OTG Seeks Federal Market Boost

By Cindy L. O'Hara, Staff Writer



Online Technologies Group Software of Bethesda, Md., is hoping its recent partnership with General Electric Capital Information Technology Solutions Federal Systems will be the key to unlocking the federal marketplace.

"We are pleased to enter into this agreement with GE Capital ITS because it represents a major push for OTG into the federal market," said Richard Kay, president and chief executive officer of OTG Software.

Two years ago, OTG, formerly known as Optical Technologies Group, began looking for ways to increase its federal customer base. At the time, the company garnered just 1 percent of its sales from the federal sector.

Federal sales, taken together with state and local revenue, now account for 7 percent to 8 percent of its total revenue, which stood at $19 million in 1998. Company executives said the company has grown by 50 percent annually over the past four years, but they would not provide revenue projections for 1999.

The pact with GE Capital authorizes GE to resell and integrate all of OTG's online storage and data management software. This includes all of OTG's Xtender Solution products like WebXtender, DiskXtender and ApplicationsXtender. The agreement also allows for OTG solutions to be included in GE Capital ITS' General Services Administration schedule.

The alliance makes sense because of GE Capital ITS' presence in the federal market, said Grant Wagner, who recently joined OTG as vice president of sales from Computer Associates International Inc., Islandia, N.Y.

"They saw a definite fit with our technology, [and] because of their solution approach as an integrator, they [GE] are using whatever technology can provide the best solution for their customer," Wagner said.

While the agreement with GE Capital ITS is not exclusive, Wagner said, OTG does try to keep its integrator relationships somewhat limited. "It is our strategy to limit large partners so we can concentrate on the quality of our partnerships," he said.

To date, the privately held company has developed partnership relationships with Electronic Data Systems Corp. of Plano, Texas, Affiliated Computer Systems of Dallas and other integrators.

Currently, OTG is working with GE on managing Department of Defense records, but it also has ongoing work with the Navy as well as with hospitals within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Despite mass storage competitors, such as IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., and Computer Associates, Wagner predicted the new alliance with GE will continue to allow OTG to prosper.

"We've grown 50 percent in the last four years, so I estimate that we will continue to grow at that rate, if not more," he said.

Business

Provides online data storage and information management solutions for the Windows NT environment


Location

Bethesda, Md.


President and CEO

Richard Kay


Employees

160


1998 Revenue

$19 million with an annual growth rate of 50 percent for the last four years.