Friday 28th September, 2012

There must be something about sitting next to a seat of power which rubs off. As the throng of tourists dwindled away inside Dean's yard, Westminster - they were replaced by a growing sense of optimism and excitement, as a new global period of growth was outlined at Basware's User Forum.

Unveiling Basware's new strategy to a packed room - CEO, Esa Tihilä described a vision for Basware which was inclusive, ambitious and ready to listen to the winds of change blowing through the e-invoicing and automation industry. Having been around since 1997, Basware have been there, done that which means that although they may not be as noisy as some of their younger competitors and partners - they probably have got the T-shirt too..

The Alusta (which appropriately enough means canvas in Finnish) platform which was rolled out in March this year, looks a lot like the kind of product which will keep Basware at the forefront of P2P technolgy for a while. Unfortunately the purchase to pay process isn't straightforward - no two organisations process in the same way - but Basware have made some clever aquisitions, partnerships and technology enhancements to allow for most of those differences. Nice little touches like the mobile app feature are useful add ons which allow for more flexible and smoother working - though from a show of hands at the Forum ,its strength has not yet filtered through to some Basware users.

With a new focus on SME's, Basware are not so much repositioning themselves, as much as shifting to include organisations which historically may not have considered them an option. With Saas solutions and broader knowledge about the benefits of adoption, the roll-out of e-invoicing across the globe is expanding rapidly and Basware want to take advantage of that.

As Esa says - Basware has a "great future" ahead, and for an organisation which has been around for 15 years - it hasn't lost sight of those key ingredients for continued success - curiosity, drive and the ability to listen.