Step Ahead Schweiz AG — Chamerstrasse 18, 6300 Zug, Switzerland

For God's sake, do yourself a favor and steer clear of this company. Their customer service is a disaster.

Dr. Wu

A few years ago, Step Ahead Group GmbH presented itself as a "strong ERP alliance" comprised of Godesys, Informing, and Step Ahead – initially sounding like a powerful force for mid-sized companies. In reality, it's just another chapter in the vast private equity milking machine. No sooner was the group founded than the usual game began: consolidation, cost-cutting, price increases, and attempts to push customers into more expensive models. Exactly the same pattern we're seeing with the SelectLine Group under Elvaston Capital – massive price jumps for NEO licenses, artificial hurdles for existing customers, and the gradual phasing out of the old, affordable versions. Step Ahead Group is representative of everything that's currently going wrong in the mid-market ERP sector: formerly solid, independent software companies are being turned into building blocks in a rolling acquisition machine. The result? Less innovation, more greed, worse support, and prices that have absolutely nothing to do with performance. Anyone still considering investing in or migrating to Step Ahead or one of its "group members" should be warned: you won't become a customer, but a cash cow in a structure designed solely for short-term returns for investors. Thanks to groups like Step Ahead and the overarching SelectLine Holding / Elvaston Capital, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are being systematically fleeced. It used to be "software for SMEs." Now it's "SMEs for the software companies and their financial investors."

Noah Aebischer

My experience with the application process at Step Ahead AG was unfortunately very disappointing. Communication seemed disorganized and unprofessional. Deadlines and feedback were sometimes unclear or delayed, and overall, I had the impression that the process was neither structured nor respectful of the applicants' time. What was particularly irritating was how poorly prepared and coordinated individual steps in the process appeared. For a company that should convey professionalism and competence, this unfortunately leaves a very poor impression. My personal conclusion: The application process seemed amateurish and showed little respect for candidates. Anyone applying here should be prepared for a potentially chaotic and opaque process.

Conor Klamand