Pearls: Afas Software – Computable

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Now that the big Dutch business software vendors have been taken over by foreign investors and state Afas Software still stands proud as Holland where ‘ . The nearly twenty year old software for SMEs bills itself even today as a family business, though that was not the intent at the privatization of Raet in 1996. Remarkably, the oldest traces date back to the forties of the last century.

Although the company for years and years with its headquarters is in Leusden Afas is often linked to Alkmaar. Since August 2010, the software company is in fact the main sponsor of Eredivisie club AZ (Alkmaar / Zaandam) from the cheese town. With the sponsorship of the football club wants Afas expand its national reputation. Additionally, the company writes on his website, “AZ is known to many people as a sympathetic club. AZ and Afas stand for attacks, ambition and rely on its own strength. ” This sponsorship is also intended to win football clubs as customers for the enterprise, of course fits well with this motto. The software from Afas clubs their administrative processes more efficient handling and get daily insight into their often fragile financial situation.

The sponsoring and motto are speaking for the confidence with which operates the software company since 1996 on the market. Afas presents each year repeatedly nice report marks: increased in the most recent fiscal year 2014 sales and earnings again, respectively to 79.6 million euros and 25 million euros. The company, with more than three hundred works, expected in 2015 again a revenue growth of around 12 percent. It already includes a number of years among the top 100 largest European software companies, where the stable bivouac around the eightieth place (according to the Truffle 100).

Afas provides enterprise, including a complete solution for enterprise resource planning (ERP ) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and strong include accountancy, education, healthcare, trade, Foundation- and voluntary sector and industrial bakeries. The company is successfully implementing its package for personnel information and payroll. Since 2011 Afas also operates under the name Personal Afas the consumer market through the acquisition of Yunoo, a provider of online checkbook to households

ABN and Philips

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The start of the company Afas in 1996, when Ton van der Veldt logistical and financial software operations automation Raet via a management buyout became independent. He does this with the support of a good client of his, Piet Mars administration and consultancy Marshoek who believes in the Van der Veldt mission to build Afas a provider of integrated administrative business software, easy to use and adaptable.

While this Dutch software company not to first-generation packages builders belong to the early eighties, such as Unit 4, Big Dipper and Exact, AFAS has quite a long history. Which is largely in the computer service founded in 1962 General Accounting Center (ARC) in Amstelveen. That office was in turn a continuation of the Bureau Mechanical Administration that late forties saw the light.

Van der Veldt comes on January 1, 1974 employed by ARC. He has followed the detailhandeldagschool. His brother is a computer operator at the Bijenkorf in Amsterdam and takes him once on a night shift. He likes to work and Van der Veldt will then employed as a computer operator at Book and Plate IBM mainframes used for the administration of subscriptions. Then he switches to ARC that is currently owned by Philips and General Bank Netherlands (ABN), for which ARC does the payroll. The computer service has a paw custom software and a leg standard software. Customization is for individual companies: it is about providing billing solutions and stock solutions. Customers provide data to. Coming in on punch documents or paper tapes; The processing will then be made using different input media on mainframes from IBM and Philips (salient detail: Afas’s current headquarters in Leusden in the Philipsstraat)

ARC has made the source code for the standard packages from Germany.. As often occurs at that time, because Germany has similar accounting rules as the Netherlands and further development in the package. The packages of rival Central Management Automation example of German origin. ARC wage packet Brunet (Gross Net) and Beis (Prudential Information System), a financial package for the accounting

Complex mainframe

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ARC comes from der Veldt quite quickly right on the customer side and accompanies him implementations. He quickly falls to the customer unfriendliness of mainframes on. The passing of mutations is complex, working on s slow and customers get their information late. He became interested in the ways you can improve such processes in order to eventually provide the best possible customer needs. The rise of the minicomputer, which the equipment can be put down to customers, for which ARC own programs going to write, in his view a step in the right direction. But the equipment is expensive and many (smaller) customers still shy away from hardware in the home.

The entrance to the PC from 1981 eventually, it will provide automation breakthrough in SMEs. Van der Veldt, meanwhile risen to manager and Beis Brunet, sees the PC as an adequate replacement for the cumbersome mainframe. But ARC Raet and later his computer services that effort from their culture have to release the mainframe. The PC will be won, but mainly as a recording apparatus for entering information on the mainframe. The board, afraid of revenue loss, it does not help to develop a personnel information system for the PC; Van der Veldt, convinced of the opportunities that lay ahead for standalone PC solutions, and let develop a version with the help of the software company ICS in Nijkerk. The board oversees the connivance but also impressed by the success of ARC Personnel System (PASA) on the market.

Van der Veldt is manager of the PC branch. That does not mean that he gets every opportunity to develop their own loonadministratie- and a financial package, alongside the commitment packages Brunet PC and Beis PC. That takes the board still a bridge too far. Van der Veldt then enters into a dealership agreement with Wind Gases Software Veghel which includes the PC Kit Travers. This way, he can still serve wider its PC customers. A little later he meets with CSN, a Zaandam software maker to enter the PC standard Multi Recording with the ability to custom links. Van der Veldt talks with CSN on the ARC source code may be used for the development of its own financial accounting system based on DOS. That is AFAS: ARC’s financial administration system

Raet and Afas

Since 1978, ARC is wholly owned by ABN, after Philips’ share of 50 percent. the bank had sold. In 1988, ARC acquired by Raet, not much later, ARC’s closest competitor Central Management Automation inlijft. CSN also comes in July 1991, in the hands of the Arnhem automation. In 1995 Raet owned by Getronics and Roccade; a year later still Getronics takes over the shares of Roccade. Raet then chooses to focus entirely on mainframe servicing and payroll processing and packaged software and development to divest. Although there are several rivals in the field, including, Unit 4, Van der Veldt supported by Piet Mars accomplishes a management buyout for the AS / 400 minicomputers and products to almost all PC products. They are the products of the ‘old’ ARC / Afas-fold; Software Central Management Automation Van der Veldt phased in Raet time.

The new company will take the name Afas whose meaning is changed to ‘Applications For Administrative Solutions. Van der Veldt is inspired by the success of Exact, which has put a strong product portfolio in the market under its own name. Afas to a flying start with 48 direct employees and 4,200 customers, including five hundred accounting firms. “From day one of independence we actually had no bank anymore. We could fund the investment from the revenues from licenses and from new sales. We shone that we are fond of beautiful software. And that spreads to your customers, “he says in an interview with Computable 2007.

The only product is still missing, to offer an integrated enterprise administrative line, is a payroll solution. The original deal with Raet is the wage PC software not there. Van der Veldt is half a year later to talk with management and manages to convince them that the PC package was not in place in the mainframe business and better Afas can be done. The directors do not realize that this Afas in subsequent years to grow into a major competitor of Raet

Windows and Novell

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Afas builds up in the second half 90s expanding its product line. It decides to quit the company to develop the software for small-scale products for the AS / 400 IBM minicomputers. Furthermore, Van der Veldt will include IBM’s yoke from which strongly determines which suppliers may operate in the branches. Afas put all his money in the PC and choose early for Microsoft Windows as a platform with which it wants to integrate its products. That choice is quite good, which also plays a role that Novell with its software allows PCs to link together up to a network. That ensures the breakthrough of the PC as a suitable machine for business software.

For the development of Windows applications Afas working together with the French company Sybel (which was just acquired by Sage). It shows no success after two years there is software that can best can be characterized as doorgemigreerde DOS software under Windows. It does mean that Afas decide to start from 1998 with a private developer factory. This makes the company from scratch and to develop off from their own preconceived software architecture Windows applications. It is the important core functionality to automate the workflow and document management. And an intranet, where everything comes together. Around Afas developing other modules to an integrated standard is that all administrative tasks within an organization can be automated. In tailor Van der Veldt does not believe. His ideal of the future is software that automate contains such rich functionality that business processes are automated, and users can define their own applications

Family Business

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The sons Bas der Veldt and Arnold Mars from 2009 take over from their fathers Ton van der Veldt and Piet Mars, who sit on the board. The new directors build on the line that began in 1996. The last few years Afas busy with the transition to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. For this, the company has introduced the Cloud Solution Afas Online; more and more customers are switching to this subscription model for a flat rate per month instead of purchasing software and associated annual license and must arrange their own hardware.

The success of Afas in the market not gone unnoticed. Bas van der Veldt, the current general manager, said in an interview with Computable in 2013 that the management constantly receives e-mails and phone calls to ask if the company wants to go public, could be taken over or additional funding needs. “We are not interested in that. I’m getting tired sometimes. So with this I take this opportunity and I stress again: ‘Afas is not for sale! “

This article has been published in Computable magazine volume 48, number 4 April 2015..

Afas is the main sponsor of AZ also the namesake of the football stadium and realize new training complex in Zaanstad.

Also, since 2014 the software company’s shirt sponsor of the Belgian first division KV Mechelen. The aim is to put presence in the Belgian market power.

In addition, the company acts as a sponsor of the AFAS Tennis Classics and the AFAS Circus Theatre.

Customers range from consultancy Twijnstra Gudde, Accountant and advisory firm Deloitte, insurer VvAA, supermarket chain Dirk, transport companies Connexxion, Arriva and Veolia, truck manufacturer Scania, security company Securitas, Centre for Indication Care (CIZ ), Ymere Housing Association, FC Utrecht and the Society Our Secondary Education to the Salvation Army and Madurodam.

In 2004, Afas founders Ton van der Veldt and Piet Mars from their vision of automation with the term “enterprise process management. They wrote a book about that year: “The art of successful entrepreneurship ‘(2012: sixth edition)

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