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Business Strategy for Software Executives |
September 17, 2007 |
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The Power of Going PrivateFor many established software companies, the right LBO can be a new lease on life, growth, innovation and excitement.By René Bonvanie, Serena Software Serena Software’s situation in 2005 was not unique. The application lifecycle management vendor had long delivered tremendous investor returns and excelled at selling to its current customers. Yet the software business was busy reinventing itself around the 27-year old vendor. And as a public company, Serena’s ability to invest in innovation and expansion was hamstrung by its relentless obligation to Wall Street. Fast forward to 2007. Last week, Serena launched Mashup Composer, an innovative solution which incorporates the latest software trends - software-as-a-service (SaaS), Web services and services-oriented architecture (SOA) - for a new market - business users. How’d Serena do it? In March 2006, a leveraged buyout led by Silver Lake took Serena private and enabled the company to reinvent itself, making top-line growth and innovation its new mission. Many other software vendors may find that going private is the right move to ensure their company’s future.
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Windows Woes
SAP Raises a Green FlagThe march toward corporate sustainability has an enterprise software leader: SAP. Maryann Jones Thompson of SandHill.com runs down the list of SAP's eco-efficient initiatives covered at last week's GoingGreen conference in this week’s post to a new blog, Green Software. Publish Your Perspective!The SandHill.com Blog wants your opinions. Send your thoughts on the enterprise software industry to editor@sandhill.com and we’ll publish them in our blog. DON’T MISS: How to Improve Strategic PlanningIt can be a frustrating exercise, but there are ways to increase its value. Learn how in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly. News Update: Having a BlastGoogle’s atmospheric deals paint The Valley green with envy; plus, VMware hosts the world, Vista sales lag and Eudora goes open. Read these stories and more software news of the week in the latest SandHill.com Software News Summary. Poll: Next to “Go Private”?Which vendor will be the next to accept an LBO deal and go private? Last week, readers gave their opinions as to which vendor is the biggest “disruptor”. What do you think? More at SandHill.com:The EU delivers a powerful blow to Microsoft. Open Kernel Labs receives $2 million. Xerox buys electronic document collaboration vendor, Advectis. Black Duck Software named Bill McQuaide as SVP of Product Development. Send us your feedback on this newsletter and the SandHill.com site. Parting Thought“Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech.” Courtesy of Malcolm Kusher, The Kushner Group |
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