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Versata

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Versata
Company typePrivate
IndustrySoftware
Founded1989
FounderKevin Fletcher Tweedy
Naren Bakshi
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
,
United States
Key people
Randall Jacops, president and chief executive officer
ParentTrilogy, Inc.
Websitewww.versata.com

Versata is a business-rules based application development environment running in Java EE. It is a subsidiary of Trilogy, Inc.

History

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Early years (1991–2000)

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This company was founded in 1991 with the name Image Innovations; Naren Bakshi was co-founder and president, and they sold a development tool set named Image Application WorkBench that worked with Plexus Software's imaging platform.[1]

In 1997, the company name changed to Vision Software.[2] They sold a small suite of software: Vision Builder for accelerated coding;[3] and Vision StoryBoard Pro for creating software documentation.[4] In 1998, their flagship product was a Java development tool named Vision JADE.[5]

In January 2000, the company changed names again, this time to Versata, and their E-Business Automation System had three components: Versata Logic Server to host business rules written in Java, Versata Studio for developing the business rules, and Versata Connectors for connecting the logic server to IBM database servers.[6]

Public company (2000–2006)

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They went public in March 2000 during the dot-com bubble, raising about $94 million and reaching a market capitalization of over $2.5 billion despite reporting just $13 million in revenue and a $21 million loss in the prior year.[6][7]

In November 2000, Versata expanded into the business workflow area with the acquisition of Verve, Inc..

From early 2001 through mid-2003, Versata's revenues were in quarter over quarter decline until Alan Baratz took over as CEO. Five consecutive quarters of growth followed until early 2005 when revenues once again took a downward plunge.

Mid-2005 the company was notified by NASDAQ that it no longer met NASDAQ's requirements for continued listing, related to maintenance of a minimum amount of shareholder's equity, market value, or net income. Rather than continue to focus on these requirements, the company decided to move to the OTC (also known as the Pink Sheets) in order to remain publicly traded.

Private subsidiary of Trilogy, Inc.

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In January 2006, Austin-based Trilogy, Inc. acquired the company and took it private.[8] Trilogy then proceeded to merge portions of Trilogy, specifically, Trilogy Technology Group, into Versata and began acquiring further companies, reorganizing dramatically and offshoring most technical positions to its office in Bangalore, India[dubious – discuss].

From 2006 to 2008, Versata continued to make acquisitions mostly in US. Most of the employees in the acquired companies were laid -off with the majority work being offshored to its India office in Bangalore[dubious – discuss].

In early 2009, Versata made another major overhaul of its business model when it asked all its employees in India to work as contractors through oDesk for a gDev which is an entity incorporated by Trilogy to manage its outsourcing activities. The only employees left in Versata were the ones in US.[9][10][11]

A jury in the Eastern District of Texas awarded Versata Software $139m following its decision that SAP infringed two of Versata's patents - U.S. Patent No. 6,553,350 and U.S. Patent No. 5,878,400. Sam Baxter, Ted Stevenson, Scott Cole and Steve Pollinger of McKool Smith represented Versata on this case. iRunway India Private Limited and NTrak LLC were the technical consultants and provided end-to-end litigation support to McKool Smith.[12][13] The case has been rumbling on for a couple of years now, hinging on Versata-owned patents that cover mechanisms for pricing products. In January 2011, the judge in the case set aside the damages award, and ordered a new trial on damages.[14]

In June, 2010, Versata filed an antitrust complaint against SAP AG. It alleges that SAP illegally excluded Versata from selling to vast majority of large ERP customers.[15] [16]

Acquisitions

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On July 3, 2006, Versata acquired Artemis International Solutions Corporation, a provider of project and product portfolio management tools, including Artemis (software).[17]

In September 2007, Versata acquired Nextance a provider of enterprise contract management solutions.[18]

In November 2007, Versata acquired Gensym. Gensym is a provider of business rule engine software.

February 22, 2008 – Privately held Versata Enterprises, Inc. Announced the acquisition of NUVO Network Management Inc. Nuvo was a Canadian-based managed service provider/software provider.[19]

February 25, 2008 - Versata acquired AlterPoint, a maker of Network Change and Configuration Management (NCCM) software.[20]

March, 2008 - Versata acquired Tenfold Corporation. TenFold Corporation (OTC: TENF.OB)is a provider of EnterpriseTenFold SOA, an SOA-compliant, Ajax-enabled solutions framework for adding functionality to existing applications and building enterprise-scale applications.

In May 2008, Versata acquired Evolutionary Technologies International (ETI) and Clear Technologies.

On August 7, 2009 - Versata announced the acquisition of Everest Software, Inc. (Everest), a provider of retail and wholesale business management software.[21]

On January 14, 2010 - Versata announced the acquisition of PurchasingNet, Inc. PurchasingNet, a Web-based provider of eProcurement, ePayables and Financial Management services and solutions to mid- and large-sized organizations.[22]

References

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  1. ^ Booker, Ellis (June 1, 1992). "4GL development tool targets images". Computerworld. p. 61. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  2. ^ "U.S. Trademark Serial No. 74616757". United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO. 1994-12-30. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
    View Documents tab’s Trademark Documents to view correspondence that indicates first use on July 1, 1996.
  3. ^ O'Brien, Bob (April 22, 1996). "Vision Builder May Start Fires". InfoWorld. Archived from the original on May 11, 1997. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  4. ^ Chandak, Ramesh; Chandak, Purshottam (1997). Web Programming With Microsoft Tools 6 in 1. Indianapolis: Que Corporation. pp. 176–177. ISBN 0-7897-1215-6. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  5. ^ Grehan, Rick (June 1998). "Javatalk: Rapid Java Development". Byte Magazine. pp. 109–110. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b Zeichick, Alan (May 1, 2000). "IBM Extends VisualAge for E-Business". SD Times. p. 19. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  7. ^ "IPO Report: AsiaInfo Holdings, Versata lead the post-Palm pack". MarketWatch. March 3, 2000. Archived from the original on April 16, 2025.
  8. ^ "Sale of Versata, Inc. Finalized" (Press release). January 23, 2006. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  9. ^ "gDev". codesion.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-19. Retrieved 2010-07-15. Outsourcing
  10. ^ "gDev". www.gdev.com/. Outsourcing 2.0
  11. ^ "gDev profile on oDesk". www.odesk.com/. oDesk's Largest Provider of Job Openings
  12. ^ "Providing backroom support- iRunway". The Economic Times. 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2011-05-04. as technical consultants, they helped a firm win the fourth-largest patent jury verdict in the US
  13. ^ "Versata Wins $138 Million Patent Infringement Suit Against SAP America". IPToday. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2011-05-04. The jury found that SAP infringed on U.S. Patent No. 6,553,350 B2, issued in 2003, and U.S. Patent No. 5,878,400
  14. ^ "Versata wins patent case against SAP". TheRegister. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-08-27. Versata saps $139m out of SAP.
  15. ^ "Versata makes antitrust complaint against SAP". Financial Times. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-06-30. one of the first "dominance" complaints in the IT sector against a European company.
  16. ^ "VERSATA FILES EU COMPLAINT AGAINST SAP FOR ABUSING DOMINANCE". Versata Inc. 2010-06-29. Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2010-07-15. Versata seeks remedies so it can compete on the merits of its products
  17. ^ "Versata Announces Acquisition of Artemis International Solutions Corporation". PR Newswire. 2006-07-03. Retrieved 2007-12-27. Versata Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Trilogy, Inc., announced today it has acquired Artemis International Solutions Corporation
  18. ^ "Versata Acquires Privately Held Nextance". Bloomberg. 2006-07-03. Retrieved 2007-12-27. Versata Enterprises, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Trilogy, Inc., announced today it has acquired Nextance
  19. ^ "UPDATE: NUVO acquired for $17.65M". Ottawa Business Journal. 11 Dec 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  20. ^ "Versata Acquires AlterPoint". Network World. 2008-02-25. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2008-02-25. Enterprise software provider Versata Enterprises has acquired AlterPoint, one of the first stand-alone network change and configuration management vendors.
  21. ^ "Versata Acquires Everest". Versata. August 7, 2009. Archived from the original on October 15, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2009. AUSTIN, TEXAS, August 7, 2009 – An affiliate company of Versata Enterprises, Inc. (Versata), a leading provider of enterprise software solutions, announced today the acquisition of Everest Software, Inc. (Everest), the leading provider of retail and wholesale business management software.
  22. ^ "Versata Acquires PurchasingNet". Versata. 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-01-14. AUSTIN, TEXAS, January 14, 2010 – An affiliate company of Versata Enterprises, Inc. (Versata), a leading provider of enterprise software solutions, announced today the acquisition of PurchasingNet, Inc. (PurchasingNet), a Web-based provider of eProcurement, ePayables and Financial Management services and solutions to mid- and large-sized organizations.
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