EXTRANET NEWS * Week of 2 December 2002

EXTRANET NEWS * Week of 2 December 2002

Editors: Joel Orr and N'omi Orr

http://www.extranetnews.com

1. IRONSPIRE: TARGETING THE MID-RANGE MARKET WITH SIMPLICITY

2. REGISTER FOR COFES2003 BY YEAR-END AND SAVE

3. THE LIST

4. TIDBITS

5. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

1. IRONSPIRE: TARGETING THE MID-RANGE MARKET WITH SIMPLICITY

"IronSpire's goal is 'make it easy'," said CEO Robert Ellis. "We work very hard to make it possible for our users to become productive with little or no training. In our target market of mid-size companies, principally in construction, this is a critical factor. People have neither the time nor the inclination to learn yet another computer application. Our job is to give them help, while changing what they do as little as possible."

"There are only two drivers in construction." Ellis continued, "Budget and schedule, with quality as a constant. So our 'elevator pitch' revolves around supporting these goals. Our differentiator: We do it with no 'turbulence' for the user. They continue to use most of their existing forms and procedures. Only now, they do it on-line, from any browser."

Based in Portland, Oregon, IronSpire is surviving—and growing—in a difficult economic climate. "Our whole team has been through the start-up experience before, so our expectations were realistic. At the peak of the dotcom time, we were being frugal, outsourcing, keeping costs down. That has paid off for us. We haven't had to downsize at all. In fact, we now have 22 distributors, and have begun distributing in Australia and New Zealand," said Ellis.

"We've been selective in our choice of distributors," Ellis continued. "Each has been serving a particular market for at least 15 years. They know the customers, and they know the construction industry. This has mitigated the biggest risk in outsourcing distribution, which is the time that it takes to get the distributors up to speed."

IronSpire delivers its products as a full ASP (application services provider), based on the Microsoft .Net platform. The company is pleased with it, both as a development environment and in terms of its performance. "I am particularly pleased with our partnerships, with Microsoft and Intuit," said Ellis. The product supports XML data exchange with Microsoft Solomon Project Series and Intuit Master Builder, as well as Timberline Office.

All the forms are customizable, so that they can be made to appear similar to the forms in current use. And by users, not Web designers.

Our take: This company has shown that it has what it takes to survive and even grow in difficult times. Their reference list is impressive. And I really like the "have it your way" approach. If I were a mid-size company in IronSpire's target market, I would definitely short-list them.

2. REGISTER FOR COFES2003 BY YEAR-END AND SAVE

The fourth Congress on the Future of Engineering Software (COFES) will be held May 15-18, 2003, at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

As its Web site says:

COFES represents a new type of event: It is not about listening to speeches, or about selling--unlike most conferences and tradeshows.

It is about luxuriating around the numerous pools in serious discussion with your peers. It is about meeting the people you've been wanting to meet—the press, your competitors, investment people—in an informal, non-threatening, and supportive environment.

Designed for decision-makers from the vendor, user, press, academic, VAR, investment, consulting, and research communities—COFES2002 is where CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, presidents, vice-presidents, directors can meet, mingle, and well, the rest is up to you.

The goal of COFES2002 is to bring clarity, vision, and focus to issues facing the engineering software community, to speculate on what is just over the horizon, to facilitate intellectual and creative synergies among confreres, and to have fun doing it.

Go to http://www.cofes.com/ to learn more.

3. THE LIST

Total companies: 253 (see who's on The List at http://www.extranetnews.com/)

4. TIDBITS

· Constructware has a great white paper on their site: "Are you buying obsolete software?" Find it at http://www.constructware.com/Common/Downloads/Buyer_Beware_White_Paper.pdf

· So does Citadon: "Keys to Success in Web-based Project Management: Lessons Learned from the Chicago Transit Authority Capital Improvement Program." This one is by Cyon Research Corporation, the consulting firm in which I am VP and Chief Visionary. http://www.citadon.com/pdf/products/cta_whitepaper.pdf

· Construct Canada 2002; December 4-6, 2002; Toronto, Canada

· AICPA; December 5-7, 2002; San Antonio, Texas

· International Building Show; January 21-24, 2003; Las Vegas, Nevada

· EXTRANETS III - Institute of Civil Engineers, London - December 10. I attended EXTRANETS II last year, and it was OUTSTANDING; small exhibit, but very-high-quality presentations. Information: http://www.constructionplus.uk/

· Creating the Real-Time Enterprise, December 10-12, 2002 - San Francisco, CA. For more information see: http://www.dci.com/brochure/rtesf/

· Project World 2002, December 10-13 Santa Clara Convention. 10 one- and two-day pre-conference workshops, 3 keynotes, 26 conference sessions, networking opportunities. See: http://www.projectworld.com/live/20/events/20SCL02

· International Air-Conditioning Heating Refrigerating Exposition; January 27-29, 2003; Chicago, Illinois

5. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of discussion.

--Plato