It was a divergent day for on-demand software operators. For example, Concur Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNQR) posted stellar results and the stock surged (the company develops travel management systems).

Unfortunately, things were not so nice for RightNow Technologies (Nasdaq: RNOW), which provides solutions for customer relationship management. For its fiscal Q1, the company posted revenues of $30.7 million, up from $28.8 million in the same period a year ago. There was a net loss of $3.3 million or $0.10 per share.

Continue reading For investors: not now for RightNow

For investors: not now for RightNow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the past few years, the on-demand software company,
Concur (NASDAQ: CNQR), has been making some big changes in its business - especially its business model (to focus on recurring revenue streams). And, as seen with the latest quarterly report, things are starting to pay off. Revenues increased 69% to $49.4 million and net income came to $3.4 million, or $0.07 per share. There were 400 new customers in the quarter (the total is roughly 6,000).

Basically, Concur provides software to help manage corporate travel spending. It's a tough problem, but the company has a broad offering of solutions, helping with vendor payments, direct reimbursements, audits and so on.

In fact, Concur recently completed the acquisition of Information Network. This will add some value payment systems (as well as customers).

What's more, Concur upped its full-year guidance. The company expects to earn $0.22 per share and post revenues of $204 million. This compares to the prior guidance of $0.15 per share and revenues of $194.5 million.

Interestingly enough, Concur's solutions tend to do well in tough economic environments as companies try to cut costs. Keep in mind that the company's solutions are highly automated.

In today's trading, Concur's stock is up 20.83% to $34.16 per share.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Concur's earnings crush its numbers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the past couple years, I've met with Zach Nelson several times. He's a veteran of the software world and is currently the CEO of NetSuite (which starts trading tomorrow as NYSE: N). The company develops on-demand software for the small-to-mid size business (SMB) segment, essentially allowing for sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) functionality at affordable pricing.

Despite the success of NetSuite, it has been in the shadows of mega player, Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).

But this may change; that is, today NetSuite had a successful IPO, raising $161 million. At first, the company had a $13-$16 price range on the offering, but was able to price the deal at $26. NetSuite used an online Dutch auction system for its IPO, which allows any investor to participate.

The ERP market for large businesses is mostly dominated by SAP (NYSE: SAP) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL). However, the SMB market is fairly under penetrated (Nelson calls it the "Fortune Five Million").

Continue reading NetSuite: Santa comes early for Larry Ellison

NetSuite: Santa comes early for Larry Ellison originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the database world, the clear winner is Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL). But there are other big competitors, such as IBM (NYSE: IBM), and upstarts like MySQL.

But what about Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN)? Keep in mind that -- over the years -- the company has built lots of proprietary database systems to manage enormous transaction volumes.

Well, now Amazon.com has its own database offering, which is called SimpleDB. As the name implies, it's not going to be a threat to Oracle (which is focused on big-time customers). Yet, it's still important.

After all, why should a smaller company spend lots of money for racks of servers? Might as well outsource this stuff to a solid player like Amazon.com, right?

But, with SimpleDB, Amazon.com is making a big jump, allowing its customers to essentially build robust applications.

Funny enough, these may ultimately complete against Amazon.com services. Even if so, at least Amazon will get a fee.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Amazon.com: A software company, too originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) may be ailing - but it's still a mega powerhouse. And, the company recently purchased on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) software from Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM). The initial deal calls for 30,000 seats for Citi's financial advisors across the globe.

In fact, Salesforce.com has been on a roll - beating competitors like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and SAP (NYSE: SAP) for biggie customers. That is, the company's web-based approach is becoming a "must have" for corporate America.

And it means that Salesforce.com's business continues to grow at a hefty clip. In Q3, revenues spiked 48% to $192.8 million and net income came to $6.5 million, or $0.6 per share. Cash flows were up a sizzling 70% to $52 million.

Going forward, the company expects to generate $1 billion in revenues over the next year. Basically, the company sees large opportunities in global markets, such as Europe and Asia.

Investors certainly like things. In today's trading, the stock is up 7.9% to $54.80.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Salesforce.com lives up to its name originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For fans of on-demand software, yesterday was a big day. The mighty SAP (NYSE: SAP), which has built a global empire based on traditional software, launched a comprehensive offering of on-demand solutions.

Basically, on-demand software uses the web as its delivery vehicle. The installation and maintenance requirements tend to be fairly easy. Also, the business model is usually based on subscriptions (not large upfront fees).

But, of course, SAP is not the only European player that is pushing on-demand. Take a look at BRAIN FORCE.

The company has been around since the mid 1980s and went public in 1998 (on the Frankfurt Exchange). Last year, revenues were $120 million and EBITDA came in at $8 million.

Continue reading BRAIN FORCE: What is going on with on-demand software in Euro-land?

BRAIN FORCE: What is going on with on-demand software in Euro-land? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This week, enterprise software developer, Cognos Incorporated (Nasdaq: COGN), agreed to pay $339 million for Applix, Inc. (Nasdaq: APLX), which develops financial performance management software. It's a red-hot area -- with dealmaking from biggies like Oracle Corporation (Nasdaq: ORCL) and SAP AG (ADR) (NYSE: SAP).

Another upstart in the space is Adaptive Planning. I had a chance to interview the company's CEO, William A. Soward.

Can you provide some background on Adaptive Planning?

A: Adaptive Planning makes it easy for midsized companies and divisions of large corporations to automate their key financial processes, including budgeting, forecasting, monthly and quarterly reporting, and ad hoc "what if?" analyses.

We present a new alternative that "bridges the gap" between spreadsheets and traditional enterprise software. Adaptive Planning is optimized for companies that have outgrown Excel but lack the personnel, time, or capital required to deploy complex and costly enterprise BPM or business intelligence applications. By automating their planning and reporting processes, companies are able to save time and money and make better, more informed business decisions-ultimately improving competitiveness.

Adaptive Planning is also optimized for the way small and midsized companies do business. We provide pre-defined templates to help small companies jumpstart the planning process, and deliver the powerful modeling and key features that mid-sized and larger companies need. And, whether customers choose to deploy their solution on-demand or on-site, they receive new product features on a quarterly basis.

Finally, Adaptive Planning is committed to being an excellent business partner for mid-sized companies. We have annual renewal rates of over 90 percent, and ranked among the top four vendors for customer satisfaction in a recent industry-wide survey by industry analyst firm BPM Partners.

Continue reading Adaptive Planning CEO interview: Why all the mergers and acquisitions in business software?

Adaptive Planning CEO interview: Why all the mergers and acquisitions in business software? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Xactly talks about on-demand apps and getting $15 million from VCs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WebEx Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: WEBX), which develops collaboration technologies, had a blow-out quarter. Revenues increased 22% to $101.9 million and earnings were $16.7 million, which was up from $13.6 million in the same period a year ago.

Recently, I had a chance to talk to the company's cofounder and CEO, Subrah Iyar. Before starting WebEx in February 1997, he worked at a variety of tech companies, such as Quarterdeck, Apple, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), and Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC).

Continue reading A talk with WebEx's CEO

A talk with WebEx's CEO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.