As a Chief Product Officer and company director I know that growth comes not just from hitting milestones, but from transforming challenges into opportunities. In that sense, 2024 has been nothing short of transformative!

Reflecting on our journey over the past year to date, the numbers don’t just tell a story of growth, they showcase a year of focus, innovation, and collaboration. This year was all about refining and redefining.

Here’s a closer look at the milestone and innovations that shaped Operance’s journey this year and a glimpse of what’s on the horizon.

SaaS Adoption and Client Engagement: Scaling New Heights

Operance has firmly established itself as a frontrunner in the SaaS space, and the numbers speak for themselves. This year, verified users doubled, a staggering 100% growth: while active organisations surged by 77%. These aren’t just numbers on a dashboard; they’re proof that more people are placing their trust in our platform to deliver results.

But as any digital handover software vendor will tell you, having a great platform is just one part of the solution, the industry still demands a motivated and personable team of coordinators to manage the workflow from project commencement, through to handover.

At the heart of this success is our outstanding coordination team, led by Shoughan Dilshad, with Ellie Mulligan, Alison Flemington, Becky Wood, and Archie Yeo providing unparalleled support.

I’m a firm believer that software is only as good as the support it offers, so as product lead, I’m constantly inspired to meet the high standards this team sets!

We’re proud to now support 152 live projects, a clear reflection of our growing presence in the industry. But the real game-changer? Our SaaS-first strategy. Over the past year, we’ve transitioned from a near 50/50 split between software and consultancy revenue to a whopping 76% of total sales coming from software. This shift hasn’t just streamlined our offerings; it’s cemented Operance as a scalable tech innovator, ready to meet the evolving needs of our clients.

Enhancing User Experience Through Innovation

Key to this success has been the launch of several transformative features that enhance usability and drive engagement, including:

• A new dashboard for real-time project visibility, improving focus on operations and safety information gaps.

• GoldenAI, our AI-powered chatbot provides instant access to building data, saving users valuable time.

• Task management interface, providing contributors with instant and focused views of their assignments for greater clarity and time efficiency.

• Accept and reject workflows to streamline verification reviews, improve collaboration, enable communications and improve transparency.

• SSO integration for seamless, secure platform access and data security.

These updates have empowered users to work smarter, manage data effortlessly, and achieve better outcomes across projects.

From Chaos to Clarity: Redefining User Experience

Let’s face it: way back in January, our task management setup was about as organised as a toddler’s toy box. Tasks, workflows, and even data templates had users scratching their heads. Enter our Task Management page and the new Accept/Reject Workflow; a structured approval process that restored sanity to the chaos.

But that’s not all. We’ve worked hard to improve the general interface of the product, replacing the old with new data set views to reflect a more modern look and feel. We even found time to provide a toolbar makeover which was released with more meaningful icons that now tell their own stories (with text backup for clarity). Navigation now feels like a stroll in the park instead of a maze!

Our AI chatbot, GoldenAI (we pronounce it ‘Goldeneye!’ , has officially graduated from “cool experiment” to “must-have sidekick.” Whether it’s delivering instant building data or simplifying contractor decisions, GoldenAI has redefined user productivity. And while the tech is impressive, the real win is the time saved for our users.

Speaking of time savers, our automated email notifications are the silent MVPs of 2024. They’ve reduced errors, kept users in the loop, and given our service team some much-needed breathing room. Efficiency is no longer a dream, it’s our new standard.

A massive thank you to our fabulous Development team that made all this happen, led by Tim Mutlow, big thanks go to Alimot Oladoja, Diana Khortiuk, Supriya Kadam, Oleksii Zavalniuk, Sheetal Patil, Anastasiia Demchuk, Pravin Kadam and last but by all means not least Mohamed Mohamed.

Record-Breaking Growth: Clients, Revenue, and Beyond

Thanks to the amazing efforts by a team that includes Conor Smart, Lisa Corrigan, Josh Watterson and Luisa Gullacci-Nyman, led by Ian Hetherington: 2024 has been a year of breaking records and shattering expectations. Let’s take a moment to appreciate some standout highlights (FY 23/24 vs. FY 22/23, software only):

• 672 SALs generated: That’s a jaw-dropping 420% increase.

• 225 new deals created (SQLs): Up by 196%.

• 73 new deals won: A phenomenal 284% increase.

• 39 new software logos secured: That’s 290% growth in expanding our client base.

• Software-only sales: A healthy 60% increase!

It wasn’t just software seeing the love. Thanks specifically to the brilliant work done by Dave Peacock, Eric Lee and Joshua Onyedeke, BIM services rebounded, bringing in a 253% increase from last year. This resurgence shows our ability to adapt and grow across multiple streams. It’s also a testament to their continued customer relations and project delivery record success, which ensures repeat buying with clients, consultants and contractors alike.

Operance didn’t just grow, we excelled. Our year-on-year turnover climbed 61%, and we maintained cash flow at a staggering 186% of plan. These achievements aren’t just impressive: they’re industry-leading: thanks to the work done by our wonderful Business Manager, Charlie Yeo, we’ve even set a benchmark for Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) at 46 days, underscoring our commitment to operational excellence and financial health!

A Commitment to Excellence: ISO 27001 Certification

One of our proudest achievements this year was earning ISO 27001 certification, the gold standard for information security management. This milestone demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding client data, ensuring compliance, and building trust in the Operance platform.

Achieving this certification required extensive collaboration across the board, led by our super CTO, Tim Mutlow. This exercise resulted in rigorous audits, and the implementation of best practices at every level of our operations. For our clients, this means peace of mind that their critical building data is secure and accessible when they need it. You can read more about our ISO certification and Tim’s work here.

Operance Unify: Solving Problems, Simplifying Processes

This year, we also launched Operance Unify, an internal tool designed by our CEO, Ian Yeo, to streamline project management. True to Ian’s engineering roots, this tool tackles inefficiencies head-on:

• Integrating seamlessly with tools like Operance, Jira, HubSpot, and Xero.

• Automating repetitive tasks, such as sending emails and setting up organisations and projects.

• Centralising project data, offering a real-time overview of progress.

• Simplifying financial issue tracking.

Unify is already saving time and resources for our team, embodying our mission to disrupt the digital handover industry by embracing automation.

Kudos to Ian for being a leader who pulls up his sleeves and gets stuck in to help our team!

Operance’s Upcoming Features and Enhancements

The next phase of Operance brings transformative updates to simplify workflows, strengthen compliance, and enhance user experiences. Key upgrades include advanced progress reporting, enabling detailed, customisable reports on milestones, completion, and compliance.

We’ll also pave the way for further scalability by rebuilding our export infrastructure, designing it for speed and reliability, with added enhancements like bulk data processing and advanced branding. We’ll then improve this further by enabling customisable exports for branded, professional documents with tailored navigation and inline images.

Data management can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack on most digital platforms. Operance is going to improve this even further by producing simplified O&M data views and bulk system template applications, streamlining data management for faster setup and assignment.

Users will be able to seamlessly organise, search and manage components and systems, whilst aligning building operations with safety compliance.

Other highlights include project cloning for replicating entire setups, Golden Thread activity logs, compliance dashboards, and AI-assisted content creation to enhance collaboration and ensure safety adherence. Lastly, Following in from the new SSO feature, data security will get a further boost with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

With improved file management, centralised notifications, and role-based dashboards, these updates solidify Operance as a leader in building management and digital transformation.

As we set our sights on 2025, we are laser-focused on scaling our solutions, enhancing our product suite, and achieving our MRR and ARR targets. With momentum on our side, Operance is poised to deepen its impact on the industry, further empowering clients to unlock the full value of their building data.

Our leadership team has been instrumental in delivering these outcomes. From aligning product innovation with market needs to executing strategies that improve client acquisition, the board’s collaborative efforts have been pivotal. The website relaunch and its direct contribution to new deals highlight the power of data-informed decision-making.

2024 has been a transformative year for Operance, one marked by record growth, groundbreaking innovation, and a steadfast commitment to excellence. As a team, we’ve proven that the right mix of vision, collaboration, and execution can turn ambition into results.

To our team, investors, and clients: thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we’re building something extraordinary!