Ther are plenty of other portal players as well, including PLUM, which is preparing to IPO. If PLUM gets their IPO off they will have the most cash, which could put them in the driver's seat, but if not, they may have some trouble. VIAD had the opportunity to take the dominant position, but failed to do a secondary a year ago when the opportunity presented itself, and therefore they risk running out of money, and as you suggest, they will probably be acquired. SQSW looks to be in trouble already; they have minimal sales growth, incredibly bloated AR, and virtually no deferred revenue.
This article has some interesting information on the various players:
gartner.com
To me the advantage of HUMC in having its own search engine isn't persuasive. VIAD and BRIO are working with AUTN, for example. HUMC does have two major advantages, however. The first of these is money; they have plenty of cash and some profitable businesses to provide plenty more if needed. The second advantage is that they have a large standing sales force that can be and has been mobilized to sell the EIP product. On the other hand they also have a major disadvantage that may in the end hurt them, and that is a tradition of relatively slow growth. If they plod along at a slow pace here they will quickly find themselves behind, and they will never catch up.
Carl |
