Apttus
Quote-to-Cash

With the rise of Salesforce, cloud-based systems started replacing many existing business processes. However, there is still a glaring gap between the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) that needs addressing. Apttus, the San Mateo-based SaaS Company, successfully bridges that gap by streamlining the entire sales process–from where Salesforce leaves off to where the ERP picks back up.

Apttus delivers Quote-to-Cash (QTC) solutions including Configure-Price-Quote (CPQ), Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), and Revenue Management for companies of all sizes, rapidly with high value; their goal is to provide organizations a significantly better way to automate business functions in the cloud. The company, built 100 percent in the Salesforce platform, offers key advantages of Salesforce’s mobility, scalability, and security. “Salesforce has been our partner and biggest supporter. All our solutions are built entirely on Salesforce,” says Kirk Krappe, CEO and Chairman, Apttus.

By leveraging the Salesforce platform, Apttus customers are able to take advantage of the most scalable cloud platform available. “Being built in Salesforce allows us to leverage the most advanced cloud security for our customer’s data and processes. Our customers are able to grow across our Quote-to-Cash footprint with all their configurations, pricing policies, quotes, proposals, contracts, and revenue all centrally managed in Salesforce,” notes Krappe.

The CPQ software is a major component of the Apttus QTC solution that helps increase deal size and shorten sales cycles whilst ensuring compliance of regulations. CPQ helps companies sell bigger, sell faster, more accurately. As customers grow, Apttus is able to scale with them. “With growth comes larger catalogues, complex bundles and pricing, which also inevitably brings with it the need for capability; and Apttus is capable of handling any complexity,” adds Krappe. Unlike other software that requires extensive coding and integrations, Apttus provides point-and-click administration that’s easy to use with uncompromised security.

The QTC footprint with all their configurations, pricing policies, quotes, proposals, contracts, and revenue, are all centrally managed in Salesforce

Apttus Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) integrates sales and product information with centralized clause libraries and legal playbooks inside Salesforce to ensure accurate contracts are created within a short span of time. Innovation is an integral part of the foundation at Apttus: “QTC has endless potential and we’re innovating new solutions to capture that market,” asserts Krappe. Apttus is also one of the first Salesforce business development partner to work with Salesforce Wave and Wearables.

For instance, GlobalFoundries, a full scale semiconductor foundry with manufacturing operations all over the world, implemented Apttus in order to reduce product configuration time. After doing so, they immediately saw noticeable results—20 percent gain in operational efficiency and time to generate a quote reduced from weeks to minutes. There was an increased engagement with customers as well as reduction in costly mechanical error. “Our competitors may specialize in one section; we offer the entire Quote-to- Cash footprint,” says Krappe.

By the close of 2015, Apttus is projected to hit well over 1,200 employees. “We’re going through hyper-growth, and hiring is our top priority as we want to internally scale.” elucidates Krappe. Apttus had their Series C Round of funding last month, raking in $108 million from key investors like ICONIQ, Salesforce Ventures, and KIA. “We’re on our way towards hitting Initial Public Offering (IPO),” concludes Krappe. Apttus is scaling new heights in the Salesforce domain knowledge.