Kursverdoppelung bei Actua Corporation (vorm. Internet Capital)
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Hier die deutsche Post:
Deutsche Post ITSolutions GmbH
Challenge
Deutsche Post ITSolutions GmbH is an independent service provider within Deutsche Post World Net Group, tasked with sourcing high-quality IT solutions, to maximise internal efficiencies and reduce costs. When the company was founded, management assigned all Deutsche Post ITSolutions GmbH contract negotiation and contract management responsibilities to the Purchasing Department. This was in addition to the department’s normal task of ensuring the provision of the goods and services required by the new company.
The company was experiencing a common problem – when a project required outsourced support, these services could only be ordered with the approval of the appropriate Head of Department, after appropriate research into costs and benefits. In certain special cases, the Head of Business Unit or even senior management would also have to give their sign off. The time taken for this complex evaluation and approvals process was proving problematic and often exceeded project timescales. Furthermore, approvals required by those on holiday, or incorrect employee or daily rates entries all added to the problem.
Various technology solutions had been applied to the problem to try to streamline these unique processes. But, it became apparent that off the shelf products such as office applications, mail systems and web tools could not meet the requirements of such complex processes. This was further exacerbated by the lack of interfaces between the various technologies, which meant that processes resorted to paper. It had become impossible to ensure process consistency and adherence. Deutsche Post ITSolutions GmbH decided they needed to streamline their processes by gradually introducing a Business Process Management system.
The job included reproduction of the ‘order request forms’ already being used through the Deutsche Post intranet plus implementation of a BPM solution which would give much more structure to the overall process and hence manage the risks associated with outsourcing any services or part of the project.
Solution
The existing processes, user interfaces, procedures and roles were initially defined and adapted for each department through workshops using Metastorm’s graphical e-Work designer. The Metastorm e-Work open, standard-based Business Process Management platform was then used to integrate the existing data and legacy applications, such as SAP – all with minimal effort.
Now e-Work provides the overall process management and flow for all new service order requests, and the base data is managed and maintained within SAP which activates the final order. The benefits of this approach are that data is only entered once, and the right information is supplied to the correct groups in the correct order. The system is more user-intuitive, and no information is lost.
Since the initial successful deployment, Metastorm is now used in a number of other process areas such as approval of a new supplier (Strategic Sourcing), new usage of the supplier, etc.
Results
Deutsche Post ITS are delighted by the success of the project. Applications are being approved more quickly than ever before. Procurement itself now receives the order requests more quickly and in a more structured manner. According to Ulrike Heltsch, Head of Purchasing/Contract Management, “the re-creation of the ‘procurement of external services’ process in electronic form has reduced time between request and order by 80%. Order requests can be made through a standard Internet browser without installation of additional software on each PC. The compatibility of e-Work with SAP and the other information systems has minimised the frequency of errors and enables the process to run smoothly and efficiently. All the members of a department are able to view and control their procedures at any time." Some of the unique capabilities of the system include:
The ‘substitute control’ which allows for the selection of delegated approvers and their ‘activation’ during absence or leave.
An individually generated printing process providing various views of the order requests.
The ability to call up process reports and business data at the touch of a button.
Uwe Birkenhauer, Head of the Business Information Management Department has been responsible for the execution of the project: “The BPM system installed has surpassed our expectations. We particularly wanted a system that provided control and visibility, could easily interface with other systems, and had a ‘zero-client’ footprint, because of our existing heterogeneous IT environment. We found the design of the e-Work designer interface particularly pleasing. It enables you to graphically reproduce processes very quickly and convert them into electronic processes simply by pressing a button.”
The installation of this system is an effective step towards IT-supported business process control. Work is already underway to extend use of e-Work to the human resources department and to client management. The Purchasing/Contract Management team have seen a huge increase in efficiency since the system was introduced and are keen on further usage. Another planned step involves an asynchronous interface with the existing archive, in
Zu dem Hintergrund meiner Information, die purer eigener langjähriger Berufserfahrung entspricht und nirgendwo geklaut wurde: Ich bin bei einem seit Jahren sehr erfolgreichen Automobil-Unternehmen für die Internetplattform verantwortlich und bin deswegen sehr viel in diesen Themen wie BPM etc. unterwegs. In sofern kenne ich die IT-Themen auch was die strategische Ausrichtung der Unternehmen hinsichtlich der IT-Architektur angeht, doch ganz gut.
Wie blauäugig du mit solchen Success-Stories um dich wirfst, macht mir klar, dass Du vielleicht viel von Aktien etc. verstehst, aber in diesem Business wirklich nicht zu Hause bist und auch das Verhältnis von Kunde und Dienstleister und deren Art des Zusammenlebens nicht kennst. Vor so einem Hintergrund erscheinen diese Stories in einem doch etwas anderen Licht.
Ich habe viele Kollegen in Gross-Konzernen, zwischen denen übrigens ein reger Informationsaustausch zu nicht direkt wettbewerbs-relevanten Themen stattfindet wie z.B. zu der IT bei der Post und mit denen ich auch seit Jahren im engen Kontakt und Info-Austausch stehe; daher sehe ich diese Erfolgsmeldungen von solchen Firmen auch mit einem ganz anderen Auge als Du.
Im übrigen kenne ich das Thema BPM sehr genau, weil ich auch für Unternehmen wie z.B. www.newmediasales.com, die an der Technologie-Front von BPM stehen auch schon diverse Vorträge gehalten habe und auch zu den Geschäftsführern ein freundschaftliches Verhältnis pflege.
Selbst Dein Vorsprung in Sachen EDV hindert mich nicht daran, Argumentationen in Sachen BPM von Fachleuten hier zu zitieren. Denn ich gehe doch recht in Annahme, dass Du nicht der Papst in diesen Dingen bist?
Lufthansa Miles & More
Overview
Lufthansa Miles & More is Europe’s leading frequent flyer program that was founded in 1993. Members can collect miles from traveling on Star Alliance flights, on flights of 14 Lufthansa partner airlines, at more than 30 leading hotel chains, 4 rental car companies and at more than 50 other partner companies. These miles can then be used towards attractive bonuses.
Challenge
As Europe’s leading frequent flyer program with more than 11 million members worldwide, Lufthansa receives and processes over 8 million documents a year – which in turn result in approximately 2 million individual customer-facing business procedures a year taking place.
Prior to starting Lufthansa’s business process management (BPM) initiative, paper-based letters and faxes were manually sorted before being sent in original form to numerous locations around the world for processing. These manual methods led to higher logistics costs and prolonged processing times. In order to increase customer satisfaction, the company needed to significantly reduce its processing time and make the process more transparent to ultimately cut processing costs and speed up response time.
To achieve these objectives, Lufthansa Miles & More wanted to automate its manual processes as much as possible and integrate its worldwide locations through an intelligent business process management system.
Metastorm was selected to be the foundation of a highly specialized solution for the paperless processing of the Miles & More program. The solution was designed and implemented by Metastorm partner, arvato systems and arvato direct services, the long standing outsourcing provider for the Lufthansa Miles & More program since the first day of its existence.
Solution
Using Metastorm BPM™, arvato developed a project called SWIMM – Scanning & Workflow Integration Miles & More – to redesign and automate Lufthansa’s Miles & More procedures.
SWIMM can process 100,000 documents daily of varying form and quality – from hand written letters to boarding passes that include paper documents, e-mails, and faxes. After the first processing step, which includes high-performance scanning and the subsequent ICR/OCR identification, the documents are sent electronically to Metastorm BPM as inbound cases. These cases are the content basis for a complex process that is fully mapped by Metastorm BPM.
Metastorm BPM has supported a complete overhaul for processing all documents related to the Lufthansa Miles & More program. The use of Metastorm BPM has resulted in a more collaborative work environment that ensures documents are processed as quickly as possible. The solution also provides employees with visibility across the entire process so that they can see the status of cases at any given point in time. In addition, users can simultaneously review work-in-process on the system – a collaborative capability that leads to more efficient communication.
Results
With the help of Metastorm BPM, the incoming mail processing time at Miles & More has been substantially reduced while cutting transport and logistics costs to a minimum. The entire processing procedure has become transparent and includes many process control capabilities. Customer requests are answered faster and more effectively – resulting in increasing customer satisfaction and all around better customer service.
Lufthansa Miles & More has reached its goal of accelerating response times by simplifying complex manual procedures, integrating worldwide service with 24x7 availability, and increasing the speed of information sharing.
The company has endorsed Metastorm BPM as a critical system and plans to continue working with arvato to extend its use of Metastorm by automating and improving additional processes throughout the organization.
Ich halte von solchen Meldungen nichts und warte lieber auf Fakten wie harte (Geschäfts-)Zahlen von Metastorm
Mit 232 Millionen Cash und Wertpapieren aus IPO's und Verkäufen ist Internet Capital jetzt sehr viel berechnenbarer als früher. Und noch etwas kommt hinzu: Im Q10-Bericht rückt man jetzt viel mehr Daten raus. Dem letzten für das dritte Quatal konnte man z.B. entnehmen, dass der Metastorm-Umsatz vor dem Zusammenschluss mit Commercequest im dritten Quartal 2005 bei knapp sieben Millionen lag, auf Jahr hochgerechnet bei ca. 27 Millionen Dollar. Commercequests Umsatz dürfte bei ca 12 bsi 15 Millionen gelegen haben, sodass wir in die Größenordung von 40 Millionen bzw. etwas mehr gelangt sein dürften.
Hierzu auch ein Posting von einem anderen Board:
Forum: Aktien | USA
Lekaro
09.11.05, 21:45 Uhr (1171 Klick(s))
Metastorm
Der Zusammenschluß von CQ und Metastorm war meiner Meinung nach auch richtig. Immerhin wird diese Beteiligung 2005 zusammen einen Umsatz von ca. 40 Millionen ausweisen können. Zudem war die Wachstumsrate Metastorms im letzten Quartal so beachtlich, das deine Annahme von 50 millionen Umsatz in 2006 bestimmt keine Utopie ist.
Metastorm Showcases Customer Innovation, Announces 2005 Enterprise Process Advantage(R) Award Winners
11.09.05, 8:01 AM ET
Leading Organizations from Around the World Recognized for Outstanding Achievements in Business Process Management COLUMBIA, Md., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Metastorm, a leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM) software for modeling, automating, integrating, and improving both human and system-based processes, today announced the recipients of its 2005 Enterprise Process Advantage Awards, which were presented at the company's Global BPM Forum and User Conference on November 2nd in Reston, Virginia in front of over 350 attendees from 18 different countries. Metastorm presents the awards annually to recognize outstanding and innovative use of BPM software -- and specifically organizations that have realized significant return on investment and strategic advantage from BPM initiatives.
For 2005, the awards recognize the best Business Process Management solution in three categories: Most Innovative Use of BPM Technology, Highest ROI and Strategic Advantage, and Mission Critical Use of BPM Technology in the areas of customer service, supply chain operations, risk management, or internal operations. Nominations for the awards are accepted from Metastorm's customer base, employees and partners.
Metastorm would like to congratulate the following organizations as the recipients of this year's awards:
* Most Innovative Use of BPM Technology - Advanco with Nexans Switzerland. Advanco, a leading solutions provider in Belgium, and Nexans Switzerland, the world leader in cable manufacturing, leveraged the Metastorm BPM software to track the status of both machine and people resources across multiple manufacturing systems and work orders and create a real-time monitoring dashboard that allows Nexans to review and optimize utilization of production resources in the most effective and efficient way. The new Production Process Management (PPM) solution enables operational efficiency while supporting strategic objectives. Advanco's innovative deployment of BPM as part of a total PPM solution is gaining recognition across Belgium and other parts of Europe. * Highest ROI from BPM Technology - SAIC, Cox Business Unit. Part of the nation's largest employee-owned research and engineering company, the Cox business unit at SAIC has experienced an outstanding financial return from Metastorm BPM by developing an invoice and review procedure to track and manage processing of subcontractor invoices. Much of SAIC's revenue depends on efficient use of human resources -- including subcontractors -- on client projects. The use of business process management for the subcontractor invoice process took the business unit from a recurring negative cash flow situation to a continuous cash flow positive state by reducing the processing time on subcontractor invoices by 94%. * Mission Critical Use of Metastorm BPM for Customer Service - Lufthansa Miles & More. As Europe's leading frequent flyer program with more than 11 million members worldwide, Lufthansa found itself receiving and processing 8 million documents a year -- which in turn resulted in 2 million individual customer-facing business procedures a year taking place. In order to increase customer satisfaction, the company needed to significantly reduce its processing time and make the process more transparent to ultimately cut processing costs and speed up time to market. Metastorm was selected to be the foundation of a highly specialized solution for the paperless processing of the Miles & More program. The solution was developed by Metastorm partner, Arvato Systems, and the results are greater efficiency and productivity for Lufthansa and faster response times and improved service for its customers. * Mission Critical Use of Metastorm BPM for Supply Chain Operations - AmerisourceBergen. One of the largest pharmaceutical services companies in the United States, AmerisourceBergen has gained industry recognition for its use of Metastorm BPM to automate and streamline its contract and chargeback management processes. The solution supports newly automated, collaborative contract management and chargeback processes that cross six internal departments and align geographically dispersed employees -- setting a new standard for real-time communication of contract and chargeback information between the distributor and its manufacturers. "Metastorm applauds all of our finalists for their outstanding achievements in business process management," stated Robert Farrell, president and CEO of Metastorm. "We continue to be impressed with the innovation displayed by our customers in their use of our BPM software and we were very pleased to receive nominations from regions all over the world. We look forward to the continued support of our growing customer base and to showcasing more successes next year."
About Metastorm, Inc.
As a leading provider of business process management (BPM) software and best practice methodologies for modeling, automating, integrating, and improving both human and system-based processes, Metastorm delivers a complete solution for roundtrip process improvement and is the only company helping organizations achieve Enterprise Process Advantage(R) -- a heightened level of business performance resulting from increased process efficiency, control, and agility. With a focus on complex processes that are unique to their organizations, Metastorm's 1200+ global client base in manufacturing, retail, financial services, business services, healthcare and government are achieving rapid ROI and unique process advantage in customer service, supply chain operations, risk management, and internal operations.
SOURCE Metastorm, Inc. -0- 11/09/2005 /CONTACT: Gina Karr of Metastorm, Inc., +1-410-290-0101, or gkarr@metastorm.com; Jayson Schkloven of Merritt Group for Metastorm, Inc., +1-703-390-1500, or schkloven@merrittgrp.com; Amy Redhead of Strategic Public Relations for Metastorm, Inc., +44 1494 434 434, or amyr@strategicpr.net/ /Web site: http://www.metastorm.com/ CO: Metastorm, Inc.; Advanco; Nexans Switzerland; SAIC; AmerisourceBergen ST: Maryland IN: CPR FIN STW SU: AWD TDS BS-JS -- CLW502 -- 0110 11/09/2005 08:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com
Wenn man Metastorm mit Commercequest vergleicht, die dort eingebracht wurden, war das ein wahrer Glücksgriff.
Holdings Summary
ICGE
Internet Capital Group, Inc. NASDAQ-NM
Institutional Holdings Description | Hide Summary
Company Details
Total Shares Out Standing (millions): 39
Market Capitalization ($ millions): $373
Institutional Ownership: 57.5%
Price (as of 2/17/2006) 9.5
Ownership Analysis # Of Holders Shares
Total Shares Held: 102 22,598,946
New Positions: 18 2,447,985
Increased Positions: 46 6,901,952
Decreased Positions: 34 5,090,473
Holders With Activity: 80 11,992,425
Sold Out Positions: 12 1,207,296
Click on the column header links to resort ascending () or descending ().
Owner Name
Select a name below for more information. Date Shares Held Change
(Shares) % Change
(Shares) Value
($1000)
GENDELL JEFFREY L 12/31/2005 2,943,100 1,285,000 77.50% $27,959
BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVE... 12/31/2005 2,678,418 (125,764) (4.48%) $25,445
BLAIR WILLIAM & CO/I... 12/31/2005 2,021,994 152,005 8.13% $19,209
GRUBER & MCBAINE CAP... 12/31/2005 1,898,200 (605,856) (24.19%) $18,033
MELLON FINANCIAL COR... 12/31/2005 1,746,132 1,601,725 >1,000.00% $16,588
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Software outsourcing specialist Freeborders eyes IPO
Thu Feb 9, 2006 07:37 AM ET
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By Doug Young and Judy Hua
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. software outsourcing firm Freeborders plans to go public in the near future as it uses China as a base to tap global demand, a top executive said on Thursday.
The New York-based firm, which marked a milestone by signing Citigroup Inc. (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) as a client over a year ago, has recently brought in two partners it hopes will deliver more financial services clients, co-chief executive Ramsey Walker told Reuters.
Freeborders is one of a number of software outsourcing firms setting up shop in China, alongside the likes of Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFY.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) , IBM Corp. (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , BearingPoint Inc. (BE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) .
The companies favor China for its relatively low labor costs -- despite a lack of experience in working in an outsourcing environment and weak English skills.
"We certainly believe an IPO is a likely event in the not too distant future," Walker said.
"There's a market opportunity for a company (in China software outsourcing) to be a $1 billion company, and we think Freeborders can be that company."
Walker would not elaborate. But the firm, which operates almost exclusively from China, said in 2004 it was considering a $200 million offering in Hong Kong.
Last fall, it secured $20 million for expansion from a fund whose investors included Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , Deutsche Bank A.G. (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and HSBC Holdings Plc. (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research)
(HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) .
It said this year it paid millions of dollars for ITK Solutions, an IT management consulting firm whose clients include the likes of JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Morgan Stanley.
And it recently obtained the highest industry-recognised rating possible for a software developer -- one of only a handful of firms to do so in China.
"The three steps are very strong moves toward our goal of being the Infosys or Wipro (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) of China," Walker said in a telephone interview, referring to two of India's biggest software outsourcing firms.
RAPID EXPANSION
Freeborders' IPO drive coincides with a rapid expansion in headcount and revenue.
China's software market, worth $2.4 billion in 2004, is expected to grow by an annual average rate of 19 percent to $6.4 billion by 2009, according to IT consultancy Gartner.
Using the country as a base, Freeborders hopes to tap into a global software outsourcing market that it expects to be worth more than $200 billion by 2008, including $83 billion alone from the financial services sector, Walker said.
"It's a huge addressable market," he said. "The first player out of China is going to be a big deal."
Freeborders wants to double the number of engineers at its office in the southern city of Shenzhen to nearly 1,000 in six to 12 months, Walker said.
He declined to comment on revenues. Another executive said previously that 2004 revenue was expected to reach $15 million to $20 million.
Revenue for "the company, since 2004, has grown at least 40 percent organically. With acquisitions, over 100 percent, year on year," he said.
"We expect those growth rates to continue or accelerate."
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Wenn wir also in 2004 Erlöse von 15 bis 20 Millionen hatten, z.B. 17,5, so müssen es in 2005 bei den angegebenen 100% Wachstum schon 35 Millionen gewesen sein. Und wenn das Wachstumstempo in 2006 mindestens gehalten werden bzw. gesteigert werden soll, landen wir sicher bei 70 Millionen. Ob sich daraus, wie es der Co-CEO macht, eine Milliarden-Kapitalisierung ableiten lässt, will ich einmal dahin gestellt lassen, denn das würde ein KUV von 14 voraussetzen. Aber ein KUV von 10 und damit eine Marktkapitilsierung von 700 Millionen lassen sich bei den Aussichten gut darstellen, vielleicht ist aber die angesprochene Milliarde berechtigt. Bei 700 Millionen wären die 33% von Internet Capital 230 Millionen wert - wesentlich mehr als damals der Linkshare-Anteil.
View Job: Chief Financial Officer, San Francisco, CA
Freeborders provides extensive domain expertise to US and European companies in ... IPO experience also strongly desired. Reputation for strong financial ...www.jobsinthemoney.com/guest/viewjob.cfm?JobsID=226434 - 41k - Cached - Similar pages
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Und dass man schon findig geworden ist, zeigt folgende Ergänzung - Ihr könnt Euch durch also nicht mehr erwerben.
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Corporate Mission
To be the first place on the Internet that IT professionals visit when looking for computer-related jobs, career-information, or industry resources.
Corporate Overview
ComputerJobs.com is the Internet's leading IT employment web site. Founded in 1995 by and for Information Technology Professionals, the company provides its visitors with over 13049 high quality computer- related job opportunities and career- related content organized into 18 vertical skill sets and 20 metropolitan markets. Employers are rewarded with access to thousands of pre-screened Skills Resumes from real people including many of the best and brightest IT talent in the industry More than 4,000 companies post jobs to ComputerJobs.com including IBM, Microsoft, UPS, The Home Depot, Georgia - Pacific, Coca - Cola Corporation, BellSouth, Chick-fil-A, E&Y, Southern Company, Hall Kinion, Cornsys, Matrix, Spherion and Ciber.
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ComputerJobs.com is led by a seasoned management ream of successful IT practitioners, as well as business and human resources executives who understand the perceptions, attitudes, needs and wants of IT Professionals. The company is committed to offering The most advanced online career planning and employment site in the industry.
Ich denke, dass die am Markt in einem ersten Schritt so ca. 80 Millionen einsammeln werden und diese neu ausgegebenen Aktien dann ca. 12,5%, also ein Achtel der Aktien nach dem IPO darstellen. Von den Altaktionären dürften meines Erachtens keine Aktien für den IPO kommen, denn die wären ja angesichts der Chancen ganz schon blöd, wenn sie das tun würden. Dadurch dass es durch die Ausgabe neuer Aktien mehr Aktien gibt, würden allerdings die Anteile der Altaktionäre etwas absinken, z.B. bei Internet Capital von 33% auf knappe 30%. Wenn es 12,5% der Aktien auf 80 Millionen bringen würden, wäre die gesamte IPO-Marktkapitalisierung bei 640 Millionen. die ca. 30% von Internet Capital hätten dann einen Wert von 190 bis 200 Millionen, ein Betrag der sich in der Folgezeit leicht verdoppeln könnte. Ich gehe auch davon aus, dass Internet Capital eine Haltefrist von einem Jahr auferlegt wird. Das ist aber nicht weiter schlimm, denn in dieser Zeit haben die Aktien Zeit um im Kurs zu steigen.
Und jetzt zum Kurs von Internet Capital: Bei der Ankündigung des IPO von Freeborders gehen wir meines Erachtens sofort über 12 und wenn er über der Bühne ist und klappt bei 15 Euro.
China Aims to Outpace India in IT Outsourcing
By Dan Briody
Mainland China is ramping up its IT infrastructure and adding more than 400,000 potential IT workers every year, at rates cheaper than India. Is it the future of outsourcing?
Last year, F. Warren McFarlan completed a five-year stint in China as the senior associate dean and director of Harvard Business School's Asia-Pacific Initiative. His assessment of the current state of IT in China? "Absolutely extraordinary."
ADVERTISEMENT The dean of American IT academics, McFarlan's interest in China dates back to 1979, when he led the first Harvard Business School delegation there. In addition to his position as the Baker Foundation Professor and Albert Gordon Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at HBS, he has coauthored Seizing Strategic IT Advantage in China, in 2003, a book available only in Mandarin Chinese.
CIO Insight spoke with McFarlan from his office in Allston, Mass., about the risks and rewards of IT in China.
CIO INSIGHT: How does the state of IT in China compare with India?
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McFARLAN: First, China has a much more robust internal IT structure, networks and so forth, than does India. They've had a massive telecommunications expansion, and they have more networking capacity than people think. All of that has been a direct result of national economic policy.
Second, China is graduating about 400,000 technical graduates each year. And their university structure is good at the high end. These people coming out have strong technical skills. So they're quite competitive with the people coming out of India.
The third thing is the issue of English. The British left the English language and the university system in India, so there's a lot more work scrambling for English in China.
Can the infrastructure keep pace with the growth?
A colleague who's seen a lot of both India and China says the basic problem with India is they can't build a highway from the airport to the center of the city because of all the public interest. When that kind of decision is made in China, bang, it's done. And at this stage, IT infrastructure is high on the [Chinese] government's agenda.
Why do people in the U.S. have the wrong impression of Chinese IT?
The language issue is a problem. And all the publicity they hear about is India, India, India. When you think about India, you think about companies such as Tata, Infosys, Satyam. The comparable ones in China are much smaller.
Spread of open source could reduce piracy in China. Click here to read more.
What can you tell us about the differences between China and India when it comes to outsourcing?
India's advantage has always been the large pool of inexpensive, English-speaking talent. But now salaries in India are jumping at 25 percent or more annually. So India's cost advantage may not endure. We don't see that in China yet.
What are the risks of outsourcing to China?
The biggest risk I see is political. All of the growth in China has been heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. That has intensified the divide between rural and urban life. But as long as the government can deliver 7 percent or 8 percent growth annually, the poorer people will remain patient. The Chinese government's problem is trying to maintain a fast-enough growth rate that the citizens on balance will buy into it.
Worst case scenario, how does this play out?
The worst case scenario is that you have a revolution.
China Is Next Offshore Frontier
By Stan Gibson
June 13, 2005
Opinion: China looms over India as the next hotbed of IT outsourcing.
Outsourcing Is Growing Up
It's conventional wisdom that in it outsourcing, China is the next India. It's also conventional wisdom that China is not yet ready to be the next India. And it may be conventional wisdom that there's always someone who's ready to attack conventional wisdom.
One such attack is coming from Freeborders, an offshore outsourcing company that is placing its bet on China now, before most observers think that country is ready to assume—or usurp—the mantle of India as the world's No. 1 offshoring destination for software development.
"Our goal is to build the Infosys or Wipro of China," said Ramsey Walker, co-CEO of San Francisco-based Freeborders. Walker asserted that a company that has developed sufficient scale and maturity of process will emerge to fill that role within 12 to 24 months. "We believe that only China can rival India because of raw numbers of talent. So we are making our bet on China," Walker said.
Freeborders' gamble is well under way. The company now has 400 workers in Shenzhen, about 40 miles from Hong Kong, and aims to increase that number to 1,000. The company specializes in developing software for three vertical markets: retail and consumer products, software, and financial services. Walker described the privately held company's financial condition as "break-even."
The software development market in India is rapidly reaching saturation, Walker said. He agreed with the conventional wisdom of India critics that the country's tech sector is undergoing rapid wage inflation and that corporate loyalty extends only as far as the biggest signing bonus. "When you have teams that are turning over, and you have wage inflation of 15 to 25 percent, then India is running into issues," he said.
One Freeborders customer, software vendor BroadVision, found the outsourcer on target. Jim Harrington, senior vice president of human resources at BroadVision, said his company's decision to have some product development done by Freeborders in China was not about cost alone, although he acknowledged that BroadVision is spending only about one-fifth of what it might in the United States for the same development services. BroadVision is no newcomer to offshoring, having established a Moscow development center in 1997 and having some development work done by Indian partner Infogain.
Harrington said his company wanted to put down roots in the next offshore destination that's soon to explode with demand. "We view China as the next site of industrial revolution. We want a foothold long term in the enterprise China software market," he said. Harrington said his company's hope is that the group developing BroadVision's software will spread its expertise in China, creating a pool of talent from which BroadVision will later benefit. This will help in the future when BroadVision sells its wares in China; company executives figure the more Chinese people who are familiar with the BroadVision product line, the better the chances of future sales in that country.
One gripe of outsourcing customers is that the team working on their project is subject to change without notice. A customer may think it has signed up with the "A" team, only to have the "B" team swapped in later. But according to Harrington, BroadVision was able to meet and check out the Freeborders team that would be handling its work, with the understanding that the team would stay intact. "We did complete due diligence on the employees, HR, compensation and incentive compensation," said Harrington.
India—old news? China—the happening place? Conventional wisdom is under attack.
Out and about
Alsbridge—that's the new name for the company formed by the recently completed merger of Trowbridge Group and ALS Consulting. Trowbridge was an outsourcing consulting company based in Dallas, and ALS was a European shared services and outsourcing consultancy based in London. The company will continue to advise clients on both outsourcing and insourcing strategy and vendor selection. The combined contract value of all deals negotiated by Alsbridge executives is greater than $50 billion, the company said.
Stan Gibson can be reached at stan_gibson@ziffdavis.com.
Click here for an archive of Stan Gibson's columns.
To read more Stan Gibson, subscribe to eWEEK magazine.
Check out eWEEK.com's Outsourcing Center for the latest news, views and analysis on outsourcing
Eigentlich schade ich mir derartigen Veröffentlichungen selbst, denn ich will morgen mit einer kleiner Summe noch einmal rein.
Interessanter als die acht Millionen Dollar ist aber die Bewertung, da sie in etwa auf die Umsätze der Beteiligungen von Internet Capital übertragen werden kann. Bei 42,4 Millionen Umsätzen und 231 Millionen Börsenbewertung haben wir ein Kurs-Umsatz-Verhältnis zwischen fünf und sechs und das bei doch noch erheblichen Verlusten. Würde man das auf ca. 100 Millionen anteiligen Umsätze der nicht börsennotierte Private Helds von Internet Capital übertragen, lägen wir bei 550 Millionen - plus ca. 200 Millionen Nettocash/Wertpapiere ergäben 750 Millionen Marktkapitalisierung. Das wäre gegenüber dem jetzigen Kurs eine Kursverdoppelung und konserativ bewertet, da z.B. Freeborders oder Starcite durchaus mit KUV's von zehn richtig bewertet sind.
Traffic.com Reports Year-End and Fourth Quarter 2005 Results
Tuesday February 21, 9:36 am ET
WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2006--Traffic.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRFC - News), a leading provider of real-time traffic information in the United States, today announced financial results for the fiscal year and fourth quarter ended December 31, 2005.
Traffic.com began trading on the NASDAQ National Market on January 25, 2006. The Company will conduct its first investor conference call today at 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Date: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Time: 1:00 p.m., EST
Telephone (U.S.): 1-800-478-6251
Telephone (International): 1-913-981-5558
Webcast: investor.traffic.com/events
On-demand replay of this call will be available on the Traffic.com investor relations site: investor.traffic.com/events through March 2, 2006. Investors will be able to access the fourth quarter and year-end earnings press release on the Company's Web site at investor.traffic.com/releases.
Robert N. Verratti, chief executive officer of Traffic.com, Inc. said, "We continued to make excellent progress through the end of 2005, particularly in regard to geographic coverage expansion with an increase over the last twelve months from 24 to 35 metropolitan areas, as well as with the launch of our cross-platform advertising initiatives. Also during 2005, the addition of valuable customers such as Motorola, Viacom, The Weather Channel, and Comcast continues to strengthen our position as a leading franchise in the traffic category."
Annual revenues increased from $42.4 million in 2004 to $43.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2005. Fourth quarter revenues for 2005 were $11.2 million, compared with $11.4 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
More importantly, significant progress was made in growing traffic data service revenues. Revenue in this category was up 47.7% for the year, from $3.0 million to $4.4 million. Fourth quarter revenues for 2005 were $1.4 million, compared with $1.1 million in the fourth quarter the previous year. The Company expects traffic data revenue to continue to grow in amount and as a percentage of revenues as automobile manufacturers, Web portals, wireless providers, and others consider traffic content a compelling addition to current service offerings.
Consistent with the growth strategy for the Company's business model, higher margin owned inventory revenue, included in advertising revenue, generated from multi-year radio and television station contracts increased 9.1% from $30.3 million in 2004 to $33.0 million in 2005. However, 2004 revenues include $5.6 million from a customer contract that the Company elected not to renew in 2005 due to unacceptable terms proposed by that customer. In the fourth quarter of 2005, owned inventory revenue was $8.2 million versus $8.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2004, which included revenues of $1.3 million from the unrenewed contract.
The Company recorded a net loss per share of ($13.00) for the full year in 2005 (which included a $5.32 per share charge resulting from the $18.5 million legal settlement expense in the second and third quarters of 2005), as compared to a net loss per share of ($5.91) for the prior year. The net loss per share in the fourth quarter was ($2.31), compared to a net loss per share of ($1.01) for the comparable period the year before.
Verratti added, "We are confident in our expanded business model though it is in its early stages, particularly our Interactive Media business segment. We believe our customer and partner relationships, as well as our technology delivered across multiple platforms, will continue to gain value."
2005 Operational Highlights:
The Company significantly expanded its geographic reach during 2005, growing from 24 to 35 metropolitan areas during the year. All Company my traffic.com personalized services including alerts delivered via email, voice and mobile services were made available to all metropolitan areas.
Monthly unique visitors to www.traffic.com grew to more than 1.2 million in December 2005, a 129% increase over monthly unique visitors for the month of September 2005, and registered users of www.traffic.com grew to more than 100,000 in December 2005. These increases were principally due to geographic expansion and increased marketing efforts, including the promotion of personalized service offerings. Led by a newly created Interactive Media advertising sales team in combination with the Company's existing sales force, the fourth quarter 2005 brought the Company's first direct Internet advertising customers and revenues. Also in the fourth quarter 2005, the Company began marketing its TrafficOne(TM) solution for co-branded traffic Web sites with its radio, television, and traffic data services partners. Because of the cross-platform nature of the Company's services, management considers the above factors comprehensively, as opposed to individually, when determining its progress.
During the fourth quarter 2005, the Company continued ongoing enhancements to its Web site including Jam Factor® Predictive Trending, which combines the Company's real-time data collection and complex analysis capability with its advanced technology to indicate improving or worsening traffic congestion.
In the fourth quarter 2005, San Diego and St. Louis accepted the Traffic.com sensor systems that were built for their major highways. These new deployments continue the Company's success with all eight of its Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure Program (ITIP) systems accepted on the first pass by State Departments of Transportation.
As part of the Company's geographic growth, it continues to add television station partners, ending 2005 with 47 television stations under contract compared to 31 at the end of 2004.
2006 Operational Updates:
The Company today announced an agreement with Microsoft to integrate traffic technology and real-time content into various Microsoft products and services. This multi-year agreement provides for the development of integrated traffic offerings delivered to Microsoft users via the mobile phone or other devices. The companies expect the first products and services to be made available later this year.
In February 2006, the Company renewed its contract with Emmis Communications Corporation, under which it provides a diverse suite of content and operational solutions to Emmis radio stations in seven major U.S. markets.
Nine additional metropolitan areas of coverage have been made available under the Company's contract with NAVTEQ, whereby Company traffic data is now supplied for a total of 30 metropolitan areas via XM Satellite Radio into in-vehicle and aftermarket navigation systems.
In January 2006, the Company completed the purchase of a patent and other assets of MyTrafficNews.com, a leader in traffic information and delivery in the Denver, CO market.
In January 2006, the Company began offering all personalized services for online, voice and mobile traffic information free of charge for its registered my traffic.com users. These free offerings are also available to users registered with TrafficOne co-branded partner sites.
Traffic.com, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Quarter Ended
---------------------------------------------
Dec 31, Mar 31, Jun 30, Sep 30, Dec 31,
2004 2005 2005 2005 2005
-------- -------- -------- --------- --------
Revenue:
Advertising $10,299 $8,330 $11,177 $9,564 $9,800
Traffic data services 1,081 930 969 1,126 1,397
-------- -------- -------- --------- --------
11,380 9,260 12,146 10,690 11,197
Cost of revenue 7,913 7,627 8,319 8,595 9,026
-------- -------- -------- --------- --------
Gross margin 3,467 1,633 3,827 2,095 2,171
Operating expenses:
Research and development 895 807 797 983 1,318
Sales and marketing 2,728 3,783 3,529 3,733 5,132
General and
administrative 1,838 1,697 2,495 1,945 2,567
Legal settlements - - 4,223 14,250 -
-------- -------- -------- --------- --------
5,461 6,287 11,044 20,911 9,017
======== ======== ======== ========= ========
Loss from operations (1,994) (4,654) (7,217) (18,816) (6,846)
Interest income
(expense), net (855) (1,127) (1,686) (1,416) (1,380)
-------- -------- -------- --------- --------
Net loss $(2,849) $(5,781) $(8,903) $(20,232) $(8,226)
======== ======== ======== ========= ========
Redemption and accretion
of redeemable
convertible preferred
stock (536) (536) (553) (554) (394)
-------- -------- -------- --------- --------
Net income (loss)
attributable to common
stockholders $(3,385) $(6,317) $(9,456) $(20,786) $(8,620)
======== ======== ======== ========= ========
Net loss per common
share $(1.01) $(1.89) $(2.80) $(6.05) $(2.31)
======== ======== ======== ========= ========
Weighted average common
shares outstanding 3,351 3,346 3,377 3,438 3,735
======== ======== ======== ========= ========
Traffic.com, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
Year Ended December 31,
-----------------------------
2003 2004 2005
-----------------------------
Revenue:
Advertising $36,045 $39,449 $38,871
Traffic data services 581 2,993 4,422
License agreement 750 - -
--------- --------- ---------
37,376 42,442 43,293
Cost of revenue 30,988 32,090 33,567
--------- --------- ---------
Gross margin 6,388 10,352 9,726
Operating expenses:
Research and development 2,828 3,647 3,905
Sales and marketing 14,086 12,032 16,177
General and administrative 6,402 7,229 8,704
Legal settlements - - 18,473
--------- --------- ---------
23,316 22,908 47,259
========= ========= =========
Loss from operations (16,928) (12,556) (37,533)
Interest income (expense), net (4,151) (3,428) (5,609)
--------- --------- ---------
Net loss $(21,079) $(15,984) $(43,142)
========= ========= =========
Redemption and accretion of
redeemable convertible preferred
stock 34,824 (2,128) (2,037)
--------- --------- ---------
Net income (loss) attributable to
common stockholders $13,745 $(18,112) $(45,179)
========= ========= =========
Net income (loss) attributable to
common stockholders per share:
Basic $5.15 $(5.91) $(13.00)
Diluted $1.45 $(5.91) $(13.00)
Number of shares used in per share
calculation:
Basic 2,671 3,064 3,474
Diluted 9,492 3,064 3,474
Traffic.com, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data
(In thousands)
Dec. 31, Sept. 30, Dec. 31,
2004 2005 2005
----------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents $4,898 $17,362 $13,143
Total assets 33,730 54,319 54,978
Long-term deferred revenue and deferred
license fees 26,963 32,002 32,646
Senior secured credit facility and accrued
interest 23,744 36,665 37,659
Other long-term liabilities - 288 678
Redeemable convertible preferred stock 39,814 56,583 56,977
Total stockholders' deficit (66,120) (92,620) (97,677)
About Traffic.com
Traffic.com is a leading provider of accurate, real-time traffic information in the United States, based on the quality of its traffic data and the extent of its geographic coverage. Traffic.com offers detailed traffic information, including specific needs, travel times and delay times. A sophisticated traffic information management system allows Traffic.com to process information in real time and deliver customized reports to large numbers of radio, television, Internet, wireless and in-vehicle navigation system users. Traffic.com provides traffic information for 35 of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and San Francisco. Traffic.com's data services customers include the Weather Channel®, Motorola's VIAMOTO(TM) Solutions, XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic for the Acura RL and Cadillac CTS.
trfc-e
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2006--StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions(TM), today announced that HelmsBriscoe, the world's largest meetings and conference resource firm, has renewed a five-year contract to incorporate StarCite's Online Marketplace into its 'HB Express' tool. By integrating the StarCite Marketplace into its offering, HelmsBriscoe associates have been able to source meetings to suppliers with increased efficiency and enhanced speed since 2002. As the world's largest online meetings marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities, the StarCite Marketplace helps streamline the request for proposal process for HelmsBriscoe clients.
"StarCite's pioneering technology has directly contributed to our success over the last three years and we are confident that our partnership will continue to enhance our business for the next five years," said Roger Helms, Founder and CEO of HelmsBriscoe. "Their new Supplier Response Center offers even more technological capabilities to better serve our clients, and helps our hotels manage electronic RFPs almost immediately by offering clients instant information, including space availability and pricing."
"We have also been very impressed with StarCite's database, particularly its international growth," added Greg Malark, Executive Vice President of HelmsBriscoe.
Since the beginning of its relationship with StarCite in 2002, HelmsBriscoe has grown 30% per year. Each year, the company sources more than 15,000 requests for proposals through the StarCite Online Marketplace and books well over 2.7 million room nights a year with over $500 million in room spend. Today HelmsBriscoe works with 740 sales associates throughout North America to service over 7,000 clients, while continuing to build its international presence with over 120 associates in 23 countries around the world. HelmsBriscoe and StarCite have trained thousands of hotels on executing StarCite's unique technology to give them access to faster and more accurate RFP information.
"We are very proud to be working side by side with the fastest growing international meetings sourcing firm in the world for another five years," said Michael Boult, President and Chief Executive Officer of StarCite, Inc. "StarCite and HelmsBriscoe are focused on growing our businesses domestically and internationally by implementing the most effective and advanced technology to improve client services. Together, we have enhanced one another's global success and we are very excited about what's to come."
In addition to the co-developed version of the StarCite Marketplace listed on the HelmsBriscoe platform, the companies will continue to collaborate on a technology platform that combines HelmsBriscoe's account management and back office systems with StarCite to improve the tracking of business and internal operations flow. HelmsBriscoe also continues to gain access to comprehensive reporting that details its company spend by meeting, supplier, chain or spend category, vastly increasing efficiencies, reducing costs and improving customer service.
About StarCite, Inc.
StarCite, Inc. is the leading provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions(TM). StarCite optimizes global investments in corporate meetings and events delivering visibility, savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency, enabling technology and proven adoption management support to drive significant cost reduction to buyers and enhanced revenues to suppliers. StarCite is based in Philadelphia. Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more information about StarCite, or its technologies and services, please visit www.starcite.com.
Products and services include:
-- StarCite GMS(TM) - the integrated platform that powers
StarCite's Global Meeting Solutions approach and five steps to
guaranteed success - Plan, Budget, Buy, Attend and Measure.
-- StarCite Marketplace - the world's largest online meetings
marketplace with $2 billion in revenue opportunities and
50,000 eRFPs.
-- StarCite Adoption Management - proven implementation,
training, benchmarking, customer support, account management
and outsourced services that help you target achievable
savings and improve overall results.
About HelmsBriscoe
HelmsBriscoe (www.helmsbriscoe.com) is the meeting industry's leading conference resource firm. 740 associates in 23 countries serve corporate, associate, and government clients in planning meetings around the world. Its subsidiary, ResourceOne, is a full-service meeting management, cruise, and air company. Founded in 1992, HelmsBriscoe is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
CONTACT: For StarCite:
Sloane & Company
John Hartz, 212-446-1872
jhartz@sloanepr.com
or
HelmsBriscoe
Kristy McCloud, 480-718-1124
kmccloud@helmsbriscoe.com
SOURCE: StarCite, Inc.
Strength in numbers
Olaf De Senerpont Domis
February 17, 2006
Sometimes a tiny, almost unnoticed acquisition can underline an important and growing global
technology trend.
Information technology outsourcer Freeborders Inc.'s announcement this month that it acquired
financial services consulting firm ITK Solutions LLC didn't grab any headlines. But the deal lends
strength to the notion that India's title as the technology outsourcing capital of the world might soon be
in jeopardy.
San Francisco-based Freeborders relies solely on expertise from its Shenzhen, China, technology
center to develop customer software, integrate systems and conduct product life-cycle management
projects for companies in the U.S. and Europe. Acquiring ITK for an undisclosed price gives
Freeborders a key business process consulting practice that includes some of the largest global
investment banks and hedge funds — all avid users of IT outsourcing.
The deal is a logical marriage of ITK's "front end" consultancy expertise with Freeborders' ability to
deliver the customized software needed to translate ITK's advice into reality for clients. But what's
fascinating is Freeborders' reliance on Chinese, not Indian, engineers.
The linchpin to the transaction is China's low-cost, highly educated technology talent pool, says
Freeborders co-CEO, Ramsey Walker, and how that contrasts with India. Salaries in India have
increased 13% each year since 2000 for entry-level software developers and 23% annually for midlevel
managers, he says, which is helping drive a large amount of employee turnover in the region.
"Engineers [in India] are jumping from company to company for modestly better offers, so American and
European customers are facing attrition rates on teams of 20% to 50%," Walker says. "When that
happens with software, the quality of the deliverable and the time it takes to deliver goes down
significantly."
The higher wages in India are also highlighting the cost effectiveness of outsourcing in China. Labor
costs are as much as 40% lower in China than India, and China produces 352,000 engineering
graduates compared with 184,000 in India. This abundance of technology savvy in China highlights
increasing problems large companies face when relying on Indian outsourcers, Walker says.
Freeborders' new Chinese software developers have plenty of business, ITK founder Susan Kirchoff
adds. "We focused on project management and business analysis, which are front-end services," she
says. "But we've heard from clients that we don't have the software engineers, to actually deliver a
solution."
A common project for ITK, for example, would be to evaluate an investment bank's capital markets
software applications, note its limitations, compare it to what rivals use and recommend how to improveit. With ITK in the picture, Freeborders' engineering team in Shenzhen can tailor or update new
software.
"There was a gap that can be bridged now," Kirchoff says. And not just by comparatively small
companies such as Freeborders, which expects to have 1,000 technologists in China by the end of
2006. Last year, for example, Microsoft Corp. announced a deal with the outsourcing unit of India's
sprawling Tata Group and the Chinese government to form a venture to provide technology
outsourcing in the region beginning this year.
"The demand is just beginning to pick up in China, and the supply and talent is very significant," Walker
says. And like Tata, other rivals to the Chinese outsourcing industry can't help but acknowledge its
ascendancy. Vivek Paul, the former vice chairman of Indian IT giant Wipro Ltd., told a Silicon Valley
audience last year his company had established an operation in Shanghai that is "ready to scale" to
meet clients' demand. "China is one of those places that you cannot ignore," said Paul, who has since
left Wipro to become a partner at Texas Pacific Group.
But is China the new India? "The market is a few years away from full development," Paul argues. Of
course, this might make it the right time to get a foothold in the Chinese market, both for Freeborders
and its investors, including FTVentures, which led the recent $20 million round that funded the ITK
acquisition.
The New York venture firm invests in early- to mid-stage software and services firms that serve the
financial sector. More importantly, FTVentures' limited partners are 38 large financial institutions — and
potential customers.
"Financial institutions are thought leaders in offshore outsourcing, so obviously our LPs have lots of
demands for outsourcing services," says FTVentures principal Chris Winship. "We certainly introduce
our investors to Freeborders."
The deal isn't FTVentures' first investment in the outsourcing market. The firm bought a stake in India's
ExlService Holdings Inc. The startup's potential return to FTVentures has been in limbo, however, as
its filing for an initial public offering has lingered since December 2004.
Does this market reluctance show a growing concern about India's place atop outsourcing? That's hard
to tell. But U.S. and European companies that have relied on the region for technology expertise are
studying other sources, Winship says.
"Most offshore outsourcing is obviously still being done in India, but many Fortune 100 companies are
starting to worry about overexposure there," he says. Which could make the Chinese market a smart
hedge for companies seeking an alternative source for technology talent and for private investors
looking for solid investments.
Olaf de Senerpont Domis is West Coast bureau chief for The Deal.
Contact: Regina Barboza for Freeborders, 973-313-1689 barbozar@optonline.net
YAKKA, AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST SUPPLIER OF WORK AND CORPORATE APPAREL, SELECTS FREEBORDERS SOLUTIONS TO GAIN EFFICIENCIES AND SPEED PRODUCTS TO MARKET
Major Manufacturer to Improve Communications and Data Sharing Between Affiliate Companies and Suppliers
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, February 22, 2006— Freeborders today announced that Yakka, Australia's largest manufacturer of work and corporate clothing, along with its affiliate companies NNT, Dowd Corp, CTE and Icon, will streamline development processes using Freeborders FB Product Manager, FB Fabric & Trim, and FB Workflow solutions.
Yakka needed to ensure that style specifications could be updated across the entire enterprise, which includes Yakka Hard Wear and sister brands, Neat N Trim, Dowd Corp, Can't Tear ‘Em, and Icon, the Australian distributor of Lee Jeans. It also needed to ensure that users could globally search the database to ensure efficiencies and speed production. With the Yakka Hard Wear brand alone providing more than 50 percent of Australia's work clothes and as the private label supplier of work apparel for many leading corporations and banks, the ability to quickly create styles and replicate them was critical.
“Through Yakka's recent acquisitions, we inherited companies that had disparate systems and processes for developing and maintaining specifications – it was a major challenge having all of those files all over the network and not being able to find anything easily or to do global replace easily,” said Stephen Ryan, Systems Manager of Shared Apparel Services, one of Yakka's enterprise IT services groups.
“We chose Freeborders solutions for their ability to provide efficiencies and ease-of-use. In addition, one of the biggest reasons that we chose them over any other provider was because their solutions are web-enabled. Now it's easy to get our suppliers to come in our LAN and get the most current spec and even tell them there is a spec change they need to retrieve.”
“We were able to fulfill a critical need for Yakka,” said Debbie Baldini, Managing Director, Retail Practice, Freeborders. “We have one of the largest development teams in the world dedicated to product lifecycle management and our services group is adept at integrating disparate systems with enterprise solutions. We implemented the initial rollout of solutions for Yakka in a very tight timeframe to provide the visibility and data accuracy they need to accelerate products to market.”
FB Product Manager enables retailers and brands to create, review and approve all elements of a product specification, including the bill of materials, colorways, fit, samples and costs. Summary and drill-down views allow users to gain visibility of multiple styles, SKUs, orders, and other critical data.
Using FB Fabric & Trim, companies have access to a single checkpoint for material specifications, sample and cost requests. FB Fabric & Trim facilitates collaboration with textile and trim suppliers on raw material data. Brands can communicate with textile and trim suppliers, quality and testing facilities, agents and factories with greater ease to ensure their products have the right physical standards, colorways, print, weave, composition, fiber content and cost.
FB Workflow provides simple and effective time and action calendars so retailers and brands can proactively track progress through the product lifecycle. FB Workflow allows all supply chain partners to securely view product and order milestones, and receive automatic, configurable status alerts.
About Freeborders
Freeborders is the leading provider of technology solutions and outsourcing from China. Freeborders provides extensive domain expertise to U.S. and European companies in five vertical markets: retail/consumer goods, financial services, software and high technology, manufacturing and transportation, logistics & hospitality. Headquartered in San Francisco with offices on three continents, Freeborders has developed a track record of service delivery to the Fortune 1000 by combining world-class project management in both hemispheres with one of the largest technology centers in China. Freeborders believes China's massive and growing supply of IT talent and the country's emerging importance in the global supply chain make China a strategic imperative for any company seeking cost-effective world-class technology solutions.
Mein Tipp: Kauft die Aktie den Schwachsinnigen ab, die die Zusammenhänge nicht durchschauen, bzw. dem Shortseller, der glaubt, dass es viele Schwachsinnige gibt - kann auch sein, dass der nur irrt.
UPDATE 1-Internet Capital's Dolanski to no longer serve as CFO
Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:43 PM ET
(Adds CFO's settlement details)
Feb 22 (Reuters) - Internet Capital Group Inc. (ICGE.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday said its Chief Financial Officer Anthony Dolanski will no longer serve in that position as he agreed to settle a litigation brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
FACT BOX
ICGE.O (Internet Capital Group Inc)
Last: $9.07
Change: -0.12
Up/Down: -1.31%
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UPDATE 3-SEC hits 4 KPMG execs with record fines over Xerox
UPDATE 2-SEC hits 4 KPMG execs with record fines over Xerox
UPDATE 1-Internet Capital's Dolanski to no longer serve as CFO
The company named Vice President of Finance and Controller Kirk Morgan as CFO and said Dolanski will continue with it as a managing director.
In a statement, Internet Capital said Dolanski will not serve as CFO as the settlement provides for a one-year suspension from appearing or practicing as an accountant before the securities regulator.
The company said Dolanski has agreed to settle the suit as part of a global settlement with the remaining defendants in the case. He neither admits nor denies the SEC's allegations and findings, it added.
In 2003, the SEC brought a civil suit against KPMG and five of its current and former partners involved in KPMG's audits of Xerox Corp. (XRX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) from 1997 through 2000, including Dolanski, Internet Capital said.
Dolanski was named in the suit with respect to his service as the engagement partner on the audit of Xerox's 1997 financials, the company said. (Reporting by Deepti Chaudhary in Bangalore)
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq and all other quotes delayed by at least 15 minutes.
Reuters does not endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.
Den Kurs lässt das alles unberührt und es geht nach Süden.
Gar nicht auszumalen, wenn die Institutionellen jetzt noch kalte Füsse bekommen, dann finden wir uns bald in der Antarktis wieder
Immer die selben Heulnummern,
das war damals bei 3,40 Dollar so,
bei 4 Dollar nicht anders,
auch bei 5 Dollar immer noch das selbe Blockwartgesülze,
und damals bei 6 Dollar sollte begleitet von Dumm-Dumm-Sprüchen aus dem kindlichen Sprachgebrauch, wie "hi-hi" und ähnliche Lallotationen aus dem Kindergarten, der Anleger weiter vom Geldverdienen abgehalten werden,
bei sieben Dollar gerieten die Commerce One-Verzocker dann langsam in den Zustand des Wahnsinns,
der sich dann bei acht Dollar noch steigerte, als sie merkten wie die Eigentümer von Internet Capital ihren Einsatz verdoppelten
und bei neun Dollar brannten dann die Sicherungén völlig durch: Seither erleben wir noch Frustdarstellungen von dem Wahnsinn nahen Verzocken.
Mein einziger Kommentar: Arme Brut, gönnt wenigstens anderen Leute ihre Kursgewinne.
![](http://www.ariva.de//board/pneditor/images/em.icon.wink.gif)
boomt und mit der 27%-Beteiligung Credittrade steht Internet Capital mitten drin.
Kreditderivate
Kreditderivate eignen sich nicht nur zur Absicherung von Ausfallrisiken.
Sie sind auch eine interessante Assetklasse für institutionelle Anleger.
Das Grundprinzip ist einfach:
Der Verkäufer eines Kreditderivats
übernimmt das Kreditrisiko
einer Anleihe oder eines Kreditportfolios;
der Käufer zahlt ihm
dafür eine Prämie. Bei Insolvenz
des Anleiheemittenten, Zahlungsausfall,
einer Umschuldung zu
Lasten des Gläubigers oder in
vergleichbaren Fällen leistet der
Verkäufer dem Käufer einen Ausgleich.
Üblicherweise geschieht
dies, indem der Verkäufer dem
Käufer den Nennwert der Anleihe
auszahlt und von ihm dafür die
Anleihe erhält (Abb. 1).
Mit Kreditderivaten lässt sich
das individuelle Kreditrisiko vom
Marktrisiko trennen und separat absichern.
Kreditderivate sind aber
mehr als nur Absicherungsinstrumente:
Da man sie handeln kann,
sind sie auch Anlageinstrumente,
eine eigenständige Assetklasse.
CDS, CDO und TRS
Je nachdem, in welchen Fällen
der Käufer eine Ausgleichszahlung
bekommt, unterscheidet man
zwischen Credit Default Swaps
(CDS), Credit Spread Options
(CDO) und Total Rate of Return
Swaps (TRS). Credit Default
Swaps sichern das reine Ausfallrisiko
einer Anleihe ab, bei Credit
Spread Options wird die Ausgleichszahlung
bei einer Bonitätsverschlechterung
fällig. Beim Total
Return Swap wird das Gesamtrisiko
der Referenzanleihe bzw.
eines Kreditportfolios an den Verkäufer
weitergegeben. Aus diesen
drei Grundtypen können weitere,
zum Teil sehr verschachtelte Kreditderivate
gebildet werden, die
auch als synthetische CDO bezeichnet
werden. Für Anleger, die
nicht direkt in Kreditderivate
investieren dürfen, sind Credit
Linked Notes interessant. Sie
kombinieren Kreditderivate mit
Schuldverschreibungen.
Ein Wachstumsmarkt …
Seit 1997 ist das Volumen
ausstehender Kreditderivate exponentiell
gestiegen (Abb. 2). Mittlerweile
beträgt es fast fünf Billionen
US-Dollar weltweit. Nach
Angaben der British Bankers’
Association hat es bereits 70%
des Volumens sämtlicher Credit-
Anleihen erreicht, wobei CDS klar
dominieren. Bereits heute ist absehbar,
dass das Volumen der
Derivate das der originären Anleihen
bald deutlich übersteigen
wird. Das ist nicht ganz unproblematisch,
da neben der tatsächlichen
Absicherung von Kreditrisi-
sich effiziente Credit-Portfolios
aufbauen und Kreditrisiken einfach
absichern.
In Zeiten niedriger Renditen hat
sich der Kreditderivatemarkt rasant
weiterentwickelt. Für Ende
des Jahres ist die Einführung eines
Futures auf den DJ iTraxx
Europe Benchmark Index geplant.
Dieser Future sollte vom Markt
sehr gut aufgenommen werden,
da er ein hohes Maß an Liquidität
verspricht und auch kleineren Investoren
den Aufbau effizienter
Credit-Portfolios ermöglicht.
September 2005 mehrWERT Seite 6
ken vermehrt spekulative Positionen
aufgebaut werden (nicht zuletzt
von Hedgefonds) und auf
diese Weise ein beträchtliches
systembedingtes Risiko entsteht.
Zu den wichtigsten Akteuren
am Kreditderivatemarkt zählen
aber nicht Hedgefonds, sondern
Banken und Versicherungen. Banken
sind vor allem als Käufer
aktiv, während Versicherungen
die weltweit größten Nettoverkäufer
sind. In Zeiten niedriger
Rentenmarktrenditen versuchen
sie so, zusätzliche Erträge zu erzielen.
Dies gilt allerdings nicht
für Deutschland, da aufsichtsrechtliche
Bestimmungen dem
entgegenstehen.
Eine interessante Assetklasse …
Nicht nur für Versicherungen
sind Kreditderivate eine interessante
Alternative zum Kauf oder
Verkauf von Credit-Anleihen. Für
andere institutionelle Anleger
sind Derivate nicht minder interessant,
bieten sie doch zwei
wichtige Vorteile: Zum einen
kann man mit ihnen an der Kursentwicklung
des Credit-Marktes
partizipieren, ohne in gleichem
Umfang Liquidität zu binden wie
bei einer Investition in die originären
Anleihen (Abb. 3). Zum
anderen reagieren CDS – vermutlich
genau aus diesem Grund –
deutlich schneller auf bonitätsrelevante
Nachrichten als ihre Underlyings.
… und ein liquiderer Markt
Zuletzt haben insbesondere die
Dow-Jones-iTraxx-Indexprodukte
deutlich an Bedeutung gewonnen.
Sie ermöglichen einen diversifizierten
und hochliquiden Zugang
zu Euro-denominierten Kreditrisiken.
Das mit Abstand wichtigste
Derivat ist der DJ iTraxx Europe
Benchmark Index, der die 125 liquidesten
europäischen CDS enthält
und als CDS-Basket sowie
als Credit Linked Note zu erwerben
ist.
Dolansky issue is ancient history.
by: pumper_proud
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 02/23/06 12:06 pm
Msg: 239950 of 239954
Wie ich schon gestern erläutert hatte, ist der heutige Finanzvorstand von Internet Capital, Dolansky, früher einer der renommiertesten Parnter der Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft KPMG gewesen und war in dieser Eigenschaft in den 90er Jahren für die Prüfung von Xerox zuständig. 1997 wird ihm von SEC vorgeworfen, über längere Zeitraum anfallende Leasinggebühren bei Xerox nicht sachgerecht auf die Jahre verteilt zu haben, was den Gewinn in einem Jahr vergrößtere, während er dann später niedriger war - fast ein Nonevent, denn die Art der Verbuchung ist umstritten. Vieles spricht nämlich für die Verbuchungspraxis von Dolansky, die Leasingserlöse nicht ganz gleichmäßig zu verteilen, sondern am Anfang etwas höhere Erträge anzsetzen - im Einklang mit den anfangs höheren Kosten.
Es ging also hier um eine Kleinigkeit, die neun Jahre her ist und nun wirklich nichts mit Internet Capital zu tun hat. Dolansky ist für ein Jahr nicht Finanzschef bei Internet Capital (so lautet die Buße der SEC), sondern agiert dort "nur" als Managing Director und sein Stellvertreter übernimmt für diese Zeit das Amt. Ob das irgendetwas ändert, könnt Ihr sicher selbst beurteilen.
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1 Nutzer wurde vom Verfasser von der Diskussion ausgeschlossen: Scansoft