Software AG is trying to raise its profile and increase its revenue in the run up to its initial public offering planned for next year (CI No 3,244). As part of the German company’s drive for wide scale recognition it will push the component side of its business, with an aim of componentizing the enterprise using its EntireX middleware. EntireX has been designed to enable developers to deploy Microsoft Corp object applications across Unix and mainframe environments (CI No 3,264), the DCOM Distributed Component Object Model implementation being currently available on Solaris, before it moves to OS/390 and Digital Equipment Corp systems. Software AG has decided it’s time to present itself in a more upbeat fashion and will announce products with confidence according to marketing vice president Roopinder Singh. Software AG plans to float on the Frankfurt exchange next year, before adding its name to the Nasdaq list, the idea behind it being to expand its investor base, rather than to simply raise cash. EntireX will account for 20% of the company’s $520m revenue this year, and a further 20% will come as a result of its partnerships with the likes of Microsoft and fellow German organization SAP AG. Software AG is actually one half of a joint venture providing consultancy services in Germany, called SAPSAG. The joint company is currently made up of some 75 staff from both companies, with that figure expected to double in the not too distant future, coinciding with the setting up of a similar operation in the UK. Software AG has also revealed plans for a new Java application environment for Unix, NT and mainframe platforms which will be formally announced at the Cebit trade show in Hanover next March. Software AG is optimistic the product will prove a success on Unix and NT, but reckons it will be some three or four years before people will be ready to deal with Java on the mainframe.
