB, MYOB EXO, SAP, SAP Business One
April 11, 2010
Having clocked up more than 20 years of working in the ERP industry targeting small to medium enterprises (SMEs), I can now state confidently that there are some truths to this business that will probably never change.
Some of those truths are as follows…
- Small and medium-sized businesses prefer to buy from and deal with local people, when it comes to ERP and accounting software. They want to eyeball and have face to face access with the people they are dealing with.
- However, those businesses have no problem with using a centralized help desk function which is accessed by toll-free phone or the Internet – if it is offered in conjunction with localized representation.
- SME focused resellers and service agents with only one geographic location therefore tend to be very generalist and opportunist about what type of solutions they sell and the customers they sell to. In other words they resist specialization because they only have a limited market of customers in their locality. This is obviously not the case for resellers that have wide regional coverage – as they have a larger accessible market and can afford to build up expertise in particular vertical markets.
For the above reasons, from the perspective of Enprise Software we are now seeing a consolidation of our SAP Business One ERP resellers that sell Enprise Job Costing, evident everywhere, but particularly in North America. The result is fewer reseller organisations, but with a much more spread-out branch structure and centralized customer support functions.
One of our best Enprise Job Costing partners that has been particularly successful in its geographic expansion with centralized support, is Vision-33 which now has regional offices in Irvine CA, Los Angeles CA, San Francisco CA, Salt Lake City UT, Seattle WA, Portland OR, Houston TX, Austin TX, Dallas TX, Fort Lauderdale FL and St Johns NL Canada.
Locally in New Zealand, Enprise New Zealand has been following the same strategy of building up a network of regional sales & implementation offices, with centralized support to claim the mantle of a “Nationwide” presence. Enprise NZ has offices & representation in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch (further regional expansion is planned for this year) . Centralized support is offered through toll-free 0800 numbers and Internet support web site.
I believe this is the best model for SME ERP sales and service. This is evidenced by the stellar sales success currently being enjoyed by both Vision-33 and Enprise New Zealand as they expand their presence in their respective markets. They can specialize in the types of solutions they offer to the market, building up specialized expertise, rather than needing to be all things to all people. It should also be said that specialized expertise and the quantities of scale achieved by these larger organizations leads to more successful outcomes for customers and greater profitability for the reseller…and that must be a good thing.
Posted in Enprise Job Costing, ERP, MYOB EXO, Project Costing, SAP Business One, Sap Isv | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Accounting Software, Enprise, ERP, Exonet, MYOB EXO, SAP Business One, SME, SME ERP, Vision-33
Mark Loveys 