Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 7)

SM: What are the plans for 2010 and beyond, now that the licensed-software-to-SaaS transformation is complete? KC: Every other SaaS company out there has satisfied an existing business process. We are out to create an entirely new way of doing business.

Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 6)

SM: Is it safe to say that at this point Ariba is a reasonably well-situated SaaS company in the procurement management space? KC: Clearly there were doubters, both internally and externally, when we first laid out our SaaS strategy. The results we’ve achieved in the past four years prove that we made the right decision and

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Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 5)

SM: How did your customers handle your move to SaaS? KC: The customers bought the license and then went and implemented [the product]. It was almost up to them to be successful. Now, if the customer buys something it is still up to them to be successful, but it is really up to us to

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Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 4)

SM: What was your revenue in 2002, and how was your ramp-up moving as you made your directional changes? KC: In 2002 we did $229.8 million in revenue, the largest chunk of which was perpetual licensing. When we sold a $1 million or $2 million license it was recognized on our financial statement at that

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Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 3)

SM: Did you have a supplier network as part of your product offering? KC: We did, and that was a great piece. In 2002 our supplier network had about 25,000 suppliers on it. That supplier network continues to be a core piece of our business.

Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 2)

SM: So your strategy to stabilize the business after the dot-com crash was to continue development of your software product and then conduct acquisitions to increase your core product offering? KC: Yes, and at the same time we continued to add capabilities into the technology stack to cover a broader area in the sourcing and

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Pioneering SaaS In Business Process Optimization: Ariba’s Kevin Costello (Part 1)

SM: Kevin, let’s start with some historical perspective of Ariba. You joined the company after it went public, correct? KC: Ariba was a company that was one of the founding members of the dot-com explosion that occurred in the mid to late 1990s. It was focused on helping organizations optimize a business process. The process

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From Zero To One Hundred Million: TheLadders.com CEO Marc Cenedella (Part 7)

SM: How do you view LinkedIn? I have seen your ads there. MC: We are one of the largest advertisers on LinkedIn, and we have a great relationship with them. I have a profile there. I think that LinkedIn and TheLadders are absolutely complementary.