Sybase Plays the Field
BR Sybase Plays the Field By Nick Wakeman Sybase Inc.'s Public Sector Group is prowling for integrator partners that can boost the software company's backlog of government projects and prop up its sagging bottom line. Executives at the company's Bethesda, Md.-based public sector unit want to forge new integrator alliances to bolster business in three areas: data warehousing, mobile compu
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Sybase Plays the FieldBy Nick Wakeman
Sybase Inc.'s Public Sector Group is prowling for integrator partners that can boost the software company's backlog of government projects and prop up its sagging bottom line. Executives at the company's Bethesda, Md.-based public sector unit want to forge new integrator alliances to bolster business in three areas: data warehousing, mobile computing and the Internet. Strong relationships with American Management Systems Inc. of Fairfax, Va., and Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., will serve as the model, said Marsha Thompson, vice president of the public sector unit.
"They have to keep their information technology strategy in sync with their business strategy," she said. Sybase likes the state and local market because products it has sold on the commercial and federal level fit the needs of state and local governments, Thompson said. "We want our products to run across all markets Sybase is attacking because we want to ensure we have our greatest return on investment," she said. State and local governments are looking to Web-based computing because the Internet can give them an instant infrastructure, Thompson said. Welfare reform initiatives also make it necessary for local agencies to be able to connect to statewide networks, she said. "The demand is there," G2R's Kao said. State and local governments are turning to data warehousing and other new technologies to increase their efficiency, she said. There is also more demand to share data among various agencies, especially departments handling human services and financial administration, Kao said. While Pickrel did not doubt that Sybase had the right products for its chosen markets, products often are not enough, he said. "It is going to take a balance of the right strategy, execution and products," he said. Thompson said she will know if she has struck the right balance if one year from now her group has a backlog of projects with key integrators, division profitability is up and if the public sector group is a growth leader. "I think that is a fair expectation for us." Partnerships with systems integrators will play a critical role in Sybase's success, she said. With AMS, Sybase deployed the Defense Department's Standard Procurement System, a $235 million project AMS won in April 1997 to automate and streamline the department's procurement system. With Lockheed Martin, Sybase worked on the Global Transportation Network, a $130 million project to track military equipment and personnel.
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