SEPTEMBER 18, 2006
INNOTAS UNVEILS INDUSTRY'S ONLY PURE ON-DEMAND PROJECT PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT SOLUTION DESIGNED FOR MID-SIZED ORGANIZATIONS
New CEO, $5.5m in venture funding and new brand identity carries Innotas into its next phase of growth — company expects to grow user base from 2,000 to 25,000 within three years
OAKLAND, CALIF., SEPTEMBER 18, 2006— Innotas (formerly known as Project Arena) officially emerged from stealth mode today to unveil the industry's only pure, on-demand Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solution specifically designed to meet the needs and cost constraints of mid-sized organizations, while ensuring customers a 10 to 20 percent reduction in hard costs. The company also announced today the appointment of Keith Carlson as President and CEO, a $5.5M initial round of venture funding, the Innotas product roadmap, and a new corporate brand and identity, all strategic moves aimed at propelling the company into its next phase of growth.
"Not only is licensed software dead, but vendors that don't fully embrace Software as a Service will become extinct," said President and CEO Keith Carlson, Innotas. "Further, the hybrid approach — offering both on-demand and on-premise software — will not work long-term because it hampers the vendor's ability to quickly and consistently bring new functionality to customers. By embracing a pure, on-demand delivery model, Innotas is doing for Project Portfolio Management what Salesforce.com has done for Customer Relationship Management."
According to Gartner, the dynamic PPM software market is poised for between 11 percent and 16 percent CAGR, and is expected to reach nearly $6.2 billion by 2010 . "With the market growth forecast and Innotas' unique value proposition with the pure, on-demand delivery model, we felt the company provided a profitable investment opportunity," said Jeb Miller, Partner, ComVentures. "Innotas is poised for growth with deals to serve a growing base of more than 2,000 users."
"We have a plan in place to triple the company's revenues each year for the next three years, and we aim to grow our user base from 2,000 to 25,000 users within three years," said Carlson. "We will achieve this operational goal by quickly ramping up the sales force, continuing to invest in product innovation, and by placing an increased focus on marketing and demand generation activities."
Innotas Technology Vision and Product Roadmap
In 2000, company Founder and CTO Demian Entrekin recognized the market was moving toward the Software as a Service delivery model and saw an opportunity. "I envisioned a solution that included all the key elements of PPM, delivered entirely through an on-demand business model to significantly lower the total cost for customers, while enabling Innotas to accelerate product evolution and streamline upgrades," he said. "Traditional PPM solutions take months to deploy, and they require expensive professional services engagements. Once installed, they are too complex to use, and too expensive to upgrade to new releases. Most importantly, they are just plain cost prohibitive for mid-market budgets."
"Along the way, there have been some surprises, and one of the most interesting is the way the on-demand software model creates a much tighter customer/vendor relationship," Entrekin continued. "I think that is a great trend for the software business in general."
The Innotas solution is designed using Model-View-Controller (MVC), a software architecture that separates an application's data model, user interface, and control logic into three distinct components so that modifications to one component can be made with minimal impact to the others. This design approach enables Innotas to turn around new capabilities quickly, while preserving quality and scalability.
"Our product is on solid ground, and with this infusion of funding, we'll be able to continue heavily investing in our products and technology," said Entrekin. "The roadmap includes an increasing investment in web services and a services oriented architecture, the introduction of new configurable dashboards and advanced financials, and a clear path for expanding into vertical market segments."
Since the company's inception five years ago, Innotas has deployed nearly 50 product releases. Innotas plans to release three more builds before the end of the calendar year, with a focus on enhancing the user experience and expanding the product's existing dashboard capability to better support the reporting needs at all levels of project portfolio management.
"The company's aggressive growth strategy and product roadmap required Innotas to arrive on the scene with a brand that can carry Innotas into the future," said Carlson. The company's name, Innotas, was derived from the word INNOvative and the acronym TAS, which stands for Technology as a Service. In addition to re-naming the company, Innotas has created a new logo, launched a new corporate website (www.innotas.com), and plans to make more significant investments in marketing, advertising and public relations.
"All of these efforts will be in support of our sales force. We're ramping up our direct sales force, and expect to more than quadruple the sales force by the end of 2006. By the end of 2007, we will have increased the sales force more than ten-fold," said Carlson. "A solid brand and recognized corporate identity will play a crucial role in Innotas' ability to achieve this aggressive goal."
About Innotas
Innotas provides the only pure, on-demand Project Portfolio Management (PPM) solution specifically designed to meet the needs and cost constraints of mid-sized organizations. The company's business model is based entirely on the concept of on-demand software, significantly lowering the total cost for customers while enabling Innotas to accelerate product innovation. With more than 2,000 users spanning a wide range of industries including financial services, healthcare, retail, high technology, telecommunications and energy, Innotas keeps IT organizations continually focused on the right IT initiatives while managing projects, as well as associated resources and capital, as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Innotas investors include ComVentures, a top tier Silicon Valley venture capital firm with a strong track record for investing in early-stage technology startups; ArrowPath Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early and expansion stage companies developing enterprise and infrastructure technologies; and Cedar Circle, an investment firm funding visionary entrepreneurs. For more information on Innotas, a privately-held company based in Oakland, California, dial +1-510-281-2300 or go to www.innotas.com.
