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In the customer segment of medium-sized organisations, the Swedish market is almost saturated with ERP systems. Among the ERP systems that focus on this customer segment, examples include Jeeves, Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, Epicor, SAP Business ByDesign, Sage X3, Netsuite and SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Several of these systems offer process coverage and functionality that are relatively similar, while there are always differences the deeper into the details one searches and depending on the industry vertical considered.
Two ERP systems that increasingly meet each other in tenders within this customer segment are Jeeves and Sage X3. In terms of process coverage, both these systems offer support for all common processes except payroll and HR. Looking at the depth of functionality, Jeeves is more feature-rich while Sage X3 offers a more modern interface.
If one highlights specific strengths for both systems, it is support for manufacturing organisations with extensive possibilities to configure production flows, item structures as well as logistics and distribution options. Jeeves also offers competitive support for organisations within trade and wholesale, while Sage X3 nonetheless has order and trade support sufficient for most organisations.
Comparing the organisations behind Jeeves and Sage X3 is somewhat like comparing David to Goliath. Jeeves, with nearly 30 years of history, currently has about 700 employees and a turnover of SEK 900 million, while Sage, with its 40 years, has about 14,000 employees and a turnover of around SEK 20 billion. One difference between the companies is that Jeeves focuses on one and the same application while Sage (like Visma) has become a product company offering a multitude of applications for many different target groups. The product Sage X3 is the result of an acquisition conducted by Sage around 2005 when it acquired the product X3 from the French vendor Adonix.
Both systems have Europe as their primary market but with customers in North America and some scattered presence in Eastern Europe and Asia. Sage X3, with about 7,500 customers, is translated into around 15 languages and Jeeves, with about 2,500 customers, is translated into around 12 languages.
In terms of flexibility, both systems offer good flexibility regarding the customer's ability to change and configure the system without creating complex or costly conditions and obstacles to ongoing upgrades. In the case of Jeeves, the interested and knowledgeable customer can make very large improvements and changes beyond the system's basic functionality on their own, while in the case of Sage X3 this normally requires more support from an implementation partner.
When it comes to delivery capacity in Sweden and Scandinavia, this is significantly greater at Jeeves, which has this as its home market. Sage X3 is offered and implemented in Sweden by the local partner Systemstöd and sometimes in cooperation with Avone IT. These companies, however, have relatively few employees and therefore can only handle a limited number of implementations simultaneously.
Looking at growth, Sage is growing fastest, not least with its application Sage X3, which has received great attention and is growing internationally. Jeeves, which began its internationalisation after the millennium, has instead in recent years chosen to slow the pace of its internationalisation.
Ownership-wise, Sage is publicly listed in London without any owner having over 5% ownership. Jeeves has been owned since 2012 by the American venture capital company Battery Ventures, and it is tempting to speculate when this investment will pass into someone else's ownership, even though Battery Ventures has a history of being a long-term owner.
There is definitely room for both Jeeves and Sage X3 in the Swedish market, even though competition is tough from many other players focusing on the medium-sized organisations segment.
In the battle for functionality and delivery capacity, Jeeves wins over Sage X3 and the local partner Systemstöd. However, in the battle for a modern solution, development capability and investment capital, Sage emerges victorious.
