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American Express, TIBCO Software, Infosys and WestBridge Create New Company, Workadia, L.L.C.
Workadia Will Provide Hosted Portals Designed to Give Employees Access to a Comprehensive Range of Integrated Business Software Applications, Online Services and Content
San Francisco, June 05, 2001 - American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX), Infosys Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: INFY) and WestBridge Capital Partners today announced the creation of a new company, Workadia L.L.C. Workadia will provide companies with comprehensive, customizable business intranets through browser accessed hosted portals. The company will also offer consulting services to help customers select and deploy their intranet applications, content and services.
Workadia's solutions are designed to increase productivity by giving employees the ability to conduct business online, and its hosted model is designed to decrease the total cost of ownership and deployment of intranet applications. The portals will let companies select hosted and in-house software applications, content and services and then integrate them into a single desktop view. Workadia will integrate systems and automate business processes, allowing real–time information to flow between the portal and internal enterprise systems. Additionally, Workadia will offer a wide range of software applications, online services, content and information, including: financial services, e-mail, expense reporting, corporate travel, news, stock quotes and more.
Workadia will initially focus on U.S. companies in need of a complete business intranet service. Many of Workadia's initial target customers will be middle market companies or companies that want to outsource business activities. Over time, Workadia plans to expand its scope internationally.
The new company will leverage the experience of American Express, TIBCO Software, Infosys, and WestBridge Capital Partners to provide superior customer service and marketing, portal development, and technology integration. American Express is a global leader in servicing companies of all sizes in a variety of areas, from Corporate Cards to hosted business travel applications, and has relationships with thousands of business customers. TIBCO Software will provide its real–time e–business infrastructure software, which is used by companies such as AOL/Netscape, Ameritrade and Enron. Infosys, whose core experience is in software development and integration of enterprises, will provide the services to seamlessly link the systems of the new and existing applications for each Workadia customer. WestBridge Capital Partners is a leading U.S.-India focused venture capital firm that will help Workadia with various start-up activities, including recruiting of the management team.
"There is an enormous, growing need for this type of service. This need, combined with the potential to draw customers from the American Express customer base, should give Workadia a leg–up in capturing market share," said Sally Hudson, Research Manager, Internet Infrastructure Services at IDC, a market research company based in Framingham, MA. "This partnership and technology combination shows that Workadia has a fundamental understanding of what it takes to create a successful e–business."
How it Works
Workadia's easy–to–use browser interface requires minimal training, and its single log–on is designed to give users a single point of access to software applications, content and services. Workadia plans to make numerous business software applications, services and various types of content available through the portal, including: financial services, e–mail, calendar, expense reporting, corporate travel, human resources, customer relationship management, sales, e–procurement, news, stock quotes and more. Workadia portals will offer customers the flexibility to choose from among the leading Internet software and online service providers in each category.
Workadia plans to facilitate the flow of information between a company's new and existing business systems, software applications and services, which will eliminate redundant data entry and many manual processes. For example:
- Changes to Workadia employee profiles will automatically update information in a company's human resources databases, 401K plans, payroll, travel and purchasing systems;
- Travel reservations will automatically post to employee calendars;
- Online corporate purchases will be automatically settled with accounts payable.
Workadia will utilize advanced online security technology to help ensure the privacy and security of employee and company information. In addition, the TIBCO e–business infrastructure technology is designed to extend access to wireless devices and mobile phones.
Business Terms
p>Workadia's initial round of funding totals $16.7 million, enhanced by the strategic assets each company brings to the partnership. The company will generate revenue from three primary sources: licensing fees from customers, consulting fees, and third-party product and service sales.
The new company will begin operating for the near-term under the guidance of Co–founder and Interim-CEO Mohit Mehrotra, who is currently Vice President of Interactive Business Development at American Express, and a board comprising Glen Salow, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at American Express; Jud Linville, President of Corporate Services, Canada and U.S. at American Express; Raj Mashruwala, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Engineering at TIBCO Software; Phaneesh Murthy, Infosys Board Member and Head of Worldwide Sales and Marketing; and Sumir Chadha, Managing Director, WestBridge Capital Partners.
American Express has extensive experience building strong relationships with and servicing thousands of business customers with a wide range of products and services, including Web-based Corporate Card and travel applications. Through this experience, we know companies have a strong appetite for deploying a broader set of services to their employees," said Glen Salow, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at American Express. "We're pleased to play a role in creating and guiding Workadia, a company with all the right ingredients to quickly deploy a valuable workplace service for corporations." "Companies that lack the resources required to integrate and manage critical business systems on the Internet risk extinction," said Vivek Ranadivé, TIBCO Chairman and CEO. "Workadia will give companies much broader access to the advantages of real–time e–business in a hosted model, reducing upfront investment and increasing speed to market."
"Outsourcing of corporate intranets will be the way of the future for companies," said Phaneesh Murthy, Infosys Board Member and Head of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "Our own experience in building and integrating systems and connecting enterprises will be invaluable for Workadia as it rolls its services out for all ranges of businesses."
"Workadia is addressing a large market opportunity and leveraging three powerful corporate partners that provide it with a sustainable competitive edge," said Sumir Chadha, Managing Director, WestBridge Capital Partners.
Workadia is currently operating the portal in a pilot phase and plans to make it more broadly available later this year. More information is available about Workadia on the Internet at www.workadia.com.
About the Companies
American Express Company (www.americanexpress.com) is the leading global provider of commercial cards and expense management solutions. Through its Corporate Services group, formed in 1982, the company counts more than 70 percent of the Fortune 500, along with tens of thousands of mid-sized companies, as customers of its Business Travel, Corporate Card, Corporate Purchasing Card and Consulting Services group. The company offers a variety of Internet-based products and services for large and mid-sized companies, including American Express @ Work® for online Card program administration and Corporate Travel Online for online corporate travel reservations. In addition, the American Express® Corporate Purchasing Card offers enhanced interoperability with most of the leading online purchasing systems.
The American Express Company is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company founded in 1850. It is a leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, financial planning, investment products, insurance and international banking.
Infosys Technologies Ltd. is an IT consulting and service provider, providing end–to–end consulting for global corporations. The company has partnered with several Fortune 1000 companies providing a wide range of services for technology driven business transformation initiatives. These services include e–strategy consulting and solutions, large application development and enterprise integration services. Infosys also has product co-development initiatives with numerous communication and Internet infrastructure companies that are creating the building blocks for the digital economy.
The Global Delivery Model of the company leverages talent and infrastructure in different parts of the world to provide high quality, rapid time–to–market solutions. Infosys' U.S. headquarters is located in Fremont, California; the company also maintains offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. For more information, contact Infosys Technologies at +91-80-8520261 in India, and +510-742-3000 in the U.S. or visit Infosys on the web at www.infy.com.
WestBridge Capital Partners (www.wbcp.com) is a leading U.S.–India focused venture capital fund with $140 million under management. The fund primarily focuses on cross–border U.S.–Indian technology companies that are targeting the U.S. market. WestBridge was founded by Sumir Chadha, KP Balaraj and Raj Dugar, who are former Goldman Sachs professionals with substantial experience in venture capital, investment banking and entrepreneurship. WestBridge's investors include Goldman Sachs, SUN Technology, Capital Z Investments, Merrill Lynch, and Fidelity. Individuals, such as Suhas Patil, Arjun Malhotra, BV Jagadeesh, Rajat Gupta and Laxmi Mittal, have also invested in the fund. WestBridge has offices in Silicon Valley, Bangalore, India and Mumbai, India.
About TIBCO Software Inc.
TIBCO Software Inc. (Nasdaq:TIBX) is a leading provider of total business integration solutions delivering infrastructure software that enables companies to seamlessly integrate business systems in real time. TIBCO's products enable the real–time distribution of information through patented technology called The Information Bus™, or TIB®. TIBCO technology was first used to digitize Wall Street and has since been adopted in diverse industries including financial services, telecommunications, electronic commerce, transportation, logistics, manufacturing and energy. TIBCO's global customer base includes more than 1,000 customers such as Cisco Systems, Yahoo!, Ariba, NEC, Enron, Sun Microsystems, GE Capital, Philips, AT&T, Pirelli and AOL/Netscape. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., TIBCO can be reached at +1 650 846 1000 or on the Web at www.tibco.com.
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This press release contains forward–looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and speak only as of today. The words "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "aim", "will", or similar expressions are intended to identify these forward–looking statements. These potential uncertainties could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward looking statements and include, without limitation: the start–up nature of Workadia and the unproven market for its services; Workadia's ability to prove its business model, gain market acceptance and gain operating efficiencies; Workadia's ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; Workadia's dependence on a limited number of enterprise customers and on its investors for critical elements of its business; Workadia's ability to compete successfully in a highly competitive, new and evolving marketplace for its services; American Express' ability to successfully market Workadia to business customers; and Workadia's ability to provide a comprehensive solution for corporations.
