System iNetwork

August 15, 2008

ACOM Keeps the Faith on 25th Anniversary

ACOM Solutions, a developer and marketer of integrated payment and document management software solutions, is currently celebrating its 25th year in business, and business couldn’t be better.

The company began in 1983 leasing IBM midrange equipment. With the introduction of the System/38, ACOM produced a protocol converter that could convert 38 output into ASCII format, enabling users to print on the new laser printers that were just getting their kick-start at the time. Shortly thereafter, ACOM began developing and selling MICR laser printers targeted for the IBM mid-range market.

As the 80s rolled on, ACOM continued to research and develop, yielding software that could sit directly on the 38 without any conversion. In the early 90s, the company decided to move away from document output and instead focus on overlay forms, replacing impact printing with laser-compatible overlays. This gave them the edge they needed to move into payment processing, which was a slow and ridiculously labor-intensive process at the time. And now, in the 21st century, ACOM’s core solution suites, EZeDocs, EZ Content Manager and EZPayManager, enable companies to eliminate preprinted checks and business forms by using stored electronic form templates that merge with data to create complete electronic documents that can users can distribute, capture, store, and manage.

ACOM has also introduced solutions for EDI-XML that facilitate trading partner relationships, and enterprise content management, for consolidating otherwise dispersed files into a single corporate document repository from which they can be used and managed electronically and electronically generate documents and labels.

Establishing the Healthcare Business Division three years ago, ACOM created a chiropractic office software suite for electronic medical records and business management, and more recently began offering chiropractic consulting services. Earlier this year, the division also launched a comprehensive medical billing service.

ACOM currently boasts over 4000 customers in both IBM midrange and Windows environments, and according to Mark Firmin, Senior VP of Marketing, ACOM is expecting those midrange numbers to increase dramatically in the next few years. “We are very committed to our Power systems users, and in fact, we recently increased our development resources for the System i product line.”

And not by a little—ACOM has nearly doubled its System i resources in the last 14 months, a move that is mostly motivated by their loyal customer and install base. “There are definitely still opportunities to provide new solutions” to customers, says Firmin.

Of EZeDocs, Firmin assures me that ACOM continues to “see very high renewels from our customers. They are still committed to System i, and so are we.”

Here’s to another 25 years.

--Erin Bradford, systems management & availability editor

Posted by ebradford at August 15, 2008 12:52 PM