SoftwareONE is taking aim at the “$100m revenue opportunity” represented by Microsoft Copilot, the software licensing giant said as it unveiled its interim 2023 results.
An 8.5% YoY jump in first-half revenues to CHF 506.8m (£454m) puts the Swiss firm on track for double-digit constant currency growth for its full year, it said.
The results come after SoftwareONE rejected two takeover offers from Bain Capital last month (the latter for over CHF 3bn).
Instead, SIX Swiss Exchange-listed SoftwareONE initiated a strategic review process designed to best position itself to capitalise on the “fast-growing” software and cloud market.
$100m opportunity
SoftwareONE’s gross billings with Microsoft rose by 12% to $10.6bn in the first half, with growth accelerating in Q2 thanks partly to Microsoft price rises and the shift from legacy CSP to the New Commerce Experience (NCE) model, it said.
Revenue growth from its other ISV partners slowed in Q2, however.
To a big stir, Microsoft unveiled pricing for its nascent 365 Copilot offering at its Inspire event last month.
SoftwareONE said it will “seek to drive the global roll-out of Copilot”, adding that the new Microsoft AI tool represents a $100m revenue opportunity “to help clients re-imagine employee productivity and leverage the potential with other ISV partners”.
An “operational excellence programme” launched in early 2023 delivered CHF 8m in cost savings in the 9,200-employee company’s first half, meanwhile. This was driven by “re-balancing” of sales resources and the launch of AI-driven cross-selling initiatives, among other things.
“Our performance in H1 2023 puts us on track to meet our FY 2023 guidance,” CEO Brian Duffy said.
“Against a backdrop of difficult macroeconomic conditions, we demonstrated resilience as we successfully focused on delivering value-added solutions to meet our clients’ needs.”
