Big data business hails successful recovery and beginning of growth phase
Sheffield-headquartered big data firm, Cirata, says it is anticipating the first significant growth year for the company in five years.
In a Q4 FY24 trading update issued today, the business reports its strongest bookings quarter since Q2 FY22. Its bookings in Q4 FY24 were worth $3m/£2.4m (Q4 FY23: $2.7m/£2.2m; Q3 FY24: $1.7m/£1.4m).
For FY24 overall, the company delivered total bookings of $7.1m/£5.8m (FY23 $7.2m/£5.8m).
Stephen Kelly, chief executive officer, said: “This Management Team came together to drive value creation for shareholders.
“Phase one in FY23 was a company rescue phase. Phase two in FY24 was the recovery phase and with the recent cost reductions, this phase is completed.
“With FY25, the company is moving into its growth phase. Q4 FY24 brings to a close a year in which we have done much to rearchitect, re-stabilise and reposition Cirata for more predictable, sustainable growth.
“The business is improved on almost every metric. We are driving growth in our key Data Integration product on a significantly reduced cost base.”
Cirata, which was previously known as WANdisco, had to be rebuilt following the discovery in 2023 of millions of pounds worth of false purchase orders made by one of its senior sales employees.
The firm says its management is working to address issues related to bookings slippage which impacted closure expectations throughout FY24.
It previously highlighted this in its mid quarter update announced on 16 December 2024 when management withdrew its FY24 guidance.
Cirata explains these visibility and predictability issues are being addressed by further focus on extensive sales training – “from sales discovery, the qualification process and through to contract completion.”
Its update states: “Sales and Marketing productivity improvements are a continuing priority for management in FY25.
“Establishing greater sales cycle predictability remains a key priority for management to enable Cirata to enhance growth potential, shortening its sales cycle and customer acquisition cost.”
