Awards 2006: Mamut – Small business software of the year

Sponsored by Relate

Norwegian business software developer Mamut continues to go from strength to strength and has picked up the Small Business Software Award for the third year in a row.

Financial results from the company, now 12 years old, show continued growth and solidity. Mamut has enjoyed double-digit growth for the last 46 quarters. For 2005, company turnover was £16m, up 25% on the previous year with an EBIDTA of around £1.6m, £300,000 higher than in 2004.

The company has also made inroads into the Republic of Ireland and Danish markets and has gained 10,000 new small business customers.

Mamut aims to make the everyday operations of small businesses simpler and more efficient by automating and simplifying core tasks and processes. Its development criteria are that software must be easy to install, intuitive to use and represent value for money.

Mamut also believes in customer care, ensuring that clients get the support they need to use all the available functionality of the software.

Since winning the same award last year, Mamut has been working with accounting partners to develop services for firms of up to four partners that will help them create new income streams and manage clients better.

Customers say that Mamut Enterprise stands out because it links accounting software to other functionality. Ian Sumbler, partner at accountancy Morris Owen, says: ‘We have technical guys who have no accounting background at all but still use the system. It is a huge advantage to see all customer information in the same system as the accountants are using. When the customer calls, we want to give the right answers straightaway without having to use two different pieces of software.’

Fitness equipment manufacturer Yoga Mad values Mamut Enterprise highly. Managing director David Elliot says: ‘The warehouse module makes reordering easy and quick, and the stock position is clear with the “amount due to customers” facility. The ability to link invoices for shipping and duty to purchases makes analysis of real cost of sale better.’

The judges said that Mamut offered ‘value for money’ and amazing functionality.

MAMUT OPEN SERVICE

Mamut offers free entry-level services including:
● Mamut Teamwork: an internet-based real-time backup and storage facility.
● Mamut Online Survey: a web-based application for surveys and relationship-building.
● Mamut Start Up: software to help set up companies and get the day-to-day operations up and running.