ACL Records Impressive Progress in Fiscal Year 2015 on Talent Development, Product Innovation and Business Performance Fronts

GRC Software Industry Leader Increased GRC User Base by Nearly 200%

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Oct 07, 2015, 09:00 ET

MIAMI, Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ACL Connections -- ACL today announced highlights from its fiscal year ending July 31, 2015. In the 12-month period, ACL surpassed its growth goals, disrupted the category with major upgrades to its suite of software solutions, and enriched the value of those solutions with new content services including ScriptHub and ACL Academy. ACL also mobilized talent with dramatic hiring across R&D, Customer Service, and Sales in Europe and Asia, while receiving further recognition as one of Canada's top employers. Additionally, ACL transformed its business model by converting effectively its entire customer base to subscription licensing in a single year, less than a third the time it has taken most leading software companies to do the same.

"Our significant progress in fiscal year 2015 is a culmination of the last four years of effort anchored around three priorities: 1) Mobilizing Talent, 2) Disrupting the Category, and 3) Transforming our Business Model. Today, 75% of employees are new to their role with the highest employee satisfaction levels on record, our investment in R&D doubled, we've transitioned our product into the cloud, and converted our business model to subscription," said Laurie Schultz, President and CEO of ACL. "Our growth is evidence of the market's buy-in to our Data-Driven GRC value proposition -- borne of the integration of our heritage Analytics business with our recently acquired cloud based GRC gear and content. In just three years, we've grown our GRC customer base to a number that exceeds the majority of vendors in the market on our unique emphasis on DATA integration, DESIGN (ease of use), and DEPLOYMENT (cloud and mobile). We intend to accelerate this with increased investment in technology, marketing, and sales."

ACL also welcomed a new CFO to the leadership team. Brent Flichel brings to ACL more than 25 years of experience, spanning a range of privately held and publicly listed technology companies. Flichel will lead ACL's Public Company Readiness agenda enveloping the functions of business planning, financial reporting, corporate finance, and risk management.

ACL's fiscal year 2015 highlights include:

Converted over 90% of its software base to subscription.
Drove double-digit growth in new software sales while doubling its GRC customer base.
Built on its existing customer base of 14,000 customers in more than 100 countries and 89% of the Fortune 500 by adding nearly 1000 new customers including Equinix, Toyota, State Auto, Novelis, and W.R. Grace.
Appointed two new members to its Board to strengthen its Domain footprint: Carolyn Saint, CAE, University of Virginia, and Board Member, The Institute of Internal Audit (IIA); and Inder Gulati, Vice President of Internal Audit, LinkedIn.
Recognized in Gartner's 2015 Market Guide for Audit Management Solutions and 2015 Market Guide for Corporate Compliance and Oversight Software; while being awarded three GRC 20/20 Technology Innovation awards.
Honored as BC Technology Industry Association's 2015 Technology Impact Team of the Year for the transformation of its products and development organization into the cloud.
Continued its emphasis on DESIGN and EASE OF USE as a distinct competitive differentiator, through the acquisition of Artletic LLC -- a digital design firm specializing in web and mobile applications.
Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 SME Employers, recruited Kathy Enros from Vision Critical as VP of Talent, expanded employee base by over 25%, and continued investment in talent development programs and benefits.
Opened a new regional HQ in Singapore showing ACL's increased commitment to Asia Pacific.
Significantly increased its partnerships and support of local not-for-profit organizations including a five-year financial sponsorship as a founding partner of the BCTIA Innovation Hub and ongoing charitable giving to Easter Seals, Covenant House, Dress For Success, YWCA, and more.

To learn more about ACL's integrated suite of solutions and professional services, visit www.acl.com.

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About ACL
ACL delivers software solutions that are transforming audit, compliance, and risk management to give organizations unprecedented control over their business. www.acl.com

SOURCE ACL