Next 100: Companies Under $5 Million Very Targeted, Positioning to Grow

Firms Support a Range of Sectors

By John P. Desmond

The 2008 Software 500 Next 100 - companies with up to $5 million in revenue, making an appearance on the Software 500 for the first time this year - shows a high rate of 79% in spending on research and development, consistent with the requirements for early-stage software companies concentrating on bringing products to market.

Average revenue growth for the group was 27% from 2006 to 2007, the measurement year, and the group reports having approximately 3,300 employees altogether. Total revenue for the group in the measurement year was $293 million.

Here is a brief look at a selection of firms in the Next 100.

Application Development
The most selected primary business category in the Next 100 is application development, selected by 13 companies. No. 503 International Software Systems, founded in 1995, takes on software development projects for clients in federal and state government and the private sector. Development offices in India aid the effort. T3 Software Builders, at No. 508, concentrates on component development with a focus on the telecommunications industry. Founded in 1996, the company develops applications using Sun ONE, Microsoft .NET, and application servers from Sybase, BEA, and IBM. The company has broadened its client base to include Internet service providers (ISPs), financial services firms, and state and federal government agencies. T3 also offers a product, SiteMaestro, as well as system and networking tools.

Outline Systems, at No. 512, delivers applications for the insurance, pharmaceutical, and telecom industries. The company focuses on application development, application maintenance, and package implementation and reports a dramatic growth in revenue - more than 110% from 2006 to 2007 - to reach $4.5 million.

New Generation Software, at No. 513, has been developing software for IBM midrange systems since 1982. Now concentrating on the AS/400, the firm offers packages including the NGS-IQ Business Intelligence System (for query, reporting, OLAP, and performance management) and the Concert Series (for accounting and financial management, with support for multi-state and multi-company processing and reporting).

Leaf Software Solutions, at No. 531, offers project management and a project framework approach with stages it identifies as envisioning, planning, developing, and stabilizing. Leaf Software's products include DocMan, for content management and workflow; the company is also a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

Vertigo Software, at No. 538 and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner as well, concentrates on .NET custom applications for clients including Microsoft. Vertigo also covers user experience design, application performance, software development lifecycle consulting, and software product strategy for software suppliers. In its case history section, Vertigo's website includes two projects for Microsoft that have been incorporated into Windows Marketplace and the Vista OS.

Smart Bear Software, at No. 543, saw dramatic growth of 146% to reach $3.2 million in revenue. The company offers Code Collaborator, a product for agile and lightweight source code review that enforces workflows, integrates with incumbent development tools, and automates audit trails and metrics. Customers include Cisco, Siemens, Keynote, Autodesk, and Intuit.

Financial Applications
Financial applications was the second most selected software business sector, chosen by seven firms. AccountMate Software Corp., at No. 516, reached $4.2 million in revenue. Founded in 1984, the company today has more than 125,000 users in more than 200 industries. AccountMate has a strong network of partners and resellers; its accounting modules are available for Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Express, and local area networks.

Cypress Software Systems, at No. 533, provides banks and credit unions with automated loan processing products. The firm targets institutions that process up to 20,000 consumer and small business credit applications per month. The company was founded in 2000 by executives experienced in banking and risk management.

Sabrix, at No. 534, helps companies with transaction tax management for compliance with sales tax, use tax, value-added tax, excise tax, and other international and industry-specific taxes and fees. Founded in 2000, the company offers the Sabrix Solution for enterprises and services targeting small to mid-market firms. Sabrix works with partners that are tax professionals, system integrators, and independent software vendors.

Bluepoint Solutions, at No. 558, is focused on image-based payment processing. This includes remote deposit capture, electronic document management, and multi-factor identification systems. In 2008 Bluepoint acquired Avalon Technology, a leader in software products for the Check21 marketplace.

[Ed. Note: Check 21 is a federal law designed to enable banks to handle more checks electronically, to make check processing faster and more efficient. Check 21 became effective on October 28, 2004.]

Customer Relationship/Call Center Management
Six companies selected the customer relationship/call center management business sector, led by Oncontact Software Corp. at No. 527. Oncontact targets mid-market companies with its CRM product based on the .NET platform, allowing it to integrate with many third-party applications with the same look and feel on internal networks of the Internet. Founded more than 15 years ago, the company today has more than 500 customers worldwide, including Prudential and Carfax.

AMC Technology, at No. 532, offers contact center software that manages many types of customer interactions and integrates with CRM applications from SAP, Oracle, Siebel, PeopleSoft, Salesforce.com, and Microsoft, and contact center products from Avaya, Cisco, Aspect, and Nortel. Founded in 1995, AMC Technology offers the Multi-Channel Integration Suite with an open architecture.

Entellium Corp., at No. 553, offers its Rave CRM product to small and medium businesses on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. The company touts the product's "gamer-influenced design" as making it easy to use. Customers start out with Rave Plus and can move up to Rave Complete. Rave Marketing adds the ability to track and manage e-mail campaigns.

Continental Computer Corp., at No. 574, has served the "death care industry," in its words, since 1985, offering products for funeral home management. The company's offerings include the Director's Assistant, including Spanish Memorial Designer with more than 300 Spanish forms; Keepsake Publisher, which integrates with Microsoft Word to offer easy customization; and Picture Show, to simplify the process of producing video tributes.

Human Resource/Workforce Management Systems
Six companies selected the human resource/workforce management systems business sector, led by Cytiva Software at No. 501, offering recruiting and talent management products via the SaaS on-demand model. In business for more than 12 years, the company offers modules for recruiting, staffing, and resume-tracking, as well as bringing employees onboard and managing performance. The company reported 84% growth in revenue to reach $5 million.

Valiant Communications, at No. 505, offers workforce management products including time and attendance, scheduling, payroll, human resource, and business process outsourcing. Founded in 1993, the company has more than 1,000 clients in a range of industries. Its payroll processing exceeds $2 billion per year. Clients include the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets.

Ascentis Software Corp., at No. 555, offers human resource and payroll management products. The payroll product, formerly Instapay, was created in 1980 by EBS OnLine, a California payroll services company. The HR product, formerly HROffice, was created in 1994 by Ascentis Corp., a software firm dedicated to providing SMBs with easy-to-use HR and benefits management products. The two joined forces to create an integrated HR and payroll offering in 2007.

At No. 547, Insala, founded 12 years ago, offers a Web-based talent management product, with features supporting developing and retaining top talent, succession planning, career development processes, performance evaluations, downsizing, transition and outplacement, and management of organizational growth and change. The company saw 30% growth in revenue to reach $3.2 million.

Vertical Industry Applications
Six companies selected the vertical industry applications business sector, indicating they want to position in a specific vertical industry. The first is OmniComm Systems, at No. 522, offering clinical software and services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, research and medical device firms to help maximize the value of their clinical research investments. OmniComm offers the TrialMaster Web-based application, which uses electronic data capture (EDC) techniques to allow clinical trial sponsors and investigative sites to collect, validate, transmit, and analyze clinical study data. That includes patient histories, patient dosing, adverse events, and other information. The TrialMaster product was developed on Microsoft .NET architecture.

Mintek Mobile Data Solutions, at No. 529, offers products supporting transmission of data to mobile devices for mobile users in a range of industries, but especially telecommunications, lodging, and public utilities. Founded in 1987, the company offers products supporting preventive maintenance, work orders, sales force automation, and warehouse automation.

Cougar Software, at No. 537, is offering performance management products for the real estate industry. Its performance management functions support historical trends and forecasts of future performance, optimization of capital allocation, streamlined budgeting, forecasting and valuation, and automated investor and stakeholder reporting. Clients include New Boston Fund, Land Securities, Investa, ING Real Estate Investment Management, and Inland Real Estate Group.

SecureLogic Corp., at No. 560, saw its revenue increase 160% to reach $2.7 million. The company is squarely focused on developing and marketing products that manage the movement of people and baggage through airports, integrating security methods with state-of-the-art screening and baggage handling technologies.

Dec2008, Software Magazine