Think enterprise resource planning software solutions and the first to mind are big-name companies such as Oracle Corp. or SAP SE. Maybe Infor Inc. or Workday Inc. would join the list. But despite its worldwide customer network and 35-year tenure in the market, few outside the industry would name IFS as one of the top players.

Yet IFS is quietly beating the big names, delivering a 21% annual growth in what has been a flat market for Oracle and SAP. What is the secret behind the success of the seemingly shy ERP powerhouse?

“We now have a very clear strategy: five industries, three solutions, one segment,” said Darren Roos (pictured), chief executive officer of IFS. “When you have that clarity of vision, then it’s really easy to go out and do marketing and acquisitions because you know what fits and what doesn’t fit. You can understand exactly how you’re going to build value for customers.”

Roos spoke with Dave Vellante and Paul Gillin, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the IFS World Conference in Boston. They discussed IFS’ global strategy and future vision (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

Global strategy puts the customer first

A fragmented strategy with a eurocentric focus and poor marketing were contributors to IFS’ low profile, according to Roos. Success has come from the adoption of a cohesive global strategy that puts the customer first.

“The big thing for me is that we’ve got to … stay focused on what delivers value for our customers beyond just the rhetoric and hyperbole,” Roos said. “That always will be my No. 1 metric: Are we the No. 1 from a customer satisfaction perspective?”

Being ranked No. 1 in the Gartner Magic Quadrants for ERP and field service management is validation for Roos’ strategy, which differs from the competition by refusing to adopt a horizontal one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, IFS offers a vertical solution that is aimed at five specific sectors: aerospace and defense; energy, utilities and resources; engineering, construction and infrastructure; manufacturing; and service industries. Those five industries were selected because they have “a lot of commonality in the processes that they use,” Roos said.

Solving the digital disruption challenge by challenging the status quo

The complexity and fragmentation of the current information-technology landscape has been driven in part by the need to find ways to integrate diverse solutions.

“Companies are facing increasingly disruptive times, and the tech industry is making life more difficult for them,” Roos said. “When you have a horizontal application and you’re trying to have it do things that it shouldn’t naturally be doing, that becomes complex.”

Using the recent IFS software deployment by Formula 1 team Racing Point, Roos demonstrated the simplicity of IFS’ solutions. “If a customer is deploying fit to standard, it’s measured in weeks. As soon as they start to talk about two years or three years or five years or seven years, they’re customizing the solution significantly,” he said.

Making it easier for customers to challenge the accepted way to do things within business is part of IFS’ ethos. As the digital revolution disrupts business as normal, CEOs need to initiate change or face the possibility of being out of a job, according to Roos.

“My view is that if you’re in the room and you’re going, ‘IFS might not be for us because we are not a challenger,’ … The lights may not be on for long,” he said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IFS World Conference. (* Disclosure: IFS sponsored theCube’s coverage of the IFS World Conference. Neither IFS nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE