Bristol, UK, 14th July 2011, UNIT4, the world’s leading provider of business software for Businesses Living IN Change (BLINC™), is meeting increased demand among not-for-profit sector organisations that are focussed on achieving transparency and accountability to meet the new global demands of a competitive not-for-profit economy. As not-for-profits expand and evolve they are operating their organisations as tightly-run, often international businesses in a sector that is becoming more competitive.
UNIT4 has signed a number of large deals with not-for-profits and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) around the world over the last six months including ZonMw and the Innovation Institute of the Ministry of Health in the Benelux, a leading national charity in the UK, ACDI/VOCA, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), and a deal worth more than $1 million (€700K approx.) with TRIUMF in North America. Other customers include British Red Cross, Save the Children and Marie Stopes International.
“All these organisations have one thing in common and that’s the desire to deliver the accountability and transparency of a public company and to be more competitive,” says Ton Dobbe, VP of Product Management at UNIT4. “Warren Buffet has alluded to this in how he chooses which organisations to donate to – those who operate as businesses earn his money because they’re operating on a business level. That’s what our software allows not-for-profits and NGOs to do.”
Agresso Business World is particularly appealing to Businesses Living IN Change (BLINC) because it is designed for complex organisational structures that change frequently while still delivering total accountability and transparency. It is known among not-for-profits for its post-implementation agility which allows end users to respond swiftly and cost-effectively to changing funding levels and new funding structures; regulatory reporting requirements; and reorganisation and restructuring for example, without customers having to rely on costly external consultants.
UNIT4’s not-for-profit customers around the world share many of the same characteristics and are experiencing significant benefits:
“The global implementation of Agresso has allowed us to be true to one of our five core values which is Accountability - we take personal responsibility for using our resources efficiently, achieving measurable results, and being accountable to supporters, partners and, most of all, children. Agresso helps us demonstrate to our donors where money has been spent and continuously improve the frontline services we provide to children across the world as requirements change.” – Pam Innes, Director of IPU Transition, Save the Children.
“With nearly 100 programs in more than 40 countries worldwide, we looked for an agile tool that would be able to meet the needs of our operations overseas as well as at home. We sought functionally rich software that could grow with us to meet the evolving and dynamic needs of our organisation into the future.” – Matt Renaud, chief financial officer, ACDI/VOCA.
"Agresso is revolutionising the way the British Red Cross manages its financial information and reporting. We are simplifying our processes, reducing paperwork and pushing down administration costs and by better managing the vital funds that are raised we can be more effective" – Carol O’Neill, Deputy Director of Finance, British Red Cross.
With around 120 customers in the Third Sector, including eight of the top 50 UK charities and a number of well known global not for profit organisations, UNIT4 thoroughly understands this vertical and provides solutions that directly address the challenges it faces. UNIT4 software provides these organisations with the agility to operate efficiently and with low ongoing cost of ownership enabling them to turn a far higher percentage of grants/funding into services that help the people who need it the most. As unique as not-for-profit customers are, they do share a common characteristic with all UNIT4 customers: the need to respond to frequent change and the desire to embrace it.
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About UNIT4
UNIT4 is a global business software and services company aimed at helping dynamic public sector, and commercial services organisations to embrace change simply, quickly and cost effectively in a market sector it calls 'Businesses Living IN Change' (BLINC)™. The Group incorporates a number of the world’s leading change embracing software brands including Agresso Business World, our flagship ERP suite for mid-sized services intensive organizations and Coda, our best-of-class financial management software.
With operations in 17 European countries, as well as 7 countries across North America, Asia Pacific and Africa and sales activities in several other countries, its revenue was €421.7 million in 2010.
In the UK we focus strongly on the public sector, where we are the leading provider of ERP systems to local government and post 16 education organisations, as well as having a considerable presence in the emergency services and health sectors. We also focus strongly on professional services organisations and a range of commercial sectors including Financial Services, Retail and Media and Publishing. Overall we aim to be the UK’s foremost business software company, providing solutions that transform the delivery of public services and comprehensively support commercial organisations in their ability to adapt and prosper in rapidly changing environments.
UNIT4 is headquartered in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands and has over 4,000 employees. It is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and is included in the Amsterdam Midcap Index (AMX).
