The Leader Q2 2000 — Austin Software Council

The Leader
The Voice of the Austin Software Council, 2Q00
IN THIS ISSUE
FEATURES
Port Austin: Plug Into the
Future of Broadband! . . . . 1
Concero’s Tim Webb and
Pedro Fernandez . . . . . . .12
Defining New Customer
Service Frontiers in a
Broadband World . . . . . .13
Evaluating the Cost
of Learning
New Technologies . . . . . 14
Message from the Chair . . 2
Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Executive Director’s
Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Membership Committee . . 4
Workforce Development . . 4
IP Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
International Committee . . 8
Member News . . . . . . . . 10
Monthly Meetings in Review:
May—
ASPs and the
Evolving E-Business
Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . 16
June—
Web Tools
and Resources . . . . . . . . 18
July—
Confessions of a
Workplace Worrier . . . . . 19
ASC “University” . . . . . . .20
Membership
Application . . . . . . . . . . .23
Peer Groups . . . . . . . . . .24
New/Renewing
Members . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Melissa Laskey, Concero
Mark your calendars for
November 9-11, 2000 in
Austin for the first annual
PORT AUSTIN: Plug Into
the Future of Broadband
(www.portaustin.com)
Conference at the Austin
Convention Center!
Port Austin is a national broadband conference
and expo that has been
planned by a consortium of
Austin companies, the City
of Austin and the Austin
Software Council to showcase Austin as the hub for
converging technologies,
infrastructure and content
for the broadband future.
Panels and speakers, expos
and events will showcase the
latest innovations, opportunities, and future trends in
content development,
broadband mass-marketing,
e-commerce, telecommunications services, end-user
and infrastructure equipment.
The objective of the conference is to provide a
business development, educational, networking and
recruiting event or Austin companies and national
attendees. As one organizer commented, it is time
for Austin companies to stop recruiting from each
other and pull in new talent from outside of the
immediate area. In case you haven’t already decided
to block off your calendar by reading this far, what
if I told you that organizers of the event have
pulled in Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top to give the
opening keynote address? Port Austin is going to
be the event of the year among the Austin community and beyond. Other keynote speakers include
Michael Robertson, chairman and CEO of
MP3.com, Cherry Lane Digital’s CEO and chairman of Evolab, Jim Griffin, and VP of Corporate
Strategy of Akamai Technologies, Jonathan Seeling.
As part of this exciting new national conference coming to town, the Austin Software Council
will be hosting the second day’s conference events
in conjunction with the annual Texas Software
Symposium. If you remember last year, the ASC
sponsored the TSS on 9/9/99. This year, the TSS
will not only speak to our own ASC members and
guests, it will be open to all of the Port Austin
attendees as well. That means that the general
attendee list of content developers, design firms,
job seekers, business development teams will be also
www.portaustin.com
DEPARTMENTS
Port Austin:
Plug Into the Future of Broadband!
attending the popular Austin Software
Council to listen to our technology perspective on Broadband.
The specific goals of the TSS is to educate the ASC membership on technology
issues and trends surrounding our businesses
today, and this year the TSS will focus exclusively on broadband. Broadband includes a
multitude of technologies ranging from the
Internet to Interactive Television. We will have
a track for those interested in business issues in
broadband, a technical track to discuss the latest in new products and services, and a track
for the creative folks interested in broadband.
As the title sponsor of the TSS this year,
Concero will be helping the ASC plan the
most educational and exciting TSS ever,
pulling speakers from all aspects of broadband.
So, I hope you mark your calendar for
Port Austin: Plug Into The Future of
Broadband, November 9-11 and the TSS
on November 10. Be aware that if your
company is involved in broadband, someone
may be contacting you soon about speaking
opportunities! If any of you are interested
in participating in the TSS as a speaker or
panelist, please contact Paul Toprac at
[email protected] or me at
[email protected]. We look forward
to seeing you there!
The Leader
X-Team
Executive Director
Paul Toprac, 305-0032
[email protected]
Message
from the Chair
Member & Sponsor Relations Manager
Catherine Bartlett, 305-0010
[email protected]
Office Administrator
Sandra Kaso, 305-0023
[email protected]
Betty Otter-Nickerson, BMC Software
Pass-It-On Grant & ASC Event Coordinator
Shannon Clapsaddle, 305-0042
[email protected]
Is it hot enough for you? Are your
parched, thirsty for knowledge? Besides the rising temperatures, we’ve been creating our own
engine heat around the Council. In the last
quarter, we offered plenty of networking and
educational opportunities for our community:
Romania. Recently, we had ASC“U” seminars
on Romania’s Software Development Offerings
and The Japanese Market: Opportunities and
Resources. Our International Forum continues
to increase its activity. We have also added a
technical Software Globalization SIG. To
learn more about the global marketplace and
Three awesome monthly meetings:
expand your business internationally, take
l May—The ASP Opportunities and Future
advantage of our activities. (See Deirdre
l June—Master Your Market with Web Tools Mendez’s article on our special trade relationl July—Confessions of a
ships or contact
Workplace Warrior
her at 338-1177.)
We expect more
great networking
Eleven peer group gatherings, includgreat networking and
and
educational
ing the CEO Peer Group
educational opportuniopportunities
ties over the next
ASC-Net events:
quarter. Plus, we are
l How to Create Lasting Value
gearing up for Port Austin and our annual
Through Entrepreneurship
software symposium this fall. Read all about
l The Wired Bunch
the plans for the conference in this issue.
Better yet, get involved. Volunteer and help
ASC“U” seminars:
make this our best symposium ever!
l Finance: The New Model for
Our membership and sponsorship efforts
Venture Capital
continue to produce strong results and lots of
l Marketing: Branding Your Company with a fun! The Austin Software Council continues to
Community Investment
grow and be strengthened due to the time, effort,
and dedication of the staff, committee chairs,
We also sponsored events with
and volunteers. (Contact ASC at 305-0023 or
other groups:
email at [email protected] to
l Bootcamp for Startups with Garage.com
find out how to volunteer.) Thanks for everyl Taking Stock: The Future of Options
thing you are doing to help Austin’s technology
with iQuantic
community to connect, learn, and grow.
l The Open Group Conference.
Betty Otter-Nickerson is the Council Chair.
The Austin Software Council has also
She’s BMC Software VP of Operations,
been hosting international visitors to Austin
Product Management, Development, and
who are looking for ways to do business with
Austin Site Manager.
local high tech companies. Recently, we’ve
met with trade representatives from Japan,
Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom,
Canary Islands, Mexico, Germany, and
2
X-Team Chairs
ASC “University”
Chancellor
Chris John, 478-8779 x13
[email protected]
Community/Civic
Vacant
HR Co-Dean
Nancy McIntire
[email protected]
Deirdre Mendez, 338-1177
[email protected]
International
Development
Local & State Government Affairs
Paul Fox, 472-7800
[email protected]
Legal Counsel
Marketing
Vacant
Steve Farrer, 418-9059
[email protected]
Brent Davis, 637-6247
[email protected]
Membership
Programs
Bill Kleinebecker, 258-8898
[email protected]
Publicity
Lauren Peters, 794-8600
[email protected]
SIG/Peer Groups
Rob Beauchamp, 452-4780
[email protected]
Sales Peer Group
Rex Carroll
[email protected]
Sponsorship
Website
Workforce
Development
Bob Martin, 633-4038
[email protected]
Judith Manriquez, 930-4286
[email protected]
Craig Eissler, 323-6773 x155
[email protected]
Board of Directors
Betty Otter-Nickerson
BMC Software
Les Belady, Consultant
Bill Bock, Dazel
Robin Lea Curle, Journée Software
Neil Iscoe, e-Certain
Laura Kilcrease
Triton Venture Partners
Dick Moeller, VTEL
David Murphy, Tivoli Systems
Lauren Peters, Peters Group Public Relations
Juan Sanchez, University of Texas
Ed Taylor, Collective Technologies
Chair
3Q00
Sponsors
Endowment Fund Contributors
applianceOrder.com
Bracewell & Patterson, LLP
CollegeHire.com
Stax Research
Trilogy Software
Angel Foundation Sponsors
Austin Ventures
BMC Software
CenterPoint Ventures
First Capital Group
Holland Rich Marketing & Event Strategy
National Instruments
IBM Corporation
ONSET Ventures
RGK Foundation
Sevin Rosen Funds
Sigma Partners
SSM Ventures
Televerde
Trellis Partners, LP.
Report from the
Executive Director
Paul Toprac, Executive Director
These are exciting times for the Council:
the new Texas Software Symposium, new website, and new membership rates. But first, I
would like to mention that we just went
through a branding initiative (thanks to
Lauren Peters of Peters Group Public
Relations) that has provided the Austin
Supporting Sponsors
Software Council with renewed energy and a
Platinum
revised mission to “drive growth of technoloPricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
gy companies in central Texas by offering high
impact education, networking, and business
Gold
resources to meet the needs of its members as
Best Printing Company, Inc.
well as the community.”
A key event to accomplish our mission is
Bronze
our flagship annual conference, the Texas
Civic Pride
Software Symposium. The fourth TSS will be a
Jump.net
step above any other regional conference
Rockford Business Interiors
devoted to IT issues. Almost everything about
TSS is different this year. First, we are holding
it in conjunction with Port Austin: Plug Into
Annual Sponsors
the Future of Broadband on Friday, November
Don Cox Company
10. The Council is providing the business and
Concero (formerly PSW Technologies)
technology tracks for that day. Because of our
Thompson & Knight, PCb
partnership with Port Austin, TSS attendees
have a one-day pass to all of Port Austin and
all Port Austin attendees can visit the TSS conference sessions. This provides a greater
opportunity to meet others not only from
around Austin but from around the country.
TSS, for the first time, will be a full day conference with two tracks: business and technology
focused on broadband and convergence issues.
Plus there will be plenty of unique entertainment both day and night. For information
about registration and sponsorship, go to our
website at www.austinsoftwarecouncil.org.
(Thanks to Steve Farrer and Cassandra
TSS will be a Behringer of Protean Marketing for their
hard work in putting together the marstep above
keting and materials for TSS.)
Talking about websites, our new one
any other
is going to be awesome! It will be orgaregional
nized for easy navigation and have secure,
conference
online registration capabilities. In addition, the content will be completely new
and updated—just what many of our members
have been asking for. Finally, members will be
able to communicate with each other better
and learn the best practices of the Internet and
software industry. The new website will be the
gateway to information from and about the
central Texas technology industry. Check it
out www.austinsoftwarecouncil.org and see if
you agree. I welcome any feedback. (Thanks
to Judith Manriquez of GraphX for her leadership in developing the website.)
Members, members, members! By the
time you read this, Council member companies
will represent over 25,000 employees and the
number of corporate memberships will have
grown by 100% from this time last year. I
attribute this growth to two reasons. One is our
increasing reputation in providing a networking
environment and education for the high tech
community that is unmatched in central Texas.
The second is our new focus on recruiting
emerging technology companies, such as
multimedia, dot-coms, and other Internet
companies, that can benefit from our services.
These companies represent all aspects of the
information technology industry, including
what most people would classify as hardware
companies. We have become the largest information technology association in central Texas.
We are no longer just “software.”
As part of our focus on emerging companies, we have changed our membership dues
structure. The Council’s mission is to grow
companies; with that in mind, we have discontinued new “individual” members but give our
corporate members with five or fewer employees the old individual rate of $150. And we
have new membership rates for companies of
varying sizes. Our goal is to help emerging
companies grow and foster the “technopreur”
environment that has made Austin a nationally
renowned high technology hub. For more
information, contact Catherine Bartlett at
305-0010 and read “Dues Restructuring
Encourages Wider Spectrum of Participation”
in this issue of The Leader.
These are just some of the exciting things
that are happening at the Austin Software
Council. We also have new sponsorship opportunities (see me for details), member services,
and events. But if I told you everything, then
there wouldn’t be any reason to talk to me!
Hope to see you at our next meeting.
3
The Leader
Membership Committee
Dues Restructuring Encourages
Wider Spectrum of Participation
Brent Davis, Membership Chair
Austin is the land of startups. And to
members, the industry, and the community.
make it easier for startups to access all that the
We’ve always endorsed corporate involveAustin Software Council has to offer, we’ve
ment. While the majority of our programs and
revised our dues structure.
services benefit the individual employee,
Last quarter, a corporate membership
they’re typically designed to enhance that
cost $500, whether the member was a twoindividual’s effectiveness within the organizaman starving startup or an
tion and thereby benefit the
our programs...[are]
established company with
company. Furthermore, this
90 employees. We believed ...designed to enhance
isn’t an association for just
that $500 wasn’t too
executives or programmers or
that individual’s
much to ask for what a
sales people or HR directors.
smaller company would
This is an association to beneffectiveness within the
gain by joining the
efit everyone throughout the
organization and thereby organization to facilitate
Council. And if it were,
benefit the company
key employees could join
company, industry, and comon an individual basis for
munity growth.
$150. However, we did feel it was not altoNow, instead of offering individual memgether fair to ask both small and large
berships, we offer companies of 5 or fewer
companies to pay that same $500. As a result,
employees company memberships for $150. If
our Board of Directors developed a dues
they grow to 55 employees during their first
structure that fairly values what we as an assoyear of membership, at renewal, dues will be
ciation are trying to accomplish for our
based on the number of Austin employees at
that time.
For companies with 6-19 employees,
annual dues are now $325. For companies
with 20-49 employees, they are still just $500.
And for companies with 50-99 Austin
employees, dues have increased slightly to
$750—an amazing bargain if you ask
me…and I do welcome inquiries.
We believe that affording smaller companies a fair opportunity to connect, learn, and
grow through their involvement with the
Austin Software Council will benefit all of us.
So I encourage you to spread the word and
get companies to join what is without a doubt
the best technology association in all of Texas.
Brent Davis is chair of the Membership
Committee and a financial representative with
New England Financial. He can be reached at
[email protected] or 637-6247.
Workforce Development
Talent Springs
Craig Eissler, Workforce Development Chair
An exciting public/private regional workforce initiative launched June 20—Austin At
Work.com. The solution is an online recruitment portal for Central Texas, which is hosted
by the Austin American Statesman and powered by Hire.com. What is so innovative about
this Web recruiting service is The Greater
Austin@Work Partnership component, spearheaded by the City of Austin and the Greater
Austin Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with other regional partners.
In addition to the short-term goals of
addressing the region’s workforce skills shortage by recruiting new talent into the region
via the portal, the “partnership” goal is to
build the quantity and quality of talent by supporting long-term education and workforce
development efforts. This support can be
4
accomplished by employers contributing
receive local and national marketing and prothrough one of four sponsorship levels—
motional benefits.
Platinum $10,000, Gold
The Austin Software Council supports
the...goal is
$5,000, Silver $2,500, and
The Greater Austin@Work Partnership and
Bronze $1,000. Partners
encourages ASC members to take the
to build...
will benefit not only from
opportunity to contribute to the long-term
talent by
their direct investment in
efforts for progress in our community’s
improving education,
educational systems and innovative training
supporting
addressing digital divide
to help solve the workforce skills shortage.
long-term
(technology access) issues
education and Craig Eissler is High Tech Liaison for
and creating workforce
the Capital Area Training Foundation.
development systems, but
workforce
He can be reached at 912-9694 or
will also receive a 10-15%
development [email protected].
discount on job postings
with Austin At Work.com.
efforts
Additionally, partners will
QuickArrow
fullpage BW ad
customer neg provided
strip in
center vertically
& horizontally
The Leader
IP Law
E-Commerce and
Website Data
Privacy Policies
Gail Taylor Russell, Taylor Russell & Russell, PC
These days, every website either has, or
should have, a privacy policy posted. These
policies address what the company does with
data collected from consumers and how that
information will be handled. The need for
privacy policies is in response to consumer
attitudes and trends as well as legal issues that
demand privacy policies for data gathered on
the Internet.
Consumers, governments, and businesses
are all concerned about privacy. Consumers
are worried that personal data will be used
without their knowledge or permission.
Governments are responding to constituent
concerns. Businesses are realizing that if they
do not police themselves and solve privacy
issues to consumers’ satisfaction, government
organizations will step in and legislate new
laws and regulations that require compliance
and reporting. In addition, businesses know
that consumers will not conduct transactions
on the Internet if they are afraid their personal information will be compromised.
Some companies take a canned privacy
policy example from another website, modify
it, and post it on their own website. Sometimes
the privacy policy is developed in a vacuum;
the rest of the company does not know it
exists. Or even if employees know a policy
exists, no one pays attention to what it says.
However, privacy concerns and one’s privacy policy have effects far beyond the
website. Companies that collect customer
information, especially via the Internet, need
to develop and implement privacy practices
throughout their company to ensure that any
privacy promises made to consumers are kept.
Privacy policies can affect many aspects of
how a company that gathers data about consumers via the Internet operates.
In the United States, government regulators have tried to coerce the online industry
to police themselves and inform website visitors of the how their site collects and uses
information. However, due to increased consumer concerns, the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) is taking a more active
role in protecting Internet users’ privacy.
They are doing investigations to ensure that
6
companies have a website privacy policy and
ensure data integrity and security.
that they comply with it. In most cases,
The law is still unclear now as to the liaenforcement is complaint-driven. When
bilities in areas of security and data loss. To
someone complains about a company not fol- minimize company liability when a privacy
lowing their privacy policy, the FTC steps in
policy is posted, the key is to train employees
to investigate.
to make them aware of the privacy policy.
In the European Union (EU), data priva- It is important to put guidelines into place
cy is a much hotter issue than in the U.S. The similar to the Safe Harbor principles that
EU Data Directive on Privacy applies to any
need to be followed to protect consumer data
data collected about any European citizen.
and make sure that data is not transmitted—
EU data privacy regulators do not want
inadvertently or on purpose—contrary to the
companies to collect information about
terms of the privacy policy. Businesses should
Europeans without their knowledge and conhave internal policies on the disclosure of cussent. They want to ensure that companies
tomer information and monitor compliance
comply with their privacy policies and allow
with their privacy policy.
consumers to have some control over inforUsing a website-trusted seal of approval
mation collected.
on websites is another option to show that
Because some of the EU reguthe company takes data privacy
lations could have a chilling effect
seriously. Third parties such as
pay attention
on e-commerce and because U.S.
TRUSTe and BBBOnLine can
to
generating
a
industries need to have some
certify that privacy policies are
guidelines for dealing with EU citi- privacy policy
implemented and followed.
zen data, the United States and the
In early July, government
EU have worked out certain “Safe
regulators filed suit against a failed online toy
Harbor” principles. These principles apply to
retailer, Toysmart.com, to prevent the sale of
data collected from U.S. citizens as well.
its customer database, a move that they said
Safe Harbor provisions suggest useful
violates the company’s own privacy policy.
guidance as to what to say in an online privacy The investigation was initiated at the request
statement and where to place it on the site.
of TRUSTe, a company that provides privacy
Businesses may voluntarily adopt the Safe
certification to online businesses to ease conHarbor principles and self-certify themselves
sumers’ fears about misuse of personal
as compliant. These principles include letting
information. Toysmart.com tried to sell conficonsumers know what information is collected dential, personal information collected from
and its intended use. Consumers should also
its customers. Toysmart.com’s privacy policy,
be informed about how the data collected may posted on the company’s website, states that
be shared with third parties. Third parties to
“Personal information ... such as name,
whom the information will be disclosed
address, billing information and shopping
should also be listed (e.g., “mailing list compractices, is never shared with a third party.”
panies,” “the general public,” “advertisers of
Despite that assurance, the company, which is
consumer products,” etc.). A consumer’s abili- majority owned by Walt Disney Company,
ty to remove or correct their information
placed an ad in a newspaper offering its cusshould also be outlined along with any limitatomer lists and databases for sale. The FTC
tions. To comply with the EU regulations,
followed up on the complaint. The FTC
consumers should have a choice in what the
Chairman made it clear that “even failing dotcompany can do with their information and
coms” have an obligation to protect
must give their consent to its use. Companies
customer’s privacy rights.
should be explicit about how much and what
To ensure consumer confidence and to
information the consumer is given access to.
comply with FTC guidelines, the bottom line
The policy should include procedures to
Continued on page 8
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Anything less endangers your survival.
That’s why companies outsource finance and accounting to
Arthur Andersen. Whether it’s critical reporting, high-volume
transaction processing like payroll of A/P, or managing your
entire finance operation, we provide highly evolved skills.
We’ll help you compete better and survive longer. That makes
us the natural selection.
For more information on Arthur Andersen’s outsourcing services in Austin, contact Michelle Parchman at 512 391 3200.
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Note: The services offered in particular areas may depend on local
regulations. In some locations, legal and/or tax services are provided by
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with Andersen Worldwide SC.
Arthur Andersen refers to the U.S. firm of Arthur Andersen LLP and other members of the Arthur Andersen global client service network. © 2000 Arthur Andersen. All rights reserved.
The Leader
International Committee
New Services For
Companies Going
“Over There”
Deirdre Mendez, International Project Coordinator
The International Committee has been
busy creating strategic alliances to serve
Council members when they investigate
new markets. Through our Alliance Partner
Program, we can assist members with market
research, introductions to potential partners
and customers, and logistics overseas. Watch
the website for a list of Alliance Partners,
coming soon.
in your target markets that can assist you with
every phase of your business there.
Seminars and Programs
ASC “University’s” international division
is offering several information-packed programs for technology companies. On
August 16, we are presenting Opportunities,
Strategies and Resources in the Japanese
Market. This event will provide strategic
Business-to-Business Forums
information on the world’s second largest IT
Austin Software Council’s B-to-B Forums market and bring Japanese venture capitalists
to Austin. Let us know if you’re interested in
are seminars held overseas in hot IT markets.
talking to them.
Participants present their interwe can assist
Austin Software Council
national business plans to an
is
also
planning a fast-track
audience of potential partners,
members with
seminar for companies creatcustomers, and investors in tarmarket research,
ing international strategy. On
get markets. Our first alliance
the mornings of September
partner, JISA (the Japan
introductions to
26 and 28, we will host a
Information Services Industry
potential partners
group of outstanding technolAssociation), is working with the
and customers, and ogists, service providers, and
Council to create our October
industry analysts who will outBusiness-to-Business Forum in
logistics overseas
line international strategies
Tokyo. Let us know if you’re
based on personal experience and world
interested in participating.
trends in IT. Global Market Penetration:
International Consulting Services
Strategies for Startups will take participating
The Council is pleased to introduce a free companies from zero to global on Internet
consulting service for member companies.
time. Watch our website for details on these
We’ll listen to your goals and strategy for
two exciting events.
international expansion and suggest resources
If you have questions or comments, conavailable to you locally, nationwide, and
tact me at (512) 338-1177.
worldwide. Fill out a brief company profile on
Deirdre Mendez is the Austin Software
our website, and we’ll identify organizations
Council’s International Program
coordinator. She can be reached at 338-1177
or [email protected].
E-Commerce and Website Data
Privacy Policies
Continued from page 6
is that a company should pay attention to
generating a privacy policy for its website,
post internal company policies for implementing the privacy policy, and monitor
compliance with the website and company
privacy policies.
Gail Taylor Russell is a patent and trademark
attorney in Austin specializing in protecting
high tech intellectual property. Her patent
experience emphasizes e-commerce, software
and computer-related intentions. She has a
Master in Electrical Engineering focusing in
Computer Engineering. Prior to becoming a
patent attorney, Gail spent over ten years as a
software engineer designing and developing
real-time computer software. Send emails to
Gail at [email protected].
Austin Software Council
The Leader
Ad Rates
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Fullpage
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75
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10% discount on one year in advance
For further information please contact
Catherine Bartlett at 305-0023,
[email protected] or
Emily Sopensky at 452-2448,
[email protected].
8
M E M O
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The Leader
ASC Member News
Bill Herring, Tivoli Systems
Agillion Inc. (www.agillion.com) and
Office Depot (www.officedepot.com)
announced an alliance and joint marketing
agreement aimed at providing services to the
burgeoning small business market. Each company will offer one-click integration of both
Agillion’s customer management solution and
Office Depot’s online products and services.
This is Agillion’s first strategic partnership.
Under the terms of the agreement, Agillion
and Office Depot will jointly market their
online products and services to the small business market.
Out-of-town member Akamai
Technologies (www.akamai.com), based
in Cambridge, MA, has a busy summer of
streaming media events. Akamai and C-SPAN
have formed a strategic initiative to produce
live streaming media from both the
Republican and Democratic national conventions and to syndicate the content for use by
other web properties. The agreement marks
the first gavel-to-gavel and live webcasts of the
major parties’ national political conventions,
enabling them to open doors to a truly global
online audience. Akamai also was selected by
the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the governing body of the British Open, as the exclusive
streaming delivery provider for the Official
Site of the British Open Championship
[www.opengolf.com]. Akamai and Apple also
announced that the webcast of the MacWorld
Expo keynote delivered by Steve Jobs set new
records for delivery of content at broadband
rates. More than 6 terabytes of content were
served during the one-and-a-half hour webcast, which attracted more than 95,000 web
visitors. During the peak of the webcast, more
than 4.3 gigabits per second of video were
streamed at broadband rates to more than
21,000 simultaneous viewers, including 5,000
visitors who watched 1 megabit-per-second
streams. Note: Jonathan Seeling, VP of
Corporate Strategy, will be a keynote speaker
at the Port Austin expo November 9-11.
Concero, Inc. (www.concero.com), formerly PSW Technologies, announced its spot
on the Software 500, Software Magazine’s list
10
of the world’s foremost software and services
providers in the June/July 2000 issue.
Software Magazine’s annual compendium of
software and services suppliers catalogs the
ranking, financial performance and growth,
and primary business sector of each company
as well as trend information for the Software
500 as a whole. The Software 500 is a comprehensive look at the enterprise software
landscape, encompassing public and private
companies that develop business software and
services. Note: Concero is the title sponsor of
this year’s Texas Software Symposium.
IBM (www.ibm.com) and Tivoli Systems
(www.tivoli.com) will soon operate one of the
world’s most ambitious websites. In
September, tens of millions of sports fans
worldwide are expected to take their virtual
seats at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Using IBM Internet technologies, fans will be
able to log on to Olympics.com for real-time
coverage, including the latest news, event
results, and competition schedules. Behind the
scenes, Tivoli technology management software
will provide an integrated solution to help
manage the technology systems that run the
Games. This complex distributed multi-platform environment includes 10 million lines of
code, 7,300 endpoints, 540 servers, 845 network switches, and hundreds of applications.
Partnerware (www.partnerware.com)
announced the completion of the company’s
$32 million second-round financing. Polaris
Venture Partners and Lucent Venture Partners
co-led the investment. Building on its firstround funding of $8.5 million received last
fall, Partnerware will use the funding to
extend its sales and marketing reach and
launch several new products. As part of its
expansion, Partnerware expects to grow its
staff by 100% this year and open several field
offices. Partnerware also announced several
additions to its management team.
TriActive Inc. (www.triactive.com)
and ClearCube Technology announced an
alliance that tailors Tivoli Systems’ Enterprise
management solutions for midsized IT departments. The alliance expands the benefits of
ClearCube C3, a managed PC architecture
that delivers Intel-based PC processing to
hundreds of workstations from a centralized,
rack-mounted environment. ClearCube C3
customers can opt to implement TriActive’s
Internet-based systems management software
solution using an affordable monthly pay-asyou-go fee structure. TriActive tailors
enterprise management solutions from Tivoli
Systems Inc. into optimized practices for IT
departments supporting 200 to 5,000 devices.
The TriActive solution combines help desk, IT
inventory management, remote management,
and virus management with custom-view portals optimized for different types of users.
TriActive also has formed a strategic partnership with BMC Software that enables
TriActive customers to experience BMC’s
SiteAngel 2000 online website performance
monitoring service. TriActive will incorporate
SiteAngel into its integrated systems management service as a value-added option.
works.com (www.works.com) has
recently announced several new partnerships,
and UPSIDE Magazine has named it one of
this year’s “Hot 100” private companies.
works.com and Dell are partnering to
deliver an online purchasing service and
e-marketplace of business products to Dell’s
small and midsize businesses. works.com also
is partnering with Grainger, a provider of
maintenance, repair, and operating supplies
and related information, to create a comprehensive online purchasing solution and
e-marketplace for a similar customer base.
Finally, works.com and First of Omaha
Merchant Processing, a payment processor,
have announced a strategic partnership to
deliver online purchasing management and
volume buying power to First of Omaha’s
65,000 merchant customers.
Bill Herring supports worldwide PR campaigns at Tivoli Systems. Member companies
may submit product or company news for the
next issue of The Leader by emailing them to
[email protected].
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The Leader
Executive Interview
Concero’s
Tim Webb and
Pedro Fernandez
Amy E. Lemen
Cable, digital subscriber (telephone) lines
Broadband is one of the hottest technolHow will content be created? What new
(DSL), satellite, and wireless technologies are
ogy markets as digital networks become key
opportunities will this open up?
all considered broadband.
to enabling new, advanced Internet applicaContent will be one of the most interesttions for consumers and businesses.
ing areas. It used to be professionally
What’s the difference between
Undoubtedly, high speed Internet access
produced, but now anyone can upload video
broadband for the PC and broadband
will change the way we work, live,
or photos by the Internet. Content will be a
for the TV?
play, and learn—and is already doing
mix between the professionals and the amapeople’s
The key differentiator has
so. According to a recent report by
teurs, such as independent filmmakers. In
more to do with what’s being
the analyst firm IDC, 33% of U.S.
addition, as the proverbial “fat pipe” gets fatexperiences
done with the technology and the ter and can handle more information, people
households will have broadband
will
become…
equipment that’s being used to
high speed access by 2003.
will begin to use more interactive convedo it. Additionally, television is a
Access to supersonic bandwidth more diverse
nience services like home banking or pizza
“laid-back” technology, while the
opens up a whole world of possibilidelivery. Television is all about stickiness—
PC is very much “lean-forward” because you
ties for education, e-commerce, government,
and has already started to become more
and communication services by increasing the are driving it and making it truly interactive.
interactive. People will be able to participate
amount of information that can be transmitmore—even be part of a TV series, such as
How is the broadband industry
ted and decreasing download times. A 1998
the “Survivor” concept. On the Internet side,
changing? What trends do you see?
Cisco study estimated that 2.5 billion hours
interfaces will become more natural, have
There will be much more competition
were wasted in 1998 while waiting for web
more compelling graphics, and display more
with cable, DSL, satellite, and wireless as
pages to download.
information. As broadband begins to take
companies explore the best ways to use these
Reduced download times—and more
hold and more information-rich products are
technologies. In terms of cable, the initial
hours in the day to take advantage of them—
created, people’s experiences will become
thought around broadband was interactive
mean billions in profit for e-tailers and
much more diverse.
television. But over the last few years, the
others. The same Cisco study estimated that
Internet has become a great communications
How has broadband affected consumer
e-commerce merchants lose up to $4.35 bilvehicle. People are able to watch TV as well
behavior (i.e., leisure time, purchasing
lion in sales annually when websites exceed an as access movies over it. Broadband is no
decisions, etc.)?
average download time of 8 seconds.
longer specific to the television. Because of
The broadband effect is especially eviIn addition, competitive markets fueled
this, it’s becoming a more ubiquitous means
dent
in the real estate industry. Before, people
as a result of the broadband market will bene- of communication. Now, people are trying to
could see the listings on the Internet and
fit consumers and stimulate investment,
build networks in a lot of innovative ways.
drive to a house on their own to see it.
leading to lower prices, higher quality, and
In the software market, the tools people
Now, some sites selling real estate feature
more choices. To take advantage of this
used to use were very silo-oriented—only for
360-degree views of a house. Also, since
boom, companies are investing billions in new video or only for the Internet. Now, software
broadband connections are “always-on,” the
fiber optics, wireless equipment, hardware,
is expanding to include different media.
PC is becoming more of an appliance. Before,
and software to increase their capacity to
There is a much stronger trend toward perconsumers had to dial-up, resulting in long
deliver broadband.
sonalization of information.
connection times and much
The Austin Software Council spoke with
One company has come out
frustration. Now, broadband
Tim Webb, president and CEO, and Pedro
broadband
technology
with a “VCR on steroids”
technology is cutting out a
Fernandez, senior vice president of corporate
that records certain programs is cutting out…nonlot of the non-value-added
strategy and marketing, of Concero, an Austin- based on the information the
time, like looking for furnivalue-added
time
based broadband e-business services firm,
user gives it. We’ve also built
ture, appliances, or other
about their views on the future of broadband.
an electronic programming
household items. The more information that
guide that allows a user to program only what becomes available, the less time people need
What constitutes broadband?
they want to see—whether it’s all sports or all to look for it.
We consider broadband rich media (a
news. Vignette is another company that is
combination of voice, video and data) plus
very focused on personalization.
wireless access. When people think of broadband, they usually think of very fast streams
of data. The key is where they’re connected.
12
3Q00
Defining New
Customer Service
Frontiers in a
Broadband World
Bob Martin, VP Sales & Marketing,
MagRabbit.com
Who are the major players in the
broadband industry today? What
are their niche markets?
Napster is the perfect application
for broadband because of the download
capability. In the cable world, it’s
Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola. Real
Player is a leader in the streaming media
arena, as Vignette is in personalization.
For multi-system operators (MSOs), it’s
AOL-Time Warner, AT&T, Comcast,
and Charter. The hot companies will be
those that provide content, infrastructure, or optical backbone—such as
Lucent, Cisco, and Nortel.
It’s a large industry with lots of fat
pipes and people trying to find ways to
use them. To be successful, the applications will need to be experiences that
consumers care about. It’s more than
just increased bandwidth—it’s about
creating an interactive experience that
people will value. When we look at
broadband, we need to consider what
someone wants to do with it.
Amy Lemen is an Austin-based
freelance writer. She can be reached
at [email protected].
You may have been one of the lucky ones
who at midnight on July 8 stood in line for
only three hours (alongside hundreds of
screaming kids) to purchase a copy of the latest
Harry Potter book. Barnes & Noble Inc. had
its biggest weekend in history, selling 502,000
copies of the new book nationwide.
One bookstore clerk quoted on the local
news said, “We anticipated crowds, but nothing of this magnitude. We had to call all of
our employees in the middle of the night and
beg them to come into the store to help
process orders.”
Much like Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire affected the lives of many booksellers who
didn’t fully anticipate consumer responsiveness,
the broadband revolution will transform companies selling online because of the increased
demand for online purchases.
At the heart of the broadband transformation is a range of technologies that enables
Internet access at speeds 10 to 80 times faster
than today’s typical dial-up connection. With
this speed and enhanced bandwidth comes an
ability to offer a host of bandwidth-intensive
services such as video streaming, live “human
touch” interaction, and more personalized
content. These services likely will produce a
dramatic increase in the time people spend
online, higher “click-through” rates (i.e.,
number of people who purchase online compared to
broadband
simply browsing), and more
services will e-commerce revenue.
Leading analyst firms predict
bring new
broadband services will bring new
consumers
consumers on line faster than ever
on line faster before and grow the e-commerce
industry to $7 trillion by 2004.
Today’s broadband access is still in the early
adopter phase with about 5% of the U.S. population (2 million people) online. This is
expected to balloon to 30% (19.5 million
households) by 2003, according to IDC.
While a potential 800% increase in revenues is exciting, maintaining customer service
operations and logistics at these levels presents
a challenge even Harry Potter would have trouble tackling. How, then, should companies
selling online prepare for the upcoming wave of
new orders to maintain customer satisfaction?
As a provider of outsourced e-customer
care and e-fulfillment to more than 60
companies including Dell, Novell, and
AllProTraining.com, MagRabbit.com has crafted several solutions, including the following:
l Recognize potential growth, and build contingency plans for increased traffic and
volatility. Very often, when we work with
clients who are beginning to experience
customer service “opportunity areas,” we
find the issue could have been prevented
by realizing the implications of the sales
and marketing activities and by building
simple contingency plans around key metrics in advance.
l Streamline your supply chain. Usually, the
greatest challenges to managing growth
stem from the limited supply of one or two
key resources (e.g., people, packaging, or
labels). If you identify critical stopgaps in
advance, you can communicate future
expectations to suppliers or identify additional sources of raw materials, thus reducing last minute crises.
l Develop simple feedback mechanisms. Often
a customer’s single greatest complaint is lack
of information or responsiveness from a
company. If you can communicate shortages
in advance, most customers will understand
your needs, appreciate your honesty, and
continue to shop from your company.
However, you can communicate this information only if you have an effective way to
capture it throughout your supply chain.
At MagRabbit.com, we’ve been enabling
companies to outsource value chain management and maintain exceptional customer
service for 10 years. For a free whitepaper
with more detailed information about
ensuring customer satisfaction while maintaining phenomenal growth, call or e-mail me
and mention this article.
Contact Bob at 512-310-9903 x1159 or
[email protected]. MagRabbit.com
is a virtual back office that specializes in
e-commerce fulfillment and e-customer care.
13
The Leader
Evaluating the
Cost of Learning
New Technologies
Kannan Kaliyur, CEO, ConnectTel
The cost for a business is calculated in
For most software developers, the past
terms of time and money. In the current envidecade has been characterized by explosive
ronment, developers are extremely busy, often
growth. From my perspective as CEO of a
working overtime to meet deadsmall but rapidly growlines. If we work out the numbers,
ing firm, it seems that
differentiate between
considering the long-term goals of
just as we are getting
the value and the dollar a firm to position itself as a domicomfortable with our
cost of learning
nant player in the software
technical expertise,
industry, it is obvious that investwe’re bombarded by a
ing time and money is still beneficial.
host of new technologies. The web has played
A rudimentary breakdown of cost implia crucial part in this acceleration by making
information readily available to everyone. This cations will illustrate this. Assuming a
developer makes an average salary of $60,000
in turn has spurred the growth of new techper year (2000 working hours), the hourly
nologies and ideas.
expense works out to $30. If the developer
Managing under an accelerated pace has
spends an hour a day learning a new technoloits own challenges, but pressures mount when
the team is small. It’s harder to spare one—let gy, the cost is 30*5 days*4 weeks*12 months
= $7200 per year. Also assuming that the cost
alone two to three—employees to learn a new
of two classes that the developer attends is
technology. While cross-training is a good
management practice and something that nat- $4000, the total cost climbs to $11,200—
a great expense!
urally occurs among bright, motivated
But let’s look at the big picture. Most
employees, most employees in small compasoftware developers gravitate towards the latnies are already wearing more than one hat
est technology. So, in an environment that
and are specialists in more than one area.
Deciding who should be trained on a technol- does not foster learning and thus provide job
satisfaction, they leave. The cost associated
ogy critical to the company’s bottom line can
with replacing a developer works out to 30%
be of great significance.
for the headhunter and 3 months of training
The elementary questions are 1) how
and lost productivity totaling about $35,000.
does a small company keep up with rapid
changes in technology, and 2) what is the cost Clearly, it is far more cost-effective to encourassociated with the learning new technologies? age employees to learn new technologies.
At Connecttel,
Looking at this problem from a software
it is...more cost- where our primary
firm perspective, it is imperative to differentibusiness focus is softate between the value and the dollar cost of
effective to
ware consulting,
learning. Obviously it is not economically
encourage
learning new techviable to learn all the new technologies. Each
nologies is crucial.
business must evaluate the offerings and
employees to
Not only does it help
decide to what extent their developers should
learn new
us retain employees,
be familiar with them:
technologies
it also enables us prol Is the core technology of such importance
vide better solutions
that all developers need to understand it
to our customers. To facilitate learning new
in detail?
technologies, we encourage our developers to
l Could the developers simply be aware of
form small groups to develop products or
the technology without actually understanding the details?
l Would it be enough for developers to
know just the pros and cons of the
new technology?
14
tools using the technology of their choice.
The learning process not only becomes more
interesting, but also provides something valuable in return to the business. At Connecttel,
we have a library of products and tools that
were developed while learning technologies,
such as CORBA, COM, JAVA, etc. The added
benefit here is that we now have a team of talented people who are happy with their jobs.
In addition, the business is able to attract
interest from potential
Exploring new new clients.
Ultimately, each
technologies
business must weigh the
helps the
long-term benefits of
learning new technolobottom line
gies against the
short-term loss in revenue. The benefits not
only empower the developers, but also provide
the business with the ability to use the appropriate technology at the right time to solve
problems. Learning also helps bypass certain
technologies that are not appropriate to a
company’s strategic goals. Exploring new
technologies helps the bottom line, if guided
and purposeful. And that is what matters.
Kannan Kaliyur is co-founder and President of
ConnectTel, a key outsourcing partner to companies such as Wayne Dresser, Motorola, Sears,
and EMC Automation. He can be reached at
[email protected] or 338-1111.
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The Leader
May Meeting Summary
ASPs and the Evolving
E-Business Infrastructure
John A. Menchaca, Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C.
The Council’s May meeting focused on
a complete system, a provisioning and billing
will become part of the infrastructure.
application service providers (ASPs) and their
system, and application monitoring.
Garcia also addressed e-mail, security
growth in the software industry. Jose Garcia,
Says Garcia, “The ASP becomes CIO of
issues, and the international growth of the
the enterprise.”
model. IBM, for example,
vice president at IBM of E-Business Service
Providers in Emerging Markets, traced the
In the ASP model, the opportu- the ASP model…
is working with ASPs (and
evolution of computing from “host-centric”
nity is in the small- to medium-size
other hosters) to institute
ultimately benefits security measures, firewalls,
applications to Internet-based ASPs and other
companies because large companies
tend to have the infrastructure and
and other backup abilities.
application services.
both business
A strong proponent of the ASP model,
application capabilities in-house.
As for the ASP model, it’s
and
consumers
Garcia believes it provides consumers and
According to market data, 75% of all
hottest in the U.S.
businesses with the web access necessary to
business processes and applications
Emerging growth countries,
grow their businesses in the new e-business
used by small businesses will soon be hosted
such as India and Latin America, are now just
economy. The relatively recent
by ASPs.
trying to provide Internet access, whereas, in
growth in the Internet infrastrucForrester Research cites the
Europe, telcos are driving this growth and
moving to the wireless stage.
ture has also spawned a number of the opportunity main reason that smaller compaapplication infrastructure providers is in the smallnies outsource this functionality
The ASP model allows a business to
(AIPs). According to Garcia, the
is lack of in-house expertise. The
“rent” some applications and provide total
to medium-size ASP model, therefore, has the
turnkey solutions, which puts a whole catalog
ASP model provides an upgraded
companies
following benefits:
of services online. This structure is reminisinfrastructure and a more robust
l Provides a turnkey solution
cent of the service bureau space, but is
model, which ultimately benefits
both business and consumers.
l Mitigates IT skills shortage
different in that the Internet and the various
Initially, the infrastructure was little more l Allows companies to focus on
standards in the middle make the ASP model
core competencies
much more pervasive than the service bureau
than e-mail hosting, but today its services are
“pervasive.” The Internet can deliver applical Provides predictable costs
model. Garcia defined the ASP model as a
Research from IBM and Forrester sug“process to deliver applications from one to
tions while reducing the need for critical
gests that e-commerce is the “killer”
many.” This allows both selling and servicing
support mechanisms. Applications are now
repeatable and secure, but the key is the netapplication for ASPs, customer relationship
applications and a turnkey approach for the
management (CRM) is second, and last is
customer. There is, however, no standard for
work infrastructure and the “intelligent
financial and human resources. Providing these the billing practices for an ASP (e.g., per seat,
infrastructure” that must be supported by the
applications through ASPs allows vendors to
per transaction, etc.).
various ASPs.
focus on their core competencies; as time goes
The IBM ASP model includes three funMuch of the evolution of the ASP maron, many of these functions and applications
damentals: 1) Get application ready; 2) Get
ketplace is driven by the customers who want
hoster ready; 3) Become a solution provider by
providing a platform (e.g., servers or storage).
IBM’s “prime model” has a five-step
process that permits IBM to educate, assess,
Guess the name of
enable, launch, and then host. The key is to
use an architectural “shared hosting” model.
the owner of these
Currently, IBM has decided to provide free
legs last seen
hardware and software to emerging growth
companies and has set aside $500 million for
at the August
financing this development.
monthy meeting.
In summary, Garcia believes that the
move to ASPs will accelerate and that the ASP
Earn free entry
model is a solid direction that will not develop
to an ASC
on an ad hoc basis. The model is a critical
component to e-commerce development and
monthly meeting.
the success of many businesses in our increasHint: Loaded
ingly web-based economy.
with insightful
questions, he was
once the Program
Chair and he
normally sports
a spiffy tie.
Photo: Emily Sopensky
16
John A. Menchaca, is a corporate/securities
lawyer with an emphasis on representing
emerging high growth companies in M&A
transactions, venture capital transactions, software licensing agreements, and other Internet
and e-commerce issues at Jenkens & Gilchrist, a
Professional Corporation. He can be reached at
[email protected].
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The Leader
June Meeting Summary
The “Ah Ha” Factor: Web Tools and
Resources to Help You Master Your Market
Chad Anson, Thompson & Knight, and Sherri Langley
Keeping abreast of market trends, customer preferences, and competitors’ activities
is increasingly important in the strategic operations of a company from marketing to
product and business planning. Because the
web makes available voluminous amounts of
this type of information, the need for effective
search and utilization tools and strategies
becomes obvious.
The June meeting, co-hosted by the
Austin Software Council and DeepCanyon,
featured a panel discussion to help companies
gain a deeper understanding of the trends and
issues facing marketing professionals and discover resources for finding the answers,
intelligence, and data most critical to their
marketing and business plans. The panel moderator was Jim Seymour, contributing editor to
PC Magazine and CEO of The Seymour
Group, Inc., a consulting firm providing
clients with strategy information. The panel
included four Internet research experts from
leading marketing research firms: Betty
Tyson, Information Research Specialist for
DeepCanyon, a market research firm providing
scalable research for small- and mid-sized businesses; Karlan Witt, Vice President of Millward
Brown IntelliQuest, Inc., one of the nation’s
leading market research firms; Claudia
Chidester, Adjunct Professor at the University
of Texas and Director of Research at Austin
Ventures, the largest venture capitol firm in the
Southwest; and Russ Caccamisi, Executive
Vice President of Sales and Marketing for
Productmarketing.com, the first product marketing automation software company.
Tyson began by acknowledging that the
web may contain a great deal of useful infor-
mation and briefly discussed the techniques
she uses to find “gems” among the online
data proliferation. However, Tyson cautioned,
companies must carefully evaluate web-based
research before using it.
Chidester noted that market research can
be an important tool when valuing a company.
She also stressed the importance of purchasing
the right type of research and gave several tips
to help determine the type of research a company might need, including whether the
company can buy pieces of information
instead of an entire study and whether existing
information can be enhanced rather than creating an entirely new study. Because the
quality of any research is often directly proportional to the skill of the analyst, companies
should not be afraid to demand a refund if
they are not satisfied with the results.
Witt cautioned against believing everything found on the Internet. He
recommended being aware of data biases,
such as the audience for which it was prepared; considering how well the data ages; and
realizing that more data does not necessarily
mean a quality analysis; additional data is not
helpful unless it is digested.
Caccamisi emphasized the importance of
understanding the parameters of primary and
secondary research. Secondary research that
seems 90% applicable, he explained, is 100%
dangerous. Second, you must find the right
primary research vendor because primary
research is not for the inexpert, again underscoring the importance of understanding the
survey bias and the sample size, etc.
The panelists also suggested websites to
use as research tools; for example, www.northernlight.com as a search engine and website for
public records, www.Hoovers.com for market
information, www.Multexnet.com for investment banking reports, www.dowjones.com for
corporate information, www.wsj.com for competitive clipping folders, www.freeedgar.com
for SEC filings, www.score.org for industry
experts, and www.computerselect.com for
technology articles with web links.
Chad Anson recently joined Thompson &
Knight in the firm’s High-Tech and Emerging
Technology Practice Group. He specializes in
patent prosecution, technology licensing and
Internet-related legal issues. He can be reached
at 512-469-6146 or at [email protected].
Sherri Langley is a student at the University
of Texas School of Law. She can be reached at
[email protected].
Board member Les Belady is
queried by Regis Philbin impersonator—the man with all the
answers at the August monthly
meeting—Mark Murdock of
Thompson & Knight.
Board members Neil of eCertain, and Betty
Otter-Nickerson, BMC Software agreeing with
ASCU Vice-Chair Tony Thompson, IBM Corp.
at the July meeting.
18
Part of the fun
before the August
“Fun” Monthly
Meeting, Bob
Martin learns
proper greeting
techniques from
an eOpera
cast member.
Photo: Emily Sopensky
Photo: Jennifer Wilson
Photo: Emily Sopensky
3Q00
July Meeting Summary
Confessions of a Workplace Warrior:
Industry Veterans Share Advice for
Winning on the Corporate Battlefield
Scott Thomas, Thompson & Knight, LLP
Today’s fiercely competitive business
environment for high tech startups is often
analogous to an ever-changing battlefield in
war. Often, high tech companies must address
difficult questions before entering the battle:
What type of weapons do we need? Who
should lead us into battle? When should we
initiate war ourselves?
The July 13 Austin Software Council
meeting featured a panel of industry veterans
who provided their insights in response to these
and other difficult questions. Dr. Katherine
Hammer, co-founder of Evolutionary
Technologies International and author of
a new book entitled Workplace Warriors:
Insights and Advice for Winning on the
Corporate Battlefield, emphasized that the
dynamic Internet environment and the proliferation of mergers and acquisitions have led
to an environment where companies “must
react quickly to survive.”
Guy Hoffman of TL Ventures, a venture
capital firm that invests in companies within
the Internet, software, information technology
services, communications and life sciences
industries, added that in business, as in war,
you must “pick your battles carefully.” In
Photo: Jennifer Wilson
July meeting: Author Kay Hammer, Robin Curle,
CEO of Journee Software, Guy Hoffman of TL
Ventures, Laura Kilcrease of Triton Ventures
many cases, these battles are not necessary and
are driven by emotion rather than facts. Thus,
Hoffman cautioned against picking battles you
cannot win because in business, like war, “all
that matters is whether you won or whether
you’re dead.”
The final panelist, Robin Curle, cofounder of Evolutionary Technologies
International and current CEO of Journee
Software Corporation, proffered communications as a weapon in the competitive high tech
environment. For a company to succeed, it is
imperative to communicate its goals to its
employees. Specifically, management should
have quarterly meetings to communicate,
identify, and reinforce the company’s top five
goals. By communicating and reinforcing
these goals and by linking compensation to
their accomplishment, a company is more likely to succeed.
The lively and often humorous exchange
of “war stories” and tips for winning on the
high tech battlefield was led by Laura Kilcrease,
founder and managing director of Triton
Venture Partners, L.P. The meeting was cosponsored by Austin Technology Incubator and
the Red McCombs School of Business at UT.
Scott Thomas is with Thompson & Knight in the
firm’s High-Tech and Emerging Technology
Practice Group. He specializes in patent litigation and prosecution involving complex
electrical, computer, and telecommunications
technology. He has a Master of Electrical
Engineering from Rice University and worked
for Bell Laboratories and Texas Instruments as
an engineer. Hecan be reached at 512-469-6126
or [email protected].
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19
The Leader
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Around 200 people heard from the
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Show Me The Money
AV Labs founder Rob Adams addressed
the ever-popular topic of raising capital in “The
New Model for Venture Capital,” the June 22
finance department seminar. Adams’ venture
capital model looks at factors in company formation, the Austin equity environment, and
the company’s ability to fill the market demand
for its product.
Developing the idea is the easy part of
company formation, said Adams, but then
comes the hard part—raising capital; finding
office space and other resources; and, most
importantly, finding talent. A good source of
talent is the growing pool of successful “voluntarily displaced executives” who work from
desire rather than necessity and are looking for
a new venture with people and ideas they like.
Thanks to a confluence of events—a
proliferation of ideas, a startup culture, readily
available venture capital, multiple generations
of venture capital funds, and the critical mass of
services and infrastructure—the Austin equity
environment has grown and supports new
companies better than ever.
Still, new companies need to find their
niche and competitive advantage in the market.
Adams advised companies to start with small,
fast capital—“one-comma capital”—in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars and then
return to the market for larger amounts. AV
Labs, whose average deal is $500,000–$5 million, receives 10–20 plans each day, pointing
out the importance of doing your homework
before submitting a plan.
New models notwithstanding, Adams
observed that companies that don’t know the
market and don’t have the right team still don’t
get funded.
Community Relations:
Not Just for the Big Guys Any More
Four experts explained how communityminded companies can benefit others and
themselves at “Branding Your Company
With A Community Investment Program,”
a half-day marketing seminar on July 13.
ASC“U” marketing dean Cheryl Seeman
introduced the presenters: Lindey Buckley,
Agillion; Steve Taylor, Applied Materials;
Paula Fracasso, executive director, Austin
Entrepreneurial Foundation; and communica-
tions consultant Lynne Skinner.
According to Buckley, the combination of
successful early funding, a community-spirited
CEO, awareness, and enthusiastic employees
have contributed to Agillion’s reputation as a
community-minded company, even though it is
not yet two years old. While time and resource
constraints can impede a company’s involvement in the community, Agillion has developed
a realistic budget, pinpointed opportunities,
and developed a plan that allows them to work
toward their community relations goals.
Positive publicity for their efforts has rewarded
the company with help in recruitment and
greater opportunity to promote its products.
Taylor has co-chaired Charitech, an annual
“philanthropy trade show” aimed at revolutionizing ways that business and community
leaders give back to the community, using New
Economy principles. While the first five years of
Charitech, started in 1994, resulted in
improved Old Economy non-profit connections with New Economy companies, one of
Charitech’s biggest challenges is to find the
best model to connect New Economy wealth—
especially ideas—to community organizations.
Since emerging New Economy companies are
not comfortable with the Old Economy model,
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20
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Charitech 2000 organizers are working with
Austin 360 Summit leaders and others to develop a model that is attractive, effective, and
persuasive. Charitech 2000 will be held in
Austin, Portland, and Richmond.
The Austin Entrepreneurial Foundation
works to marry the effectiveness, efficiency, and
productivity of the entrepreneurial sector with
the community focus, diversity, and inclusiveness of the non-profit sector. As Fracasso
explained, New Economy financing doesn’t
allow time for emerging companies to develop
foundations or other more traditional community support organizations. The Austin
Entrepreneurial Foundation has established a
fund to which private companies can contribute
stock options; it also helps companies develop
corporate mentorships, in which AEF helps
match employees with community organizations and other charitable groups.
Skinner outlined what companies can do
at various stages of their development to get
involved in the community. At the early stage,
companies should develop the culture of giving—choosing people with values in addition
to talent, rewarding leadership, and getting
involved in limited giving projects. As companies grow, they can develop formal policies,
establish matching programs, and be actively
involved in community organizations. Later, as
companies mature and go public, they can set
up foundations, donate money, lend executives,
and incorporate community relations into their
strategic planning. In a tight labor market,
companies that have strong values and community involvement have an easier time recruiting
and keeping talented employees. Said Skinner,
“It’s not enough to have a great product. You
have to have a great company…with a soul.”
Coming Up…
The ASC“U” Leadership Team will present a practical, informational seminar to
complement the speaker series held earlier this
spring. The program, “The Leadership
Challenge: CEO of a High Tech Start-Up,”
will feature Linda Ford, PhD, principal of
Cupertino, California-based Optima
Consulting. The seminar will be held on
October 5 at the MCC Auditorium and
answer these often-asked questions:
l How do you create a winning
corporate culture?
l How do you develop and communicate a
powerful vision and strategy?
l How do you attract the best key players?
l How do you get a group of skilled and
motivated strangers to work effectively
as a team?
A successful startup requires the right mix
of technology, funding, and people. While it is
easy to get pulled into the demands of product
and funding issues, a CEO must exercise certain leadership skills to navigate the startup
waters. Dr. Ford has been an independent consultant to high tech companies for the past
seven years. In addition, she has 25 years of
experience in the computer industry, having
held positions such as manager, software developer, system sales representative, training
specialist, and quality manager. In this seminar,
she will demonstrate proven strategies for meeting these leadership challenges successfully.
The next ASC “University” seminars will
be in the following departments:
August 24, Software Development
September 14, Human Resources
October 26, Legal
Watch your email and www.austinsoftwarecouncil.org for program announcements.
Annette Argall is a freelance writer. Annette
can be reached at [email protected].
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21
Membership Application
As the longest standing and largest technology-focused trade group in Austin, we are working with companies
of all sizes to build an internationally renowned high-tech community in Central Texas. Our programs include
high-impact education, networking and business resource services to meet the needs of our members as well as
of the community. Come join us!
Company Name: _______________________________________________ Web Address: ____________________________________________
Primary Contact: _______________________________________________ Title: ___________________________________________________
Direct Phone: ___________________________ Direct Fax: ___________________________ E-mail: ___________________________
Mailing Address: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
City: ____________________________________________ State: ______________ Zip: _______________________________________________
Street Address (if different):____________________________________________________ City/State/Zip: _____________________________
Main Phone: ______________________________ Main Fax: ______________________________
Company Description: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why did you join?/Who referred you to ASC?
Number of Employees: ____________________ In Business Since: _________________________ Number of Locations: _________________
M E M B E R S H I P C AT E G O R I E S
Technology Industry members are companies with at least 50% of revenues from: technology development, systems integration,
multi-media, or Internet-based business. Service Providers are companies that offer financial, management, marketing, legal, and
human resources consulting and services. Please contact Catherine Bartlett, if you have any questions.
Technology Industry
Annual Dues
Category
Student/Teacher
$
Service Provider
Annual Dues
25
$
25
Austin Employees
$ 150
$
300
6 – 19
Austin Employees
$ 325
$
650
20 – 49
Austin Employees
$ 500
$ 1,000
50 – 99
Austin Employees
$ 750
$ 1,500
100 – 499
Austin Employees
$1,250
$ 2,500
500 – 999
Austin Employees
$2,500
$ 5,000
1,000+
Austin Employees
$5,000
$10,000
Corporate: 1 – 5
PAY M E N T
Amount Enclosed: $ ____________ Check Appropriate Payment Type: Check ______ / VISA ______ / MasterCard ______ / AMEX ______
CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT NUMBER: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Exp. Date: _______________
Name (if different from above) as it appears on your credit card: ________________________________________________________________
X______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SIGNATURE
TODAY’S DATE
Austin Software Council, 3925 W. Braker Lane, Suite 400, Austin, TX 78759-5321
512-305-0023, Fax: 512-305-0220, www.austinsoftwarecouncil.org
The Leader
Peer Groups
Popularity of Peer Groups Soars
Rob Beauchamp, SIG Program Chair, and Juan Barberis, SIG Program Vice-chair
A recent survey of the Austin Software
Council’s growing membership indicated that
the peer groups are the organization’s most
valued offerings. Why? Well, these ongoing,
topic-focused meetings provide highly focused
attention to real world problems. Equally
important, the peer groups offer invaluable
opportunities to network with colleagues, collaborate with peers, and contribute to
personal and professional growth.
The resulting popularity of the groups
has sparked Council leaders to increase the
topics and introduce a number of organizational changes. Under the new leadership of
Rob Beauchamp, chair of the SIG Program,
and Juan Barberis, vice-chair, members can
participate in the following peer groups.
The Marketing Peer Group is composed
of marketing directors and managers from
software, dot com, and other technology companies that are active members of the Council.
The group meets on the third Friday of each
month to discuss with expert speakers issues
related to marketing on the Internet and
through other media for fast moving, fast
growing companies. The Marketing Peer
Group also advises the Council on educational
programming for the Council’s general membership. This group is chaired by Pam O’Neal
of Question.com.
The International Peer Group’s vision
is to assist the Austin technopolis in achieving
sustainability through the creation of an
international infrastructure to support area
technology companies in international expan-
sion and exporting. Its mission statement is to
“create value for Austin technology companies
by providing a forum for peer exchange.”
Specific goals of the International Peer Group
are to:
l Educate members regarding the need
to export to achieve rapid growth and
competitiveness.
l Offer opportunities for Austin technologists
to learn from one another; to compare
experiences, best practices, and lessons
learned; and to engage in problem-solving
for member companies.
l Involve member companies in the creation
of an international infrastructure.
l Publicize international opportunities.
l Inform member companies of local, national, and international resources for exporting.
l Create new opportunities for member companies through pooled resources, businessto-business missions, and events that connect members with potential international
partners, customers and investors.
l Place the Austin Software Council at the
“ . . . providing places that work.”
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24
3Q00
forefront of the community dialogue to create an international infrastructure and to
assure that the organization’s international
resources are a major differentiator in ASC’s
value proposition.
Chaired by Deirdre Mendez of Foreign
Business Management Consultants, this peer
group meets the fourth Tuesday of each
month. For further information on these and
other peer groups, contact Shannon Clapsaddle
at [email protected].
The vision of the Sales Peer Group is to
develop a strong group of industry executive
(VP or director level) sales leaders focused on
developing their knowledge of the sales cycle
and sharing their experiences, success stories,
and strategies. The group’s mission is to help
the sales leaders in the Austin community network, share and discuss strategies and develop
a powerful sales community. It is chaired by
Rex Carroll of Business Software Associates.
The HR Peer Group’s mission is to
provide an opportunity for networking,
information sharing, and educational opportunities among senior HR professionals
in technology companies. Under unusual circumstances, the group may elect to admit
non-technology-company members if they
will make a valuable and unique contribution
to the group that cannot be obtained from its
current membership.
Co-chairs of the HR Peer Group are Linda
Haines of People Solutions and Becky LeBlanc
of Landmark Graphics. The group meets every
two months for breakfast. Each meeting consists of a networking/introductions session, a
brief update on a legal issue of current interest,
followed by a speaker (or speakers) on a topic
selected by the group. Between meetings,
members regularly share information with and
provide assistance to each other.
Some of the past topics have been:
l Succession Planning and
Leadership Development
l Employee Turnover—Why the Wrong
Measurements May Be at the Root of
Your Problems
l HR Strategies in Mergers and Acquisitions
l Resource Management: Harnessing your
Human Capital
l Current Immigration Issues
The Wired Bunch meets once each quarter in different Austin locations. The purpose
of the group is to “wire” the technical community to the latest technology developments
and product/service solutions and to network
in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. The Wired
Bunch is a forum for members and friends of
the Austin Software Council to learn about
new technologies and industry trends.
Concero, which founded the Wired
Bunch in May 1999, is a permanent sponsor.
Each quarter Concero invites different companies to act as co-sponsors. A spokesperson
from each sponsor company typically gives a 5
minute informal presentation on their organization or the evening’s topic. Past sponsors
include Mercury Interactive, Tivoli Systems,
Vignette, MediaPrise, QuickArrow, and
NetPliance. The events are held at some of
Austin’s hottest venues including Stubbs, the
Coppertank, and La Zona Rosa. The Wired
Bunch has grown rapidly and will continue to
be one of Austin’s premier technology events.
The most recent Wired Bunch, held June
15, was co-sponsored by Concero,
Broadjump, Isochron, and the Austin
Software Council. The event was a great success with over 250 attendees. The president of
Isochron, Aruni Gunasegaram, and the vice
president of development with Broadjump,
Frank Ginac, spoke on the latest hot topic,
“Bringing Together Wireless and Broadband.”
The sponsors also provided a hot new electronic gadget as a grand prize giveaway.
The Next Wired Bunch will be held
in September. To find out more about
events or sponsorship opportunities,
contact Nicole Tsourmas with Concero
Inc., at [email protected]. To be
added to the membership list and notified
of all future events, email Shannon
Clapsaddle with the Austin Software Council
at [email protected].
About the sponsors of
the June 15 Austin
Software Council’s
Wired Bunch
meeting:
Concero is an e-business
services firm committed to transforming business through the
creative application of new technologies. Concero’s national consulting
firm is headquartered in Austin.
BroadJump, Inc. creates
software that enables residential
broadband service providers—cable,
DSL and wireless—to streamline
installation, manage the connection,
and enable delivery of new services.
Isochron (www.isochron.com)
is the leading application service
provider of enterprise information
solutions and wireless devices for
customers seeking to communicate
with their distributed field assets.
Isochron’s solutions connect people,
devices, and enterprise systems to
provide customers with vital information to improve their top and
bottom lines.
The Austin Software Council
(ASC)(www.austinsoftwarecouncil.org)
is a non-profit organization representing the software industry and
those whose business success is tied
to this industry. It has a thriving
leadership position in Austin and
has been judged one of the most
helpful and effective organizations
in the region.
25
The Leader
New and Renewing Members
The Austin Software Council welcomes new
members (in boldface) and thanks those who
have renewed their membership during
February 1, 2000 to July 31, 2000.
John Cottrell
Keith Elliott
Jorge Enciso
Jefferson French
Steve Vandegrift
Anatek, Inc.
Nina Hays-Mannix
Angelou Economic
Advisors, Inc.
Angelos Angelou
Aperian
2ndWave, Inc.
360Commerce
Advertising Novelties
Company
Agillion, Inc.
Jack Allen
David Auster
Terry Bezue
Robby Brewer
Carl Brown
Dennis Callagy
Steve Callahan
Som Chamidipati
bChris Cowan
Cara DuChamp
Larry Heafner
Chantal Ingerson
Sherry Jarvie
Tim McCarthy
Mark McIeod
Al Newsom
Paul Pavlov
Mark Riddle
Andy Robinson
Bob Seebold
Steve Settles
Ben Smith
Sharon Taylor
Thad Trusler
John Van Hoozer
Everett Vass
Roger Waak
Kevin Wilson
Charles Boyd
Mitchell George
Lori Haynes
Charlie Jackson
Sheryl Josserand
Will King
Mark Lopez
Christine Lowry
Alison Rusk
Robert Wales
Nancy Wales
Dirk Eller
Tom Hochstatter
Denise Lechtenberger
Mitra Miller
Frank Moss
Steven Papermaster
Meg Prince
Scott Sims
Ann Taylor
Marc Armstrong
Joe Barnes
Bryan Koontz
Derek Regier
ALPNET, Inc.
Jessica Rathke
26
Ask3.com
Austin Community
College
Austin Ventures
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Lynn Turner
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Amy Chronis
Mark Schmeltekopf
Emily Tovar
Stephen Winters
David Quick
Thomas Applegate
Mike Midgley
Paul Nacozy
Edward Osborn
Patty Scogin
Jan Smith
Joe Aragona
Andrew Brown
Peter Huff
John Thornton
Automatic Data Processing Beth Celauro
AV Labs
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Brian Borack
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Tommy Deavenport
Jeff Erramouspe
John Hicks
Rob Kornblum
Jay Lanier
Mark McClain
John Milburn
Alisa Nessler
Kim Paschall
Phil Siegel
Mike Turner
BAE Systems
Gregory Trachta
b
Chris Brown
Thomas Felger
Jordan Herman
Cecilia Linton
Matt Lucas
Susan Miller
Joel Momberger
Polly Powell
Mark Robeck
Kim Rudy
Keith McKenzie
allmystuff, Inc.
Analysts International
Corp.
Arthur Andersen LLP
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Dawn Evans
Gary Fortin
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Patricia Hrabina
Paul Joubert
Terrall Lewis
Maureen Marroquin
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Mark White
Black Diamond
Technology
Karl Aigner
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BOA Worldwide, Inc.
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Bracewell & Patterson, LLP Thomas Adkins
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Brobeck, Phleger &
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Cameron University
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Catapult Systems Corp.
Jim Martin
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Riss Estes
Julie Fergerson
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Rob Lynch
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Clickin Research
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Solutions, Inc.
Neal Burns
LaVae Hoffman
Martha Russell
Robert Baird
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Compuware Corp.
ConnectTel
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Shillpesh Katragadda
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A Halliburton Company Sheri Binford
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Farrell Desselle
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David Koch
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DSI Technology
Escrow Services, Inc.
Debbie Cherniak
eBoing, Inc.
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eCom Holdings
Network, Inc.
Gary Brown
E-Commerce
Technology Austin
David Cooper
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First Analysis Corp.
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Foliage Software
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Foree Software
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Services, Inc.
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eForce, Inc.
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Enport.com
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Core Strategies
Bronson Dorsey
Essential Air Group, Inc.
Stanley Finch
Cysive, Inc.
Dan George
Walt Parmer
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ETI
Danford Solutions, Inc.
Indrajeet Sil
Data Junction Corp.
Darrell Blandford
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Glass Eye Entertainment Patrick Bradshaw
Goldman Sachs
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GraphX Creative
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Jenny Ross
Tommy Shook
Export Management
27
The Leader
New and Renewing Members continued from previous page
Graves, Dougherty,
Hearon & Moody
GreenCentral.com
Sang Dhong
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John Henderson
Diane Holik
Satwinder Kahlon
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Hart Information Services Diana Arney
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Herman & Howry, LLP Matt Beatty
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High Desert
Executive Search
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High Flex Partners, LLC
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Hire.com
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HotData, Inc.
IBM Corp.
28
Johnny Anderson
Todd Carlson
Julian Critchfield
Carol Maginn
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Roy Springer
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Mike Conner
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Trace Dashner
Himanshu Desai
Intelligent Learning
Systems, Inc.
Paul Baffes
InternetAppraisal.net
Richard Holdren
Intrinsity, Inc.
Andy Albin
Jean Anne Booth
i-stream
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Jon Cobb
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Carlos Martinez
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Graham Sanderson
Ruben Sandoval
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Cheryl Wilhelm
ITI - Information
Technology Institute
Frank Traditi
Jackson Walker LLP
Larry Waks
Jenkens & Gilchrist, P.C.
Carol Bellon
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Rowland Cook
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JETRO, Austin
JETRO, Houston
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Hisanori Nei
Yujiro Nishiyama
Hidehiko Nishiyama
JETRO, New York
Journee Software Corp,
Rob Beauchamp
Robin Curle
Kevin Lally
Jim Longmire
Maggie Lubishcer
Robert Ryan
Jeff Smith
ICON Marketing LLC
Robert Campana
Ignite!
Patrick Fitzgerald
Cheryl McDonald
Pamela Richardson
JTBS, Inc.
Brad Beckman
K360 Business Solutions
Kirby Walker
Inference Corp,
Matt Blodgett
Kanbay, Inc.
John Holsinger
Inflow, Inc.
Cameron Brown
Tina Gangel
David Jones
Sonjia Knight
Sean Lanahan
Scott Rayer
Shari Ryan
Chuck Smith
Kazan Software, Inc.
Craig Dalton
Denise Girard
Nancy Glass
Jim Van Winkle
Inquisite, Inc.
Sam Goodner
InStreamTV, Inc.
Ginger Blankenship
William Cason
Thomas McLellan
Brent Terry
Intellifact.com, Inc.
Stella Anderson
Patrick McClear
Korn/Ferry International David Harap
KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP Chris Bauer
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Cameron Brown
Kirk Caldwell
Tom Deal
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Marlo Francke
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3Q00
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Michelle Rigo
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Stanley Sewell
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Norman Trubee
Lante Corporation
Lynette Fairey &
Associates, Inc.
Mike Appel
Steve Carter
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Gia Duncan
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Thomas Wells
Trey White
Fan Zhang
Microsoft Corp.
Modular Technology, LLC Scott Collins
NaviSite, Inc.
Net Perceptions, Inc.
marchFIRST
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Lora Kerr
Adam Martinez
Suzanne Sikora
Netherlands Foreign
Investment Agency
Market Answers, LLC
Julia Brown
Gerald Norman
Marsh USA, Inc,
Brian Duke
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MCC
McKinsey & Company
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Joe Bulger
Mark Davis
Ron Dovich
Peter Eppele
Terry Flaherty
Coyne Gibson
Elaine Wetmore
Larry Wikelius
PointServe, Inc.
Steve Hochschild
Ed Powell
Amanda Sanchez
Susan Sandberg
Polaris Venture Partners
Tom Herring
PolyDyne Software
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Linda Elkins
Pedro Murillo
Rae Mushkin
Doug Olson
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ProductMarketing.com
Vicki Barber
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Scott Olson
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David Waller
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Protean Marketing, Inc.
Cassandra Behringer
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Erin Hassell
Tim Berry
David Friedman
Sanjay Mishra
Brian Penly
Michael van der Woude
Lee Norman
Netpliance
Martin Process
Solutions, Inc.
Melanie Ambrose
Irv Frederick
Rene Ibenhard
Dow Kennedy
David Korns
Amber Shaffer
Dwight Smith
Lynette York
netheartbeat, Inc.
managing yours
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Rick Rowell
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Chad Wagner
Dale Weisman
Andrew Yahin
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Bradford Miller
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Marek Rusinkiewicz
Zack Thompson
Ed White
Lee Ahlstrom
Stuart Bodden
Derek Chan
Arshad Matin
Rajesh Sah
medium S company
Russell Zears
Metrowerks Corp.
Deepika Arora
Trey Chambers
Kay Elmore
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ProTrader Securities, LP John Bunda
Prudential Securities
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NetQoS
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NetX3.com
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Purple Mountain Software Cose Crause
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Optimal Methods, Inc.
Leon Lasdon
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QuestLink
Technology, Inc.
Page One InterActive
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Quick Arrow, Inc.
Partnerware, Inc.
Kevin Carlson
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Anne Silvia
Trent Bridges
Elizabeth Davis
Stephen Faris
Jennie Hoff
Abdul Yoosufani
Q-UP Systems, Inc.
Kenneth Bitz
Cheryl Seeman
Partnerwerks
Christopher Avery
R. Miller Hicks
& Company
Miller Hicks
Perficient, Inc.
Andrew Roehr
Reactivity
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Pervasive Software
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David Cox
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Pam Fisher
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Keith Hill
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Reese Center
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Tony Williams
Resource Financial Group
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Ken Kirk
Terry Lane
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Melissa Mendoza
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Mark Porter
29
The Leader
New and Renewing Members continued from previous page
Tracey Rucker
SAGA Software
Scott MacCallum
Britt Terrell
San Jose Mercury News
Nancy Rock
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Sanchez Capital Partners
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Satellite Business
Computers, Inc.
Gary Guilbert
SciComp, Inc.
Robert Akers
David Johansen
Elaine Kant
Curt Randall
Annette Renaud
Lawrence Schumann
Robert Young
SeeDragon Software
Allison Allen
Kent Spaulding
Simpler-Webb, Inc.
Chris Brown
Monika Bustamante
Gloria Driscoll
Randy Ramirez
Chris Scharf
Jeff Simpler
Andy Webb
Steve Blair
Russell Buyse
Terry Cloudman
Paul Del Piero
Sean Dempsey
David Dimston
Chris Graft
Michael Irwin
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Jan Lindelow
Jamin Marks
David Murphy
Danielle Panis
Trish Pierce
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Carrie Richardson
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Perry Statham
Gayle Wiley
TL Ventures
Singleentry.com
Alex Barenboin
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Tokyo Electon America
Strategic Partnerships, Inc. John Revier
Rob Adams
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Mitch Carlson
Russ Finney
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Brielle McDonald
Robert Oberwetter
Michelle Pesez
Ray Peterson
Richard Rogers
Mindy Russell
Louis Steen
Surgient Networks, Inc.
Rick Beale
Bob Fernander
Caroline St. Denis
System Analytics
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Tonic Software
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Team Linux Corp.
Edward Crowley
Delia Rodriguez
TriNet
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TeltecGlobal, Inc.
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Triton Venture
Partners LP
TeVCA Technologies
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Dan Vogler
UPskill, Inc.
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Website Alive
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The Adrenaline Group
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Wells Fargo Bank
Texas, NA – Austin
The Lithoprint Company Kathy Byrd
The Mercer Company
Curtis Mercer
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The Romine Group, Inc. Bryant Hamstra
Times N Systems, Inc.
Tivoli Systems, Inc.
30
Vince Bridgers
Steve Kimzey
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Ted Scardamalia
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Houston Lane
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Greg Taylor
Ron Westbrook
Whole Foods Market, Inc. Jeff Zon
Wickliff & Hall, PC
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Goodrich & Rosati
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Kelly Barker
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Winternals Software LP
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X.HLP
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Zeus Development Corp. Britt Roberts
Zilliant, Inc.
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The Leader
Council Calendar
September 4
OFFICE CLOSED—Labor Day
September 5
Monthly Meeting
September 14
ASC “University” Seminar: Human Resources Dept.
Mergers & Acquisitions
September 15
Marketing Peer Group Luncheon
September 19
CTO Peer Group Luncheon
September 21
Human Resources Peer Group Breakfast
September 21
ASC“U” Partnered with TCN Finance Seminar
September 26 & 28
ASC “University” Seminar: 2 Part International
September 26
International Peer Group
September 27 ASC.Net
ASC / Austin Arts Happy Hour
October 3
Monthly Meeting
October 5
ASC “University” Seminar: Leadership Dept.
October 26
ASC “University” Seminar: Leadership Dept.
October 17
CTO Peer Group Luncheon
October 20
Marketing Peer Group Luncheon
October 24
International Peer Group
October 25
Entrepreneurial Career Fair
October 26
ASC “University” Seminar: Legal Dept.
November 7
Monthly Meeting
November 9
ASC “University” Seminar: Marketing Dept.
November 16
Human Resources Peer Group Breakfast
November 16
ASC“U” Partnered with TCN Finance Seminar
November 17
Marketing Peer Group Luncheon
November 21
CTO Peer Group Luncheon
November 23
OFFICE CLOSED—Thanksgiving Day
November 24
OFFICE CLOSED
November 28
International Peer Group
December 5
Monthly Meeting
December 14
ASC“U” Partnered with TCN Finance Seminar
December 25
OFFICE CLOSED—Christmas Day
December 26
OFFICE CLOSED
Please check our website
www.austinsoftwarecouncil.org
periodically for current information.
Editor
Laurie Modrey
Director of Publications
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Amy E. Lemen
Bob Martin
John A. Menchaca
Deirdre Mendez
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Tony Thompson
Paul Toprac
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