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AIA

Small firms win big at software awards. By Matt Henkes

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10th Oct 2007
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There were more sore heads than sore losers after Sift Media’s Business Software Satisfaction Awards, held at The Brewery in London on October 9th.

Mirroring the current state of the industry, a series of categories pitted small, independent UK software houses against the multinational groups that now dominate the industry.

Comedy legend Barry Cryer began the evening’s festivities with a specially written poem, Ode to the Awards. "Now I realise what Shakespeare meant when he wrote ‘now is the printer of our disk content’," he quipped. "I see before me chattering, nattering managers and also a smattering of accountants, and t'is a crying shame that 99% of them give the other 1% a bad name."

The event, over three times the size of last year's, warranted the use of one of London's plushest venues, London City’s Brewery; moodily lit with a grand stage and backdrop, more than adequate for the evening's festivities. Thirty-two tables were set in the oak-beamed main hall where over 300 people enjoyed a gourmet dinner, keeping one eye out for the champagne corks sporadically flying in every direction.

Then it was down to the main event. Representatives from the industry’s top developers had assembled to celebrate an awards ceremony with the winners chosen completely by users, not (as Sift CEO Ben Heald put it) voted for by a 'few individuals in a secret room over a bottle of wine'. Many of the winners said it was this fact that made the taste of SSA success that much sweeter.

PS Financials, winners of the Enterprise Accounting and Finance category, said that the award confirmed it was a provider that "evidently does listen to its customers". PSF’s managing director, Richard Pierce, continued: "Because these awards are voted for by the people who really matter: those using the software and not industry 'gurus' or commentators, we really prize this recognition."

Commenting on seeing off rivals Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Infor FMS SunSystems in the Enterprise Accounts category, he added: "Some people say that to be a successful software developer you’ve got to have 3000 people on support and dozens of developers in Indonesia. We proved that you don’t."

Contending with the heavyweights

It was a sentiment echoed around the room, with some of the smaller but ever-more confident providers getting excited about their chance to mix it up with the big players.

Duane Jackson, managing director of Kashflow, winner of the web-based accounting award, agreed that the voting system for the awards allowed companies like his to punch above their weight. "We almost didn’t book a table, we thought we had no chance," he said. Little wonder he may not have held out too much hope for success considering the company was up against the likes of Sage 50 Accounts Online and Netsuite, which includes Oracle CEO Larry Ellison among its backers.

Some questioned the logic of placing smaller contenders in categories with giants like Sage and Adobe, with one representative who did not want to be named insisting vehemently that their firm was "robbed" after big groups such as SAP, Intuit and Northgate, demonstrated their muscle in many of the financial, HR, training and CRM software categories.

However, despite narrowly missing out on the tax and practice category, Jerry Rhill, CEO of Digita, said he was pleased to see the raft of less well-known firms squaring up to the established companies currently dominating the industry

"That’s why we like Accountingweb because it stands up for the little guy," he said. "To miss out on the award gives us ample focus for redoubling our efforts. We must continue to challenge the consolidators who are constantly trying to stifle innovation and openness within the industry."

ASR’s Tony Flanagan put his company’s success in the HR and payroll category down to listening to customers. "It’s been a massive effort from everyone," he said. "I’d like to think we’ll be up here again next year."

Spirits were high as the ceremony ended and the party began. Neil Hudspith, SVP International at Taleo, was understandably enthusiastic after his firm scooped the award for talent management software, commending John Stokdyk and Stuart Lachlan’s "excellent" presenting skills. "The categories were well chosen and spanned several different industries," he said.

A favourite aspect of the ceremony also appeared to be the personalised musical accompaniment as winners collected their awards, the most notable of which was Salesforce collecting the small business CRM award to the tune of the Star Wars Imperial March.

"It’s nice to be able to get everyone together in the same room for an evening," Hudspith added. "I'm surprised you managed it!"

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By User deleted
05th Nov 2008 14:30

Waste of time
I wonder why they aren't publicising the number of votes each piece of software got that won - would that be becuase only 6000 people in total voted across every single category. I have no allegience to a particular programme but to celebrate a small unknown piece of software just because it has a few dedicated users who like it is a waste of time for the rest of us.

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