Electric Farm
Friday, june 20, 2003
Sitecore enters million DKK distributor deal with Noweigian Electric Farm
Sitecore has entered an important distribution agreement with Electric Farm ASA, a part of one of Norway's largest system integrators, ErgoGroup. The deal is Sitecore’s largest to date and the parties expect that it results in a revenue of several million DKK in the fist year alone. The distribution agreement covers all of Norway where Electric Farm will build a comprehensive network of Norwegian Sitecore resellers.
The Danish CMS vendor Sitecore goes against the trend on the hard pressed market for content management systems. Beginning May 1st, 2003 Sitecore has entered a comprehensive distribution agreement with Electric Farm, which is a part of one of the largest IT system integrators in Norway, ErgoGroup. In 2002 ErgoGroup had a gross revenue of 2,9 billion NOK. The agreement makes Electric Farm the exclusive distributor of Sitecore’s CMS-product on the Norwegian market. At the same time the Norwegian company is obligated to build a nation wide sales channel that will take Sitecore into their product range. Electric Farm is also obligated not enter to into partnerships with other CMS suppliers.
Electric Farm has great expectations in regards to the sale of Sitecore’s CMS-solution. In the first year alone Electric Farm expects sales of Sitecore-licenses of several million NOK. In the following year sales are furthermore expected to increase significantly.
In comparison Sitecore expects a gross revenue of five million DKK on the Danish market for the fiscal year 2002/2003 which ends June 30th, 2003.
”To date this is our largest distributions agreement, and it marks a breakthrough in the Scandinavian market. We have already achieved a significant position in Denmark and are well on the way into Sweden where we have had large orders. Since the beginning in late 2001 we have had huge success and delivered positive results already from the first fiscal year. We’re proud of that. The market for CMS-products in general is extremely competitive and hard pressed at the moment,” says Michael Seifert, CEO and founder of Sitecore, and continues:
”The agreement with ErgoGroup and the fact that our revenue on average has increased by 20% monthly since our founding, enforces our belief that we are among the winners on this market. In the upcoming fiscal year it is our goal to strengthen our position in Denmark and Scandinavia further, and thereby secure a base for better honouring the many international inquiries that we are presently receiving.”
On his desk, Michael Seifert has more than 50 inquiries from interested customers on the German market. Amongst the names are large International companies, he explains.
Building a national network of resellers
Electric Farm has a very strong position on the Norwegian market, where the company had many large customers – amongst other the Norwegian Post, Oslo Municipality and BMW. The company has now begun building a nation wide network of resellers, which will sell and implement Sitecore’s CMS product. During this year the company expects to be able to present a number of resellers in the network, which is thereafter continually expanded month by month, such that it covers all of Norway, explains sales manager Knut Norem from Electric Farm.
”Sitecore is based on Microsoft’s .NET platform and thereby gives our coming resellers the possibility of developing their own applications for Sitecore’s system. It gives them a unique opportunity for increased sales, and we therefore have great expectations in regards to the number of partners, that will choose Sitecore in their product range,” says Knut Norem.
In Norway Electric Farm has had a significant position on the market for portal solutions. Through the cooperation with Sitecore the Norwegian company expects to be able to win market shares on the market for IT solutions, especially for small and medium companies throughout Norway.
”We believe, that Sitecore has the potential required to become really large in Norway within two to three years. Therefore the product is a central element in our efforts of continuing our growth and winning market shares on the portal market – both among large companies and the small and medium sized businesses,” says Knut Norem.
Simultaneously with building the nation wide reseller network, Electric Farm will contact existing customers and offer them a transfer to Sitecore on the new .NET platform. Technologically many of the customers have the last generation solutions, and they need more updated solutions.
According to the Danish analysis house BNP e-advice there is a clear tendency towards businesses considering CMS as a future strategic tool. It is therefore important for the companies to choose a platform which is both flexible and scalable, instead of a box publishing system.
Norwegian agreement part of Sitecore’s strategy
Opposed to many of the other CMS-suppliers, Sitecore’s revenues purely come from the sale of software licenses. A number of other CMS-vendors sell both licenses and consulting services, where the company offers the implementation of the CMS system.
”It is essential for us that consulting services are only placed within our reseller network, such that we do not get interest conflicts with our partners and can focus on our core business,” says Michael Seifert from Sitecore.
For further information visit
www.sitecore.net
or contact:
Michael Seifert CEO, Sitecore
Telefon: 70 23 66 60 Mobil: 28 10 33 31
e-mail: ms@sitecore.net
Kasper Kjærbye Larsen Business development executive, Sitecore
Telefon: 70 23 66 60
e-mail: kkl@sitecore.net
Knut Norem sales manager, Electric Farm
Telefon: +47 92 80 25 00
e-mail: knut.norem@electricfarm.no
About Sitecore
The company Sitecore was established in April 2001 and today delivers Content Management Systems under the same name. Sitecore services customers throughout Northern Europe through a well establish partner network. Sitecore is a 100 percent Danish owned company.
Since the launch of Sitecore a number of Northern Europe’s largest companies such as ABN AMRO, Danmarks National Radio, Perstorp, NKT Cables GmbH, J. Lauritzen, F. L. Smidth, Nilfisk, SimCorp, etc., has chosen to based solutions on Sitecore’s technology. Furthermore a number of Danish municipalities have chosen to base their Internet strategy on Sitecore’s platform. The product Sitecore is a technological Internet development platform based on open W3C standards and Microsoft .Net.
Sitecore is an open system for content management and development of Internet solutions, uniting all the Internet standards in one simple but powerful development platform. Sitecore can furthermore be used as the focal point for the many different IT systems that are used in companies. In cooperation with the patent bureau Plougman, Vingtoft and Partners a patent application has been submitted to the US PTO. A PCT priority application has also been filed, granting patent access to more than 110 countries.
About ErgoGroup and Electric Farm
ErgoGroup was founded in 1995 when the Norwegian postal services bought the Governments “Datasentral”, SED. Since then the company has grown vigorously through organic growth and acquisitions. In 2001 the name was changed to ErgoGroup. In 2002 the company had a revenue of 2,9 billion NOK and an EBIT of 130 million NOK.
The company has 2100 employees – a number which has grown rapidly since 1997, where there was more than 830 people employed in the company. Electric Farm is a subsidiary of ErgoGroup, and has 60 employees. Electric Farm is a leading supplier of portal solutions to the public sector in Norway – and Electric Farm especially has a firm grip in the area of municipal solutions. In Denmark Sitecore has a significant position on the market for solutions for the municipalities amongst other things due to its partner agreement with KMD.
Sitecore’s CMS-solution is amongst others used by Frederiksberg, Hillerød, Høje Taastrup and Næstved municipalities, as well as public institutions such as the National board of health, Municipality information, National board of labour and the State Institute for public health.