Niku

Software Magazine, Summer, 2002

The knowledge worker is the play for Niku. With the release of Niku 6 in October 2001, the company identified its target market as Services Relationship Management, which is an integrated suite of applications that seek to automate the core business processes of knowledge workers in departments of what Niku calls the "middle office."

The middle office positions between the back-office ERP systems, with applications serving manufacturing, inventory, accounting and human resources and the frontoffice CRM systems, with applications helping sales, customer support and call centers. In the middle office of SRM are the applications serving IT, research and development, marketing, legal and other billable client services.

This middle office, Niku says, represents 54 percent of the average company's payroll, and is served by a number of software applications that overlap and attempt to integrate with one another. "If you can crack the code there, you have a chance to really make your company more profitable," says Rene Pharisien, vice president of worldwide marketing for Niku. "Our concept is to give companies a 360-degree view of their employee." Gartner has estimated that the market, which it calls "Services Process Optimization," was at $235 million in 2000 and projects to a 46-percent annual growth rate, putting it at $1.5 billion in 2005.

Niku 6 costs $500 to $2,000 per seat depending on the options chosen. Most engagements range between $250,000 and $750,000, and 20 percent of the business is in contracts of $1 million or more. The company targets multiple industries but has good representation in financial services, telecommunications and high technology.

www.niku.com