Two years ago, he said, the number would have been half of this year's level. In terms of sales, Phillips said that the Americas and APAC regions posted double-digit gains in license revenue, although EMEA slumped.

The company had net income of $1.3 million for the most recently ended period, compared to a loss of $72.8 million a year earlier. Revenue for the February quarter was $672.7 million, up 1.4 percent from $663.4 million a year earlier. The company continues to spend money for R&D and trend will continue. "We are trying to accelerate the movement to cloud," said Phillips. The spending also is aimed at modernizing the product line. "We want to get that over with," he said. Phillips expected the elevated level of spending will last "about a couple of quarters." Infor spent $100.6 million for R&D during the third quarter, an increase of 13 percent from $89.21 million in last year's corresponding period