By William Fellows
With Microsoft Corp’s backing, EAI shop Microscript Corp will next month begin to move from its healthcare roots into other vertical industries, including insurance and ERP. Microscript is an all-out Microsoft-based departmental play. It sometimes goes into customers alongside the traditional Unix-based EAI crowd, not in competition. It has created custom ActiveX technologies for enabling application integration on NT platforms in the healthcare industry and is going rework those for other markets. For Microsoft, which wants to get its technology used in EAI situations as well as encouraging Unix customers to jump ship, it’s a perfect opportunity. That’s why Microsoft is going to be picking up some of Microscript’s marketing expenses in pursuit of this goal.
Microscript CEO John Moriarty says that Microsoft is giving the company guidance on some NT-based work, but Microscript has new technology of its own in the pipe too. He says the work should get Microscript on to the radar of analysts watching the EAI market.
Moriarty says Microscript solutions cost one third or less than comparable solutions from other EAI companies, including healthcare rival STC’s DataGate suite. Traditional EAI companies demand outrageous prices for their software, he says. Moriarty claims to have many more customers than STC at 1,400, but admits to be doing much less in revenue. Six-year-old Microscript claims to be in profit and to have done around $10m revenue last year growing at 35% a year. It estimates 20% of revenue is services.
