The Software IPO Outlook

After years of M&A and LBO exits, the rare "software IPO" may be making a comeback in the coming year.

By Tom Taulli

"I think we have reached the bottom in enterprise softwareÖ In the IPO market, I think there will be some software offerings for investors to get excited about...î

Paul Hollandís words came like music to the ears of software investors.Ý And Holland should know. As a general partner at the venture capital firm, Foundation Capital, he holds a grounded perspective on the software market. During the 1990s, he helped bring two software companies public: Kana Communications and Pure Software.Ý

Though nothing like the action of the pre-bubble days, the software IPO market is actually picking up. A total of 14 software companies have gone public in the past 12 months ñ with mixed results - and new filings may be picking up as well.

The outlook for software IPOs is more positive than weíve seen in the past few years. As the M&A/LBO shakeout continues, there are several key trends which will guide new offerings for the coming year.

New Webinar: Learn Distributed Agile Development

Agile development methods have gained popularity for being people focused, results driven and high quality. But many vendors struggle with how to leverage agile methods across a distributed development environment. Learn how in a new webinar, ìEffective AGILE Product Development for Distributed Engineering Teams.î Speakers will include reknown Agile expert, Dr. Alistair Cockburn, Mark Madsen of Rivermine and Stuart Donovan of Induslogic.Ý Click to find out more and register for one of two sessions, Sept. 26 or Sept. 28.

Indian VC Funding ñ On Fire or Overheated?

Enthusiasm for all ventures Indian may be leading to a crash. A new analysis by Evaluserve shows that U.S. venture capitalists aim to spend an estimated $4.4 billion (!) on Indian startups over the next 4-5 years. Thatís up from $0 ten years ago. Alok Aggarwal of Evaluserve runs through the implications of the Indian investment boom in this weekís post to the new SandHill.com Blog on Venture Capital in India.

Beware the Missing ìValueî Dialogue

Most software vendors would agree that usage is a critical factor in whether customers stay customers or move on. It is surprising, then, that many software makers have difficulty discussing the value their customers receive from their products. David Cannington of Neochange ties the importance of the value dialogue to customer satisfaction in this weekís post to the SandHill.com Blog on usability.

Bye BUNCH. Bye MISO. Hello SLOG!

As generations of software leaders pass by, Erik Keller argues that the reign of the current leaders is also drawing to a close. The next-generation of leaders will be masters ofÝ ìSLOGî ñ the four most important trends impacting the software industry today. Read more about SLOG in Erikís SandHill.com Blog, The Software Critic.

Publish Your Perspectives!

The SandHill.com Blog wants your opinions. Send your thoughts on the enterprise software industry to editor@sandhill.com and weíll publish them in our blog.

Software Vocabulary 101

SLOG. Mashboards. ìDiscovery System.î Zulu vs. Ubuntu. BUNCH vs. MISO. Spiceworks. Knova. Xen. ìPragmatic CRM.î Infravio. ìLive Search.î Read on to learn these terms and how they shaped the week in software business in the SandHill.com weekly news summary.

How Do Enterprises Get the Most Out of CRM?

Few companies gracefully pass sales leads and service information across the barriers of departments and business units. But those that do enjoy substantial rewards. Read more about how enterprises are linking CRM systems in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.