Aloha Eagle-eye, The following is a repost of a post I made on Sh. It should answer questions 1 & 2. As far as an IPO, that is only conjecture at this point.
Aloha to all...I know everyone has been chomping at the bit, in dire anticipation of some juicy news, and I'm no exception. However, this latest hiring of Dr. Lyn Gubser is a lot more important than you might at first think. This is another very important piece of the corporate management strategy plan that Owen and company have laid out. I'm sure they are also getting lots of guidance from their big brothers, including their latest BOD member Jay Nussbaum who stated "What I think they have here - if they do this correctly - is a true consumer-based product. I think they've picked the right architecture and the right engine, and if that proves true, the possibilities are intriguing".
Doing this correctly, has a lot of implications. Besides having a product that performs the intended service, it means having the infrastructure in place to support delivery, installation and training schedules, as well as providing prompt technical support. Dr. Gubser will be playing a key roll in that process. As Jim Speros so aptly stated "Lyn's outstanding experience in internet-based training is precisely what Sideware requires to provide the critical function of training and certifying our VARS. Ultimately, much of the success of Dr. BEAN will be a direct result of how the total solution is sold, installed and trained by our VARS. Lyn's skills will also be instrumental in helping develop Sideware's content-related materials".
If you were an IBM, Oracle, SAIC or AT&T senior manager, and you were considering aligning yourself with a start-up company such as Sideware, what would your expectations be? I'm sure you would never agree to commit your resources to integrating a product like Dr. Bean with your systems, unless you were absolutely certain that this customer support tool was backed up by its own customer/technical support.
As stated by Owen in his SH interview, "We don't want a hundred customers tomorrow. We are not quite ready for that. We want that in January." He also stated that "what we could expect next, is news releases about increased relationships with our channel partners, as well as releases on companies purchasing the product." IMHO, since Owen stated that they are installing about 4 systems per week, I'm confident that there is already some juicy news regarding some of these installs, just waiting for the appropriate time to be released. SYD's past actions indicate that that they have a definite plan on when and what news to release. I'm sure Owen is having the time of his life, having finally reached the negotiating stage with the channel partners. I'll continue to trust management's judgement in that regard and await news on their schedule.
Makamai |
