Best Software To Hold Competition At Bay
Part Three: Market Impact
P.J. Jakovljevic - December 20, 2002

Market Impact

As the small-to-medium enterprises (SME) market battle rages, Best Software seems to be taking appropriate steps to establish itself as a more visible/audible force to be reckoned with. It does not intend to remain a tacit mid-market powerhouse any longer. Given its parent’s notable revenue level coming close the, e.g., J.D. Edwards’ revenue, and being higher than those of Geac, Baan, Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS), SSA GT and Lawson Software, making it an ultimate juggernaut within the SME market per se, the time has come for Best Software’s mind share to become proportional to its size. Enter its long incumbent status and proverbial focus on the SME marketplace, its impressive product portfolio assembled through a number of sensibly acquired solutions that address the needs of the market segment, its humongous compound customer base (nearly 1.7 million users in the US and nearly 3 million users worldwide, compared to ‘modest’ 112,000 and 270,000 MBS' users respectively) and an extensive distribution channel of 6,600 value added resellers (VARs), over 5,000 retail outlets, in addition to telesales, direct email & Web ordering, look for Best Software/Sage as one of the biggest barriers (in addition to Intuit) the likes of Microsoft, Oracle and SAP should face in their entry of the market segment...