COA Solutions Ltd
Encyclopedia
Advanced Business Solutions, known as COA Solutions until September 2010, is a supplier of integrated business management and information systems to public, private and not-for-profit organisations in the service sector.
, Aberdeen
, Aylesbury
, Bridgwater
, Gateshead
, Harpenden
, Huntingdon
, Northampton
, Manchester
and also maintain offices in Boston
, MA
The Company was fully quoted on the London Stock Exchange (CED.L). It had grown both organically and by acquisition. From its roots in the financial software market it acquired companies in the call centre software; data warehousing and data migration; document management and workflow; and content management arenas to deliver knowledge-based enterprise business solutions.
The company developed practical solutions around e-Business, customer relationship management (CRM) and knowledge management initiatives. Examples include content value management, eProcurement, enterprise portals and financial management.
These solutions were available through traditional installations, fully outsourced or delivered via the Internet using the Application Service Provision (ASP) model.
The customer base spanned the public sector (central government, local government and the National Health Service), telecommunications, major financial services organisations and significant commercial companies.
2002
In January 2002, The Company and its subsidiaries were acquired by Redac Limited through funding from Alchemy Partners.
2003
COA Solutions purchased Goldenhill Ltd in order to offer human capital management
(HCM) solutions to its clients.
In 2002, a management buy out by the UK management team of Elevon created Arelon Limited with rights in the Enterprise Software Suite formerly owned by Walker International. This buy out was funded by Alchemy Partners
. In January 2003 Arelon and Cedar Enterprise Solutions merged and rebranded as CedAr.
2004
The newly branded CedAr purchased OpenAccounts Ltd to broaden its offering to commercial and business services clients. The customer number rises to 1,200 and headcount to 350. In a report published that year, CedAR ranked third in the UK Financial Management Systems vendor list compiled by Gartner Dataquest. The company won the Accountancy Age Award for Best Enterprise Software Package for the second time. The company rebranded itself as CedarOpenAccounts in June 2004.
2006
CedarOpenAccounts purchased Grampian Software Ltd and its OpenPeople HR and payroll
solutions, bringing 300 customers. Driven by a customer requirement for additional reporting and analytic capabilities, CedarOpenAccounts went on to purchase Strata Systems, a business intelligence and HR analytics software vendor based in Ipswich. The acquisition saw Strata’s BI software products integrated into CedarOpenAccounts’ Smart Business Suite of products.
2007
CedarOpenAccounts acquired BI Inform, a specialist reseller of Cognos
BI software based in Harrogate
. The deal expanded the company’s presence in the Business Intelligence
market as one of the top three resellers of Cognos-based solutions in the UK. This was followed by the purchase of long-term business partner Version One
. CedarOpenAccounts and Version One have been partners since 1997 and have more than 250 shared accounts. The staff number exceeded 450 and customers 3000. Version One retains its brand identity. The rest of the business was united under the CedarOpenAccounts brand.
2008
The acquisitions of eProcurement
company Belmin in February 2008 and HR specialist ASR Computers in April 2008 were completed. This added additional capabilities in the Health sector and added further HR and Payroll capabilities to their Smart Business Suite. The staff number reached 500 and customers 4000. COA rebranded as COA Solutions and adopted a new 'closer to your business' brand identity. Belmin immediately adopted the COA Solutions brand, whilst ASR adopted a transitional strategy.
2009
ASR rebranded as COA Solutions, coming fully under the COA Solutions brand identity.
2010
In February 2010, COA Solutions' parent company Redac Holdings Limited, including COA Solutions and Version One
, was acquired by Advanced Computer Software PLC (AIM:ASW) from Alchemy Partners for £100 million.
September 2010
As of September 2010, COA Solutions rebranded to Advanced Business Solutions as part of the Advanced Computer Software Group
Operations
Advanced Business Solutions has more than 500 staff supporting and servicing over 4,000 clients across the UK service sector. The organisation operates from 10 UK locations in CobhamCobham
- Towns or districts :* Cobham, Kent, England* Cobham, Surrey, England* Cobham, Virginia , multiple places- Other place names :* Cobham Intermediate School* Cobham Sports and Social Club...
, Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Bridgwater
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and a major industrial centre. Bridgwater is located on the major communication routes through South West England...
, Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
, Harpenden
Harpenden
Harpenden is a town in Hertfordshire, England.The town's total population is just under 30,000.-Geography and administration:There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural....
, Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
, Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and also maintain offices in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, MA
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
History
The original company was founded in 1983. Most business was transacted through this company in the first half of the 1990s. Its subsidiary, COA Solutions Limited, increasingly took over as the prime trading company.The Company was fully quoted on the London Stock Exchange (CED.L). It had grown both organically and by acquisition. From its roots in the financial software market it acquired companies in the call centre software; data warehousing and data migration; document management and workflow; and content management arenas to deliver knowledge-based enterprise business solutions.
The company developed practical solutions around e-Business, customer relationship management (CRM) and knowledge management initiatives. Examples include content value management, eProcurement, enterprise portals and financial management.
These solutions were available through traditional installations, fully outsourced or delivered via the Internet using the Application Service Provision (ASP) model.
The customer base spanned the public sector (central government, local government and the National Health Service), telecommunications, major financial services organisations and significant commercial companies.
2002
In January 2002, The Company and its subsidiaries were acquired by Redac Limited through funding from Alchemy Partners.
2003
COA Solutions purchased Goldenhill Ltd in order to offer human capital management
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
(HCM) solutions to its clients.
In 2002, a management buy out by the UK management team of Elevon created Arelon Limited with rights in the Enterprise Software Suite formerly owned by Walker International. This buy out was funded by Alchemy Partners
Alchemy Partners
Alchemy Partners is a British private equity firm, which specialises in leveraged management buyouts, management buy-ins and the provision of later stage development capital.Alchemy was founded in 1997 by Martin Bolland and Jon Moulton...
. In January 2003 Arelon and Cedar Enterprise Solutions merged and rebranded as CedAr.
2004
The newly branded CedAr purchased OpenAccounts Ltd to broaden its offering to commercial and business services clients. The customer number rises to 1,200 and headcount to 350. In a report published that year, CedAR ranked third in the UK Financial Management Systems vendor list compiled by Gartner Dataquest. The company won the Accountancy Age Award for Best Enterprise Software Package for the second time. The company rebranded itself as CedarOpenAccounts in June 2004.
2006
CedarOpenAccounts purchased Grampian Software Ltd and its OpenPeople HR and payroll
Payroll
In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting, payroll refers to the amount paid to employees for services they provided during a certain period of time. Payroll plays a major role in a company for several reasons...
solutions, bringing 300 customers. Driven by a customer requirement for additional reporting and analytic capabilities, CedarOpenAccounts went on to purchase Strata Systems, a business intelligence and HR analytics software vendor based in Ipswich. The acquisition saw Strata’s BI software products integrated into CedarOpenAccounts’ Smart Business Suite of products.
2007
Cognos
Cognos was an Ottawa, Ontario-based company making business intelligence and performance management software. Founded in 1969, at its peak Cognos employed almost 3,500 people and served more than 23,000 customers in over 135 countries.Originally Quasar Systems Limited, it adopted the Cognos...
BI software based in Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
. The deal expanded the company’s presence in the Business Intelligence
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
market as one of the top three resellers of Cognos-based solutions in the UK. This was followed by the purchase of long-term business partner Version One
Version One Ltd
Version One Ltd is an author of electronic document management and imaging systems. These systems enable the electronic storage, retrieval, management, delivery and authorisation of business documents such as invoices, purchase orders and statements...
. CedarOpenAccounts and Version One have been partners since 1997 and have more than 250 shared accounts. The staff number exceeded 450 and customers 3000. Version One retains its brand identity. The rest of the business was united under the CedarOpenAccounts brand.
2008
The acquisitions of eProcurement
E-procurement
E-procurement is the business-to-business or business-to-consumer or Business-to-government purchase and sale of supplies, Work and services through the Internet as well as other informations and networking systems, such as Electronic Data Interchange and Enterprise Resource Planning.E-procurement...
company Belmin in February 2008 and HR specialist ASR Computers in April 2008 were completed. This added additional capabilities in the Health sector and added further HR and Payroll capabilities to their Smart Business Suite. The staff number reached 500 and customers 4000. COA rebranded as COA Solutions and adopted a new 'closer to your business' brand identity. Belmin immediately adopted the COA Solutions brand, whilst ASR adopted a transitional strategy.
2009
ASR rebranded as COA Solutions, coming fully under the COA Solutions brand identity.
2010
Version One Ltd
Version One Ltd is an author of electronic document management and imaging systems. These systems enable the electronic storage, retrieval, management, delivery and authorisation of business documents such as invoices, purchase orders and statements...
, was acquired by Advanced Computer Software PLC (AIM:ASW) from Alchemy Partners for £100 million.
September 2010
As of September 2010, COA Solutions rebranded to Advanced Business Solutions as part of the Advanced Computer Software Group
Awards, accreditations and memberships
- Best Accounting Software Provider in Charity Finance magazine’s Accounting Software Survey 2010.
- Accountancy Age Awards for Software Excellence - COA Solutions OpenAccounts has been short-listed for this award in the Enterprise Software category every year for the last eight years. OpenAccounts won this category in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2009.
- Green Hero Award Winner 2009
- Green Apple Award Winner 2008
- Real FD/CBI Excellence Awards 2008 finalist
- Business Software Satisfaction Awards - Sift Media
- HM Revenue & Customs Pensioner Payroll Standard
- HM Revenue & Customs Payroll Standard
- HMRC CIS Electronic Gateway - Granted by HMRC for the successful testing of COA Solutions' CIS Electronic Gateway through Vendor Single Integrated Proving Service (VSIPS)
- COA Solutions is registered to the international quality standard, ISO9001:2000.
- ICAEW Accredited Products Scheme
- COA Solutions North America is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA)
- BASDA - COA Solutions is a signatory to the BASDA Code of Practice. COA Solutions has been an active supporter of BASDA since its inception.
- BASDA Green Charter Member
- CFDG - COA Solutions is a corporate subscribers to CFDG, the Charity Finance Directors Group
- HFMA - COA Solutions is a corporate partners with HFMA
See also
- Enterprise SoftwareEnterprise softwareEnterprise software, also known as enterprise application software , is software used in organizations, such as in a business or government, contrary to software chosen by individuals...
- Electronic Document Management
- Document ImagingDocument imagingDocument imaging is an information technology category for systems capable of replicating documents commonly used in business. Document imaging systems can take many forms including microfilm, on demand printers, facsimile machines, copiers, multifunction printers, document scanners, computer...
- Accounting SoftwareAccounting softwareAccounting software is application software that records and processes accounting transactions within functional modules such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and trial balance. It functions as an accounting information system...
- Human Resources Management System
- Procurement SoftwareProcurement softwareProcurement software is business software that helps to automate the purchasing function of organizations. Activities including raising and approving purchase orders, selecting and ordering the product or service, receiving and matching the invoice and order, and paying the bill is handled...
- Business IntelligenceBusiness intelligenceBusiness intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
- Advanced 365Advanced 365Advanced 365 rebranded from Business Systems Group Ltd in November 2010 and provides outsourced IT managed services, software development and business intelligence services to the commercial, not for profit, health and public sector markets....
- Advanced Health & Care
- Version One LtdVersion One LtdVersion One Ltd is an author of electronic document management and imaging systems. These systems enable the electronic storage, retrieval, management, delivery and authorisation of business documents such as invoices, purchase orders and statements...
External links
- Advanced Business Solutions website
- Advanced Business Solutions Blog
- Version One UK website
- V1 Document Management website
- COA Solutions Business Week Entry
- Advanced Business Solutions Smart Business Suite of Accounting Software, Business Intelligence, Document Management, Procurement and HR & Payroll Solutions