Axon Prospers by Adapting SAP for E-Business

Computergram International, Sept 16, 1999

Axon Group Plc, the Surrey, UK-based SAP consultancy, says it has overcome difficult market conditions by tapping into the "very large" market for improving existing ERP systems, particularly with respect to e-commerce. The result is that in the six months through June 30, net profit was 1.1m pounds ($1.7m), up from 193,000 pounds ($310,730) on revenue that increased 56.8% to 11.7m pounds ($18.8m). Earnings per share rose 57.1% to 2.2 pence.

After a quiet first quarter, Axon says that activity levels have started to pick up and the company has won new projects, particularly in the areas of e-procurement and e-commerce. Chief executive Mark Hunter said that in the past six weeks, the company has signed three e-commerce deals worth more than the 1m pounds ($1.6m), achieved during the previous 12 months.

Axon claims to have produced the world's first SAP e-commerce package in 1997, and although SAP has now produced its own software bringing rivals into the market, Hunter asserts that his company's reference sites give it a huge advantage.

While it has become a cliche that the top end of the ERP market is saturated, and companies are now scrabbling around in the SME sector, Axon shows there is plenty of revenue still to be gained among long-standing SAP installations. "When you've implemented SAP, that's where the fun starts," insists Hunter.

Nearly 50% of the Axon's new clients are companies who used another consultant to implement the original R/3 system. Quite apart from software upgrades, Hunter points out that businesses are not static and that their SAP installation has to be constantly modified.