CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
2 February 2010
Financial News
Arena Wraps Up 2009 with Strong Growth in Annuity Bookings despite Deep Global Recession
Arena Solutions announced that the company saw strong growth in annuity bookings for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2009, despite the ongoing global recession, with an increase of 9% over the same period one year earlier. Annuity bookings for the year were up 5% over the year prior. As in previous quarters, the company continued to see strong demand from new customers buying Arena collaborative bill of materials (BOM) and change management software for the first time as well as existing customers renewing and significantly expanding their subscriptions.
The new customers in Q4 2009 came from a variety of industries, including high-tech electronics, medical device and consumer products. They also span a range of growth stages, from young companies embarking on the new product introduction (NPI) process for the first time to more mature businesses that value Arena for helping them simultaneously manage existing product lines and new product development (NPD) efforts. Among these new customers were a number of referrals. In the fourth quarter more than 30% of new customers had either received a recommendation for Arena from another satisfied customer or experienced the benefits of Arena themselves at another company.
Among existing customers, those who renewed their Arena subscriptions for the first time in Q4 2009 expanded their usage by nearly 70%. With the ability to start managing BOMs and engineering change orders (ECOs) in Arena in less than five days and share accurate, up-to-date product information with their suppliers right away, these customers began deriving value from Arena as soon as they started using it and quickly positioned themselves to get even more out of the system. Among larger Arena customers, companies like Tesla Motors and Char-Broil renewed their commitment to Arena in Q4 2009. Arena saw more than 100% increase in subscription growth over Q3 2009 for this segment.
"We saw a lot to be happy about in the fourth quarter -- and the recession notwithstanding, in all of 2009," said Craig Livingston, chief executive officer of Arena Solutions. "We added more new customers last year than in either of the two years prior. We saw evidence of our customers' businesses beginning to rebound, as they expanded their use of Arena to help drive future growth. And we watched a lot of former Arena users land on their feet in new positions and bring Arena in to help their companies quickly get their product data and engineering change processes under control. I'm thrilled -- and all signs point to an even better year in 2010."
Among the customers who selected Arena in Q4 2009 are:
-- Camelbak, founded in 1989 and the global leader in personal hydration
gear. With a mission to continually reinvent and forever change the
way people hydrate and perform, CamelBak offers a complete line of
technical hydration packs, reusable BPA-free water bottles and
performance hydration accessories for outdoor sports, military, travel
and a healthy lifestyle.
-- Sensit Technologies, whose rapid gas leak detection and gas line
monitoring products are used by emergency response personnel as well as
telecom, industrial and HVAC service professionals around the world.
-- Public Wireless, which provides turnkey alternative wireless siting
solutions in locations where traditional development costs and/or zoning
and permitting processes have made deployment prohibitive.
-- Pano Logic, which offers an all-in-one hardware and software solution
that deploys in under an hour and dramatically simplifies the
complexity and management of virtual desktops.
-- Pliant Technology, which designs and develops Enterprise Flash Drives
(EFDs), a new class of solid state storage devices that integrate
seamlessly into enterprise information systems and meet the demanding
performance and reliability needs of data centers and other high
performance computing environments.
-- PeopleNet, a mobile communications and onboard computing provider
meeting the unique and specific needs of fleets throughout the U.S.
and Canada with leading-edge technology and unparalleled flexibility.
Also in Q4 2009:
-- The company went live with the Fall 09 release of Arena, which added more than 50 new enhancements and enabled manufacturers to start capturing, controlling and sharing product information in less than five days. The release introduced the Arena Secure Drop Box, along with rapid data loading, validation and integrity-checking tools that allow Arena to be deployed faster than any comparable solution for even the most complex small and mid-size manufacturers.
-- Arena surpassed its 99.5 percent service level agreement for the 15th consecutive quarter, with 100 percent uptime in Q4 2009 and a continued focus on delivering the most secure and reliable collaborative BOM and change management solution available. Uptime for the year 2009 was 99.99%.
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