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Visma announced the acquisition of OutSmart. The organization develops field service management software for small and medium-sized companies.

OutSmart was founded in 2011. The software helps companies create staffing plans, record hours and charge customers for the work of field service employees. The technology is used by more than 4,000 businesses in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Portugal.

OutSmart aims to grow to 120,000 users by 2025. Integrations are an important part of the strategy. The software currently supports 80 connections with accounting and ERP systems. The latter caught the attention of Visma, a software vendor with more than 1.3 million customers worldwide.

API-first

Over the past two years, Visma acquired nearly 80 companies. As the organization provides a broad range of business software, it should come as no surprise that Visma values integrations. With the acquisition of OutSmart, the software vendor gains a fitting field service management solution.

“OutSmart fits perfectly with our mission to simplify and automate work processes within companies. Their API-first approach is great”, commented John Reynders, Area Director Benelux at Visma. “OutSmart interfaces with any business system. This allows installation companies, construction companies and other service providers to serve their customers better, faster and more profitably.”

Independent

OutSmart’s structure will remain intact. Visma has no plans for a merger. “The team of 45 employees will continue to operate under its own name as an independent unit within the Visma Group”, the organization confirmed. “Agreements with customers remain unchanged.”

The approach is typical of Visma. Most of the companies it acquires continue to operate under their own names. Visma presents itself as a helping hand for subsidiaries. The organization provides support in the areas of development, marketing and sales — beyond that, subsidiaries are free to work with the partners and customers of their choice.

“Many companies already have a strong brand”, Reynders told our Dutch colleagues at Techzine.nl in a recent interview. “There are situations where Visma companies decide to do business together, but nothing is commanded from the top.”