The 2018 Fastest Growing Firms: Simplus

Simplus is a Platinum Salesforce Partner, an Oracle Gold Partner, and a leader in Quote-to-Cash implementations, providing enterprise-wide digital transformation through advisory, implementation, change management, custom configuration, and managed services. "We have a lot of momentum at Simplus, and it's great to take a brief moment to stop and celebrate," says CEO Ryan Westwood. "We're proud of the culture and company we have built and are excited to continue our success." Westwood sat down with Consulting to discuss.

Consulting: What were the main factors that contributed to your firm's exceptional growth?

Westwood: Simplus has grown because of our focus, our values, and our vision. We have maintained a strong, steady focus on the Quote-to-Cash marketplace, which has allowed us to become the best consultants in the space, building up talent, experience, and expertise. Additionally, our company values—critical thinking, underdog spirit, and stewardship—give our company culture the grit to keep reaching higher. The values also empower our employees with the skills and reliability to make big goals happen. Finally, our company vision has been incredibly perceptive. We have anticipated marketplace conditions before they emerged: we were using Steelbrick CPQ before it was acquired by Salesforce; we were doing billing as part of CPQ before it officially went live; and, we partnered with SpringCM before it was acquired by DocuSign. We've been ahead of the game for a long time, and it has led us to incredible growth. 

Consulting:  How is this year shaping up for your firm?

Westwood: This year has been a great one for Simplus. We have continued our 300 percent year-over-year growth and are now up to 300 employees in our global headcount. We were also recently recognized as the only "leader" in the Salesforce consulting space by G2 Crowd and the number one partner on the Salesforce AppExchange for the most five-star reviews out of 1,030 partners.

Consulting:  How would you describe your firm's outlook for 2019? Where do you see the most opportunities?

Westwood: We continue to be inquisitive. Part of our growth strategy will include international acquisitions. We see great opportunities in our continuing expansion within the Quote-to-Cash space, through CLM, CPQ, and Billing.

Consulting:  What would you say are your firm's biggest challenges?

Westwood: As we move into 2019, I think our biggest challenge will be keeping culture front and center of everything we do. With our current growth trajectory, which includes both organic and acquisition-based headcount, it's important to make sure we continue to focus on building our incredible culture, a workplace that people are excited and proud to be a part of. 

Consulting:  What does being named one of Consulting's Fastest Growing Firms mean to your firm, your employees and your clients?

Westwood: We are very honored to be part of this recognition. We are now the largest CPQ firm in the world, with 41 certified consultants. But we want to make sure we continue that growth and expand into new opportunities. This esteemed recognition from Consulting magazine will help us with our recruiting efforts and our networking with other leading figures in the consulting space.