Leader in document process automation solutions sees an increase in demand for cloud-based solutions
Sydney, Australia — April 20, 2017 — Esker, a worldwide leader in document process automation solutions and pioneer in cloud computing, recently announced that the company achieved record growth in 2016, fueled by an increased demand for cloud-based solutions, the changing regulatory environment in some countries and the company’s commitment to consistently delivering innovative, comprehensive solutions ahead of the curve. Esker’s strategic acquisitions and partnerships have augmented its customer base and facilitated expansion into new regions.
“We are experiencing dynamic, sustainable growth across the board, but especially in cloud-based solutions, where we saw a 20 percent increase last year,” said Steve Smith, U.S. chief operations officer at Esker.
“This represents 77 percent of total company sales revenue and validates the need for automation. Even better, we anticipate double-digit growth again in 2017 in every market where Esker is active,” said Christophe DuMonet, Managing Director of Esker Australia and New Zealand.
2016 Highlights
In order to accommodate such rapid growth while maintaining excellent customer service, Esker invested in additional staff. By late 2016, Esker outgrew its North American headquarters in Madison, relocating to new office space to accommodate new and anticipated future hires. Esker also opened its first U.S. satellite office in Denver to accommodate a growing number of customers in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific states, along with the western region of Canada, especially within the medical device, food production and semi-conductor industries.
Also, Esker expanded its international footprint, beginning with a partnership with Santiago, Chile-based Gosocket Corporation, a leading provider of solutions related to electronic document exchanges with digital signatures, to bring more value to Latin American customers of both companies. Customers in this region can now meet evolving electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) mandates that vary by country. Esker and Gosocket Corporation are working together to bring a more comprehensive set of offerings to the Latin American region beginning this year.
“Esker’s expansion into the Latin American region created an opportunity for both companies,” said Sergio Chaverri, chief marketing officer at Gosocket Corporation. “By partnering with Esker our customers will have access to leading business solutions and Esker’s international customers will have the ability to meet any changing regulations seamlessly.”
Esker also further developed its activities in the Oceania region with the signature of a partnership agreement with Fuji Xerox in New Zealand. “Automation of previously manual tasks and introducing mobile and analytics functionality for insights into the AP process delivers rapid and quantifiable benefits. With the combination of Fuji Xerox’s consulting team and Esker’s cloud Accounts Payable, we’re delivering tools that AP users need, but just haven’t been able to access,” says Cameron Mount, Fuji Xerox New Zealand GM Enterprise Consulting.
Lastly, Esker also put in place its third data center in Singapore, offering its Asia-based customers the best possible response times. This new infrastructure was built on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
Solution advancements
Esker is committed to regularly providing customers with new and improved offerings. One of the company’s most notable launches last year was Esker Anywhere, a mobile application that gives managers the ability to review, approve, and reject purchase requisitions and supplier invoices while out of the office. Esker also introduced solution integrations with Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and Oracle E-Business Suite, providing customers with greater operational process efficiency and productivity.
Following the 2015 acquisition of TermSync, Esker has now fully incorporated the solution into its accounts receivable (AR) automation platform, benefiting customers with strengthened reporting and analytics, faster collections and billing processes and decreasing costs. Esker’s new, comprehensive AR solution is designed to alleviate cash flow concerns for companies, especially as interest rates rise and customers demand extended terms. It also completes the order-to-cash (O2C) cycle, allowing Esker to offer customers an enhanced end-to-end solution for document process automation.
Ongoing and future initiatives
Earlier this month Esker finalised its acquisition of e-integration GmbH, the Düsseldorf, Germany-based electronic data interchange (EDI) service provider, which will allow Esker to further grow and develop in Europe’s leading market.
“We recognise that our customers have a global presence with varying needs in every market,” said Eric Bussy, worldwide corporate marketing and product management director at Esker. “We want to increase our international presence to fulfill those needs and offer the most value to our customers.”
Esker anticipates that 2017 will be highlighted by:
- Double-digit growth and continued exploration of new external growth opportunities.
- Innovative strategies surrounding Esker’s O2C and purchase-to-pay (P2P) solution offerings, including the launch of the TermSync product in France and a new online payment solution offered through Esker partner, SlimPay.
- An agile and responsible business approach: Ranked among the top 30 Best Workplaces France 2017 by Great Place to Work®, Esker will continue to develop its Agile methodology and friendly work environment in order to offer its employees a quality, stimulating environment.
