Softline, a member of The Sage Group plc and leading provider of business management software to SMEs, has announced the acquisition of Alchemex, a business intelligence technology company.
In 2007 Softline engaged in a strategic partnership with Alchemex, whereby its product was integrated with Softline accounting and payroll applications including Pastel, Accpac and VIP Payroll.
“Alchemex and Sage already have a proven solution in South Africa and North America. The acquisition recognises the success achieved to date and the exciting opportunities we have to further roll-out Alchemex for the benefit of our customers,” comments Rob Wilkie, chief financial officer for Softline and Sage AAMEA.
Flexible BI software
Alchemex, which was established in 2001, provides affordable and flexible excel-based business intelligence software for small to medium enterprises. “It bridges the gap between Excel spreadsheets and the data that lives in the business application, by providing flexible, customer centric reporting. Businesses require timeous and quality information delivered in an easily understood and usable format. Alchemex fulfils this need. Furthermore, it can be deployed on either the desktop or the internet allowing real-time access to data from anywhere in the world,” says Rob Wilkie.
The synergies between the businesses of Softline and Alchemex are readily apparent; the Alchemex business intelligence solution is a natural extension of Softline’s business applications; it serves the same market as Softline, being predominantly SMEs; and it affords existing and future users of Softline applications a greater breadth of service offering, under a single banner.
Growing market share
Ivan Epstein, chief executive officer of Softline and Sage AAMEA comments, “In a competitive market value-added offerings such as business intelligence are necessary to grow market share. Companies have a real need for an affordable tool such as Alchemex in order achieve a higher level of clarity in their business, to make better decisions and to become more profitable.”
“Our strategy has been to align our product with the major accounting vendors so as to leverage their customer base,” says Charles Teversham, managing director of Alchemex South Africa. “Being a market leader, Softline has therefore played a crucial role in our growth and was a natural home for Alchemex. We are very excited to be part of Softline and the wider Sage Group and look forward to working together to help SMEs get even more value and insight from their business software.”