Leading with Simplicity and Ease: How Ultimo Will Deliver Value to Customers in 2025 and Beyond

Analyst firms agree. Since 2022, the EAM software market landscape has shifted. There has been acquisition activity, an expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), and a rise in mobile user interfaces. All of this against a backdrop of changes in the global macro economy, a continuing skills shortage, and a heightened focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. 

I joined Ultimo almost a year ago. The company’s heritage for solid product management, rapid deployment, industry-leading time-to-value and exceptional customer support has always been clear for everyone to see. The passion and people talent here is palpable. So, it comes as no surprise that the team here is hungry to assure the very best opportunities for our customers as they navigate the pace of evolution in the EAM market. 

Customers: at the heart of our direction

Our core focus has not changed. We continue to bring performance stability to our customers, so that they can thrive. 

• Our customers have always been able to expect white glove treatment. Our customer retention rate of 98 percent is testament to that. Ultimo’s meticulous approach involves not only delivering good service but ensuring every touchpoint delivers value and makes their experience better for it 

• In the EAM market, Ultimo is already differentiated by its unrivalled reputation for rapid software deployment, and time to value. Providing customer guidance on how to sequence roll-out and adding optimal value in each stage, our team developed the (industry unique) EAM Maturity Model. Our Circle of Collaboration concept addresses the challenge of effective organization-wide communication in transformation projects too 

• Ultimo has over 100,000 active monthly users, yet when it comes to customer support, we can boldly claim to get ZERO major support escalations. 

Our customers want and need our experience and expertise, and facilitating this with ease will always be a part of Ultimo’s DNA.  

The Foreground of innovation

Digital transformation, controlling costs, reducing downtime and enhancing safety continue to serve as the primary motivations for modernizing EAM. But we are investing heavily in next-generation technology to empower areas such as reliability, and operational excellence. By harnessing AI, wearables, mobile devices and other emerging technologies we aim to leapfrog current approaches and drive the transformation our customers need.  

• We are investing 12 percent of revenue in research and development (R&D). And I congratulate Team Ultimo for bringing our first AI functionality to market this year. Launched at IFS Unleashed in October, this core set of AI capabilities is hyper-focused on delivering practical value to customers. It includes an industry-first application to slash mean-time-to-repair, as well as automating analogue meter readings, reporting, business-wide intelligence and data management. We fully expect the use of AI for condition monitoring and fault detection to take off in the industrial sector 

• Ultimo’s path to modernization has also included two acquisitions in 2024 bringing on 14,000+ new users, and over 300 customers into the business 

• Our success is underscored by having been named as ‘LEADER’ in the 2024 Verdantix Green Quadrant®: EAM Software report. There, Ultimo is acknowledged for strong capabilities in business intelligence, robust integrations, its slick user interface and flexible pricing. This marks the second consecutive report where Ultimo has achieved Leader status; a consistent posture since 2022. 

Scaling Successfully

Ultimo is already disrupting the industry outside of its super-strong home market of Benelux. With the backing of IFS, we can enter new markets quickly, with superior products and the people to support them. 

• Perhaps you’ve already noticed the media buzz? To power further growth, marketing programme spend has increased over 50 percent year-on-year. Marketing headcount is set to increase by 75 percent by next year, with most of those roles focused on lead generation 

• To facilitate the increasing volume of projects, Ultimo grew its network of certified partner consultants by 46 percent since 2023. This adds hundreds of years of related technical and industry experience such as application performance management, and digital transformation. We held our first partner summit in September 2024 which was an extraordinary validation of where the broader industry sees EAM dollars being spent 

• Going from a regional to global player, we have invested in new geographical operations in Germany, the UK and USA with an increase of 100 percent headcount there, mostly focused on sales. Employee headcount across the board, has risen by 53 percent since 2023. 

We know from speaking with our industrial customers every day that the pressure to reduce costs and unplanned downtime will continue in 2025 and beyond. Organizations rate this as ‘very significant’ in their maintenance strategies. Industrial businesses also want digital transformation. They are investing in technologies for their plant operations and maintenance activities, and they are increasing their efforts to reduce carbon emissions in line with regulatory, customer and shareholder pressure. 

My message to you is clear: Ultimo is ready. More than that, we’re excited. From people to partners. From technology to marketing. 2024 has marked an important inflection point for innovation, growth, investment and more at Ultimo. It is an important departure point from where we expect to realize further value for our customers and partners in 2025.  

The team here at Ultimo really is taking our contribution to the EAM landscape from great to exceptional, and for that I am both grateful and proud.