The Future of EasyAsk: Depends on Progress
December 18, 2008
EasyAsk is a search system that works quite well. You can read EasyAsk Facts here. The company is now a unit of Progress Software. Progress began with a core of original code and over the years has acquired a number of companies. I think of the firm as a boutique, which is not what the Progress public relations people want me to keep in my tiny goose brain. I saw a news item about Progress Software’s most recent financial report. You can read a summary of the numbers here. If you want more detail, navigate to Google Finance here. The story is simple: earnings are down to $8.5 million from $15.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. With the economic climate in deep chill mode, Progress will have to retool its sales and marketing. If the downdraft continues, the company will have to make some tough decisions about which of its many products to hook up to life support. EasyAsk is like other search systems a complicated beastie. Search systems gobble up money, and the sales cycle is often long even when the MBAs are running at full throttle. When the MBAs are home worrying about their mortgage payments, the search business is likely to suffer. One warning sign: EasyAsk was not mentioned in the news release I read. This goose is accustomed to watching the weather for signs of a storm. My thought is that one might be building and heading the EasyAsk way. What’s your take? No PR people need reply, thanks.
Stephen Arnold, December
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One Response to “The Future of EasyAsk: Depends on Progress”
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I would hardly say Progress is going down the toilet.
They have no debt.
On the figures you mention, interestingly you didn’t mention that revenue was up year over year and that the Non-Gaap income figure was up year over year. Now I am no accountant but the GAAP figure includes some non-reoccering items mentioned here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/111478-progress-software-corporation-f4q08-qtr-end-11-30-08-earnings-call-transcript?source=yahoo
Having said that, your comments on EasyAsk are interesting and will be interesting what happens with it in Future (or what doesn’t happen if that is the case).