Häufig gestellte Fragen
What is Infor?
Infor is an internationally active software vendor headquartered in New York whose portfolio bundles several ERP systems — some developed independently, others acquired over the years — under a shared cloud and integration platform. Unlike a single monolithic standard product, the vendor focuses on industry-specific solutions that bring preconfigured processes to key industries such as manufacturing, food, fashion, distribution and healthcare. According to the vendor, Infor counts several tens of thousands of customers in over 100 countries worldwide, making it one of the larger ERP vendors alongside SAP, Oracle and Microsoft. The term therefore stands less for one specific program than for a whole ecosystem of different product lines.
What is the difference between Infor M3 and Infor LN?
Infor LN traces back to the originally Dutch system Baan and is designed for complex discrete manufacturing, for example in mechanical and plant engineering, aerospace, and the automotive supply industry with a pronounced make-to-order and engineer-to-order logic. Infor M3 originates from the Movex system of the Swedish vendor Intentia and came to Infor via the Lawson acquisition; it primarily addresses the process industry as well as distribution- and fashion-oriented sectors such as food, chemicals and fashion. M3 is characterised by recipe- and batch-based functions, shelf-life and allergen management, and international multi-site operation. Which line fits therefore depends primarily on the type of manufacturing and the industry, not on company size alone.
What is Infor OS?
Infor OS (Operating Service) is the unified platform layer that connects the various CloudSuites and third-party systems into a common digital foundation. Among other things, it provides the ION integration component as an iPaaS-style layer, a workflow and automation engine, analytics, document management and AI services. Functionally, Infor OS is most comparable to the Microsoft Power Platform for Dynamics 365, as it makes cross-application services centrally available. The cloud platform is operated as multi-tenant SaaS on Amazon Web Services, on whose infrastructure Infor has built its CloudSuites from the ground up.
Is Infor still offered on-premise?
Existing on-premise installations continue to receive maintenance and support, but Infor clearly sells new CloudSuite projects cloud-first as multi-tenant SaaS on AWS. The vendor has consistently sharpened this cloud focus since the late 2010s, so the roadmap and new features primarily target the cloud variants, and some new capabilities are available only there. For companies with legacy systems, in practice this usually means a medium-term migration perspective towards the cloud. Anyone pursuing a purely on-premises strategy should carefully examine in advance the long-term maintenance of the specific product line under consideration.
Who acquired Infor?
Koch Industries fully acquired Infor in April 2020 when the conglomerate bought the remaining stake from the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital; the official terms were not published, but media reports valued the deal at around 11 billion US dollars in equity value, or close to 13 billion US dollars including preferred shares. Through its subsidiary Koch Equity Development, Koch had invested in Infor several times since 2017 and already held a substantial stake before the full takeover. With the acquisition, Infor became a subsidiary of Koch Industries. The transaction is regarded as a key driver for accelerating the cloud strategy and investment in the CloudSuite products.
Which industries and companies is Infor suitable for?
Infor primarily targets midsize and larger companies with distinctly industry-specific processes, as the CloudSuites come with preconfigured functions for industries such as manufacturing, food, chemicals, fashion, distribution, wholesale and healthcare. The approach is intended to reduce the share of custom adaptation by embedding typical workflows as standard. Companies whose processes deviate significantly from the embedded industry standard, on the other hand, may face higher configuration or extension effort. A clean definition of requirements via a requirements specification (Lastenheft) and a functional specification (Pflichtenheft) helps narrow down the right variant before comparing the product lines.
Is Infor ERP a single product?
No — "Infor ERP" is not a product name but a collective term for a group of several independent ERP lines such as the CloudSuite range, LN and M3, plus complementary modules for areas such as HR, warehousing and analytics. A statement like "We use Infor" is therefore imprecise as long as it is unclear which product line and which industry variant are meant. Functional scope, deployment model and development roadmap can differ significantly between the lines. For comparing quotes and evaluating references, precisely naming the specific system is therefore essential.