The “Rock” of Enterprise Software

SandHill.com speaks to CEO John Chen about how Sybase has managed to not only hold strong but to thrive in the rapidly evolving software ecosystem.

By Maryann Jones Thompson, SandHill.com

When John S. Chen took the helm as CEO and president of Sybase in 1998, the enterprise software business was a very different world. Through the past 10 years, Sybase has maintained a low profile as it steadily grew its business to a billion dollars in revenue last year and outlived many of its former rivals as a successful independent vendor.

SandHill.com spoke with Chen about Sybase’s strategies for growth, innovation and customer relations, why the company aims to raise its profile in the industry, and why it has not jumped into SaaS with both feet.

Software 2008 is Just 2 Weeks Away!

Don’t miss your opportunity to network with the largest group of enterprise software and services executives assembled this year. Software 2008 takes place on Sept. 29-30 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. Keynote speakers include Dave DeWalt of McAfee, Jesper Andersen of Oracle and Surya Kant of TCS. Up-and-coming company CEOs will share their case studies of fast-growth as part of the Innovation Showcase. And breakout session tracks will take an in-depth look at the latest issues for software vendors, such as SaaS/Cloud Computing, open source and Enterprise 2.0. Register now and be a part of this unique gathering!

Don’t Let Your Channel Sabotage Your Launch

A recent “secret shopper” study found little channel support for a software company’s long-planned-for product launch. Rick Sklarin of the Crimson Consulting Group shares the implications of the study and shares tips for better vendor-channel alignment in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on channel management.

When Does the Data Center Become the Cloud?

An interview with the Chairman Emeritus of the IBM Academy of Technology finds more evidence of the trajectory towards Cloud Computing. Judith Hurwitz of Hurwitz and Associates shares the insights of Irving Wladawsky-Berger on the development and future of the cloud in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on emerging technology.

Publish Your Perspective!

SandHill.com wants your opinions. Send your thoughts on the enterprise software industry to SandHill.com editor, Maryann Jones Thompson (maryann@sandhill.com) and have your opinions published on our site.

Making the Board More Strategic:
A McKinsey Global Survey

Corporate directors want to spend more time developing forward-looking strategies that help maximize shareholder value. Boards that are already highly influential in creating corporate value work differently. Read how in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.

News Update: Reinventing Themselves

A cloudy new developers' engine, virtualization changes operating systems and malware, jive talking and Project Panama threatened. Read these stories and more software news of the week in the latest SandHill.com Software News Summary.

Poll: Sybase Remains Independent?

Can a solidly-performing vendor like Sybase remain independent in today’s rapidly consolidating software industry?
Take our Pulse Poll >>

Last week, readers speculated on whether visualization will become a standard part of the software development process.
Give us your opinion and see the results >>

More at SandHill.com:

Google and Salesforce.com team to fight Microsoft.
Read the most important enterprise software industry news of the week >>

Intel Capital unveiled a $500-million fund aimed at Chinese investments.
Monitor the latest software venture capital deals >>

IBM bought FilesX.
Size up last week's software M&A deals >>

Tim Cadogan named CEO of OpenX.
See who's made it to the top in our list of recent software executive appointments.

Send us your feedback on this newsletter and the SandHill.com site.

Parting Thought

“Better train people and risk they leave - than do nothing and risk they stay.”
–Anonymous

Courtesy of Malcolm Kusher, The Kushner Group

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SOFTWARE PULSE

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SandHill.com is published by Sand Hill Group, which provides investment and management advice to emerging leaders in the $600 billion enterprise software, services and solutions market. Sand Hill Group produces the Software and the Enterprise series of conferences for industry executives, and authors research reports on cutting-edge technology topics.