SoftGram Bi-Weekly for 08.14.2005, Vol. 1, No. 3 A Softletter Publication ========================================================= To unsubscribe from SoftGram, please use the link below and check the "unsubcribe from SofGram checkbox" at the bottom of the form: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/Profile.aspx You can resume your subscription anytime by returning to this form and unchecking this box. If you have not changed your profile, your username is the first letter of your first name and the first seven letters of your last name. Your password is "softletter." To update your address or change your profile, please use the link below: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/myMain.aspx To ensure you continue to receive your copy of Softletter, please add SoftGram@ezine.softletter.com to your white list. If you have any questions or concerns, please E-mail RickChapman@softletter.com _________________________________________________________ The latest issue of SoftGram is brought to you by: Macrovision Stop relying on generic e-mail blasts to sell your software Now software companies can easily send targeted messages directly to their end user's desktop with Update Service - part of the Macrovision FLEXnet platform. Download the 'Going Beyond Email' white paper. Learn how you can achieve a 70% response rate and generate more revenue from customers and trial users. Find out more at: http://clk.atdmt.com/MSI/go/mvo0130000030msi/direct/01/ ******************************* Business Objects Integrate Crystal Reports XI in your application. Find out why more than 700 OEM partners, including Microsoft, IBM, PeopleSoft and SAP, have taken advantage of the business intelligence (BI) industry's most advanced and complete platform for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, and data integration to increase both revenues and customer satisfaction. Find out more at: http://www.bobjects.com/email_imp/bi_nl/june05/infoline_resource.html _________________________________________________________ THE LATEST SURVEYS IN SOFTLETTER INCLUDE: Benchmarks: General & Administrative Costs Unlike R&D costs, which supposedly reward investment with competitive new products, and S&M costs, which should be related fairly directly to revenue, G&A costs stubbornly refuse to go away (and resist reduction). And although they do have a linear relationship with revenue, that relationship is inverse with the size of the firm.Because they are so tied to fixed costs (rent, insurance, accounting), they are difficult to pare when sales decline. The best way to reduce their bite of net revenue is to grow that revenue. The table on the next page shows for each of the Benchmark 50 firms the percentage of net revenue consumed by G&A costs for each of three years, and the three-year average for that firm. The median percentage figure for each software segment is given for the individual three years, and for the three-year period. Some firms (marked with an asterisk) combine G&A with S&M in their financial reports; their figures are entered in the table, but are not used in computing the segment medians or the all-companies median. If we look all the way back to 2000, G&A costs for the Benchmark 50 have remained stubbornly around 13%. The variability among individual firms can be quite large: from lows of about 5% for Symantec and Apollo Group (despite the latter company's being in the high-cost Education segment) to 46% and 50% (both in Education). While some companies as expected shrink their G&A ratio as revenues rise (MapInfo, Tumbleweed, Autodesk), and McAfee shows an increasing ratio as its revenues decline, Mercury Interactive is unable to shrink the ratio despite significant revenue growth. (Data for this analysis has been drawn from the Benchmark 50, a group of 50 public software companies whose financial results are broadly representative of trends in the software marketplace. The 50 companies are divided into seven product- and market-related segments, plus Microsoft in a categoryof its own.) Excerpted from the July 31st issue of Softletter (http://www.softletter.com) _________________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS INCLUDE: Marketing and Selling Open Source Software October 6th and 7th, Burlington, MA (Just outside Boston) November 10th and 11th, San Jose, CA Marketing and Selling Open Source is the first seminar dedicated to focusing on the growing business of selling Open Source products and services. Open Source has made the transition from a novelty to a powerful economic force in the software industry. This seminar answers the question: How do you grow a successful business using Open Source as a platform to profits? The seminar agenda will cover: * Successful Open Source business models * Case studies from companies successfully selling Open Source software and services * Fear, uncertainty, and doubt: Combating Open Source FUD * Managing intellectual property in the context of Open Source development * The GPL (and its myriad cousins): What are your obligations? * Integrating proprietary and Open Source products into your business model * The growth of Open Source: A look into trends, growth, and new markets The cost to attend Softletter's two day "Marketing and Selling Open Source Software, 2005" is $895 but if you register by September 30th you can register for $795 and save $100. Register today at: http://www.softletter.com/pages/MSOSS.shtml SAVE MORE WITH GROUP REGISTRATIONS! Save an additional $100 if you register two people from the same company, $200 per additional attendee if you register three or more! To book your group today, please call toll free 1.888.479.6663 ******************************* SLAM 2005 SLAM 2005 is the one Sales and Marketing Conference for the Software Industry that offers insight and training from leading sales executives in the software business. Software executives from SAP, Data Synapse, attachmateWRQ, Sage Software and KnowledgeStorm, as well as top consultants to the industry's leading companies, will share their expertise getting sales. Over 20 sessions on running your sales and marketing operations. For more information on the sessions and program, please visit the web site at: http://www.softwarebusinessonline.com/slam_conf2005_index.htm _________________________________________________________ From The Softletter Forums: We have determined that many, if not most, IT implementations in the public sector (hospitals, schools, etc.) fail in the international marketplace, particularly in 'developing' countries. This can in the main be ascribed to product and services pricing policies that do not take into account the 'ability-to-pay' requirement when dealing with developing countries. Our firm, Heron Technology Corp., accordingly, prices its software products (for public hospitals) and support on the basis of the GDP per capita of each country. Read this thread at: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/forums.aspx?f=thread&thread_id=4 _________________________________________________________ INFO POPS are sponsored by: License Technologies Group Since 1996, License Technologies Group (LTG) has been the established leader in providing solutions specifically designed for software publishers to more efficiently manage their software licensing business. Our systems and services support software license management, renewals management, eCommerce, Digital Rights Management, Partner Relationship Management and global fulfillment. We understand all of the nuances and best practices necessary to harness the power and profitability volume license and compliance programs can provide. Our experience in providing these solutions helps softwa practices and gain a strategic advantage on their competition. Smart Tools. Big Savings. http://www.licensetech.com ******************************* INFO POPS The founder of a Redmond, Wash.-based custom application and services provider is considering taking action to challenge Microsoft Corp. over the naming of the next version of the Windows operating system. John Wall, CEO of Vista Inc., said his company is "considering all of its options" for a potential case against Microsoft because of the company's choice of the name Windows Vista for the version of the operating system previously code-named Longhorn (see Update: Microsoft's Longhorn becomes Windows Vista). Excerpted from: http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,103481,00.html?source=NLT_MSFT&nid=103481 ******************************* If Microsoft expects the rest of the world to bow in submission to its trademarks, it should have the decency to steer clear of the trademarks of companies that lack the resources to put up a legitimate fight. Companies like Epicor Software, Integrated Decision Systems, Gambro, Carter Pertaine and Science Horizons -- all of which have trademarked software products called "Vista" -- can coexist because none is overwhelmingly dominant across vertical markets. Windows Vista dramatically alters that landscape. http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,103545,00.html?source=NLT_SH&nid=103545 ******************************* The staff of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been deluged with paperwork from Microsoft of late. It was one year ago that the company's chairman, Bill Gates, announced plans to pick up the pace, raising its goal of patent applications submitted annually to 3,000 from 2,000. The company is right on target. It must feel like a bit of a stretch to come up with 60 fresh, nonobvious patentable ideas week in, week out. Perhaps that is why this summer's crop includes titles like "System and Method for Creating a Note Related to a Phone Call" and "Adding and Removing White Space From a Document." Excerpted from: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/business/yourmoney/31digi.html ******************************* The Canadian PC market achieved its eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in the second quarter of 2005, say market analysts at IDC Canada. This conclusion is based on preliminary figures in IDC's Canadian Quarterly PC Tracker. Shipments rose 20.5 per cent year over year and for the first time broke the 1-million mark in the second quarter, traditionally a quiet time for PC sales. The notebook market saw growth of 40 per cent in the second quarter over the same period last year. Desktop shipments rose 14 per cent, and were also driven largely by the consumer and small business segments. Excerpted from: http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050729.gtsales0729/BNStory/Technology/ _________________________________________________________ NEW RESOURCES ON www.Softletter.com INCLUDE: PRICING, Taxes National Association of Counties: www.naco.org. 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