Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) and SAP (NYSE:SAP) may dominate the massive market for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which allows companies to manage payroll, HR, and more. But there's a scrappy No. 3 contender nipping at their heels: Lawson (NASDAQ:LWSN). Despite its big-name competition, Lawson continues to thrive, and its stock price has been on the move this year.

According to last week's fiscal Q4 results, Lawson reported a 68% surge in revenue, to $212.9 million. It logged 751 new customer contracts in the fourth quarter, up from 354 deals in the third. A big chunk of that revenue growth came from last year's $425 million acquisition of Intentia.

Net income was $8.1 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to a loss of $4.8 million, or $0.03 per share, in the same period a year ago. Cash flow from operations was a hefty $114.7 million. It helped that Lawson realized cost savings from the consolidation of the Intentia merger, as well as offshoring operations to places like the Philippines.

On the conference call, Lawson's management pointed out several major cases where it won deals against Oracle and SAP. The company's customers now include Cargil, RipCurl, Yorkshire Blanket, and Smithfield Beas.

Lawson's increase in clients may owe to its beefed-up sales force. It's expanded its ranks from 154 account executives to 202 so far this year. The company is also enjoying fruitful key partnerships with firms such as IBM (NYSE:IBM).

In addition, the company should have further opportunities to cross-sell its Lawson System Foundation product. It netted $13 million in sales in the fourth quarter, and according to the company, it's only in place at roughly 55% of Lawson's customer base.

The Intentia deal wasn't easy to pull off, but the results have been well worth it. Lawson now has a broader product offering and a more global footprint, making it easier for the company to compete against Oracle and SAP. After years of plodding, Lawson finally seems to be moving into the fast lane. If its shrewd dealmaking and increasing sales are any indication, growth may become the new norm for the company.

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Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 1,951 out of more than 60,000 total participants in Motley Fool CAPS.