While parts of Europe’s manufacturing sector remain cautious about discretionary IT spending, Forterro’s 2025 performance tells a different story. The industrial software group reported €375 million in total revenue, alongside double-digit growth across sales, recurring revenue, and bookings – driven primarily by accelerating cloud adoption and sustained AI-led platform investment.
The results suggest that, rather than freezing transformation initiatives, many industrial mid-market companies are re-prioritizing where they invest, favoring platforms that promise long-term operational resilience, scalability, and measurable return.
Cloud Momentum Signals a Structural Shift
One of the clearest indicators from Forterro’s 2025 results is the 30% year-over-year growth in cloud bookings, fueled by both new customer acquisition and existing customers migrating from on-premises deployments to SaaS.
This shift is reflected in Forterro’s revenue mix. Recurring revenue now accounts for 74% of total revenue, up sharply from 50% in 2021 – highlighting a decisive move away from license-heavy models toward subscription-based, long-term customer relationships.
In a market often described as “cloud-curious but cautious,” Forterro’s numbers point to a maturing adoption curve, particularly among industrial organizations that see cloud ERP and industrial platforms as foundational rather than experimental.
Expansion Within the Installed Base
Equally telling is Forterro’s net revenue retention (NRR) of 114%, indicating that customers are not only staying but expanding their usage over time. Combined with a 95% gross customer retention rate, the data suggests strong alignment between Forterro’s product direction and customer expectations.
In ERP and industrial software markets, NRR at this level typically reflects:
- Successful upsell of cloud modules and services
- Growing reliance on the platform as operational scope expands
- Confidence in the vendor’s long-term roadmap
Forterro expects this expansion trend to strengthen further with the planned release of its fully AI-enabled platform, positioning AI not as an add-on but as a core layer across ERP, analytics, and services.
AI Investment Moves Beyond ERP Heritage
A central theme in Forterro’s 2025 strategy is the evolution beyond traditional ERP. The company is preparing to launch what it describes as a fully AI-enabled platform, combining:
- In-house AI development
- Capabilities gained through targeted acquisitions
- An ecosystem of in-platform services
This approach reflects a broader industry trend: industrial software vendors repositioning ERP as a platform for intelligence and execution, rather than a system of record alone.
Acquisitions Reinforce Vertical Depth and Analytics
M&A also played a significant role in Forterro’s 2025 momentum. The integration of Orgadata, BM Group, TARGIT, and Inology added more than €100 million in revenue while strengthening Forterro’s vertical expertise, analytics capabilities, and cloud-readiness.
Rather than broad consolidation, Forterro’s acquisition strategy appears focused on purpose-built expansion—deepening functionality in industrial domains where localized requirements, analytics, and decision support are increasingly critical.
A Signal for the Industrial Mid-Market
Forterro’s performance comes at a time when many European manufacturers face economic uncertainty, cost pressures, and geopolitical volatility. Yet the company’s growth suggests that digital transformation in the industrial mid-market is not slowing—it is becoming more selective and outcome-driven.
The key signal from 2025 is not just revenue growth, but where that growth is coming from: cloud migration, recurring revenue, AI investment, and expansion within an existing customer base.
As Forterro moves toward what it calls Forterro 4.0, its results underline a broader shift in the industrial software landscape – where resilience, intelligence, and long-term platform value increasingly outweigh short-term spending hesitation.
