Simon Paris to become new Unit4 CEO

23 January 2025 Consultancy.uk
Mike Ettling & Simon Paris

Unit4 has confirmed the transition of its CEO role, from Mike Ettling to Simon Paris. He will now help the ERP and cloud services player towards its new goal of becoming a €1 billion-revenue firm.

Unit4 was founded in 1980, and has since expanded across the globe, including hubs in the UK, US, and across Europe. A noted ERP supplier to the professional services industry, Unit4 is also a leading provider of IT services to clients across the public services, not-for-profit, real estate, wholesale, financial services and education sectors.

For six years, the firm has been headed up by CEO Mike Ettling, guiding the company through significant growth. During that time, Unit4 has undergone a transformation into a cloud-first business, achieving significant milestones in both product innovation and revenue growth. Recurring revenue now accounts for 80% percent of total revenue.

As Unit4 looks to build on that legacy, however, Ettling is set to stand aside, and be succeeded by Simon Paris as the firm’s new CEO. A seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, including leadership positions with Infor and SAP, Paris most recently served as CEO at Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications, where he led its transformation and growth strategy to become one of the largest FinTech companies in the world.

Commenting on the news, Ettling commented, “I am immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together during my tenure and grateful to the incredible team members across the organization who have embraced our values and driven success for our customers. The future is full of opportunity, and I am excited for the business as it enters this exciting new chapter.”

Looking ahead, Ettling added that his successor brings “a unique ability to inspire teams, and the vision to guide Unit4 through its next phase of growth”. With the company having been established as a “global leader in SaaS ERP for service industries”, he believes that Paris “has all the qualities needed” to build on this foundation and lead Unit4 towards its goal of “€1 billion in revenue”.

Paris himself noted, “I am honoured to step into the role of CEO at Unit4, a company with a remarkable legacy and an exciting future. Unit4 has established itself as a leader in people-centric ERP, and I am inspired by the innovation, passion, and dedication of its people. As we embark on this next chapter, I am committed to building on Unit4’s strengths, driving sustainable growth, and creating even greater value for our customers, partners and stakeholders. I look forward to working closely with the talented team and hope to meet as many as possible in my first few months.”

Consulting is an industry that is built on people and project-driven work, while facing specific challenges. As firms rely more heavily on understanding the profitability of individual projects, rather than the overall department or company performance, demand for ERP and PSA solutions in the consulting sector has boomed into a multi-billion dollar industry. Exemplifying this aspect of its own meteoric growth, Unit4 also recently confirmed a new partnership with consulting firm RSM, supplying the advisory firm’s clients access to Unit4’s suite of cloud services in the process.

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