ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 27, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alternative Technology Solutions, the leading ERP and CRM service provider for small to mid-sized manufacturers and distributors, and an Inc. 500 company, today announced its plans for 2014.
In 2013, Alternative continued its impressive growth and focused on building the teams and infrastructure necessary to offer its customers the services, solutions, tools, and collaboration they've come to expect from Alternative. "Our focus last year was on building the team and infrastructure to allow us to scale in the marketplace," said founder and CEO Vivian Keena. We also launched our first application, which is focused around providing customers a better way to Configure, Price, and Quote in the cloud.
"2013 was a very busy year for us but we stayed focused on what is most important: our customers," Keena added. "It was another great year of growth for Alternative. We scaled our revenues and brought new products to market that were designed to provide rapid value to manufacturers and distributors of all sizes." In addition to growing its customer base and helping hundreds of customers optimize their current use of the Epicor and Salesforce products, Alternative was also voted the #3 best place to work in Orange County and #166 fastest growing company on the Inc. 500 listing.
At the start of 2013, Alternative set out to develop new products that would enable mid-size manufacturers and distributors to obtain best-in-class capabilities without costly and lengthy service engagements. Alternative's increased investment in product development throughout the year resulted in an April 2013 launch of its first cloud application iQ CPQ (Configure Price Quote) and continued quarterly enhancements of the iQ and Connect ERP Integration solutions. "Through our iQ and Connect solutions, we've been able to deliver on the promise of helping customers realize benefits they never thought possible," said Keena.
Looking ahead, 2014 is poised to be another year of growth at Alternative. "We've set some ambitious and important goals for 2014, including top-line growth of over 30% and a focus on bringing usability and effectiveness to the end user," said Keena. "In order to fulfill our goals, we're continuing our commitment to attracting and retaining the best talent our industry has to offer. We have the most well-trained, knowledgeable, and customer-centric team in our market and everything we accomplished last year was due to their efforts. All that we will achieve in 2014 will be due to the same crucial asset: our people."
Alternative plans to continue productizing services in order to make them more accessible, easier to deploy, and cost-effective for mid-size manufacturers and distributors. Keena elaborated, "This year, we will launch new applications and extensions that reflect the evolving needs of an increasingly mobile user." To accomplish this, Alternative is looking to double its Salesforce team, as well as add prepackaged consulting and managed services for the Salesforce1 product and Salesforce Communities. In its Epicor practice, Alternative plans to continue helping clients maximize the value they derive from Epicor investments.
"In addition to our client-facing initiatives for 2014, a significant part of our strategic development this year stems from investments that we are making in our client relationships as well as increasing automation of our internal processes, transparency, and self-service to empower our clients," said Keena. "It's critical that we maintain the market-leading personal attention and collaboration that sets us apart, but on a larger scale so that we maintain our financial strength and ability to fund innovation. To that end, we are extending a client-focused account management team that will strengthen and deepen our client relationships during 2014 – all supported by a robust client communications and self-service support platform that we will launch later this year."
New in 2014, Alternative is formalizing its giving back efforts. "As a result of our success during the past several years, we've taken a leaf from Marc Benioff's Salesforce.com Foundation's 1/1/1 integrated philanthropy program and will begin our own effort," Keena explained. "We're going to donate 1% of our time, 1% of products and services, and 1% of our profits to charitable causes. 2013 was a great year for Alternative and we're delighted to be able to share in our future successes with worthy causes wherever we do business."
For more information about Alternative Technology Solutions, visit www.alttechsolutions.com.
About Alternative Technology Solutions
Alternative Technology Solutions, Inc. is the leading independent full-service provider specializing in delivering on-premise and cloud-based Salesforce and ERP solutions for mid- sized manufacturers and distributors. Headquartered in Aliso Viejo, CA, the company also has offices in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Monterrey, Mexico. Alternative was named an Inc. 500 company in 2013, was highlighted as a fast-growing company and best place to work in 2012 and 2013 by the Orange County Business Journal, and was a Silver Stevie Award Honoree in 2012. For more information, visit http://alttechsolutions.com.