Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd. (operating as Advanced) is a British private company founded by Vin Murria in 2008 with its headquarters in Birmingham, West Midlands. It provides information technology services including hosting and cloud based systems to the NHS and many other organisations. Through various acquisitions, in 2016 it became the third largest software provider in the UK market while employing over 2,400 people with a customer base of more than 20,000 organisations. Later in the year it would go on to rebrand itself to "Advanced" while opening its central headquarters in Birmingham's Mailbox.[1]
Advanced was founded by Vin Murria in 2008. Originally listed on the Alternative Investment Market in 2008 with a cash value of £3 million, it was bought by Vista Equity Partners in 2014 for £765 million. From the 18% stake Murria held in Advanced she took £140.2m from the sale making her one of the wealthiest women in the UK.[2] Murria was awarded an OBE for services to the UK digital economy and advancing women in the software sector in the 2018 New Year Honours.[3]
At the time of sale, Vista brought in a new leadership team including Chief Executive Officer Gordon Wilson, and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hicks.
In August 2019, Vista sold a 50% stake in Advanced to BC Partners for £2 billion including debt.[4]
In 2023, Advanced undertook a strategy refresh alongside changes to the executive management team, appointing Simon Walsh as Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Dews as Chief Financial Officer and Andrew Henderson as Chief Technology Officer. The aim of the strategy refresh is stated to prioritise resources into high growth market sectors and product categories.[5]
Health and Care Cyber Incidentedit
In August 2022, Advanced experienced a cybersecurity incident caused by LockBit 3.0 ransomware.[6] Adastra, Caresys, Odyssey, Carenotes, Crosscare, Staffplan and eFinancials products were all affected, with varying downtime and recovery. Perpetrators of the attack were able to extract information relating to 16 Staffplan and Caresys customers.[7]
The cyber attack including resulting remediation and outage credits cost the group £18.2 million in 2023 with a further £2.7 million provisioned for additional expenditure in future years.[5]
Locationsedit
Advanced's head office is located in Mailbox, Birmingham with other office locations in Newcastle, Ashford, Dublin, York and Willerby. The US head office is located in Atlanta, Georgia. Advanced also have offices in Bangalore, Karnataka and Baroda, Gujarat, India which is where the primary development function is located.
Acquisitionsedit
Acquisition
Date
Price
Notes
Serco Learning
December 2012
£7.25m
A deal for Serco's education unit, bringing software including Facility CMIS Administration with Facility ePortal and Progresso for primary and secondary schools, timetabling software Scheduler, and CMIS and CMIS Go for the higher education sector.
Computer Software Holdings
March 2013
£110m
Paid for partly by the share placing that helped raise £44m for ACS.[8]
Compass
February 2014
£14.5m
Advanced extended its reach in the education software market by purchasing Chester-based CRM specialist Compass Computer Consultants.[9] Compass was later renamed "ProSuite".
A Welsh cloud SaaS solution, Hudman was later renamed "Business Cloud Essentials".
Information Balance
March 2018
£2.5m
Science Warehouse
March 2018
£17m
A British developer of cloud SaaS procurement solutions for £17 million.[12] Science Warehouse was later renamed "Cloud Marketplace"
Docman
July 2018
£90m
Advanced acquired PCTI Solutions.[13] Their product, Docman, maintains one billion records and documents for more than 40,000,000 patients in the UK, including the whole of Scotland.[14] A problem with version 7 of the Docman platform in September 2018 meant letters received through NHSmail, automatically scanned to be added to patient records, were not uploaded. About 6,000 GP practices using the electronic document transfer function were affected.[15]
Acquired for significantly less than the original £80 million asking price.[16]
Mitrefinch
October 2020
£90.6m
Acquired from LDC who completed a management buyout in 2016 for £20 million.[17]
Clear Review
October 2020
£26m
Acquired from Stuart Hearn (entrepreneur and former Sony Music HR Director) and Mercia Asset Management[18]
Certainty
February 2021
£16.3m
bksb
May 2021
£19.3m
Acquired from West Nottinghamshire College.
Smart Apprentices
May 2021
£28m
Acquired from entrepreneur Fiona Hudson-Kelly.[19]
Isosec
September 2021
£22.3m
A previous acquisition attempt from rival firm Imprivata was abandoned in May 2021 after a CMA investigation.[20]
cloudtrade
October 2021
£25.8m
Portt
April 2022
£16.05m
Decision Time
April 2022
£22m
Pellcomp
June 2022
£8.1m
List of Softwareedit
Advanced Time and Attendance (formerly Mitrefinch TMS/HR Manager)
Advanced Pay (formerly Mitrefinch Flexipay)
Advanced Device & Access Manager (formerly MF Secure - successor to Mitrefinch Access Control)
Cloud School (formerly Progresso)
Facility CMIS Administration
Scheduler
Facility ePortal
CMIS
CMIS Go
FM Easy
OpenAccounts
Advanced HR (formerly Cloud HR)
OpenPeople
OpenWMS
Odyssey
Exchequer
eFinancials
eBis
ProAchieve
ProMonitor
ProSolution
TALENT Ticketing Solutions
Integra
Business Cloud Essentials
Advanced Financials (formerly Cloud Financials)
Staffplan
Caresys
Carenotes
Adastra
Crosscare
V1 Document Management
Advanced Data Automation (formerly Cloud trade)
Referencesedit
^"Advanced Computer Software Group rebrands as Advanced, implements new marketing strategy". The Drum. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
^Armstrong, Ashley (25 November 2014). "Advanced Computer Software agrees to £765m takeover by Vista". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
^"Softcat director and TechUK president included on New Year Honours list". Channel web. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
^"BC Partners buys 50% stake in Advanced from Vista Equity". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
^ ab"ASTON MIDCO LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
^"NHS 111 software outage confirmed as cyber-attack". BBC News. 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
^"Client data exfiltrated in Advanced NHS cyber attack". Digital Health. 2022-10-13. Retrieved 2022-10-27.
^"ACS splashes out £110m for Computer Software Holdings". MicroScope. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^"ACS extends education reach with Compass acquisition". MicroScope. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^"ACS extends portfolio with ConsultCRM acquisition". MicroScope. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^"Advanced announces acquisition to accelerate Cloud adoption". Advanced. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
^"Imprivata, Inc. / Isosec Limited merger inquiry". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
May 02, 2024
advanced, computer, software, major, contributor, this, article, appears, have, close, connection, with, subject, require, cleanup, comply, with, wikipedia, content, policies, particularly, neutral, point, view, please, discuss, further, talk, page, 2019, lear. A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view Please discuss further on the talk page May 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd operating as Advanced is a British private company founded by Vin Murria in 2008 with its headquarters in Birmingham West Midlands It provides information technology services including hosting and cloud based systems to the NHS and many other organisations Through various acquisitions in 2016 it became the third largest software provider in the UK market while employing over 2 400 people with a customer base of more than 20 000 organisations Later in the year it would go on to rebrand itself to Advanced while opening its central headquarters in Birmingham s Mailbox 1 Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd Company typePrivateIndustryEnterprise softwareCloud computingComputer softwareFounded2008 16 years ago 2008 Slough BerkshireFoundersVin MurriaHeadquartersBirmingham United KingdomArea servedUnited Kingdom Republic of Ireland India Australia Canada and United StatesKey peopleSimon Walsh CEO Revenue 322m 2023 317m 2022 Operating income 446m 2023 107m 2022 OwnerVista Equity Partners 50 BC Partners 50 Number of employees2 960 2023 2 676 2022 Websiteoneadvanced wbr com Contents 1 History 1 1 Health and Care Cyber Incident 2 Locations 3 Acquisitions 4 List of Software 5 ReferencesHistory editAdvanced was founded by Vin Murria in 2008 Originally listed on the Alternative Investment Market in 2008 with a cash value of 3 million it was bought by Vista Equity Partners in 2014 for 765 million From the 18 stake Murria held in Advanced she took 140 2m from the sale making her one of the wealthiest women in the UK 2 Murria was awarded an OBE for services to the UK digital economy and advancing women in the software sector in the 2018 New Year Honours 3 At the time of sale Vista brought in a new leadership team including Chief Executive Officer Gordon Wilson and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hicks In August 2019 Vista sold a 50 stake in Advanced to BC Partners for 2 billion including debt 4 In 2023 Advanced undertook a strategy refresh alongside changes to the executive management team appointing Simon Walsh as Chief Executive Officer Stephen Dews as Chief Financial Officer and Andrew Henderson as Chief Technology Officer The aim of the strategy refresh is stated to prioritise resources into high growth market sectors and product categories 5 Health and Care Cyber Incident edit In August 2022 Advanced experienced a cybersecurity incident caused by LockBit 3 0 ransomware 6 Adastra Caresys Odyssey Carenotes Crosscare Staffplan and eFinancials products were all affected with varying downtime and recovery Perpetrators of the attack were able to extract information relating to 16 Staffplan and Caresys customers 7 The cyber attack including resulting remediation and outage credits cost the group 18 2 million in 2023 with a further 2 7 million provisioned for additional expenditure in future years 5 Locations editAdvanced s head office is located in Mailbox Birmingham with other office locations in Newcastle Ashford Dublin York and Willerby The US head office is located in Atlanta Georgia Advanced also have offices in Bangalore Karnataka and Baroda Gujarat India which is where the primary development function is located Acquisitions editAcquisition Date Price Notes Serco Learning December 2012 7 25m A deal for Serco s education unit bringing software including Facility CMIS Administration with Facility ePortal and Progresso for primary and secondary schools timetabling software Scheduler and CMIS and CMIS Go for the higher education sector Computer Software Holdings March 2013 110m Paid for partly by the share placing that helped raise 44m for ACS 8 Compass February 2014 14 5m Advanced extended its reach in the education software market by purchasing Chester based CRM specialist Compass Computer Consultants 9 Compass was later renamed ProSuite ConsultCRM 10 April 2014 Hudman 11 July 2017 A Welsh cloud SaaS solution Hudman was later renamed Business Cloud Essentials Information Balance March 2018 2 5m Science Warehouse March 2018 17m A British developer of cloud SaaS procurement solutions for 17 million 12 Science Warehouse was later renamed Cloud Marketplace Docman July 2018 90m Advanced acquired PCTI Solutions 13 Their product Docman maintains one billion records and documents for more than 40 000 000 patients in the UK including the whole of Scotland 14 A problem with version 7 of the Docman platform in September 2018 meant letters received through NHSmail automatically scanned to be added to patient records were not uploaded About 6 000 GP practices using the electronic document transfer function were affected 15 Oyez March 2019 23 2m Kirona April 2019 55 1m Acquired from Livingbridge and Gresham House Modern Systems July 2019 26m Careworks November 2019 21 5m Tikit March 2020 46 8m Acquired for significantly less than the original 80 million asking price 16 Mitrefinch October 2020 90 6m Acquired from LDC who completed a management buyout in 2016 for 20 million 17 Clear Review October 2020 26m Acquired from Stuart Hearn entrepreneur and former Sony Music HR Director and Mercia Asset Management 18 Certainty February 2021 16 3m bksb May 2021 19 3m Acquired from West Nottinghamshire College Smart Apprentices May 2021 28m Acquired from entrepreneur Fiona Hudson Kelly 19 Isosec September 2021 22 3m A previous acquisition attempt from rival firm Imprivata was abandoned in May 2021 after a CMA investigation 20 cloudtrade October 2021 25 8m Portt April 2022 16 05m Decision Time April 2022 22m Pellcomp June 2022 8 1mList of Software editAdvanced Time and Attendance formerly Mitrefinch TMS HR Manager Advanced Pay formerly Mitrefinch Flexipay Advanced Device amp Access Manager formerly MF Secure successor to Mitrefinch Access Control Cloud School formerly Progresso Facility CMIS Administration Scheduler Facility ePortal CMIS CMIS Go FM Easy OpenAccounts Advanced HR formerly Cloud HR OpenPeople OpenWMS Odyssey Exchequer eFinancials eBis ProAchieve ProMonitor ProSolution TALENT Ticketing Solutions Integra Business Cloud Essentials Advanced Financials formerly Cloud Financials Staffplan Caresys Carenotes Adastra Crosscare V1 Document Management Advanced Data Automation formerly Cloud trade References edit Advanced Computer Software Group rebrands as Advanced implements new marketing strategy The Drum 12 April 2016 Retrieved 13 September 2018 Armstrong Ashley 25 November 2014 Advanced Computer Software agrees to 765m takeover by Vista The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 13 September 2018 Softcat director and TechUK president included on New Year Honours list Channel web 2 January 2018 Retrieved 13 September 2018 BC Partners buys 50 stake in Advanced from Vista Equity www ft com Retrieved 2020 09 13 a b ASTON MIDCO LIMITED filing history Find and update company information GOV UK find and update company information service gov uk Retrieved 2023 11 30 NHS 111 software outage confirmed as cyber attack BBC News 2022 08 05 Retrieved 2023 11 13 Client data exfiltrated in Advanced NHS cyber attack Digital Health 2022 10 13 Retrieved 2022 10 27 ACS splashes out 110m for Computer Software Holdings MicroScope 8 March 2013 Retrieved 25 May 2019 ACS extends education reach with Compass acquisition MicroScope 3 February 2014 Retrieved 25 May 2019 ACS extends portfolio with ConsultCRM acquisition MicroScope 3 April 2014 Retrieved 25 May 2019 Advanced announces acquisition to accelerate Cloud adoption Advanced Retrieved 2019 06 11 Science Warehouse Advanced Retrieved 2019 06 11 Advanced acquires Docman Health Tech Newspaper 5 July 2018 Retrieved 13 September 2018 CLINICAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPER BOUGHT BY ADVANCED Insider Media 3 July 2018 Retrieved 13 September 2018 GPs unable to fully access digital patient records after faulty update to IT platform IT Pro 12 September 2018 Retrieved 13 September 2018 BT offloads 80m legal software arm Tikit as sell off continues CityAM 2020 03 25 Retrieved 2020 09 13 LDC exits Mitrefinch following successful growth journey LDC Retrieved 2021 09 08 Successful exit of Clear Review delivering a 72 IRR Mercia 2020 10 19 Retrieved 2021 09 08 Fiona Hudson Kelly Fiona Hudson Kelly Retrieved 2021 09 08 Imprivata Inc Isosec Limited merger inquiry GOV UK Retrieved 2021 10 17 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Advanced Computer Software amp oldid 1187622617, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
