IFS to lead Field Service Management market with Astea acquisition

• Two famous software firms announce definitive agreement to strengthen dominance in FSM solutions

IFS, the global enterprise applications company, this week announced it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase global software company Astea International.

The transaction will enable the combined company to serve more customers in more markets, through a broader network of the best talent and partners in the industry.

The deal was formally announced by IFS CEO Darren Roos at the inauguration of the two-day World Congress in Boston, USA.

“We will be number one and true leader in Field Service Management with over 8,000 customers together,” Roos told a packed IFS World Conference which saw 40% more participants than the previous event.

IFS said it has driven significant organic growth of its field service software business, with license revenues increasing by 119% year to date in 2019. By combining with Astea, IFS will further expand its global footprint beyond its more than 10,000 customers worldwide, of which 8,000 are in service management. In 2020, IFS anticipates FSM license revenues to grow at more than 40%, approximately 80% of which are forecast to be recurring.

For years, IFS has provided customers in its focus industries solutions that can support a massive range of service management work, from highly complex field service operations, through to transactional field routing functions. By adding Astea to its already robust platform, the combined company will be in an even stronger position to take advantage of major industry trends like servitisation to drive more value for customers in all focus industries.

With a similar heritage of rich customer and industry focus, and decades of market expertise, Astea serves midsize and large enterprise customers in Telecommunications, Controls and Instrumentation, Fire and Security, Medical Devices, Manufacturing, Industrial and Retail Equipment verticals. Astea’s customers include blue-chip global brands and Fortune 500 companies across the globe. 

“Both organisations, our customers, partners and employees will benefit from our collective domain expertise,” Roos said separately in a statement.

Astea CEO and Founder Zack Bergreen said: “We’ve long admired IFS’s growth and global scale and know that they share our customer-centric approach to Field Service Management. I am grateful for the commitment our employees have demonstrated, which has enabled today’s transformative announcement.”

Roos added that Bergreen and his team have built a well-recognised FSM player with fantastic blue-chip customers, highly talented employees and a sophisticated product offering.

“With this acquisition, we will build the most attractive FSM offering in the industry today to push ourselves to do more for our customers. When it comes to customer value, this combination is absolutely greater than the sum of its parts,” IFS Chief added.

On his part Bergreen said having gotten to know Darren (Roos) and his management team during this process, he was looking forward to working with the entire IFS organisation to offer customers the best Field Service Management solutions on the market.

IFS’s recognition in Field Service Management has been validated by global research firms like Gartner, who has consistently placed IFS in the Leader Quadrant of its Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management Software since 2014. Astea is among the few vendors in market who has secured recognition from Gartner for its strong product capabilities and loyal base of global players.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by Astea International’s Board of Directors. The transaction is subject to the approval of Astea’s shareholders, including Astea’s controlling shareholder, the CEO and Founder, who, along with the CFO, has signed a voting agreement in support of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2019.

IFS develops and delivers enterprise software for customers around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, build and maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. The industry expertise of our people and solutions, together with a commitment to delivering value to every one of our customers, has made IFS a recognised leader and the most recommended supplier in our sector. Our team of 3,700 employees and growing ecosystem of partners support more than 10,000 customers around the world challenge the status quo and realise their competitive advantage.

Astea International is a global leader in field service and mobile workforce management, including all the cornerstones of full service lifecycle management: customer management, service management, asset management, forward and reverse logistics management and mobile workforce management and optimisation.

Astea technology helps the world’s best service-driven companies generate higher profit while properly balancing customer satisfaction and service levels through proactive communication that creates a seamless, consistent and highly personalised experience at every customer relationship touch point. Astea’s solutions unify processes, people, parts, and information to focus the entire organisation on the creation of sustainable value in highly competitive, global markets.