A prevailing push for operational efficiency by big business has helped systems management software house BMC Software Inc do better than the market was expecting in its last financial final quarter, but profits at Cisco Systems, a bell-weather for the technology sector, have been hit hard.
Total revenue for the third quarter rose 6.4% to $488 million from $459 million in the year-ago quarter, which bettered analysts’ expectations on BMC.
The company said it was continuing to see opportunities for its business service management software line in the downturn because it is associated with automation projects and cost reduction exercises.
BMC chief Bob Beauchamp said “It’s increasingly clear that our customers’ top issue has become efficiency. Customers are spending money where they see short-term cash ROI and long-term structural cost efficiency.”
In contrast Cisco said its numbers had been hurt by a dramatic orders decline, suggesting that Global 2000 businesses had all but stopped investing in new infrastructure.
Like BMC it said its fiscal second-quarter revenue was also above Wall Street’s estimates, but at $9.1 billion its numbers were down from $9.8 billion a year ago. It also reported that its quarterly profits had falled by 27%.
