Infor - Lawson Software

Infor is a multi-national privately held United States-based enterprise software company. Headquartered in New York City, Infor focuses on business applications for organizations in delivered via cloud computing as a service. Originally focused on software ranging from financial systems and enterprise resource planning (ERP) to supply chain and customer relationship management, in 2010 Infor began to focus on software for industry niches, as well as user-friendly software design. Infor deploys its cloud applications through Amazon Web Services and various open source software platforms.

Infor acquired over forty other software companies since its 2002 founding as Agilysis, for example acquiring GEAC ERP for US$1 billion, Lawson Software for US$2 billion, and GT Nexus for $675 million. Infor had around 58 million cloud users as of July 2016, as well as around 90,000 corporate customers overall. Infor is active in 200 countries and territories with around 15,000 employees. Infor's customers included Bausch & Lomb, Ferrari, Heineken, Wyndham Hotels, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, Boskalis, EBSCO, Legacy Health, and Best Western International.

History

Founding and early acquisitions (2002â€"2009)

Infor was founded in June 2002 under the name Agilsys in Malvern, Pennsylvania. With 1,300 customers to start and a focus on enterprise software, the company was constructed through a series of acquisitions led by private equity backers Golden Gate Capital and Summit Partners. In December 2002, Agilisys International acquired Brain AG, followed by the acquisition of Future Three the following June. Agilisys moved its headquarters to Alpharetta in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and in February 2004 acquired Infor Business Solutions, a German company headquartered in Friedrichsthal (Saar), Germany. Daly.commerce was acquired by Agilisys in early 2004. In September 2004, Agilisys changed its name to Infor Global Solutions. On October 20, 2004, Infor announced the acquisition of Lilly Software Associates and its VISUAL Enterprise (now referred to as VISUAL ERP) suite of products.

In February 2005, Infor acquired MAPICS for around US D$347 million, and subsequently acquired GEAC ERP in 2006 for US$1 billion. After a lawsuit filed in May 2006 attempted to halt SSA Global's merger with Infor unless certain shareholder demands were met, Infor later completed the purchase and integrated the company. Golden Gate’s early push for acquisitions resulted in Infor having 17,500 customers by the summer of 2006. Also that year, Infor began rewriting industry-specific applications into up-to-date .Net and Java-based application providers.

New management and move (2010â€"2013)

After several acquisitions, in October 2010, Infor’s board of directors hired a new management team composed of four senior executives from Oracle Corporation, all four of whom joined Infor on the same day. Charles Phillips was appointed CEO, Pam Murphy was appointed chief operating officer (COO), and Duncan Angove and Stephan School became co-presidents. Phillips established a new strategic direction as CEO. In order to gain market share on Oracle and SAP, Infor also focused on providing applications with user-friendly interfaces, while continuing to rewrite applications into new code. The company acquired ERP rival Lawson Software for US$2 billion in 2011. Infor launched its Infor10 line of products in September 2011. Within the products were the ION middleware suite and a new user interface.

In the summer of 2012, Infor relocated its headquarters from Alpharetta, Georgia to New York City, citing the availability of engineers and designers in “Silicon Alley,” investment in the technology educational sector by a consortium of universities, and the proximity to customers. With several hundred employees remaining in Georgia, Infor’s new "loft-style" offices at 641 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan were designed with the intent of promoting "collaboration and transparency." Infor acquired Groupe Laurier CIM in August 2012. On December 4, 2012, Infor announced it had acquired Orbis Global, which used a software as a service model for its marketing resource management software. Infor integrated Orbis Global's technology into its own customer experience product suite.

"Micro-vertical" focus and pivot to cloud (2013â€"2014)

After the 2010 management changes, Infor began specializing in "micro-verticals," purpose building its software to meet the needs of customers in niche industries. Arguing that similar businesses have similar software needs, CEO Phillips explained in January 2012 that the food and beverage industry, for example, is made up of smaller "micro-verticals" such as bakers, butchers, and breweries, each of which have unique needs. In contrast to many of its competitors, Infor designs software with the intent that companies can use the programs immediately, without consultation or customization. As of 2013, Infor continued to rework industry-specific applications from older software languages into more widely used .Net and Java programming languages. On April 2, 2013, Infor announced the acquisition of CERTPOINT Systems, a software as a service learning technologies company. On May 16, 2013, Infor acquired TDCI, Inc., and by late 2013, Infor had launched 300 new products and hired 1,500 n ew engineers since 2010. Among other companies, Infor acquired PeopleAnswers in January 2014. Advancements in cloud computing enabled Infor to integrate applications into suites for specific industries and sell them as a service. Infor debuted its Infor CloudSuite product, which is delivered exclusively through Amazon Web Services (AWS), in 2014. CloudSuite is designed to integrate software solutions intended for "micro-vertical" industries. Infor also formed partnerships with Red Hat and EnterpriseDB to offer an open-source PostgreSQL stack that year, and Infor's net income in 2014 equaled US$121.7 million.

GT Nexus acquisition (2015â€"2016)

The company saw around a 300 percent increase in service bookings in 2015, with revenue up that year up around 60 percent. New clients that year included Wyndham Hotels, Ferrari, the San Francisco Municipal Transport Agency, Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, Boskalis, EBSCO, Legacy Health, Best Western International, and Kaman Industrial Technologies, among others. By July 2015, Infor had around 45 million users signed up to use its cloud computing software.

On August 11, 2015, Infor announced its upcoming acquisition of GT Nexus for $675 million. At the time, GT Nexus was the world's largest cloud-based global commerce platform, with customers such as Nike Inc., Adidas AG, Home Depot Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. and $100 billion of trade in direct goods conducted each year though its network. Explained Bloomberg, the acquired technology allows Infor customers to "leave elaborate business-management systems that run at headquarters untouched while supplying those clients’ plants with programs specialized by industry and delivered via cloud computing." Infor acquired Predictix in July 2016, at which point Infor related that it had "more than 58 million users" in the "Infor cloud." Active in 200 countries and territories with around 15,000 employees, Infor is currently the third largest enterprise technology provider in the world.

Software

Since CEO Charles Phillips joined Infor in 2010, the company has focused on creating applications that result in a positive user experience, among other factors such as efficiency. Infor deploys its applications primarily on the Amazon Web Services cloud and open source platforms.

Programs and divisions

Hook and Loop

Infor created Hook and Loop in 2012 as an internal creative agency of writers, designers, developers, and filmmakers, with the intent of designing user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing software. The Hook & Loop agency was established in New York City with the initial goal of building a new UI to work across the Infor 10x product line. With the overhaul dubbed “SoHo,” the goal was establishing a “holistic” user experience with a unified design. The agency was founded with five people, and by 2014 had 80 employees.

Infor Partner Network (IPN)

The Infor Partner Network (IPN) provides business services to customers using Infor products. In 2016, Infor stated it had 700 partners through the program, with 125 in North America. The program supports members of the "Infor Partner Network" in various ways, including training, certification, and funds. Products sold through the partner network include Infor CloudSuite Industrial and Infor CloudSuite Business. Partners also sell Infor ION and the social collaboration platform Infor Ming.le, as well as Infor ERP products for distribution and management, for example programs such as Infor SyteLine, Infor LN, Infor XA, Infor VISUAL, Infor M3, Infor Distribution SX.e, and Infor Distribution FACTS.

Infor formed alliances with companies such as HCL Technologies, in 2015.

Dynamic Science Labs

Infor Dynamic Science Labs is a team of scientists in Kendall Square on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus that are building applications using by predictive analytics and machine learning. Infor Xi, the company’s platform for enterprise apps, is powered by Dynamic Science Labs.

Education Alliance Program

Infor’s Education Alliance Program allows college and university students to intern at the company. Student interns are placed on a team in an Infor department, with the opportunity to switch between departments.

Philanthropy

In 2013, the company was recognized as a ComputerWorld honors laureate for its work with Habitat for Humanity, partnering with the organization to provide software at free or reduced prices. Through Habitat for Humanity, Infor employees also participate in a Volunteer Build Program, Employee Giving Campaign, and Annual Global Village Build. Infor also sponsors the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's “Light the Night Walks” events, held in years such as 2012. Infor has furthermore supported the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) by funding its "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste" event.

Accolades

Infor has won a number of awards since its founding in 2002. The company has received several SIIA CoDie Awards, including the 2014 Best Healthcare IT Solution and Best Social Business Solution. In May 2015, Infor’s XTreme Support won a Confirmit ACE (Achievement in Customer Excellence Award) for the seventh consecutive year. In August 2015, Infor’s CloudSuite, Talent Science, and Ming.le Mobile products won People’s Choice for Favorite New Products at the Stevie Awards. In 2016, Plant Engineering named Infor’s EAM solutions as "Product of the Year" in the Energy Performance Management and the Maintenance Software categories.