ERP vendor IFS is scooping up Netherlands-based Ultimo to help meet demand for cloud-based enterprise asset management technology. Credit: Thinkstock To help meet demand from enterprises that are shifting asset management methods from legacy applications to cloud-based technology, ERP provider IFS has signed an agreement to acquire Netherlands-based enterprise asset management (EAM) software firm Ultimo. IFS, which is based in Sweden and has customers globally, says that it is acquiring Ultimo because it believes that the company’s SaaS offering can provide high levels of flexibility and configurability for customers. EAM can be considered a subset of ERP software, providing tools and applications to manage the lifecycle of physical assets in an enterprise, in order to maximize their value. IFS’ acquisition comes at a time when the EAM market is growing due to the move to cloud architecture, growing demand for an enterprisewide view of assets for strategic planning, and increasing deployment of IoT platforms and devices. The global EAM market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% to reach $5.5 billion by 2026, from $3.3 billion in 2020, according to market research firm MarketsandMarkets. IFS, which expects the acquisition to close in the third quarter of 2022, plans to use Ultimo’s software in conjunction with its own cloud-based EAM offering. Ultimo focuses on providing EAM to midsize companies in manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, infrastructure and utilities. After refreshing its ERP suite every three years since 2012, IFS last year switched to a six-month refresh cycle to ensure that customers always have access to its latest features. Market research firm Gartner, in its Market Share: Enterprise Resource Planning Worldwide 2021 report, positioned IFS at the top of EAM vendors in terms of revenue, with 18% market share, after sales grew 29.1% year-on-year. The Ultimo acquisition should help IFS compete in the EAM market with vendors including IBM, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle. Ultimo, which was founded in 1988, has 180 employees with more than 2,000 customers including London Gatwick Airport, BASF, VTTI, Ravago, Vion Food Group, Argent Energy, and Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam Related content news Salesforce updates Sales and Service Cloud with new capabilities The CRM software provider also said that the vector database inside Data Cloud is now generally available for enterprise use. By Anirban Ghoshal Jun 06, 2024 4 mins Salesforce.com Generative AI Salesforce Automation news Complaints in EU challenge Meta’s plans to utilize personal data for AI The complaint underscores wider privacy concerns and raises the question of whether model users or model creators are responsible for compliance with privacy rules. By Prasanth Aby Thomas Jun 06, 2024 1 min Data Privacy Generative AI Data Governance news Responsible AI Institute offers new AI policy template RAI’s plug-and-play offering is designed to let organizations develop concrete guidelines. By Paul Barker Jun 06, 2024 4 mins IT Governance Frameworks IT Governance Artificial Intelligence news Zoho updates its collaboration tools to help with asynchronous work Zoho is focusing on AI, automation, and personalization with solutions customized for specific industries. By Lynn Greiner Jun 06, 2024 1 min Project Management Analytics Artificial Intelligence PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe