Indicative launches product for enterprise management

FORT COLLINS – If you’ve ever shopped on Ebay, the on-line auction
service that’s become an international sensation since the late
1990s, then you’ll have some appreciation for the mission of
Indicative Software Inc.
Ebay has direct control over “only 10 percent” of its network
technology, explained Tilman Schad, CEO of Indicative. The entire
process, from customer order to the fulfillment of the sale, is
actually a “value network” with multiple companies involved in the
system.
However, if something goes wrong, Ebay bears the brunt of the
customer complaint, even if its own piece of the service network was
operational.
Indicative, a new Fort Collins IT management company, has introduced
a software suite to help companies like Ebay monitor the multiple
layers of the on-line transaction process.
“We watch the vital signs,” Schad said. “In case something goes out
of control, we can monitor the root cause.”
Schad and Indicative rolled out the service for public eyes on May
24. The company, with 15 employees in Fort Collins, believes it’s
raised the value of enterprise management software for users ranging
from insurance companies to government agencies – which want to
maximize their on-line service.
” Managing for the service delivery chain is the future,” Schad said.
“We’ve built upon proven service-management technology now in use in
the telecommunications industry and have applied to the enterprise.”
Indicative has licensed technology from Agilent Technologies Inc. as
the foundation for its software suite.
The Agilent connection is also reflected in the company management.
John B. Smith, former director of sales and marketing for Agilent’s
Firehunter division, is president of Indicative. The company’s staff
is also weighted with former Agilent and Hewlett-Packard Co.
employees. Schad is also a former HP executive.
The new product has also won financial backing from a syndicate of
three venture capital firms, headed by Fort Collins-based Vista
Ventures. The financiers, which include Sequel Partners of Boulder
and Sutter Hill from California’s Silicon Valley, have combined to
invest $6 million in Indicative.
Management software is a major industry worldwide, representing about
$13 billion in business. However, most tools fall short of customer
needs, Schad said.
He cited a study by Forrester Research that claims “73 percent of all
customer-reported issues to the helpdesk are not discovered by the
management tools.”
The key to the Indicative system is the ability for companies to
follow the network from a customer’s perspective, said Angela Tucci,
vice president of marketing and sales for the company.
Since launching sales in January, Indicative has enlisted 17
customers, including BUPA, the British United Provident Association,
a major health maintenance organization. BUPA utilizes Indicative’s
product to monitor its on-line physician booking process and
insurance sales transactions.
Indicative gives BUPA early warnings “if things are trending in the
wrong direction” anywhere in its global network.
The system allowed BUPA to lower its call center costs by moving more
of its transaction activity to the Internet, she said.
The company has started building a direct sales organization, which
should double its employee head count in less than a year, Schad said.

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