How is the Main Software 50 ranking formed?

Criteria for participation in the Main Software 50

The Main Software 50 is aimed at strengthening the position of unlisted Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) from the Benelux and Germany. For participation the following criteria apply:

  • For the Main Software 50 Benelux, the company must be from Belgium, the Netherlands or Luxembourg and the headquarter must be located in The Benelux.
  • For the German Main Software 50, the company should be German with its headquarters in Germany.
  • The company is independent (not a subsidiary of a larger company) and not a stock listed company.
  • The company is a product software company that in the last financial year generated at least 15% of its total revenue from Licenses (and/or SaaS revenues) and Maintenance/Support, based on its own intellectual property rights.

After registration, all companies are assessed based on their performance. An unambiguous measurement key is used. The following data are taken into account:

  1. Revenue
  2. Revenue growth
  3. Quality of revenue (recurring vs. one-off)
  4. Revenue generated from Cloud/SaaS
  5. EBITDA
  6. International revenue
  7. Revenue from partner channel

Next, the companies are indexed. The 50 highest ranked companies make up the Main Software 50 list.

The Awards

The Main Software 50 distinguishes the top 3 ranked companies as Overall Champions. In addition the company that demonstrates the fastest growth of cloud/Saas solutions is awarded with a Highest Growth Award.

In the Benelux, we also present the Main Accelerator Award, to reward the most successful software companies with revenues under 1 million EUR.

In Germany, the Cloud Champion Award is presented, for companies with the highest revenue from cloud-based activities.

We treat your data confidentially and carefully

To complete the application, we ask you to complete a questionnaire. In addition to a few questions about turnover and FTEs, you will also be asked about the sector in which the software company operates and its growth ambitions. All company data will be handled with the utmost care. The data will never be visible to third parties, except for the audit partner who has to guarantee the correctness of the list.

If the company is included in the Main Software 50 ranking, only the sub-segment with a general description of the company will be published. The other information, including the financial data, will be kept strictly confidential.  When figures are published, it is always on an aggregated basis. This means that no identifiable information about an individual company can be derived from the communication (so only averages, totals, etc.).

Independent audit

The Main Software 50 ranking is established objectively and audited by ICT research agency Dialogic in the Benelux and Fraunhofer in Germany. This guarantees the independence and accuracy of the lists.

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