May 19, 2005

IN THE NEWS Salesforce.com has announced total revenue for first quarter fiscal year 2006 of $64.2 million, an increase of 84 percent on a year-over-year basis and an increase of 18 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis. Subscription and support revenues were $58.2 million, an increase of 87 percent on a year-over-year basis and an increase of 18 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis. Earnings per diluted share were 4 cents. "We believe that the continuing strength of our business and results, in contrast to what proved to be another challenging quarter for traditional software vendors, is further evidence that we are in the next phase of the on-demand revolution," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce.com, during a conference call yesterday. Second-quarter FY 2006 revenue is expected to be in the range of about $68 million to about $70 million. Earnings per diluted share are expected to be about 2 cents to about 4 cents, based on an estimated average of 119 million diluted shares outstanding and an estimated effective tax rate of 20 percent. CDC has reported first-quarter 2005 revenue of $56.2 million, compared to $54.2 million in fourth-quarter 2004 and $35.5 million in first-quarter 2004. First-quarter 2005 gross profit was $30.5 million, while gross profit for fourth-quarter 2004 was $32.3 million and $18.8 million in first-quarter 2004. Loss before taxes was $2.4 million compared to an income before taxes of $1.8 million in fourth-quarter 2004 and $5.1 million in first-quarter 2004. Net loss was $3.7 million compared to a net income of $4.3 million in first-quarter 2004, and basic loss per share was 3.4 cents compared to basic earnings per share of 4.2 cents for first-quarter 2004. Envision has announced a 60 percent increase in sales over first-quarter 2004. This is the privately-held company's third consecutive quarter of more than 50 percent growth over the previous year. During the first quarter the company, which has a solutions set that includes quality monitoring and workforce management products, added six new customers and secured an enterprise expansion of 700 agent licenses from one of its customers in the insurance industry. CUSTOMER WINS LivePerson has announced that Logicworks, a provider of full-service managed hosting solutions, has deployed LivePerson's Timpani Chat technology to accelerate the sales process and enhance the level of customer service it delivers. With the chat functionality Logicworks can quickly connect online customers with a live salesperson. Additionally, LivePerson's analytics capabilities allows salespeople to view the customer information of whom they are chatting with in real-time, including whether the customer has previously visited the site or the customer's URL. Microsoft Communications Sector has announced that Nawras, Oman's newest mobile operator, has deployed Microsoft Customer Care Framework (CCF). The solution, which uses Microsoft .NET technology and Web-services architecture, unites the telecom service, customer service Web site, billing systems, and other applications into one system for Nawras's customer service agents. The Nawras Web site is based on Microsoft Content Management Server, and Microsoft technology partner Vertscape has developed a trouble-ticketing system that alerts Nawras when users need a customer service agent to contact them for support. MicroStrategy, a provider of business intelligence software, has announced that Finansbank has selected the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform to support its financial reporting and analysis requirements. Within two months of deploying MicroStrategy, the Istanbul financial institution produced 200 high-quality reports with complex calculations. NEW PRODUCTS Group 1 Software has introduced e2 Suite, an online account management, e-billing, and customer-care solution for financial, telecommunications, utility, healthcare, insurance, and retail businesses, as well as state and local governments. The e2 Suite, a part of Group 1's Customer Communications Management (CCM) solution, provides electronic distribution and document management, a secure vault for storing and retrieving customer data and documents, and e-billing, online account management, and call center service capabilities to CCM. ON THE MOVE Talisma has appointed Jon McNerney as the vice president and general manager of international operations. Prior to joining Talisma McNerney was the European general manager of Interwise. In addition to its executive appointment, the multichannel CRM solutions provider has also announced that it signed 42 new companies in the first three months of 2005. Bigfoot Interactive, a provider of ROI-focused email communications solutions and marketing automation technologies, has appointed Robert Schwartz as managing director of client services. Schwartz has more than 15 years of experience in senior client marketing and agency roles for financial services and advertising firms. He has held senior management positions at AT&T, Ogilvy and Mather, and online retailer Kozmo.com. Related articles: Salesforce.com Gives It All Away Pivotal Focuses on Service and Growth Talisma Acquires KnowledgeBase.net