Industrial & Financial Systems, IFS AB: Thriving on Product Flexibility and Incremental Deployability
P.J. Jakovljevic - December 1, 1999

Vendor Summary

Industrial & Financial Systems, IFS AB is an internationally established provider of an extended enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package for medium-to-large sized companies. It covers manufacturing, supply chain management, financials, maintenance management, human resources, engineering, and front office. Founded in 1983, with headquarters in Linkoping, Sweden, IFS AB is the world's fastest-growing ERP vendor, with $155 million in revenue in 1998 (96% revenue growth compared to 1997). The Company has a history of remarkable growth, with an average of 52% annual growth over the last five years. During its early years, IFS built up specific expertise in relational database technology, and linked this with the knowledge of preventive maintenance, which it had acquired in connection with assignments in the nuclear power industry. This resulted in the development of IFS Maintenance, the first software product of IFS, which was launched in 1986. In 1990, the Company released the first version of its flagship product, IFS Applications. In 1993, IFS released its first product with a graphical user interface (GUI), and in 1994, IFS began a development project to transfer IFS Applications to object-oriented technology. The project was completed in 1997, with the launch of the IFS Applications '98 product suite. IFS Free Enterprise is the collective name for its tools and methods that are used to support installations, including IFS Business Modeler and IFS Applications Implementation Methodology (AIM). The IFS business concept is to increase the freedom of action and competitiveness of companies by enabling customers to either apply IFS solutions as a complete ERP system, or as a complement to other vendors' ERP systems within a specific part of the business process. Soon after its inception and success in the Swedish market, IFS branched out into Europe in 1991, and began selling in the USA in 1995. In 1996, the Company acquired Avalon Software of Tucson, AZ, a big step in its US market penetration. In 1999, IFS went on a buying spree by acquiring the majority of shares of Exactium Ltd., the Israeli front office software components manufacturer; EMS Inc., the American ERP and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) systems supplier; and Diamo Dataaktiebolag, the Swedish sales force automation supplier...