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Microsoft appoint John W. Thompson to the Board

Microsoft Corp. have announced that John W. Thompson, chief executive officer of privately held Virtual Instruments and former chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp., was appointed to the company’s board of directors, returning the board’s size to 10 members.

Thompson currently serves as CEO of Virtual Instruments, a privately held company located in San Jose, Calif., whose products are designed to ensure the performance and availability of applications deployed in virtualized and private cloud computing environments. Since 2009, Thompson has been an active investor in early-stage technology companies in Silicon Valley.

Bill Gates

“John has extraordinary technology and business expertise, and we are delighted that he is joining Microsoft’s board of directors,” said Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman.

Thompson served as chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp., helping transform Symantec into a leader in security, storage and systems management solutions. During his 10-year tenure as CEO from 1999 to 2009, Symantec’s revenues grew from $632 million to $6.2 billion, and its worldwide workforce grew to more than 17,500 employees. Thompson stepped down as CEO of Symantec in 2009, and stepped down from Symantec’s board of directors in 2011.

Previously, Thompson held a number of leadership positions at IBM, including sales, marketing, software development and general manager of IBM Americas. He was a member of IBM’s Worldwide Management Council.

“John brings a wealth of experience, from enterprise customers to individual consumers, as well as the insights that come from running a successful large global software company and a fast-emerging startup. He will be a great addition to our board,” said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft chief executive officer.

Thompson currently serves on the board of United Parcel Service, and he has served on a number of government boards and commissions, including the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee, and the Silicon Valley Blue Ribbon Task Force on Aviation Security and Technology. He formerly served on the national board of Teach for America, an organization dedicated to eliminating educational inequities for all children.

“I am honored to join the Microsoft board and work with this exceptional team,” Thompson said. “Microsoft has been a leader across the entire information technology landscape for decades, and I look forward to sharing my experiences and contributing to the future direction and growth of this global leader.”

He received a bachelor of business administration from Florida A&M, and a master’s degree in management from the Sloan Fellows program of the MIT Sloan School of Management.

In addition to Thompson, Microsoft’s board of directors consists of Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman; Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO; Dina Dublon, former chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase; Raymond V. Gilmartin, former chairman, president and CEO of Merck & Co. Inc.; Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO of Netflix Inc.; Dr. Maria M. Klawe, president, Harvey Mudd College; David F. Marquardt, general partner at August Capital; Charles H. Noski, vice chairman of Bank of America Corp.; and Dr. Helmut G. W. Panke, former chairman of the board of management at BMW AG.

Source: Microsoft Corp.

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Silverback acquires PowerSteering & Tenrox

Silverback Enterprise Group, (Austin, TX, USA), which acquires and builds industry-leading enterprise software companies, has announced the acquisitions of PowerSteering Software, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, USA), a leading provider of cloud-based enterprise project and portfolio management (PPM) software, and Tenrox, Inc. (Glendale, CA., USA), a leading provider of cloud-based, workflow-driven project workforce management software. With over 500 active enterprise customers and 150,000 active users in more than 50 countries worldwide, the combination of these two companies creates the largest pure-play cloud PPM provider in the $1.3 billion PPM software industry. The new, combined company will be called PowerSteering Software.

Jack McDonald, Founder of Silverback Enterprise Group

“The combination of PowerSteering and Tenrox creates the industry’s undisputed leader in cloud-based project and portfolio management software,” said Jack McDonald, Founder of Silverback Enterprise Group and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the new PowerSteering Software. “Our global scale and resources, award winning products, world class development and support teams and commitment to long term customer success make this a great combination for all Tenrox and PowerSteering customers.”

The new PowerSteering will offer customers a complete and complementary suite of award-winning PPM software capabilities for IT, Professional Services, Enterprise PMOs, Performance Improvement and Workforce Collaboration and Management. PowerSteering will continue to invest in the development and support of both Tenrox and PowerSteering product lines, and all existing Service Level Agreements and support arrangements will remain unchanged.

PPM software, which helps organizations improve business performance and accelerate results, is a $1.3 billion global market and the cloud-based segment of PPM is forecast to grow at a 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next five years*. By using PPM software, managers are able to gain enhanced visibility into a corporation’s global portfolio of all corporate initiatives and projects, align the portfolio with the organization’s strategic objectives, maximize benefits across the portfolio, balance supply (human resources, time or money) with demand (investments, programs, projects and unplanned work), increase the productivity of the project workforce and proactively address project emergencies and changes to the existing and planned project pipeline triggered by shifts in business direction.

Prior to starting Silverback and becoming CEO of the new PowerSteering, McDonald was Chairman and CEO of Perficient, a software services company that he led from its start-up through its initial public offering to its position as an award-winning information technology consulting leader with $230 million in annual revenues and 1,200 employees in North America, Europe, India and China. Perficient completed 18 successful technology acquisitions under McDonald’s leadership. Steve Sharp, current CEO of PowerSteering Software, and Rudolf Melik, Founder and CEO of Tenrox, will both continue with the new company as key members of the management and advisory teams.

Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. PowerSteering Software and Tenrox are the second and third acquisitions for Silverback Enterprise Group, which completed its first acquisition – network management software company, Visionael – in September 2011.

About Silverback Enterprise Group

Silverback Enterprise Group acquires, optimizes and builds industry-leading software companies that provide mission-critical software products to enterprise customers. Silverback works with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to ensure the singular focus at every Silverback company is long-term customer success. Founded in 2010, and backed by Austin Ventures, a $3.9 billion venture capital and growth equity firm, Silverback’s leadership team has a proven track record, having completed 21 successful enterprise technology acquisitions in the past 10 years. Silverback is fully funded and actively pursuing acquisition opportunities. Visit www.silverbackEG.com for more information.

About PowerSteering Software

PowerSteering Software is the leader in business-driven project & portfolio management (PPM) solutions for managing Performance Improvement, IT Governance, New Product Development, and other Business PMO initiatives. PowerSteering’s easy-to-use software provides executives at BayCare, Johnson Controls, Merck, PolyOne, Shaw Industries, UK National Health Service, US Department of Defense, and over 140 other customers with executive visibility, strategy alignment, and team productivity to drive strategy and accelerate results across the organization. Visit www.powersteeringsoftware.com for more information.

About Tenrox

Tenrox is the only true workflow-driven project and service delivery solution for today’s globally dispersed project workforce. Tenrox Cloud PSA and Cloud PPM solutions are best of breed browser independent offerings built on the Microsoft platform. Tenrox’s intuitive user interface, easy to configure options, and quick connect technology simplify deployment, accelerate user adoption and make project workforce management fun.

Source: Silverback

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CIA Software Licensing

In none-too-friendly terms the CIA told software vendors that they will radically change the way they do business with them.

Speaking at a conference on emerging technologies in Washington D.C., the CIA’s technology decision-maker Gus Hunt said the CIA would break away from long term licensing agreements and only pay for what is useful to them.

Gus Hunt, CIA

“Don’t kid yourself that we can’t do this thing because we can,” he said. “We’re not out there trying to screw you,” Hunt told representatives of the many vendors present. But, “you really need to think differently about how we do these things,” he said.

The agency is looking for flexibility and the freedom to access the latest software as it becomes available, while at the same time getting a better deal on cost.

Currently, the CIA signs up to all of a vendor’s product via enterprise licensing agreements with companies such as SAP, HP and Oracle. Once committed to them, the CIA cannot take advantage of innovations, at a time when technology develops as rapidly as the agency’s demanding role in world affairs.

Earlier in the day the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, Reginald Brothers, told the conference that existing software tools for data analysis, management and interaction were unable to digest the vast amounts of information that drones and other high-tech U.S. military sensors were collecting. The current model is not fast enough or powerful enough to satisfy users working under mission timelines.

It’s unknown what the CIA’s software expenditure is, but the announcement is likely to have vendors jostling to unsettle the CIA’s traditional suppliers, even if the agency is only offering a noncommittal pick-and-choose arrangement.

Hunt gave assurances that the CIA were seeking strong partnerships and would be willing to give suppliers “a peek under the covers” to check on whether it was fairly accounting for proprietary software used under any pay-as-you-go deal.

Source: Reuters

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nivio secures $21m

nivio (Paulo Alto, CA., USA), has announced it has secured $21 million in funding, hot on the heels of its US launch at MacWorld|iWorld. The investment will support nivio’s mission to bring the magic back to computing, by expanding engineering efforts in nivio’s Palo Alto office and further roll-out of the cloud platform across nivio’s operating regions in Europe, Middle East, India and Australia.

The round was completed by Videocon (& Group Companies), a $5 billion conglomerate headquartered in India, and AEC Partners, a boutique private equity firm in Kansas City with specialized holdings in telecommunications and technology.

Sachin Duggal, Chief Wizard, nivio

“We are extremely happy to bring two new passionate investors into our team,” said Sachin Dev Duggal, founder and chief wizard at nivio. “We’re also very proud that nivio has successfully delivered 7x returns to some of our angels in this round. The support we’ve received from our angels over the last seven years has been unparalleled and without their support we would not have got this far.”

The funding announcement comes at a time when the market for cloud desktop computing is rapidly expanding. With the surge in tablet adoption, millions of people need the freedom to use Microsoft Windows, desktop apps and synchronized storage, working seamlessly across any screen. At nivio, users can access a full Microsoft OS in the cloud, when and where they need it, on any flavor of tablet, laptop, or PC, with files synched seamlessly.

“I have been involved with nivio for three years and have seen it grow from a visionary idea to a breakthrough product that is now poised to make a major impact. In that time, the Company has assembled a world class management team that is leading the company’s launch in the US, the world’s most demanding computer market.” said Adrian Cox, a nivio Board Member and previous Executive Vice President and CEO of Ask.com Europe.

nivio’s sets the standard for cloud desktop performance with a downloadable, rich client experience to any device. nivio’s clients for iOS, Android, Windows and Mac will be available later this month along with the Ubiquity client, which delivers the entire desktop over any HTML5 browser. The Ubiquity client delivers the Windows OS and productivity software (such as Microsoft Office) from nivio’s Cloud to any device, eliminating the need for users to download anything.  nivio’s App-Store lets users rent regular desktop software on any screen and the nDrive takes advantage of 10GB of free storage into which they drop their files and have them sync’ed across their devices.

Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman Videocon

“We are very excited about this space; especially as there is a sea-change happening in this industry and across the board between consumer electronics and Computing; and nivio saw this vision well before the Cloud was even called the Cloud. We are excited about the future opportunities for globalisation it presents to Videocon and the strategic benefit to our existing products and services!” said Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman Videocon.

Beyond nivio’s product vision, the Company’s painted picture is  heavily focused on culture with a view to create a company that’s both innovative and a sexy place to work for within the coming years.

“With strong and vibrant culture the job of the CEO or Chief Wizard is fairly straight-forward; paint the universe, bring in a team of all stars and then just keep them shining bright.” said Sachin when asked about why culture and magic go hand in hand.

Source: nivio

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API Healthcare acquires Concerro

API Healthcare, (Hartford, WI, USA), a leading healthcare-focused workforce management technology provider, has announced it has acquired Concerro, (San Diego, CA., USA) a provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) staffing and scheduling systems for healthcare. The acquisition enables API Healthcare to significantly increase its ability to deliver workforce management solutions across the entire healthcare community, including critical access hospitals, home health, retail clinics and long-term care facilities.

The combination of API Healthcare’s robust, integrated workforce management solutions with the accessibility of Concerro’s SaaS solutions will provide more options for healthcare organizations across the entire continuum of care. This will enable the healthcare industry, from large health systems to small retail clinics, to achieve positive outcomes by managing labor costs while remaining focused on improving patient care.

J.P. Fingado, President and Chief Executive Officer, API Healthcare

“Concerro’s products and client base are the perfect complement to API Healthcare’s existing solutions and markets,” said J.P. Fingado, president and chief executive officer, API Healthcare. “Working together we will reinforce our mutual commitment to innovation and dedication to the healthcare industry. This strategic move allows us to leverage a larger number of talented, diverse and clinically-based staff to deliver the high quality of service that separates API Healthcare from our competitors.”

Concerro is a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that helps health systems effectively manage their workforce and mission critical communications with online scheduling, open shift management, patient acuity and emergency preparedness solutions. The company combines strategic guidance and services with their full suite of clinical solutions including RES-Q, ShiftSelect and CommandAware. Concerro has won numerous awards and recognition, including being named to the prestigious Inc. 5000 for four consecutive years, and receiving Red Herring’s 100 most promising private technology ventures in North America and Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) awards.

Patrick Pomroy, VP Corporate Development, API Healthcare

“We are committed to improving quality and performance for our more than 1,300 health system client installations through broad workforce technology,” said Patrick Pomroy, vice president of corporate development, API Healthcare. “The team at Concerro has done a great job of creating solutions that help fulfill these same goals for their client base. With the synergies created by this acquisition, all types of healthcare organizations will have access to innovative technology designed specifically to meet their unique workforce management needs.”

About API Healthcare

API Healthcare (www.apihealthcare.com) is the largest healthcare-specific vendor focused on workforce management solutions for the healthcare industry. Driven by the mission to elevate quality and performance across the healthcare community through innovative workforce solutions, API Healthcare has been dedicated to the healthcare industry for 30 years. The company’s staffing and scheduling, patient classification, human resources, payroll, time and attendance, business analytics, and staffing agency solutions are used by more than 1,600 hospitals and staffing agencies. Founded in 1982, API Healthcare has been rated by KLAS in the Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards Report (www.KLASresearch.com) as the top time and attendance provider system for the last ten years (2002-2011).

Source: API Healthcare

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SAP Launches Afaria

Laying the foundation for customers to successfully manage the influx of mobile devices, networks and applications in the enterprise, SAP AG (Walldorf, Germany) have unveiled a major new release of the industry-leading Afaria® mobile device management solution. With the 7.0 release of Afaria, SAP aims to allow enterprise IT to more effectively manage mobile applications and devices through a new user interface (UI) for simplified administration, improved workflow and enterprise integration capabilities. The announcement was made at Mobile World Congress 2012, being held February 27 – March 1 in Barcelona, Spain.

With enterprises mobilizing more key business functions and allowing employees to work at anytime and from anywhere via mobile devices, managing and securing these mobile environments has never been more critical. With the new release of Afaria, SAP intends to demonstrate notable innovation aimed at providing a consumer-like mobile experience in the enterprise while simplifying management and reducing IT costs.

“Afaria is a long-standing, mature solution that has evolved over the last decade into a comprehensive mobility management platform,” said Stacy Crook, senior analyst, Mobile Enterprise Research, IDC. “With the latest release, SAP has completely revamped and streamlined Afaria’s administrative console, speeding up and simplifying mobility management for end users, IT managers and managed mobility providers. These enhancements have the opportunity to significantly benefit customers as the number of mobile devices surpasses PCs in the enterprise and IT requires more simplified, cost-effective mobility management.”

Making Personally-Owned Devices Enterprise-Ready
As the number of personally-owned mobile devices in the enterprise continues to grow, SAP plans to provide IT managers with a simple, automated way to quickly configure and secure those devices with Afaria. These capabilities will include:

• End-user self-service portals to help significantly reduce IT workloads by allowing users to enroll and manage their devices.
• Application management to keep workforces productive through seamless app delivery, updates, security and integration with SAP® Store.
• Device security to protect sensitive corporate data while leaving personal data untouched.
• Telecom cost control to help reduce overall mobile total cost of ownership (TCO) through early alerts.

Simplifying, Streamlining Administration from a Single Console
The variety of mobile device types, networks and applications has increased scrutiny on IT. Through the new release of Afaira, SAP intends to address this problem by focusing on usability in a single mobility management console, including:

• New UI, requiring fewer clicks to perform functions, making it simple for users and administrators. Optimized for touchpad interaction, the new UI can be accessed via iPad and other tablets.
• New Web services application programming interface (API) layer, providing full access by customers and partners to help integrate with enterprise systems for automation between mobile device management (MDM) and the corporate systems.
• Integration with the SAP® BusinessObjects™ portfolio, bringing new business intelligence (BI) reporting with powerful, drill-down analysis capabilities.
• Simple, quick workflows, streamlining common tasks, maximizing IT productivity and help desk efficiency through an intuitive and consolidated UI.
• Administration on-the-go through access to the administration console from Web browsers Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and Firefox.
• Telecommunication expense management (TEM), enabling administrators to better manage mobile costs such as voice and data roaming.

Sanjay Poonen, president, Global Solutions, SAP.

“The consumerization of IT is driving our innovation path and commitment to providing customers with the industry’s most comprehensive, robust and streamlined mobility management platform, including mobile device management,” said Sanjay Poonen, president, Global Solutions, SAP. “The new, delightful UI significantly enhances the end-user experience while helping reduce management costs for enterprise IT. From powering a ‘consumer-like’ mobile enterprise app store to providing ‘at-a-glance’ analytics for rapid business decisions, the new release of Afaria future-proofs customer investment by laying the groundwork for long-term innovation.”

About Afaria
For well over a decade, Sybase® Afaria® has transformed enterprises and managed mobility partners around the world by empowering the mobile workforce. It enables enterprise IT to fully manage and secure a wide range of mobile applications and personal and corporate devices, including Android, iOS, Windows Mobile and more, in both hosted and behind the firewall environments. Additionally, Afaria provides telecommunication expense management (TEM), business intelligence reporting with powerful drill-down analysis capabilities, on-device portal technology and seamless, secure over-the-air (OTA) delivery of in-house and publicly available apps.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 183,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Sybase) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.

Source: SAP

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Workforce Software

WorkForce Software, (Livonia, Michigan, USA), a leading provider of workforce management solutions for organizations with complex labor policies and stringent compliance demands, has shared details of its 2011 results. During a time of economic uncertainty, WorkForce Software achieved record-setting revenue growth, significant new client wins among large enterprises, and a continued high rate of client renewals. The company also secured $17 million in new funding, increased hiring and product investments, and expanded into new markets in what was a banner year across all aspects of the business.

Record-Setting Growth

Led by strong demand for its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based deployment model, WorkForce Software recorded 75% bookings growth and 33% revenue growth in 2011.  Bookings growth was led by SaaS bookings, which jumped a dramatic 118% over the previous year, as client demand confirmed SaaS is the preferred delivery method for enterprise workforce management solutions.

Innovative Products, New Markets

Several buying trends reshaped the way organizations prioritized and purchased workforce management solutions in 2011. Where time and attendance was once at the center of every solution purchase, employers are now looking at the business impact of leave and absence management as a primary driver for automation.

Reflective of this shift, WorkForce Software’s leading absence management solution–EmpCenter® Absence Compliance Tracker (ACT)–was selected as a standalone solution for large clients in the retail and healthcare industries. ACT’s ability to manage all federal, state, municipal, corporate and union leave policies, and the ability to provide ongoing compliance assurance through a unique regulatory update service, delivers a holistic approach that commodity-grade absence or Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) tracking modules cannot support.

Similarly, 2011 marked a dramatic uptick in employee fatigue regulations and concerns.   Petrochemical and pipeline companies turned to WorkForce Software’s pre-configured EmpCenter Fatigue Management Compliance Paks to streamline compliance with new regulations and operating guidelines specifically tailored to their distinct work environments.

Capital Infusion Accelerates Investment

In November 2011, WorkForce Software also announced that it raised $17 million in Series A and mezzanine capital.  Investors K1 Capital and Triangle Capital (NYSE:TCAP) were attracted to the company due to its 97% client retention rate, significant new client growth and ongoing commitment to product innovation. The company will use this investment to expand its sales and marketing presence globally while accelerating research and development efforts and speeding time-to-market for new solutions.

Diverse New Clients

In 2011, WorkForce Software gained new clients from a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, higher education, energy, retail, health care, and the public sector. Marquee clients include two of the leading digital imaging technology providers, an entertainment company operating water and amusement parks in ten states and provinces, a healthcare chain that operates hospitals in twelve states, a major US-based airline with more than 75,000 employees, and one of Canada’s “Big Five” banks.

Additionally, WorkForce Software extended its leadership in K-12 and higher education. More than a dozen colleges, universities, and school districts selected EmpCenter for its unmatched ability to handle industry-specific requirements such as multiple assignments and grant tracking without custom code.

Strategic Partnerships

WorkForce Software also recently announced two key partnerships.  WorkForce Software joined the SuccessFactors Partner Program as a Strategic SuccessCloud Partner.  The partnership enables SuccessFactors clients to automate complex labor policies, ensure compliance with absence and other regulations, and drive further insight into their workforce.   WorkForce Software and Patersons, a leading provider of global payroll solutions also announced a strategic partnership that further expands the company’s global footprint and enables large multi-nationals to seamlessly manage their workforce and payroll processes and ensure compliance with local regulations around the world.  WorkForce Software and Patersons’ first joint client, a complex, multi-national manufacturing firm will utilize the joint WorkForce and Patersons solution in 20 countries in Europe and Asia.

Bill Kutik, leading independent noted industry analyst and technology columnist at “Human Resource Executive,” stated, “Workforce management technologies – and the data they provide – play an increasingly strategic role in the long-term operation of a business. In this context, the ability to connect a robust workforce management suite with other human capital management systems will become more valuable to HR practitioners.”

Workforce Management and ‘Thinking Beyond the Paycheck’

As both mid-sized and large enterprises have moved toward solutions that deliver more than just ‘punch in, punch out’ automation, organizations recognize the benefits of deploying end-to-end workforce management platforms to better understand and manage their labor activities. As a result, the majority of the WorkForce Software’s new clients in 2011 purchased multiple EmpCenter products for their initial rollouts.

In The Top Five Processes for Human Capital Management, 2011, published on August 8, 2011, Gartner analysts Jim Holincheck and Thomas Otter observed that “workforce management is crucial for managing labor costs (which can be between 20% to 70% of total expenses for most enterprises).This can be a complex undertaking, especially for organizations with large percentages of hourly workers, unionized workers and/or multinational operations.” The analysts go on to note that “in highly competitive markets, these cost savings can provide competitive advantages, and can be the difference between profit and loss.”

As evidence of this trend, most of WorkForce Software’s new clients are upgrading from an existing workforce management system versus automating workforce management for the first time. When their existing solutions could no longer meet their needs, these companies turned to WorkForce Software.

Kevin Choksi CEO and Co-Founder, Workforce Software

“WorkForce Software was the vendor of choice in numerous highly competitive evaluations in 2011,” said Kevin Choksi, WorkForce Software CEO and co-founder. “EmpCenter offers the tools organizations need today to automate all aspects of workforce management with the flexibility that prepares them for any future changes, and that combination has resonated powerfully in the marketplace. We’re thrilled with our performance in 2011 and, given the strong momentum we’re carrying in to the new year, we expect 2012 to be a banner year as well.”

About WorkForce Software

WorkForce Software is the leader in workforce management software for organizations with complex policies and compliance concerns. Its EmpCenter® suite enables strategic HR by automating and streamlining interactions between the employer and its workforce, enabling organizations to better manage payroll and processing costs, help ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, and increase the productivity and satisfaction of their employees. The EmpCenter suite is composed of numerous applications aimed at addressing an organization’s end-to-end workforce management needs, including time & attendance, absence management, labor scheduling, fatigue management, and labor analytics. WorkForce Software’s diverse customer base includes large employers such as the University of California, Blizzard Entertainment, the University of Alabama, Duke Energy and BBVA Compass.

Source: WorkForce Software

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Radiant Zemax Acquires Optima Research

Radiant Zemax (Redmond, WA., USA) has announced it has acquired Optima Research (Stansted, Cambs. UK).

Both Optima Research clients and existing Radiant Zemax partners can expect to benefit from the acquisition with expanded geographic support coverage times and increased local market support.  Optima Research will continue to act as Europe’s local office for sales and support of Zemax 12 optical and illumination design software, and provide training in computer-based optical design methods.

Paul Caragher, CEO of Radiant Zemax

“We are delighted to welcome Optima Research and their clients to the Radiant Zemax family,” stated Paul Caragher, CEO of Radiant Zemax. “This acquisition will accelerate client collaboration and product offerings throughout the EU.  We are gaining strong talent and industry experience to enhance Radiant Zemax technology platforms.”

The acquisition creates greater capabilities for Radiant Zemax to provide enhanced services and support to its European clients and distribution partners.  Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Neil Barrett, Managing Director of Optima Research

“Our acquisition formalizes and strengthens the long-standing business relationship between Optima Research and Radiant Zemax,” said Neil Barrett, Managing Director of Optima Research. “The Optima team is delighted to be a part of Radiant Zemax. Our combined business is able to provide better solutions to meet the demanding needs of our clients.”

About Radiant Zemax
Radiant Zemax, LLC, formed by the 2011 merger of ZEMAX Development Corporation and Radiant Imaging, is a global provider of test, measurement, and design tools and systems to the optics, illumination and display industries. Radiant Zemax offers a range of high-quality products that improve and optimize product design and quality while meeting cost goals. Radiant Zemax also has proven production experience with thousands of cameras testing millions of lights and displays, improving production quality and efficiency. Our product lines include Zemax 12 optical design software, ProMetric® imaging colorimeters, photometers, goniometers and analysis software. Radiant Zemax is based in Redmond, WA.

Source: Radiant Zemax

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Marin Software Spend to 2011

According to eMarketer, by 2015 advertisers will spend $132.1 billion annually for online advertising. Advertisers are increasing their investment in online advertising across multiple channels to drive greater lead generation, customer acquisition, and revenue. This activity is fueling the expanding adoption of Marin Software’s (S. Francisco, CA., USA) ad management and optimization platform.

During the last year, Marin nearly doubled its customer base to 1,500 as well as the amount of annual spend managed on its platform to $3.5 billion. In the wake of Marin’s success, Asia investment company Temasek led a $30 million round of funding along with SAP Ventures. Joining the new investors in this oversubscribed round were existing Marin venture investors Benchmark Capital, Crosslink Capital, DAG Ventures, and Triangle Peak Partners.

Following Marin Software’s year of rapid international expansion, customer growth, and product innovation, and the closing of the recent financing, Frank van Veenendaal, President of Worldwide Sales and Services at salesforce.com, has joined Marin Software’s Board of Directors.

Marin Software’s Dramatic Growth:

• Since its inception in 2006, Marin Software has grown into the premier provider of advertising management solutions worldwide. Marin currently serves clients in 160 countries with 25 currencies, increasing its international footprint in the last year with the opening of offices in Singapore, France, Australia, and Germany.
• More than 1,500 of the world’s leading advertisers and agencies manage $3.5 billion in annualized online ad spend through Marin Software. Within the last few months, Hotels.com, Brookstone, Coupons Inc., Rosetta, and Reprise Media have selected Marin’s platform to manage their search, display and social advertising campaigns. Longstanding Marin customers include iProspect, Neo@Ogilvy, Razorfish, Macy’s, Experian, and University of Phoenix.
• Spurred by increasing demand for its products worldwide, Marin Software hired more than 100 new employees during 2011.

Christopher Lien, CEO & Founder, Marin Software

“I am pleased to welcome Temasek and SAP Ventures as investors in Marin Software,” said Christopher Lien, Founder and CEO of Marin Software. “Temasek brings unrivalled experience and capabilities in Asian and emerging markets, which will benefit Marin’s international development. Support from SAP Ventures and relationships with the SAP global ecosystem will further accelerate Marin’s growth around the world.”

Marin Software Funding:

• To date, Marin Software has raised more than $80 million in venture funding. Marin plans to invest this new capital to bolster product development, customer support, and service delivery worldwide.
• Temasek is an Asia investment company headquartered in Singapore, with a diversified S$193 billion portfolio as of March 31, 2011, concentrated principally in Singapore, Asia and growth markets. Through its partnership with Temasek, Marin Software will be able to accelerate its growth across Asia and other emerging markets.
• With the investment from SAP Ventures, which is affiliated with SAP AG, the market leader in enterprise application software, Marin Software will have the opportunity to leverage the experience and resources of SAP and its extensive ecosystem to help further Marin’s business momentum.

Source: Marin Software

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If you have enough money: Go direct. If you have enough time: Build a channel

The strategy and associated activities required for building a partner channel differ substantially depending on your position in the market penetration life cycle. In order to manage this dependency and assist in defining the most appropriate channel development strategy, we distinguish between three main market penetration life cycle phases.

It is not that one phase is more difficult than another. It is just that each phase requires a different set of strategies and activities to be successful.

The graphic logo for this blog series has been designed so for a reason. It represents in one picture the challenges you are facing serving your customers through a channel.»

The complexity of your business model increases with the introduction of third parties in your value chain. Based on experience we will claim that the degree of complexity is mathematically exponential:

The three phases of market penetration

We divide the market penetration life cycle into three phases:

1. Bootstrapping.»
2. Bridgehead.»
3. Dominance.»

Bootstrapping

Fig. 1: Bootstrapping = Crossing the Chasm

Fig. 2:Bootstrapping in new markets

In the bootstrapping phase the ISV will have to find the first lighthouse customer himself.

1

2

3

4

You may ask: How should the ISV be able to find and close business when he has no representation in the market?

Answer: There are senior bootstrapping or business development consultants in all markets in the world.  These days they are quite easy to find through social media. Insert a $100 add on Linkedin and you will get many applications. You need to filter out the “retainer hunters” and find those who are qualified to do the bootstrapping for you in your particular market.  You will have to invest in training and sales activities for the duration of the bootstrapping sales cycle, but you are in full control and will get a much more unfiltered response from the potential customers.

In some rare cases you may need the Bridgehead before you can commence bootstrapping. It depends on the nature of your solution and your target market. However, Technology Enthusiasts and Visionaries will understand and even appreciate that your are not an established vendor. Technology Enthusiasts and Visionaries know and do not expect innovations to be provided by the established vendor community.

The “virtual” subsidiary

This term covers a local office address, a telephone number, an answering service and maybe a local language web site. The virtual subsidiary is supposed to create the impression that the ISV has a local presence and workforce. We do not recommend this approach, which is often used as a deliberate attempt to deceive potential Mainstream (see fig. 1) customers.  Trying to accommodate the comfort needs of Mainstream customers by pretending you are more established than you actually are will always backfire. Finding out the actual status of your operation just takes a few click on Linkedin and XING.

Bridgehead

The Bridgehead is the phase where the ISV is establishing his own representation. We know from experience that very few ISV’s recognize the need for their own representation, when they are in the initial phase of bootstrapping.

We must emphasize that achieving a leading market position requires a local representation.

The Bridgehead can be established using different frameworks:

1. Wholly owned subsidiary (green field or acquisition)
2. Joint venture
3. Exclusive distributor
4. Master Franchisee

The objective of the Dominance phase is to move from full geographic to full market coverage, filling all gaps horizontally and vertically.

Achieving a dominating or leading market position through channel partners requires a substantial network of partners. To support this network of partners the ISV will establish a tighter network of his own representations. Elaborate partner programs will be introduced and global, regional and local partner conferences will be organized.

The major challenge for the ISV in this phase is partner growth. As it will be more and more difficult to recruit new partners, the growth has to come from consolidation and organic growth in the channel. For obvious reasons, the ISV can no longer be intimately engaged in the business of the individual partner. Where the ISV has much more flexibility in the bootstrapping and bridgehead phases, partner support now becomes uniform programs available to all partners based on objective criteria.

The ISV is now a global brand and will be approached directly by large corporations who want to bypass the channel and deal directly with the vendor. On one hand the ISV needs to keep the partners at arm’s length, and on the other hand he will have to accept dealing directly with the large clients without jeopardizing his channel concept.  This is a delicate balance and not all ISVs are managing this balance elegantly, creating major animosity in their current and potential channel.

About this series of blog posts on Global growth through a partner channel in the software industry:

An associate of mine once concluded: If you have enough money: Go direct. If you have enough time: Build a channel.

My associate had been spearheading the development of one of the most successful VAR channels in the world. This channel now belongs to Microsoft and is branded Dynamics.

This series of posts will discuss the issues associated with using a channel based Go-To-Market approach on the path to global market leadership for Independent Software Vendors.

Few success stories and numerous failures

Using a channel of independent companies to resell, implement and/or service customers has a long tradition in the history of the software industry. For some software companies, the channel has been a major contributor to global success, but for most software companies making it work is a depressing and constant struggle.

The word “channel” is used in the software industry to describe independent companies that assume various roles and obligations in bringing a software product to the customers.  The definition is rather broad, since the roles and obligations can vary substantially from “simple” reselling to system integration, solution development on top of the software, implementation in terms of consulting, project management, customization, training and support.

The common denominator is the fundamental condition that the individual channel operator is an independent contractor operating in his own name, at his own expense and at his own risk.

Other post in this series

Post #1: For all the wrong reasons
Post #2: For all the right reasons
Post #4: The Partner Value Proposition

Credentials

Hans Peter Bech

Hans Peter Bech started his career in sales and marketing with Control Data Corporation in 1980. For 6 years he was responsible for direct sales of mainframe computer systems and bespoke software development projects to the government and enterprise market. In 1986 he was made responsible for building a sales and marketing organization for Dataco, a start-up in the area of LAN/WAN solutions. Over 24 months he build a successful partner based channel framework covering all of Europe. From 1989 to 1997 Hans Peter Bech was engaged in several international sales and marketing projects using direct as well as channel based approaches. In 1998 Hans Peter Bech joined the executive task force planning the launch of AXAPTA (now Microsoft Dynamics AX) and was personally responsible for the operational implementation of a partner based GTM approach in the German speaking markets. Today Hans Peter Bech is working as a management consultant advising Independent Software Vendors on issues related to global market penetration in the software industry.