Atex says it doubled its digital sales in 2009, outselling its competition five to one. The Atex Web CMS is credited with 40 per cent of the company’s new orders last year. Group chief executive John Hawkins says the company will invest more than $18 million this year in new product developments aimed at reducing overall cost of technology ownership and helping customers generate new digital revenues. The first part of this strategy involves expanding Atex’s ability to offer products as cloud-based applications, where customers can operate a system under a Software as a Service (SaaS) model or deliver and support applications through managed services. Atex is also to develop improved functionality for online ad serving, online classified advertising and ad network optimisation. The online advertising offering received a boost this year with the acquisition of online classified marketplace Kaango.