Stc Plans To Out-Install Neon In 99

Computergram International, Feb 3, 1999

By William Fellows Software Technologies Corp CEO Jim Demetriades is highly amused at the response to his recent assessment of the EAI market in Computergram (CI No 3,572). Active Software Inc, Extricity Software Inc, Vitria Technology Inc and others called to say Jim had got it all wrong and that they each have more users than he had claimed.

Jim's responded to the criticism by questioning how many production sites they actually have. Moreover, he says that Andersen Consulting's evaluation of EAI products for use with its integration services was completed last August. It plumped for STC's DataGate suite and sealed the deal by acquiring a chunk of STC stock and by getting managing partner/CEO George Shaheen to sit on STC's board. The only other board Shaheen sits on is Siebel Systems Inc's. Demetriades says rivals' claims that STC's deal size must be $30,000-up are way off mark because it didn't sell its 1,200 licenses in 1998 alone. He claims STC's average deal size is between $300,000 and $500,000 and predicts that STC will out-install market leader Neon Inc by 20% to 30% in 1999. "The number one driver in the market is that no one wants to pick something that isn't going to be standard," Demetriades argues. They do and that's where EAI steps in. He estimates that Oracle Corp, which has just taken delivery of a third generation of STC's DataGate suite codenamed Montana, will be shipping STC's EAI work with its Oracle Applications suite by May or June. PeopleSoft Inc is distributing limited-use DataGate adapters with its ERP suite. Having seen revenues of $36.5m in 1998, mostly in the healthcare industry (though one competitor says Demetriades claimed STC would do $55m during a speech he gave at a June 1998 Enterprise Outlook conference in California), STC expects to add 25 or 30 new customers this quarter and has 360 employees. Demetriades says STC hasn't picked up any of the refugees from CrossWorlds Inc because he says they are marketing people, not developers.