A momentous battle between three practice management titans saw APS prove victorious for this year’s award.

The judges said there were ‘three good entries’, but were swayed towards APS by the quality of their clients’ comments.

Cambridgeshire-based firm Bulley Davey said its investment in APS had proved excellent value for money. South west firm Simpkins Edwards said APS listened to its needs for a product with a strong core, but a broader base of services. Saffery Champness’s Jonathan Fox said it was ‘the best system I have seen’.

The closely fought competition saw both Iris and CCH being highly praised for their testimonials and technologies, but ‘APS is challenging the home market’, said one judge.

‘It’s innovative and fleet of foot, with a client service ethos,’ said another.

APS claims to have never lost a client to any of its top-tier practice management rivals, which is quite a boast considering the level of competition.

Shortlisted in last year’s award, APS said success had driven it to look at improving its offering.

A refocus on client engagement followed. It also introduced an intelligence module, Practice IQ, which enables practices to measure the value they deliver to clients.

It has also posted an average 20% year-on-year revenue growth since 2002, with 50% of its sales generated from support and maintenance.

Recent client wins include FW Stephens, James Cowper, Horsfield Smith, RGL, Menzies and Chantrey Vellacott.

APS has been awarded gold partner status by Microsoft for its use of Microsoft technologies, and by Interwoven for its use of cutting edge technology.

User’s verdict

FW Stephens was searching for a technology to replace its legacy systems to drive the business forward. The firm had moved to new premises, upgraded its IT infrastructure and the decision on its practice management software was seen as the final piece of the jigsaw.

APS’ Advance systems has proved so rich in functionality that the firm is just scratching the surface of its capabilities.

‘In addition we were impressed by the approach APS takes with clients and collective vision on how we could leverage our existing client data,’ said FW Stephens general manager Chris Madden.