OPINION: We estimate the last fiscal quarter was the most successful in Aria’s history. We are increasing our revenue estimate to $30 million and project a 65% topline growth rate. The company needs to improve its “out-of-the-box” product implementation experience and invest into a more granular payment terms and billing periods mechanism. A major product upgrade is coming in the fourth quarter of 2015. Aria is also undergoing a transition in its management ranks.
Aria Systems, Inc. provides recurring revenue billing and monetization solutions to organizations with complex, contracts-based customer relationships. Customers and prospects cite Aria’s capabilities in managing complex billing requirements across corporate hierarchies, geographies, currencies, and billing modalities ranging from subscription to usage. An active orchestration capability with workflow has helped Aria create differentiation in provisioning, customer engagement, and cross-application data synchronization for enterprise accounts. The company sells its software via a direct sales channel in the US and an emerging one in the EU. In 2014, the company serviced 35 million customer accounts representing near $800 million in billable customer revenue. Aria focuses on prospects with sales above $100 million in industries such as automotive, technology, media, healthcare, and financial services. Customer satisfaction is high, in part due to the flexibility of Aria’s solution and the company’s focus on customer success. Aria has 250 employees with 20% in sales and marketing.
USE CASE: The best use case for Aria remains in enterprises reaching sales above $100 million with complex B2C and B2B billing requirements across organizational hierarchies/geographies and benefiting from active provisioning. Implementation cycles range from three to nine months.
COMPETITORS: Ensim, goTransverse, Metratech/Ericsson, Monexa/Netsuite, Oracle, SAP, and Zuora are the primary competitors for Aria Systems which has raised significant venture capital funding. The competitive peer group on which Aria’s rating is based includes 16 vendors. This rating does not cover the broader communications services provider and utilities markets solutions.
