Edgewater executives used the conference call to explain the purchase, which took the company from its historical role as a custom development shop to one selling products. “The big reason is reduction of risk,” said EVP Dave Clancey, the company’s chief technology officer.” Because of the economy, customers seek to reduce the risk of purchasing custom systems, which also have a higher labor cost for Edgewater.  The company will use Dynamics AX as a  base for enterprise performance management, functions not built into AX itself. Edgewater will market its SAP and Oracle offerings a products that “will snap on top of AX,” Clancey said. Analysts on the call seemed more critical of explanations from management than I’m used to hearing in most calls, including why with a utilization rate that rose to 75.3% for the most recently ended quarter, compared to 67.8 percent a year earlier, the bottom line wasn’t strong. Clancey said improved business, including stronger than expected AX performance, forced Edgewater to  hire consultants, who are more expensive than employees.