Great start for Sitecore in America

Monday, august 16, 2004

After the success of expansion into both Sweden and Germany, the supplier of Content Management Systems, Sitecore have now taken the next step: expansion to the largest market in the world – America, and the move has already exceeded all expectations. Very shortly after the opening of the American office, Sitecore have found that interest was larger than expected, and increasing. In the first month, Sitecore has sold licenses for more than 1.5 million krone in the USA.  

After an overwhelmingly positive reaction with expansion into Sweden and Germany, Sitecore has now taken the step into the world’s largest market for Content Management Systems – America. During the spring of 2004 Sitecore underwent preparations to open of the largest office abroad which is based in San Francisco, California. 

Since the official opening on July 1st of this year, Sitecore USA Inc. has closed licence sales of over 250.000 USD distributed over four new large customers. News of Sitecore’s flexible CMS has quickly echoed across the USA - new partnership agreements have been signed and more are on their way.  

Change in demand

One of the new partners is the software development company Inserso, based on the East coast. Right from the start they felt that the Sitecore CMS covered requirements that have until now been unsatisfied in the US market.  

”Sitecore’s product fits our company’s philosophy of easy to use, top-notch systems, providing solid technical foundation which can be tailored to precise customer needs,” explained Moinamin. Inserso has already launched one CMS solution for a U.S. client and plans to demonstrate the system to many more. “There has been tremendous interest in Sitecore’s solution and we hope to spread the word around.”  

The other new partner, Thibault Associates on the West coast is also enthusiastic that the system is now easily accessible to the American customers of the company.  

“As a company, we know our reputation is on the line with every product we sell. I have no problems sleeping at night after recommending or implementing a site based on Sitecore. This is the first Content Delivery system that we have felt comfortable enough with that we have invested our time and reputation in,”says Thibault Partner Bob Root.  

The substantial commitment of Sitecore’s new partners only confirms the trend that Sitecore has experienced for some time: American companies are increasingly demanding a CMS which can be used strategically in the companies’ global communication.  

“We have for some time now been noticing a rapidly increasing interest from the American market. The market is evolving and the demands are for simple yet flexible solutions, which the customers may easily adapt to their needs. In this area, we are leading on a technical level, and our American office is a result of our evaluation of the market being mature for our products,” says Michael Seifert, CEO, Sitecore  

Interest without marketing

The increasing interest from the USA has so far been achieved without any intensive marketing and without a comprehensive network of partners, which Sitecore has in Europe. This is why Sitecore considers the manoeuvre as being offensive but considered.  

“The American business is marked by large, powerful companies, which we don’t see to the same extent in Europe. This means that their needs are far more complex and this benefits us as we have developed our system in a way which meets these needs,” says Michael Seifert, who refers to one of the four new customers as being a good example of the reputation Sitecore has in USA:  

The company NetIQ who, amongst other things, develops the product Webtrends, is specialised in analytics on the net. They recently signed an agreement to deliver a system from Sitecore for the Webtrends site. NetIQ is a company whose livelihood is reliant on the Internet. This is why only a thoroughly tested and mature CMS is good enough for the company which, with a share value of approximately half a billion USD, can be selective.  

Large customers

All of the four new customers are of a size where they cannot afford to take risks, therefore the choice of CMS is the result of a thorough selection process. This is the case for FMC Technologies which, with a share value of 17.5 billion krone, is of a size that puts the company among the heavyweights in Sitecore’s customer portfolio. Other new customers include the Association of American Railroads and North Vancouver School District. The latter emphasises the flexibility as the main reason to choose Sitecore;  

“We have been using our own CMS tools for over 5 years but it was time to find something more powerful that could meet the growing demands of our School District. Sitecore provides a tremendous amount of flexibility and extensibility that will enable us to use it not only as our content management system but also as one of our development tools. We are very excited about using Sitecore and see it as an integral part of our communication and collaboration strategy.” says Stephen Lamb, who is it-manager of North Vancouver School District. 

American partners:  

Inserso: www.inserso.com

Thibault Associates, Inc.: www.thibault.com 

New American customers   

FMC Technologies: www.fmctechnologies.com

NetIQ: www.netiq.com

North Vancouver School District: www.nvsd44.bc.ca/NV/

Association of American Railroads: www.aar.org   

For further information visit www.Sitecore.net or contact:

Michael Seifert
CEO, Sitecore
Telephone: +45 70 23 66 60
Mobile: +45 28 10 33 31
e-mail: ms@Sitecore.net  

Bjarne K. Hansen
President, Sitecore USA Inc.
Bamboo Terrace 643
San Rafael, CA 94903
USA 
Telefon: +1 (415) 785 7302
e-mail: bkh@sitecore.net   

About Sitecore

Sitecore A/S has produced content management systems since 1999. Sitecore the company has a well established global network of solution partners and an extensive network of certified Sitecore developers. The company is amongst the leaders within innovative CMS software and associated products.

The Sitecore system is based entirely in Microsoft’s .NET technology and the Worldwide Web Consortium’s open Internet standards. Sitecore is the ideal choice for integrating IT system and the Internet within an organisation. The Sitecore partner network covers a broad spectrum of successful companies in 42 countries worldwide. Amongst their customers are a range of major corporations, for example, ABN Amro, FMC, F.L. Smidth, J. Lauritzen, Experian, Nilfisk-Advance, NKT Cables, Perstorp, Telenor, along with a long list of public organisations and municipalities; København, Frederiksberg og Nuuk Kommune amongst others.