In April I will be joining an ERP startup Company called Acumatica that has built a complete new ERP platform on Microsoft Azure. Here’s a short bit on why I’m leaving Microsoft after 12+ years, the company that I’ll always love and that has thought me so much and has provided my family and I with so many great experiences and opportunities.

The world of ERP has been kind of stale the past 20 years…. Most innovation has come from more and better vertical applications, integration with other systems like Office or CRM and support of a multitude of software platforms. But at the core not much has changed…

This is not surprising. ERP is probably the stickiest solution that customers buy, with switching costs being enormous, driven by the various customizations and integration with the customer’s specific business processes. But innovation can only be delayed so long…

Acumatica has built a platform that provides ERP Solution providers all the basic components on which to build their specific vertical applications. It’s all brand new code, on the Microsoft Azure platform, running in the browser, allowing for both on premise and cloud deployment. The product has been in market for a while and is now ready for prime time. Partners that have joined are unanimously excited. Acumatica makes it very easy to develop their existing vertical solutions on the Microsoft Azure and Acumatica foundation and ship a cloud enabled version of their product. Acumatica also licenses its product for unlimited users. So everyone in an organization can participate, whether they just submit expenses or manage the monthly payroll.

I’m excited to join a company with the potential to make a real difference, building on the Azure platform from the company that I’m so proud of. Thanks Microsoft for having been a part of you, and thanks Acumatica for inspiring and challenging me to continue a great journey!