Ongoing support for AVA customers lies at the very heart of our mission as a company. The reason that the AVA motto is ‘Partners for all time’ is that we believe that we would not be able to add lasting value to our customers’ businesses if we were simply ‘a software company’. Software companies derive revenue primarily from making and selling products in much the same way, for example, as a manufacturer of cars. On this business model, any training or support provided is typically seen as a ‘cost of sale’ and, as such, although sometimes unavoidable, will always be minimised.

As a technology service provider, AVA’s business model is very different. Yes, we have a range of outstanding software products, developed over more than 30 years of partnership with our customers, but when we deliver software to new AVA customers for the first time, that‘s only a small part of what our customers have purchased. More than 70% of AVA’s cost base is the extremely experienced team which delivers training and support to customers all over the world. The software is constantly changing and evolving, partly in response to customer requests and partly in order to take advantage of developments in the surrounding technology (macOS®, faster processors, better quality monitors and digital printers, evolution of the internet etc ) and this means that even the most experienced AVA operators can always benefit from occasional help, support, or top up training in order to get the very best out of their software. Perhaps that is why the vast majority of AVA customers remain with us for many years.