August 19, 2005

IN THE NEWS Salesforce.com announced record results for the fiscal second quarter of 2006, ending July 31, 2005. Total revenue increased 77 percent over last year and 12 percent over last quarter, to $71.9 million. Earnings per diluted share rose to $0.04, a 300 percent increase from the prior year. Paid subscribers grew to 308,000, an 83 percent increase compared to last year. "Our momentum continues to be very strong," CEO Marc Benioff said in a written statement. "It took us four years to reach our first hundred thousand subscribers, a year and a quarter to reach our second hundred thousand, and now only three quarters to reach our third hundred thousand subscribers." ClientLogic has increased its presence in Latin America by adding a customer care site in Panama and expanding an existing site in Mexico. The move bolsters the company's bilingual and nearshore English services to North American clients. NICE Systems has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Hannamax High-Tech PTY, the company's largest distributors in Australia and New Zealand, for $1.8 million in a one-time cash installment and a future earn-out based on performance. NICE will add approximately 17 employees from Hannamax. The combined company resulting from the merger of Concerto Software and Aspect Communications will be called Aspect Software. The company has terminated the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust merger review waiting period and Aspect is finalizing its proxy statement to distribute to shareholders. The companies anticipate the deal will close in September. NEW PRODUCTS Guardium, a provider of database security and compliance solutions, expanded its SQL Guard platform with SQL Guard PCI Accelerator. The new tool comprises an integrated set of software modules specifically designed to help organizations accelerate compliance of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standard developed by Visa and MasterCard by safeguarding databases against network-based credit card information and identity theft. It includes cardholder database access mapping, a PCI compliance report card, and PCI policy violation monitoring. ON THE MOVE Intervoice appointed Kenneth Goldberg to the newly created executive post of senior vice president of business development and marketing. He will oversee the company's corporate strategy, acquisitions, business development activities, and corporate marketing initiatives. Baseline Consulting announced the addition of Kim Stanick as senior manager. Stanick will contribute to Baseline's data management and integration client engagements. CUSTOMER WINS BlueRoads announced that Avaya has selected BlueRoads channel management suite to meet aggressive revenue growth goals for the channel. With Avaya's launch of eDemand, a channel program powered by BlueRoads, the company says it has seen significant adoption rates and a rapid return on value in line with the goal of capturing new market share and opportunities via the channel. Arla Foods, a global supplier of dairy products, has chosen Cognos ReportNet for its corportatewide reporting from the SAP Business Information Warehouse solution and other data sources. Related articles: Concerto Gains a New Aspect The $1 billion merger will create the world's largest contact center solutions company as the market continues to consolidate. NICE Buys Dictaphone's Recording Systems Business The deal will allow Dictaphone to concentrate on healthcare, and NICE may grow vertically.