Technology Evaluation Centers’ (TEC’s) series on business-to-business (B2B) pricing segmentation benefits (see Know Thy Market Segment's Price Response) and on upbeat news from one such solution provider, Zilliant (see How One Provider's Solution Covers the Bases of Price Optimization and Management), have prompted a great deal of interest and feedback from readers. The articles have also prompted Vendavo (www.vendavo.com), another prominent, privately held provider of price management and optimization software to B2B companies worldwide, to have an update briefing with TEC.
This briefing was done for two reasons. First, the vendor concurs that the market for such applications has been flourishing lately, as price management is receiving greater attention at the highest executive levels in B2B companies. Secondly, Vendavo wanted to point out its many recent developments in order to further inform the market about its offerings and capabilities, as well as dispel the lingering misperception that the vendor does not offer price optimization capabilities.
Life Is Good at Vendavo
Most recently, Vendavo—founded in 2000 and based in Palo Alto, California (US), with European headquarters in London (UK), and employing about 200—announced record results for 2007, following solid results the year before. According to a press release issued in February 2008, the vendor continued its aggressive growth and increased bookings by 65 percent in 2007 compared to 2006. Vendavo added 18 new customers in 2007, continuing the company’s rapid growth.
In 2007, the same press release reports, Vendavo customer deployments grew significantly in number: the company’s enterprise solution is now deployed (or in progress of being deployed) in more than 40 multibillion-dollar companies globally. Vendavo Enterprise Pricing Suite prices revenues in excess of $500 billion (USD) and manages tens of millions of price points.
Thanks to growth in new customer acquisitions and through continued investment by existing customers, Vendavo now has customers spread across multiple industries, including high technology, chemicals, industrial manufacturing, consumer products, mill products, oil and gas, and distribution. Some of the clients’ divisions include the following:
* two of the top five computer manufacturers around the world
* three of the top 10 Fortune 500 manufacturers of semiconductor
* five of the globe’s largest industrial manufacturing corporations
* six of the top 20 chemical companies according to Fortune 500
The SAP Factor
Vendavo attributes its success to both direct and indirect channel sales. The latter has seen a strong momentum as a result of Vendavo’s reseller partnership with SAP, the world’s leading provider of business software, with more than 33,200 customers in over 120 countries. SAP sources its SAP Price and Margin Management (PMM) application from Vendavo to complement and extend its SAP CRM (for customer relationship management) and SAP ERP (for enterprise resource planning) suites.
Geographically close to SAP’s North American research and development (R&D) center, Vendavo has worked with the enterprise applications giant for several years. Vendavo takes great pride in the seamless integration of its solutions and in the strength of its Powered by SAP NetWeaver certification and partnership. This distinction means Vendavo uses SAP’s Web Application Server, Business Intelligence (BI), Enterprise Portal, and Exchange Infrastructure (XI) components of SAP NetWeaver (see Multipurpose SAP NetWeaver). But now, with the reseller relationship in place, customers have been able to license a comprehensive, fully-integrated PMM software solution from a single source: SAP (see Applications Giants Bolster Their Pricing Management Capabilities). SAP has only a handful of strategic resellers compared to its large number of partners that carry the Powered by SAP NetWeaver certification. Vendavo is the only price management solution that is resold by SAP.
SAP worked closely with Vendavo for more than a year in reselling the pricing solution to SAP’s customers. Then in late 2006, Vendavo announced that it received an equity investment from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP. As stated in another press release posted by Vendavo in November 2006, it was intended that the investment would “help fund Vendavo’s product development, extending and deepening the links between its pricing solution and critical enterprise systems.” SAP Ventures then joined Vendavo’s existing investors, including Doll Capital Management (DCM), InterWest Partners, Mesirow Financial, Sigma Partners, and Split Rock Partners.
The same press release additionally clarifies the company’s hopes and intentions, as expressed by Nino Marakovic, investment partner with SAP Ventures: “By more tightly linking Vendavo’s pricing applications with all of the systems that support operations, sales, marketing, and finance, decision makers across the entire enterprise will have real-time access to the data they need to make effective pricing decisions.” For instance, Vendavo’s price management solutions, when combined with SAP ERP’s inventory availability, item costing, or available capacity and utilization data, could enable the creation of highly refined pricing solutions. In keeping with the plan to execute a joint product development road map over the next several years, integration is being built with SAP engineering resources on site. To that end, Vendavo has completed the SAP Solution Validation requirement, which is an exhaustive quality assurance process that all SAP applications go through prior to being generally available.
Vendavo’s partnership with SAP (wherein SAP sources its SAP PMM solution from Vendavo, the two companies sharing long-term goals for the product and working closely together to provide integration that is based on SAP NetWeaver XI and is extensible to other middleware platforms) has apparently delivered impressive results for both parties concerned. An enterprise-level pricing solution that is tightly integrated with other SAP applications, combined with superior global support (see No Yawn Intended: Enterprise Applications Giant Introduces a Mid-tier Support Choice), and the peace of mind that comes from purchasing from a global leader, has proved to be compelling for many SAP customers. A significant number of large deals have been signed, with SAP helping Vendavo expand more quickly into new vertical sectors (oil and gas, for example).
This briefing was done for two reasons. First, the vendor concurs that the market for such applications has been flourishing lately, as price management is receiving greater attention at the highest executive levels in B2B companies. Secondly, Vendavo wanted to point out its many recent developments in order to further inform the market about its offerings and capabilities, as well as dispel the lingering misperception that the vendor does not offer price optimization capabilities.
Life Is Good at Vendavo
Most recently, Vendavo—founded in 2000 and based in Palo Alto, California (US), with European headquarters in London (UK), and employing about 200—announced record results for 2007, following solid results the year before. According to a press release issued in February 2008, the vendor continued its aggressive growth and increased bookings by 65 percent in 2007 compared to 2006. Vendavo added 18 new customers in 2007, continuing the company’s rapid growth.
In 2007, the same press release reports, Vendavo customer deployments grew significantly in number: the company’s enterprise solution is now deployed (or in progress of being deployed) in more than 40 multibillion-dollar companies globally. Vendavo Enterprise Pricing Suite prices revenues in excess of $500 billion (USD) and manages tens of millions of price points.
Thanks to growth in new customer acquisitions and through continued investment by existing customers, Vendavo now has customers spread across multiple industries, including high technology, chemicals, industrial manufacturing, consumer products, mill products, oil and gas, and distribution. Some of the clients’ divisions include the following:
* two of the top five computer manufacturers around the world
* three of the top 10 Fortune 500 manufacturers of semiconductor
* five of the globe’s largest industrial manufacturing corporations
* six of the top 20 chemical companies according to Fortune 500
The SAP Factor
Vendavo attributes its success to both direct and indirect channel sales. The latter has seen a strong momentum as a result of Vendavo’s reseller partnership with SAP, the world’s leading provider of business software, with more than 33,200 customers in over 120 countries. SAP sources its SAP Price and Margin Management (PMM) application from Vendavo to complement and extend its SAP CRM (for customer relationship management) and SAP ERP (for enterprise resource planning) suites.
Geographically close to SAP’s North American research and development (R&D) center, Vendavo has worked with the enterprise applications giant for several years. Vendavo takes great pride in the seamless integration of its solutions and in the strength of its Powered by SAP NetWeaver certification and partnership. This distinction means Vendavo uses SAP’s Web Application Server, Business Intelligence (BI), Enterprise Portal, and Exchange Infrastructure (XI) components of SAP NetWeaver (see Multipurpose SAP NetWeaver). But now, with the reseller relationship in place, customers have been able to license a comprehensive, fully-integrated PMM software solution from a single source: SAP (see Applications Giants Bolster Their Pricing Management Capabilities). SAP has only a handful of strategic resellers compared to its large number of partners that carry the Powered by SAP NetWeaver certification. Vendavo is the only price management solution that is resold by SAP.
SAP worked closely with Vendavo for more than a year in reselling the pricing solution to SAP’s customers. Then in late 2006, Vendavo announced that it received an equity investment from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP. As stated in another press release posted by Vendavo in November 2006, it was intended that the investment would “help fund Vendavo’s product development, extending and deepening the links between its pricing solution and critical enterprise systems.” SAP Ventures then joined Vendavo’s existing investors, including Doll Capital Management (DCM), InterWest Partners, Mesirow Financial, Sigma Partners, and Split Rock Partners.
The same press release additionally clarifies the company’s hopes and intentions, as expressed by Nino Marakovic, investment partner with SAP Ventures: “By more tightly linking Vendavo’s pricing applications with all of the systems that support operations, sales, marketing, and finance, decision makers across the entire enterprise will have real-time access to the data they need to make effective pricing decisions.” For instance, Vendavo’s price management solutions, when combined with SAP ERP’s inventory availability, item costing, or available capacity and utilization data, could enable the creation of highly refined pricing solutions. In keeping with the plan to execute a joint product development road map over the next several years, integration is being built with SAP engineering resources on site. To that end, Vendavo has completed the SAP Solution Validation requirement, which is an exhaustive quality assurance process that all SAP applications go through prior to being generally available.
Vendavo’s partnership with SAP (wherein SAP sources its SAP PMM solution from Vendavo, the two companies sharing long-term goals for the product and working closely together to provide integration that is based on SAP NetWeaver XI and is extensible to other middleware platforms) has apparently delivered impressive results for both parties concerned. An enterprise-level pricing solution that is tightly integrated with other SAP applications, combined with superior global support (see No Yawn Intended: Enterprise Applications Giant Introduces a Mid-tier Support Choice), and the peace of mind that comes from purchasing from a global leader, has proved to be compelling for many SAP customers. A significant number of large deals have been signed, with SAP helping Vendavo expand more quickly into new vertical sectors (oil and gas, for example).
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