The business model of ACT is based on the fact that developers need an increasing amount of help and advice to effectively use and fine-tune the tools at their disposal. The amount of information and the complexity of today's technological reality is daunting. In such a context, support is an essential parameter in the quality and time-to-market equation that will rule the software arena for the time to come. Therefore, ACT has made support the heart of its business, helping customers make effective use of the GNAT technology, and trying to reduce the time-to-market of products developed using it. In addition to offering Internet-based and on-site support, ACT also provides consulting, training and customization in all areas of Ada software development.
The major part of ACT's income comes from renewable support contracts, and therefore they are committed to making sure that their customers receive the best possible support. Until now, these contracts have amounted to a steady income stream and to a sustainable business model. ACT is a low overhead company, with 90% of the personnel being highly trained technical people. The marketing and business team is small. This means that they can continue to provide support without needing a large revenue stream.
Despite having support as the core of the business model, they have also been able to invest resources in continued development, being the only vendors supporting several features of the language, and a larger set of targets than their competitors. They do all this with an open technology where users have full access to the source code, not only of the runtime, but of the compiler and tools as well.