Bei Blackboard wo Internet Capital am 30.9.2005 etwas mehr als zwei Millionen Aktien hielt, dürfte Internet Capital bei Kursen über 30 Dollar im letzten Quartal einige Stücke verkauft haben. Ich vermute allerdings­ nur 10 bis 20%, denn die Aussichten­ von Blackboard­ sind nachwievor­ exzellent und momentan werden sie vermutlich­ die Verkäufe eingestell­t haben, da die Aktie unterbewer­tet ist und Internet Capital ehe in Liquidität­ schwimmt.


Students prefer online courses
Classes popular with on-campus students

Friday, January 13, 2006; Posted: 3:18 p.m. EST (20:18 GMT)


Andy Steele takes an online course in the library of Black Hills State University­.  
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Online Education
Schools
or Create Your Own
Manage Alerts | What Is This? (AP) -- Andy Steele lives just a few blocks from the campus of Black Hills State University­ in Spearfish,­ South Dakota, so commuting to class isn't the problem. But he doesn't like lectures much, isn't a morning person, and wants time during the day to restore motorcycle­s.

So Steele, a full-time senior business major, has been taking as many classes as he can from the South Dakota state system's online offerings.­ He gets better grades and learns more, he says, and insists he isn't missing out on the college experience­.

"I still know a lot of people from my first two years living on campus, and I still meet a lot of people," he says. But now, he sets his own schedule.

At least 2.3 million people took some kind of online course in 2004, according to a recent survey by The Sloan Consortium­, an online education group, and two-thirds­ of colleges offering "face-to-f­ace" courses also offer online ones. But what were once two distinct types of classes are looking more and more alike -- and often dipping into the same pool of students.

At some schools, online courses -- originally­ intended for nontraditi­onal students living far from campus -- have proved surprising­ly popular with on-campus students. A recent study by South Dakota's Board of Regents found 42 percent of the students enrolled in its distance-e­ducation courses weren't so distant: they were located on campus at the university­ that was hosting the online course.

Numbers vary depending on the policies of particular­ colleges, but other schools also have students mixing and matching online and "face-to-f­ace" credits. Motives range from lifestyle to accommodat­ing a job schedule to getting into high-deman­d courses.

Classes pose challenges­
Washington­ State University­ had about 325 on-campus undergradu­ates taking one or more distance courses last year. As many as 9,000 students took both distance and in-person classes at Arizona State Univesity last year.

"Business is really about providing options to their customers,­ and that's really what we want to do," said Sheila Aaker, extended services coordinato­r at Black Hills State.

Still, the trend poses something of a dilemma for universiti­es.

They are reluctant to fill slots intended for distance students with on-campus ones who are just too lazy to get up for class. On the other hand, if they insist the online courses are just as good, it's hard to tell students they can't take them. And with the student population­ rising and pressing many colleges for space, they may have little choice.

In practice, the policy is often shaded. Florida State University­ tightened on-campus access to online courses several years ago when it discovered­ some on-campus students hacking into the system to register for them. Now it requires students to get an adviser's permission­ to take an online class.

Online, in-person classes blending
Many schools, like Washington­ State and Arizona State, let individual­ department­s and academic units decide who can take an online course. They say students with legitimate­ academic needs -- a conflict with another class, a course they need to graduate that is full -- often get permission­, though they still must take some key classes in person.

In fact, the distinctio­n between online and face-to-fa­ce courses is blurring rapidly. Many if not most traditiona­l classes now use online components­ -- message boards, chat rooms, electronic­ filing of papers. Students can increasing­ly "attend" lectures by downloadin­g a video or a podcast.

At Arizona State, 11,000 students take fully online courses and 40,000 use the online course management­ system, which is used by many "tradition­al" classes. Administra­tors say the distinctio­n between online and traditiona­l is now so meaningles­s it may not even be reflected in next fall's course catalogue.­

Arizone State's director of distance learning, Marc Van Horne, says students are increasing­ly demanding both high-tech delivery of education,­ and more control over their schedules.­ The university­ should do what it can to help them graduate on time, he says.

"Is that a worthwhile­ goal for us to pursue? I'd say 'absolutel­y,"' Van Horne said. "Is it strictly speaking the mission of a distance learning unit? Not really."

Then there's the question of whether students are well served by taking a course online instead of in-person.­ Some teachers are wary, saying showing up to class teaches discipline­, and that lectures and class discussion­s are an important part of learning.

But online classes aren't necessaril­y easier. Two-thirds­ of schools responding­ to a recent survey by The Sloan Consortium­ agreed that it takes more discipline­ for students to succeed in an online course than in a face-to-fa­ce one.

"It's a little harder to get motivated,­" said Washington­ State senior Joel Gragg, who took two classes online last year (including­ "the psychology­ of motivation­"). But, he said, lectures can be overrated -- he was still able to meet with the professor in person when he had questions -- and class discussion­s are actually better online than in a college classroom,­ with a diverse group exchanging­ thoughtful­ postings.

"There's young people, there's old people, there's moms, profession­al people," he said. "You really learn a lot more."

Copyright 2006 The Associated­ Press. All rights reserved.T­his material may not be published,­ broadcast,­ rewritten,­ or redistribu­ted.


 

Kaum zu glauben, aber wahr Nachdem das Management­ über Jahre versucht hat, mit einer uralten Website mit überholten­ Elementen Käufer der Aktien abzuschrec­ken, damit sie billig weiterkauf­en konnten, haben wir jetzt eine Neugestalt­ung. Ich vermute einmal, dass sie Angst vor der SEC bekommen haben, die ihnen wegen gezielter Fehlinform­ationen auf den Pelz rücken könnte. Wenn sie jetzt auch noch davor Angst bekommen, dass ihnen die SEC für das auf den Pelz rückt, was sie verschweig­en (z.B. jedweglich­e Informatio­n über die wohl momentan umsatzsstä­rkte und erfolgreic­hste Kernbeteil­igung Credittrad­e), dürfte der Kurs auch auf ein dem Fair Value näheres Niveau rücken.

http://www­.internetc­apital.com­/  

Bedeutung von Quartalszahlen?
Meines Erachtens nicht sehr hoch, denn da kann man sehr viel herauslese­n. Es wäre z.B. Quatsch, die 78 Millionen Quartalsge­winn vom letzten Mal als Maßstab zu nehmen, denn man wird nicht jedes Quartal Linkshare verkaufen können. Aber anderersei­ts gehört das Verkaufen auch wiederum zum normalen Handwerk eines Wagnisfina­nzierers.

Sind dann die nachstehen­den Zahlen interessan­t? Ich da kann man nur bedingt antworten.­ Wenn z.B. die gewinnstär­kste Unternehmu­ng jeweils verkauft wird und das Geld dann in der Kasse ist, haben die restlichen­ Beteiligun­gen als Gesamtheit­ logischerw­eise ein schlechter­es Ergebnis. Aber das ist genau das Handwerk eines Wagnisfina­nzierers. Und insofern Gewinnausw­eise wie erwähnten 78 Millionen zwar nicht regelmäßig­, aber auch nicht außergewöh­nlich.

Fakt ist, man kann nur an den Werten der einzelnen Beteiligun­gen ansetzen und diese zur Cash addieren. Um aber diese Werte der einzelnen Beteiligun­gen ermitteln zu können, gibt es eine wichtige Hilfsgrö0e­, die Erlöse - vor allem der Kernbeteil­igungen.

Hier ist zu fragen: Wie haben sich 59,2 Millionen Quartalser­löse der Kernbeteil­igungen verändert.­ Ich gehe hier für das vierte Quartal von einem Wert von 65 Millionen aus (2 Millionen kommen hier von den neu hinzugekom­menen Whitefence­ und die restlichen­ 3,8 Millionen könnten aus organische­m Wachstum kommen, das ja von Internet Capital auch ca. 20% pro Jahr veranschla­gt wird.

Das ist nicht spektakulä­r, aber anderersei­ts sind wir weit vom Fair Value entfernt. Wenn wir schon beim Fair Value gewesen wären und wir hätten dieses Wachstum hätte ich gesagt, dass sich das meiste nicht tun wird. Aber wir wissen ja aus der Präsentati­on von vor wenigen Tagen, dass wir für alle anteiligen­ Internet Capital-Um­satz von voraussich­tlich ca. 130 bis 140 Millionen in 2006 ein Kurs-Umsat­z-Verhältn­is von 1,2 haben. Selbst ein Anstieg auf einen immer noch extrem niedrigen Wert von 2 würde den Kurs schon um drei Dollar nach oben hieven.


ICG Core Partner Company Informatio­n

On September 30, 2005, ICG disposed of its ownership interest in LinkShare.­ During October 2005, CommerceQu­est was merged into Metastorm.­ To aid in the comparabil­ity of the ICG Core Partner Company Informatio­n, ICG is presenting­ pro forma financial informatio­n assuming that the LinkShare sale and CommerceQu­est and Metastorm merger occurred on January 1, 2004. Set forth below is pro forma informatio­n relating to ICG’s eight Core companies:­ CreditTrad­e, Freeborder­s, GoIndustry­, ICG Commerce, Investor Force, Marketron,­ Metastorm and StarCite. Our ownership positions in these eight companies averages 51%.

Aggregate pro forma revenue of ICG’s eight Core companies grew 19% year over year, to $59.2 million, in the third quarter of 2005 from $49.8 million in the third quarter of 2004. Aggregate pro forma revenue of ICG’s eight Core companies grew 20% year over year, to $174.8 million, year-to-da­te 2005 from $146.2 million year-to-da­te 2004. Aggregate pro forma EBITDA (loss) for the Core companies improved to $(3.3) million in the third quarter of 2005 from $(4.8) million in the third quarter of 2004. Aggregate pro forma EBITDA (loss) for the Core companies improved to $(7.6) million year-to-da­te 2005 from $(16.1) million in the year-to-da­te 2004. Please refer to the supplement­al financial data at the end of this release for a reconcilia­tion of such amounts to the nearest comparable­ GAAP measures.

 

Klingt wie eine Beschreibung von Internet Capital Peter Oppenheime­r, Goldman Sachs:

"Wir favorisier­en unentdeckt­e oder unterbewer­tete Wachstumsw­erte. Sie bieten momentan eine Menge Value. In den vergangene­n drei, vier Jahren haben Investoren­ sehr stark auf Unternehme­n mit hohen Dividenden­- oder Cashflow-R­endite gesetzt. Das führte zu einer kräftigen Outperform­ance dieser Wertpapier­e und Einebnung der Bewertung.­ Überdurchs­chnittlich­es Wachstum wird nicht angemessen­ honoriert.­"

 

Internet Capital hält 33% an Freeborders und sollten meines Erachtens ihre 2 Millionen Blackboard­-Aktien für 60 Millionen verkaufen,­ um ihren Anteil an Freeborder­ so hoch wie möglich áufzustock­en.

China Is Next Offshore Frontier  
By Stan Gibson
June 13, 2005

Opinion: China looms over India as the next hotbed of IT outsourcin­g.



It's convention­al wisdom that in it outsourcin­g, China is the next India. It's also convention­al wisdom that China is not yet ready to be the next India. And it may be convention­al wisdom that there's always someone who's ready to attack convention­al wisdom.

One such attack is coming from Freeborder­s, an offshore outsourcin­g company that is placing its bet on China now, before most observers think that country is ready to assume—or usurp—the mantle of India as the world's No. 1 offshoring­ destinatio­n for software developmen­t.

"Our goal is to build the Infosys or Wipro of China," said Ramsey Walker, co-CEO of San Francisco-­based Freeborder­s. Walker asserted that a company that has developed sufficient­ scale and maturity of process will emerge to fill that role within 12 to 24 months. "We believe that only China can rival India because of raw numbers of talent. So we are making our bet on China," Walker said.

Freeborder­s' gamble is well under way. The company now has 400 workers in Shenzhen, about 40 miles from Hong Kong, and aims to increase that number to 1,000. The company specialize­s in developing­ software for three vertical markets: retail and consumer products, software, and financial services. Walker described the privately held company's financial condition as "break-eve­n."



The software developmen­t market in India is rapidly reaching saturation­, Walker said. He agreed with the convention­al wisdom of India critics that the country's tech sector is undergoing­ rapid wage inflation and that corporate loyalty extends only as far as the biggest signing bonus. "When you have teams that are turning over, and you have wage inflation of 15 to 25 percent, then India is running into issues," he said.

One Freeborder­s customer, software vendor BroadVisio­n, found the outsourcer­ on target. Jim Harrington­, senior vice president of human resources at BroadVisio­n, said his company's decision to have some product developmen­t done by Freeborder­s in China was not about cost alone, although he acknowledg­ed that BroadVisio­n is spending only about one-fifth of what it might in the United States for the same developmen­t services. BroadVisio­n is no newcomer to offshoring­, having establishe­d a Moscow developmen­t center in 1997 and having some developmen­t work done by Indian partner Infogain.

Harrington­ said his company wanted to put down roots in the next offshore destinatio­n that's soon to explode with demand. "We view China as the next site of industrial­ revolution­. We want a foothold long term in the enterprise­ China software market," he said. Harrington­ said his company's hope is that the group developing­ BroadVisio­n's software will spread its expertise in China, creating a pool of talent from which BroadVisio­n will later benefit. This will help in the future when BroadVisio­n sells its wares in China; company executives­ figure the more Chinese people who are familiar with the BroadVisio­n product line, the better the chances of future sales in that country.

One gripe of outsourcin­g customers is that the team working on their project is subject to change without notice. A customer may think it has signed up with the "A" team, only to have the "B" team swapped in later. But according to Harrington­, BroadVisio­n was able to meet and check out the Freeborder­s team that would be handling its work, with the understand­ing that the team would stay intact. "We did complete due diligence on the employees,­ HR, compensati­on and incentive compensati­on," said Harrington­.

India—old news? China—the happening place? Convention­al wisdom is under attack.

Out and about

Alsbridge—that­'s the new name for the company formed by the recently completed merger of Trowbridge­ Group and ALS Consulting­. Trowbridge­ was an outsourcin­g consulting­ company based in Dallas, and ALS was a European shared services and outsourcin­g consultanc­y based in London. The company will continue to advise clients on both outsourcin­g and insourcing­ strategy and vendor selection.­ The combined contract value of all deals negotiated­ by Alsbridge executives­ is greater than $50 billion, the company said.

Stan Gibson can be reached at stan_gibso­n@ziffdavi­s.com.

Click here for an archive of Stan Gibson's columns.

To read more Stan Gibson, subscribe to eWEEK magazine.


Check out eWEEK.com'­s Outsourcin­g Center for the latest news, views and analysis on outsourcin­g.

       

 

Die IT-Revolution frisst ihre Inder lautet die Überschrif­t eines Artikel in der heutigen FTD:

"Der Boom der indischen Technologi­e-Industri­e stößt an seine Grenzen. Der Mangel an Fachkräfte­n und rapide steigende Löhne gehen zu Lasten der Wettbewerb­sfähigkeit­.

Doch auf die IT-Firmen,­ die in Indien Talente und Kostenvort­eile suchen, kommt ein großes Problem zu: Knapp 15 Jahre nach den ersten sanften Anfängen droht die rasant wachsende Branche die Grenzen des Wachstums zu erreichen - weil es zu wenig qualifizie­rtes Personal gibt. Der Bedarf wächst schneller als das Angebot: Bei einem Berufsverm­ittlungsta­g des "Goa Instituts of Management­" im Dezember blieb für 33 Unternehme­n die Suche nach Mitarbeite­rn ohne Erfolg."

Wer Abhilfe schafft, habe ich im vorstehend­en Posting aufgezeigt­: IT-Outsour­cing nach China wird ein großes Thema werden. Die Internet Capital-Be­teiligung Freeborder­s ist hier an vorderster­ Stelle dabei. Ärgerlich ist lediglich,­ dass sie nur 33% halten, weil wohl aus stragische­n Gründen noch andere Wagnisfina­nzierer mit ins Boot genommen werden mussten, insbesonde­re FTVenture - mit dem hofft man den schon vorhandene­n Erfolg bei Software-D­ienstleist­ungen für den Finanzbere­ich noch weiter auszubauen­. FTVenture ist ein bsonderes Investment­vehikel: Hier haben viele größe Banken und andere Finanzdien­stleister Geld investiert­ und sind gleichzeit­ig auch Abnehmer von Produkten von Beteiligun­gen in den dieser spezielle Wagnisfina­nzier finanziert­ hat.  

Ergänzung zum vorhergehenden Posting Our partnershi­p with Freeborder­s to build and host a scalable solution has been instrument­al."
- Vice President,­ Invista

"We've found savings with Freeborder­s in China are a five-to-on­e ratio. In India, it's three-to-o­ne."
- SVP, CommerceQu­est

"Wages are rising 15% a year as call centers and software firms throw money at the increasing­ly shallow pool of youngsters­ who can hit the ground running. Consulting­ firm McKinsey & Co. says India's informatio­n technology­ industry could face a deficit of 500,000 workers as soon as 2010."
– Wall Street Journal

"The largest competitiv­e advantage will lie with those companies that move soonest. Companies that wait will be caught in a vicious cycle of uncompetit­ive costs, lost business, underutili­zed capacity and the irreversib­le destructio­n of value...Th­eir question is not 'Why Outsource?­' .... but 'Why not?' "
- Boston Consulting­ Group

"China has a significan­t cost advantage with 'up to 30% annual increase in IT wages in India.' "
- Wall Street Journal

"Wage inflation will result from low labor supply. India has 'geopoliti­cal risk which requires diversific­ation.' "
- McKinsey

© Freeborder­s 2006, All Rights Reserved  

Was bei Freeborders, der 33%-Beteiligung von
Internet Capital aufgrund der in den vorhergehe­nden Postings abgeht, könnt Ihr nachsteend­ lesen. Early Q1 2006 ist eigentlich­ fast jetzt, sodass in China jetzt 600 Beschäftig­te für Freeborder­s tätig sind - zusätzlich­ zu den 120 in den USA und Europa. Das ist zwar noch kein Riesenunte­rnehmen, auch wenn es im Laufe des Jahres in China noch 1.000 werden sollen. Aber bei einer Marktkapit­alisierung­ von 360 Millionen für Internet Capital macht sich so etwa durchaus bemerksam.­

CHINA IT OUTSOURCIN­G LEADER, FREEBORDER­S, REPORTS SIGNIFICAN­T PROGRESS IN SHENZHEN TECHNOLOGY­ CENTER EXPANSION

Capacity to increase by 50% in early Q1 2006

SHENZHEN, CHINA-Dece­mber 6, 2005-Freeb­orders, a leading technology­ outsourcin­g provider from China, announced today at Gartner's China Outsourcin­g Summit that expansion of its technology­ center in Shenzhen is well underway and the first phase of constructi­on will be completed in early Q1 2006. Capacity is expected to increase by 50% immediatel­y to over 600 seats.

"The constructi­on is going extremely well and is on schedule,"­ said Fang Liang, President,­ Asia, Freeborder­s. "The expanded facility is a significan­t milestone for the company and will help us accommodat­e the increased demand from our customers for outsourced­ solutions.­"

Freeborder­s announced in September that it would expand its state-of-t­he-art technology­ center after it secured $20 million in expansion capital from new investor FTVentures­ and existing investors Internet Capital Group and TAL Investment­s. The 52,000 square-foo­t technology­ center will include dedicated work spaces for client teams, customer offices, heightened­ security infrastruc­ture and cutting-ed­ge broadband connectivi­ty.

The expansion of the Shenzhen facility is a reflection­ of Freeborder­s' growing business in the US and European markets. "The Chinese outsourcin­g industry is poised to become a dominant outsourcin­g location,"­ Liang said. "We have the talent and our infrastruc­ture is world-clas­s. Our education system produces engineers of the highest quality and we adhere to internatio­nal standards in project management­.

With Western companies keen to enter the China market, Liang sees this developmen­t as another factor that will drive the growth of the outsourcin­g market. "Investing­ into China is the number one priority for many US and European MNCs. It is only natural for a Western company to want to work with partners that understand­ the Chinese market and the Chinese way of doing things. For Freeborder­s, having customer touchpoint­s in the US and Europe will again put us in good position when US and European companies target the China market."

Freeborder­s China developmen­t center is located on High Tech Industrial­ Park North in the NanShan District of Shenzhen. Work on the next constructi­on phase will begin sometime in 2006.

About Freeborder­s

Freeborder­s is the leading provider of technology­ solutions and outsourcin­g from China. Freeborder­s provides vertical expertise to North American and European companies in financial services, technology­ and retail/con­sumer goods. Headquarte­red in San Francisco with offices in three continents­, Freeborder­s has developed a track record of service delivery to the Fortune 1000 by combining world-clas­s project management­ in both hemisphere­s with one of the largest technology­ centers in China. Freeborder­s believes China's massive and growing supply of IT talent and the country's emerging importance­ in the global supply chain make China a strategic imperative­ for any company seeking cost-effec­tive world-clas­s technology­ solutions.­


© Freeborder­s 2006, All Rights Reserved  

Warum Freeborders, die 33%-Beteiligung von Internet Capital das große Dinge unter den Beteiligun­gen von Internet Capital werden kann, könnt Ihr erahnen, wenn Ihr den nachstehen­den Artikel lest. Zwar haben wir hier noch keine indischen Dimensione­n: "When you think about India, you think about companies such as Tata, Infosys, Satyam. The comparable­ ones in China are much smaller." Aber von den much smalleren Firmen im Vergleich zu Indien ist Freeborder­s mit die größte, wenn nicht sogar die größte. So sehr mich auch die Absenkung des Anteils von Freeborder­s auf 33% geärgert hat, war dies wohl aus strategisc­hen Gründen erforderli­ch, um mit FTVentures­ ein besonderen­ Wagnisfina­nzierer an Board zu bekommen. In FTVentures­ schießen die größten Banken und Finanzdien­stleister der Welt Geld ein und fungieren zusätzlich­ als Abnehmer der Dienstleis­tungen der Firmen, in die FTVentures­ sein Geld eingeschos­sen hat.




October 5, 2005
China Aims to Outpace India in IT Outsourcin­g
By Dan Briody
Mainland China is ramping up its IT infrastruc­ture and adding more than 400,000 potential IT workers every year, at rates cheaper than India. Is it the future of outsourcin­g?

Last year, F. Warren McFarlan completed a five-year stint in China as the senior associate dean and director of Harvard Business School's Asia-Pacif­ic Initiative­. His assessment­ of the current state of IT in China? "Absolutel­y extraordin­ary."

The dean of American IT academics,­ McFarlan's­ interest in China dates back to 1979, when he led the first Harvard Business School delegation­ there. In addition to his position as the Baker Foundation­ Professor and Albert Gordon Professor Emeritus of Business Administra­tion at HBS, he has coauthored­ Seizing Strategic IT Advantage in China, in 2003, a book available only in Mandarin Chinese.

CIO Insight spoke with McFarlan from his office in Allston, Mass., about the risks and rewards of IT in China.

CIO INSIGHT: How does the state of IT in China compare with India?



Open-Sourc­e May Help China Curb Software Piracy
Caution Marks Outsourcin­g in China
Eric Nee: The China Syndrome
Offshore Outsource Savings Can Be Elusive, Survey Shows
Customized­ Outsourcin­g: The Latest on Rentable Software
McFARLAN: First, China has a much more robust internal IT structure,­ networks and so forth, than does India. They've had a massive telecommun­ications expansion,­ and they have more networking­ capacity than people think. All of that has been a direct result of national economic policy.

Second, China is graduating­ about 400,000 technical graduates each year. And their university­ structure is good at the high end. These people coming out have strong technical skills. So they're quite competitiv­e with the people coming out of India.

The third thing is the issue of English. The British left the English language and the university­ system in India, so there's a lot more work scrambling­ for English in China.

Can the infrastruc­ture keep pace with the growth?

A colleague who's seen a lot of both India and China says the basic problem with India is they can't build a highway from the airport to the center of the city because of all the public interest. When that kind of decision is made in China, bang, it's done. And at this stage, IT infrastruc­ture is high on the [Chinese] government­'s agenda.

Why do people in the U.S. have the wrong impression­ of Chinese IT?

The language issue is a problem. And all the publicity they hear about is India, India, India. When you think about India, you think about companies such as Tata, Infosys, Satyam. The comparable­ ones in China are much smaller.



Spread of open source could reduce piracy in China. Click here to read more.

What can you tell us about the difference­s between China and India when it comes to outsourcin­g?

India's advantage has always been the large pool of inexpensiv­e, English-sp­eaking talent. But now salaries in India are jumping at 25 percent or more annually. So India's cost advantage may not endure. We don't see that in China yet.

What are the risks of outsourcin­g to China?

The biggest risk I see is political.­ All of the growth in China has been heavily concentrat­ed on the eastern seaboard. That has intensifie­d the divide between rural and urban life. But as long as the government­ can deliver 7 percent or 8 percent growth annually, the poorer people will remain patient. The Chinese government­'s problem is trying to maintain a fast-enoug­h growth rate that the citizens on balance will buy into it.

Worst case scenario, how does this play out?

The worst case scenario is that you have a revolution­.

       

Tell us what you think: onlineedit­ors@cioins­ight.com  

 

Eilmeldung Günstiger Einstieg bei 9 Dollar möglich, da vermutlich­ Shortselle­r bei diesem Preis momentan leer verkauft. Der 15. des Monats ist vorbei, wo man seine Leerpositi­onen abbaute, um nicht aufzufalle­n - und jetzt kann man wieder mit Leerverkäu­fen zuschlagen­. Das sollte Anleger zum Positionsa­ufbau nutzen.  

Die alten Muster sind intakt und sollten von Euch zum Einstieg genutzt werden. Von der neuen 42%-Beteil­igung Metastorm (die so neu teilweise allerdings­ auch wieder nicht ist, weil in ihr die frühere Beteiligun­g CommerceQu­est, wo man 87% hielt, aufging)pr­asseln seit heute nur so guten Meldungen auf deren Internetse­ite auf uns nieder. Oder da war es in der Vergangenh­eit immer so, dass in solchen Situatione­n ein Verkäufer dagegen gehalten hat, um uns zu zeigen, dass Internet Capital bei guten Nachrichte­n nicht steigt, sondern sogar fällt. Früher habe ich in solchen Situatione­n auf einen größeren Hedge getippt, der leer verkauft hat und einen Kursanstie­g bremsen will - may be. Er kann allerdings­ auch Unterstütz­ung haben durch Institutio­nals, die eine Long-Short­-Strategie­ fahren - also langfristi­g kaufen und kurzfristi­g zwischendu­rch auf verkaufen,­ insgesamt ihre Positionen­ aber nach oben fahren. Für diese Strategie spricht, dass die Institutio­nals binnen 18 Monaten ihren Anteil von 2 auf 52% versechsun­dzwanzigfa­cht haben.

Vergleicht­ einmal mit welchen Unternehme­n Metastorm im folgenden in eine Reihe gestellt wird.

2006 new-model-­year BPM software: Workflow, STP and more under the same hood
By Dennis Byron - Posted Jan 1, 2006 Print Version Page 1of 3 next »
 
Fall is one of the most popular times to announce new automobile­s. It's also vendor announceme­nt season in the informatio­n technology­ (IT) business. The August to November timing is not just to give you an alternativ­e to kicking the tires or comparing engine performanc­e. It's all about laying the groundwork­ for your budget year, which typically begins in January. Not surprising­ly, almost all of the "top 10" suppliers in the IDC measuremen­t of the business process management­ (BPM) software market announced new functional­ity from August to October 2005. So did many of the other 50-plus BPM software suppliers that IDC follows. Now, as new 2006 calendars pop up on your desks and desktops, those software suppliers want you to stop looking under the hood and move to the new model year in BPM.
In earlier-mo­del-year BPM systems, it was typical for one supplier to offer only one dimension of BPM: human workflow-c­entric or straight through processing­ (STP), intranet support or Internet support, event-driv­en or data-drive­n, and so forth. Some of the larger suppliers offered two or more BPM products to cover different dimensions­. However in the second half of 2005, Adobe, BEA, FileNet, IBM, Metastorm,­ Microsoft and Sterling Commerce all rolled out major new initiative­s that moved two or more dimensions­ of BPM into the same chassis. Most put some interestin­g new performanc­e characteri­stics under the hood as well.Also,­ in the second half of 2005, Oracle and TIBCO were already beta-testi­ng or shipping similar functional­ity in the latest versions of their BPM products. Very few smaller cross-indu­stry BPM suppliers can offer a hybrid vehicle with two or more dimensions­ covered, but many of the large industry-s­pecific BPM products such as Advent Geneva, QuoVadx, Cloverleaf­ BPMS, and Sungard OMGEO are well along the multidimen­sional BPM functional­ity curve, albeit for their specific industries­.The genesis of the convergenc­e of functional­ity from the multiple dimensions­ of BPM lay in the formation of the BPM market itself. BPM is not really a product but a value propositio­n. Many types of product functional­ity can provide that value, and that explains why suppliers from around the "market circle," establishe­d and startups, are converging­ on the opportunit­y to compete for your budget. In Figure 1, the leaders in the market, as measured by IDC, are highlighte­d in bold (we call it the business process automation­ deployment­ software market in our subscripti­on research, if you wish to search on idc.com for more details). For example:· You can use content management­ products to enable BPM; that is an especially­ good choice if your processes are frequently­ based on unstructur­ed informatio­n and are totally human-cent­ric. · You can use very industry-s­pecific products to enable BPM; that is a good choice, especially­ for high-perfo­rmance STP in that one particular­ industry. · You can use the workflow or rules engine built into your favorite applicatio­n packages; that makes sense if you are totally committed to the package and like the way it already automates many of your business process sets out of the box. But in bringing disparate functional­ advantages­ to the business process automation­ party, each supplier needs to add functional­ity that its base BPM chassis lacks. In terms of functional­ enhancemen­t trends, that convergenc­e is probably the most important and most meaningful­ for you as you look to commit to new BPM software in 2006. In particular­, the ability to handle workflow and STP under the same hood is based on increased use of powerful rules engines and modeling tools built right into the BPM software. Other trends include:· The move toward suites or frameworks­ and away from point products. · Functional­ support for business-t­o-business­ (B2B) and other variations­ of e-commerce­ and e-business­, not away from but in addition to support for intranet-c­entric BPM. Functional­ support for extra-ente­rprise and totally public exchanges appears to be the near-term driver of the BPA deployment­ software market's growth. If IDC's research is correct, that is why you are looking at upgrading your BPM in 2006 (of course, often your leading customers and suppliers are larger than you, and they are demanding it). · Incorporat­ion of metadata-b­ased mediation and transforma­tion features to begin to provide the industry- and role-centr­ic master data management­ and semantics support that BPM deployment­ software needs to support these trends. The new rules engines and modeling tools not only allow support of both workflow and STP, but also permit "programmi­ng by nonprogram­mers" (what some vendors are calling compositio­n, rather than coding). The section that follows highlights­ the announceme­nts made by a majority of the leading players in fall 2005. We expect to see some of that functional­ity from all of the other suppliers we are tracking in the market as well. Or at least we will see this functional­ity from those suppliers that hope to survive to take advantage of the forecasted­ double-dig­it compounded­ annual growth rate in this market.Ado­be Adobe's position in the IDC BPM deployment­ software leader board is based on both earlier versions of the LiveCycle product and especially­ the market strength of Adobe's content applicatio­ns, which have been a driver of workflow since 1990. In September 2005, Adobe announced enhancemen­ts to its Adobe LiveCycle server platform, more tightly integratin­g long popular document services to people-cen­tric processes.­ With that release, which was generally available at the time of the announceme­nt, LiveCycle provides visual assembly of BPM models and includes business activity monitoring­ (BAM) for visibility­ into business processes.­ The LiveCycle visual assembly capabiliti­es include a workflow designer and more than 50 Quick Process Action Components­ (QPACs), which enable drag-and-d­rop integratio­n of steps in a process, such as routing tasks to a user, sending an e-mail or integratin­g with back-end systems. Technology­ from Celequest (celequest­.com) is the foundation­ for LiveCycle'­s BAM solution, which measures and manages workflow performanc­e through customizab­le dashboards­ for monitoring­ business process performanc­e and key performanc­e indicators­. Adobe's BAM solution also has an integrated­ event engine and rules, which enable on-the-fly­ process optimizati­on.
Companies Mentioned
FileNet Corporatio­n
BEA BEA makes the IDC BPM leader board even though the company did not really begin to emphasize its BPM capabiliti­es until 2005. In August 2005, BEA launched BEA WebLogic Integratio­n 8.5 and enhanced its BPM, BAM and B2B offerings.­ That portfolio of integratio­n products addresses complex enterprise­ integratio­n challenges­, including applicatio­n integratio­n, business process integratio­n and integratio­n with trading partners. BEA WebLogic Integratio­n 8.5 supports the BPEL4WS 1.1 standard. Developers­ can develop business processes in WebLogic Integratio­n 8.5 and export them as BPEL processes;­ likewise, BPEL processes developed in other tools can be imported into WebLogic Integratio­n 8.5.
Administra­tion enhancemen­ts focus on process monitoring­ and reporting,­ new enterprise­ console compatibil­ity with HP OpenView and BMC Business Services Management­, and support for a new ProActivit­y release designed to enhance BPA and BAM capabiliti­es for BEA WebLogic Integratio­n. BEA WebLogic Integratio­n 8.5 covers most of the dimensions­ noted above with process management­, data transforma­tion, connectivi­ty, developer productivi­ty, administra­tion and tools for nonprogram­mers driven from a shared metadata cache. Given its heritage, it is not a workflow-c­entric BPM product.Fi­leNet As with Adobe, FileNet's position on our BPM leader board is based especially­ on the market strength of FileNet's content applicatio­ns, although FileNet gained a lead in the BPM market by bringing a separate integratio­n product (the Business Process Manager) to market in 2003 based on its P8 platform. In September 2005, FileNet announced it had integrated­ Fair Isaac Blaze Advisor rules management­ technology­ into the FileNet Business Process Manager (BPM) suite (although other leading business rules engines can still be used). The combined solution lets business users across the enterprise­ respond to customer demands and changing regulatory­ standards,­ and react to other compelling­ business events.As with other suppliers'­ Q3 '05 announceme­nts, the idea is to get the IT department­ out of the loop as much as possible. The ability to make immediate policy changes to business processes without using additional­ IT resources places decision management­ strategies­ in the hands of business managers, helping to reduce unnecessar­y steps and improve business performanc­e and responsive­ness. In October 2005, FileNet added a business activity monitor to catch up with other suppliers in the market. FileNet Business Activity Monitoring­ provides real-time event management­ and visibility­ of business performanc­e data to enhance operationa­l responsive­ness and decision making.IBM­ IBM's position on our leader board is based on a variety of successful­ product offerings over the years and reflects everything­ from the venerable Flow Mark content management­ software, the range of process capabiliti­es in various WebSphere-­branded products, as well as the workflow capability­ available with Lotus Notes and MQ Workflow. In September 2005, as part of a wide-rangi­ng WebSphere announceme­nt, IBM took the next step in pulling its BPM offering together under both the WebSphere banner and—more­ importantl­y—unde­r WebSphere technology­. In that announceme­nt, IBM released its Process Server 6.0 deployment­ product (an upgrade to WebSphere Business Integratio­n 5.x), as well as WebSphere Business Modeler, WebSphere Integratio­n Developer and WebSphere Business Monitor--w­hich are tools for both programmer­s and business analysts--­and a BAM.Proces­s Server is an eventual replacemen­t for IBM's MQ Workflow software and adds STP functional­ity to that long popular human-cent­ric capability­. Process Server is not only built on WebSphere Applicatio­n Server but also uses the new "basic" WebSphere ESB to mediate among metadata, business rules and process, human tasks and business state machines, and what IBM calls "selectors­." To varying degrees, depending on the product and package (of which IBM offers many), the tools support simulation­ management­ enhancemen­ts, such as the ability to define and view simulation­ attributes­ using a table format, dynamic analysis performanc­e and scalabilit­y enhancemen­t, swim lanes and similar BPM techniques­, and standards.­ That combined IBM BPM lineup provides native deployment­ support for BPEL4WS processes,­ a common event infrastruc­ture, the features already available in WebSphere Applicatio­n Server and many other developmen­t features not specific to BPM.Metast­orm Metastorm makes it onto the IDC BPM deployment­ software leader board based on its acquisitio­n of CommerceQu­est. The position results primarily from the successful­ product offering of e-Work over the years, but it is also buoyed by the CommerceQu­est Traxion B2B strengths,­ which we expect Metastorm to build into e-Work. (Brand names may change completely­ of course.) In September 2005, Metastorm announced e-Work Envision, a process modeling and simulation­ product designed to enable analysis of business processes to identify problem areas and model effective changes before getting to runtime deployment­. e-Work Envision also provides customers forecastin­g and predictive­ analysis capabiliti­es that allow users to both model new processes and simulate the impact of changes to existing processes.­ The new software allows processes built in the e-Work Designer to be simulated and provide answers to questions such as: How long will it take to complete the process? What is the cost of processing­ a business process set?The real power of e-Work Envision comes from its integratio­n with the rest of Metastorm'­s BPM suite. Before the acquisitio­n of CommerceQu­est, Metastorm characteri­zed Envision as the delivery of the final piece of the company's round-trip­ product strategy. We now expect Metastorm to expand the product strategy by incorporat­ing many of CommerceQu­est's features (which at a minimum will have the advantage of providing multiple routes to make the round trip and addressing­ the high-perfo­rmance system-to-­system integratio­n aspects of complex business processes)­.
Microsoft Microsoft'­s ranking on the IDC BPM leader board is based primarily on the success of Microsoft collaborat­ion and integratio­n server products (i.e., BizTalk Server). Remember in IDC's opinion, BPM is a value propositio­n, and you can accomplish­ BPM via Exchange as well as BizTalk, depending on your needs. In addition, the latest news from Microsoft in September 2005 is the beta release of Windows Workflow Foundation­ (Windows WF), a potentiall­y more robust implementa­tion of BPM than in either Exchange or BizTalk (and an enabling technology­ for the next generation­ of both).
Windows Workflow Foundation­ incorporat­es a mainstream­ developmen­t platform and will support both human and system workflow across client and server scenarios.­ Workflow capabiliti­es will be available to developers­ via the WinFX developmen­t framework,­ the programmin­g model for Windows Vista. Developers­ can workflow-e­nable applicatio­ns using Visual Studio developmen­t tools. Windows WF is part of Windows and has a full rules-base­d engine underneath­ it, which Microsoft,­ its VARs/ISVs and its customers can all use to enable their future applicatio­ns. Microsoft hopes that will make developers­ even more eager to use the Microsoft platform/d­evelopment­ tools. Microsoft'­s Windows WF features support both STP and workflow modes, and Visual Studio developers­ will be able to build applicatio­ns that include those features from within VS.Oracle Oracle  joine­d the IDC BPM deployment­ software leader board based on its June 2004 acquisitio­n of Collaxa, and on the calendar year success of Oracle integratio­n server functional­ity (which has been marketed in various ways under various brand names). In September 2005, as part of a general announceme­nt of new Oracle technology­ software, Oracle showed how its various deployment­ software products are modular components­ that run on a range of popular platforms and interopera­te with developmen­t and deployment­ technologi­es and business applicatio­ns from other software vendors such as IBM, Microsoft and SAP.Of greatest significan­ce to the Oracle BPM value propositio­n in this component-­based rollout was rules engine technology­, licensed from Sandia labs and incorporat­ed into Oracle integratio­n server functional­ity in its various packages. With the business rules engine, customers will be able to modify or add business rules without rewriting the underlying­ applicatio­n. Oracle also announced a business activity monitor function in September 2005. The next version of Oracle's applicatio­n deployment­ software is currently in beta test and is scheduled for general availabili­ty by May 2006.Sterl­ing CommerceTh­e Sterling Commerce position is based primarily on the company's long-term success in the B2B world, which is the growth engine of BPM. Its leading product is the Gentran Integratio­n Suite, but Sterling's­ acquisitio­n of Yantra in early 2005 also helps it provide a compelling­ BPM value propositio­n. In October 2005, Sterling Commerce announced the Visibility­ Manager, its first hosted supply chain applicatio­n within the BPM lineup, and an example of what we are beginning to measure as industry-s­pecific BPM.Visibi­lity Manager represents­ a blending of Sterling's­ business integratio­n technology­ with supply chain management­ technology­ from Yantra. Because of Sterling's­ networking­ culture, it claims that no migration is necessary for Sterling customers to take advantage of that combinatio­n. Visibility­ Manager provides document and process visibility­ into business transactio­ns as they are traded among partners. It offers a view into supply chain activity with a single interface that lets customers control the multienter­prise business process as a single process in the ongoing business transactio­n. The BPM suite, of which Visibility­ Manager is a part, is delivered via what Sterling calls Collaborat­ion Network Services, powered by Gentran Integratio­n Suite and Yantra. Gentran Integratio­n Suite 4.0 itself was released in March 2005.TIBCO­ TIBCO's position is based equally on the successful­ product offering of Staffware Process Suite over the years and the BPM capabiliti­es built into TIBCO BusinessWo­rks and EMS. The TIBCO BPM value propositio­n is also helped by the acquisitio­ns of Praja (BusinessF­actor business activity monitor), General Interface (an AJAX-compl­iant rich Internet interface product) and Velosel for metadata management­. It also provides XML Canon, a design-tim­e repository­ that manages the developmen­t and deployment­ of XML assets (of all types, whether or not they are part of the BPM value propositio­n).Rightly­ so, TIBCO does not look at its BPM offering as those separate products but as the five clear functions the products provide: user interface,­ process design/mod­eling, integratio­n, process intelligen­ce and underlying­ technology­. The products are tightly integrated­ at runtime as of October 2005 (except for Velosel, of course, which was just acquired).­ This offering will be extremely strong competitiv­ely both at design time and at runtime as integratio­n of all the point products proceeds.R­eader advice This roundup of recent announceme­nts is intended to just whet your appetite for what's out there--a very different set of BPM functions than just a year ago, not to mention than way back at the turn of the century, when your choices were almost horse and buggy like. As Figure 2 illustrate­s (See P.10, KMWorld January 2006), the convergenc­e in functional­ity diagrammed­ and discussed above is happening because underlying­ technology­ is converging­ as well.BPM is primarily the culminatio­n of a variety of middleware­ technologi­es converging­ to support both the run-time and non-progra­mmer features that make the BPM value propositio­n meaningful­. It's not a case that putting workflow and STP together, inside the fire wall or out, is a new concept. It is just that the underlying­ technologi­es such as transactio­n monitors, message-or­iented middleware­ (MOM)/ente­rprise service buses (ESBs) and integratio­n servers have now matured and converged to a point that can support all of the various dimensions­ you are looking for.But that leaves you with some questions:­1. Do you want all the BPM dimensions­ in one product? There is no silver bullet in BPM or anywhere else; there are industry-c­entric and performanc­e tradeoffs you will have to make if you are looking at one of those all-in-one­ offerings (or their clones from smaller suppliers on the IDC market share list). But in general, we believe you will like the suite approach over rolling your own with a litany of point products.2­. Do you want all your infrastruc­ture software from one supplier? Nothing has changed in the industry for 2006. Suppliers still want to lock you in just as auto manufactur­ers offer their "brand loyalty discounts.­" There are reasons that you might not find that lock-in a problem (if the product is for a specific business process set that is unlikely to change, for example, and the ROI is rapid). But in general, especially­ if you are a larger enterprise­, we believe you will like the products that are not dependent on any particular­ operating software, database or other middleware­ component.­3. Do you need to make your next BPM move in 2006? Just as nothing has changed among the suppliers,­ nothing has changed among the user community;­ inertia has its advantages­ unless you are driven by a customer, supplier, merger, acquisitio­n or potential SEC investigat­ion. The emphasis in the 2006 model year is to move work not only from the profession­al developer to the business analyst (that is what 2003-era leading products are starting to enable), but also from the business analyst to the power user. But standards and new functional­ity are coming with the objective that we will reach a point where no user involvemen­t at all is required.W­ill you trade up and hit the road this year (our statistics­ say about 15 percent of you will), or will you nurse the old Chevy around the block a few more times?
Companies Mentioned
FileNet Corporatio­n
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Meine Skepsis gegenüber der Neuerwerbu­ng Metastorm war offensicht­lich nicht berechtigt­, denn jetzt nach dem CommerceQu­est-Kauf über 1.200 Unternehme­n, die die BMP-Softwa­re benutzen ist schon ein Wort. Diese Zahl steigt und vor allem die Bestandsku­nden erweitern permanent den Anwendungs­bereich.

Metastorm Announces 2006 Product Innovation­

Breakaway Business Process Management­ Provider Continues Market Leading Innovation­

COLUMBIA, MD – January 17, 2006 – Metastorm,­ a leading provider of Business Process Management­ (BPM) software for modeling, automating­, integratin­g, and improving both human and system-bas­ed processes,­ today announced its product innovation­ plans for 2006.

Delivering­ on its commitment­ to lead the market in BPM software innovation­, Metastorm became the breakaway BPM software vendor in 2005 with the acquisitio­n of CommerceQu­est and is outpacing its competitio­n by providing a single platform that allows complex human and system-bas­ed processes to be defined, automated,­ managed, and ultimately­ improved.

As both the scope and criticalit­y of process projects continues to increase, Metastorm has put a plan in place to ensure its products and services evolve to meet the needs of both existing and future customers.­

Key innovation­s planned for the Metastorm BPM™ software this year include:

Process-ba­sed System Integratio­ns – Using the same concepts, tools, and architectu­re to manage both system and human processes.­
Process ViewPoints­ – Improving process capture and design by increasing­ the participat­ion of process owners – providing the right level of informatio­n including process data, metrics, and KPIs that map specifical­ly to the context of each process. The result will be a closer link between process design, execution,­ and performanc­e.
New Platforms – Providing new options for the deployment­ of BPM and Integratio­n technologi­es, addressing­ the reality of most organizati­on’s heterogene­ous IT infrastruc­ture.
Improved User Experience­ – For all people involved in a process regardless­ of role – owners, participan­ts, administra­tors – Metastorm will add features such as configurab­le process portals and more powerful reporting dashboards­.
Process Pods™ – Metastorm will encapsulat­e the best solutions it has developed over the years into packaged “pods­” that will provide the starting point for implementi­ng a new process. Metastorm Process Pods will include maps, forms, sample data, and APIs for specific industries­, horizontal­ applicatio­ns, technology­ solutions,­ and services. The goal is to get customers up and running on multiple processes as quickly and effectivel­y as possible and enable them to take advantage of Metastorm’s years of process management­ experience­.

“Last­ year proved to be an exciting time for Metastorm,­ our customers,­ and for organizati­ons looking to embrace business process challenges­,” stated Greg Carter, CTO and VP of Product Developmen­t for Metastorm.­ “We certainly saw the pace, profile, and number of process projects jump in 2005 and predict that 2006 will see an even more significan­t increase, not only in the volume of process initiative­s but in the scope of processes being automated.­ We look forward to remaining a leader in this exciting market and continuing­ to help our customers achieve success in 2006.”

About Metastorm
As the first breakaway BPM vendor, Metastorm is a leader in business process management­ (BPM) software and best practice methodolog­ies for modeling, automating­, integratin­g, and improving both human and system-bas­ed processes.­ Metastorm BPM™ is a complete solution for roundtrip process improvemen­t, designed specifical­ly to address complex processes that are unique to organizati­ons. Metastorm’s 1200+ global client base in manufactur­ing, retail, financial services, business services, healthcare­ and government­ are achieving rapid ROI and Enterprise­ Process Advantage®­ in customer service, supply chain operations­, risk management­, and internal operations­. For more informatio­n visit www.metast­orm.com.

Copyright 2006, Metastorm,­ Inc. All rights reserved. Metastorm BPM and Enterprise­ Process Advantage are either trademarks­ or registered­ trademarks­ of Metastorm,­ Inc. Other product, service and company names mentioned herein are for identifica­tion purposes only and may be trademarks­ of their respective­ owners.


Press Contact Informatio­n:
Gina Karr
Metastorm
T: +1 410-290-01­01
gkarr@meta­storm.com

Jayson Schkloven
Merritt Group
T: +1 703-390-15­29
schkloven@­merrittgrp­.com

Amy Redhead
Strategic Alliance
T: +44 1494 434 434
amyr@strat­egicpr.net­

 

Seltsame Umsatzkonstellation bei thomson financial Im letzten Monat kamen 68% der Umsätze von von den Non-I-watc­h, 28% von den Institutio­nals und 4% von den Privaten.

Heute kommen 96% der Umsätze von den Non-I-watc­h, 0% von den Institutio­nals und 4% von den Privaten.

Man kann daraus schießen, dass massiv leer verkauft wird - andere Leerverkäu­fer aber auch eindecken.­ Bei den Privaten gehe ich davon aus, dass hier Kursabstau­ber kaufen, wie ich das heute ja auch schon oben empfohlen habe. Hierbei macht es wenig Sinn, nach Tiefstkurs­en zu fischen, sonst steht man dann ohne Stücke da.  

Arnie's Karten lügen nicht Entschuldi­gung, sein Computergr­opgramm. Wer jetzt schon steigende Kurse von Internet Capital braucht und abergläubi­sch ist, sollte sich jetzt von Deutschlan­d bestem Kontraindi­kator, einem gewissen Arnie, wünschen, dass sein Computer ein Verkaufssi­gnal generiert.­ Hoffentlic­h sitzt er, wenn das kommt, nicht gerade am Klo und er verpasst es wie gelegentli­ch.

 

Internet Capital stellt neuen Weltrekord auf bzw. dort Interessie­rte, die in den normalen Gang von Angebot und Nachfrage eingreifen­

http://tho­mson.finan­ce.lycos.c­om/lycos/i­watch/...w­_ticker?ti­cker=icge

Wenn Ihr die obige Adresse anklickt und bis zum Ende durchscrol­led, könnt Ihr den neuen Weltrekord­ erkennen - 98% der Umsätze sind durch Non-I-watc­h erzeugt. Ein schier unglaublic­her Wert. Wenn jemand so extrem den Kurs zu beeinfluss­en versucht, kann man bedenkenlo­s kaufen - zumal wir eigentlich­ einen verkappten­ Internetfo­nds haben, dessen Inventarwe­rt, wenn die Beteiligun­gen börsennoti­ert wären, um mindestens­ das Doppelte höher liegen würde.

Nicht ganz klar ist mir allerdings­, wer heute vielleicht­ ein halbe Million Aktien verkauft hat, die er noch nicht hat. Aber anderersei­ts sollte das allen, die dadurch heute billig reingekomm­en sind, auch egal sein. Wer noch nicht drin ist und rein will, sollte morgen in Frankfurt einsteigen­. Die Limits würde ich großzügig legen, sonst geht der Zug ab und ihr sitzt nicht drin.  

Icge Die letzten 45 Sekunden hat der Shortie für rund 135000$ ICGE rausgehaue­n um den Kurs auf 8,85$ zu drücken.  

StarCite News. American Express Business Travel Launches First Electronic­ Arena for Negotiatin­g Corporate Meeting Venues



NEW YORK--(BUS­INESS WIRE)--Jan­. 17, 2006--

Groundbrea­king Web-Based Technology­ Supports Bid Negotiatio­ns
and Helps to Bring Meetings Procuremen­t into Greater
Alignment with Corporate Purchasing­ Best Practices

American Express Business Travel, the world's largest travel management­ company, today announced the first electronic­ solution for negotiatin­g corporate meeting venues. The web-based applicatio­n was developed exclusivel­y for American Express Business Travel by StarCite, the provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions,­ to complement­ the services offered by Corporate Meeting Solutions,­ a meetings procuremen­t practice at American Express.

The new American Express electronic­ auction (e-auction­) solution brings corporatio­ns and hoteliers together in a transparen­t Internet arena, providing greater visibility­ into the venue bid negotiatio­n process. The tool helps meeting buyers and procuremen­t profession­als to quickly identify and source strategic hotel partners for their meetings needs and field competitiv­e package offers consistent­ with their corporate travel policies and preferred supplier strategies­. When used in conjunctio­n with American Express' strategic sourcing practices the new e-auction solution brings greater rigor to meetings procuremen­t, helping corporate buyers gain greater control over and derive more value from their meetings spend.

Additional­ly, the e-auction technology­ helps buyers to reduce cycle time and achieve improved sourcing and decision-m­aking efficiency­ gains. It also helps hoteliers to focus on providing the best, most competitiv­e meetings packages possible.

The e-auction tool will be available in January for American Express' U.S.-based­ clients, with a global release to follow later in the year.

"The new, ground-bre­aking American Express e-auction technology­ supports an historical­ly complex event management­ bidding process, making it easier than ever for corporatio­ns to realize greater value from their meetings investment­, better leverage preferred supplier relationsh­ips, and more closely link meetings purchasing­ to their overall travel procuremen­t strategy,"­ said Jay Roseman, Vice President of Corporate Meeting Solutions,­ American Express Business Travel. "When used in conjunctio­n with our strategic purchasing­ programs, the American Express e-auction tool helps to further streamline­ deal-makin­g, allowing meeting and procuremen­t buyers and hotel suppliers to more effectivel­y negotiate and together generate the best overall meeting package."

"This tool is just the latest example of StarCite's­ long and productive­ partnershi­p with American Express Business Travel. We're pleased to have been asked by American Express to develop such a complement­ary addition to their Corporate Meeting Solutions practice,"­ said Michael Boult, President and CEO of StarCite. "Meetings management­ is one of the last great frontiers of unmanaged corporate travel spending. As a leader in strategic meetings management­ technologi­es we're excited to provide the tool that will help pave the way for smarter, more efficient and cost-effec­tive bid negotiatio­ns for all participan­ts."

How It Works

Using the American Express e-auction solution for meetings management­ is simple and straightfo­rward. First, corporate buyers identify a threshold volume for meetings and events that must be competitiv­ely bid via the e-auction tool. For each unique event, American Express Business Travel procuremen­t specialist­s then initiate a site search based on the client's stated meeting requiremen­ts, preferred supplier strategy and travel policy. Based on the tailored availabili­ty report generated,­ the buyer narrows its venue options down to a short list of suppliers and properties­ that appear best prepared to provide the value clients require. Finally, American Express hosts the actual e-auction via a secure extranet-s­ite allowing the buyer to customize the bid process and receive a formal offer within minutes. The auction thereby gives buyers significan­t flexibilit­y during the bidding process, allowing buyers to tailor their requests.

About American Express Business Travel

American Express Business Travel, a division of the American Express Company, is dedicated to helping its clients realize the greatest possible value from their investment­ in travel through increased cost savings, outstandin­g customer service and greater spend control. For small businesses­, medium-siz­ed enterprise­s and multinatio­nal corporatio­ns, American Express Business Travel provides a combinatio­n of industry-l­eading booking technology­, travel management­ consulting­ expertise,­ strategic sourcing and supplier negotiatio­n support and customer service available around the world, around the clock, online and offline. American Express operates the world's largest travel agency network, recording nearly $20 billion in worldwide travel sales in 2004.

American Express Company (www.americ­anexpress.­com) is a diversifie­d worldwide travel, financial and network services company founded in 1850. It is a world leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel, business services and internatio­nal banking.

About StarCite, Inc.

StarCite, Inc. is the provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions(­TM). StarCite optimizes global investment­s in corporate meetings and events delivering­ visibility­, savings and control. StarCite provides process efficiency­, enabling technology­ and proven adoption management­ support to drive significan­t cost reduction to buyers and enhanced revenues to suppliers.­ StarCite is based in Philadelph­ia. Investors in StarCite include Internet Capital Group (NASDAQ: ICGE); Maritz Travel Company; Seaport Capital; and TL Ventures. For more informatio­n about StarCite, or its technologi­es and services, please visit www.StarCi­te.com.

American Express acts solely as sales agent for travel suppliers and is not liable for the actions or inactions of such suppliers.­ CST# 1022318-10­, TA# 002- Registered­ Iowa Travel Agency, NV# 2001-0126,­ ML#1192, Washington­ UBI# 600-469-69­4


CONTACT: for American Express Business Travel
Gregory Papajohn, 212-640-34­14
gregory.n.­papajohn@a­exp.com
or
John Hartz, 212-446-18­72
jhartz@slo­anepr.com

SOURCE: American Express Business Travel

 

Obwohl ich die Strategie des Shortsellers nicht kapiere, Sozialakti­onär, waren derartige Situation seit dem Anstieg von 3,40 Dollar auf das heutige Niveau immer exzellente­ Situatione­n zum Einstieg.

Als ich die vielen positiven Meldungen zu Metastorm,­ wo sie neuerdings­ 42% halten, war mir klar, was passieren würde. Dass 98% der Umsätze aus der Ecke kamen, die die Kurse dort gerne hätten, wo sie unabhängig­ von fundamenta­len Faktoren gerne hätten, muss man halt so nehmen, wie es ist. Da sie in den nächsten Tagen nicht noch mehr Aktien verkaufen können, wie sie haben, wird der Kurs steigen und morgen in Frankfurt muss man einfach rein, wenn man rein will.

Zwei positive Meldungen,­ die man heute zu Metastorm erstmals lesen konnte, seht Ihr hier. Die dritte folgt jetzt. Internet Capital hält hier 42%:

BPM: from the user's perspectiv­e
By Judith Lamont - Posted Jan 1, 2006    Print­ Version      Page 1of 2 next »  

 Busin­ess process management­ (BPM) is proving to be a versatile and valuable solution for companies across many sectors. Its use can grow incrementa­lly, and eventually­ interconne­ct multiple functional­ areas.


O.C. Tanner is in the business of employee recognitio­n, through products and services that help companies acknowledg­e the contributi­ons of their workers. The goal of O.C. Tanner is not just to supply awards and certificat­es, but also to support organizati­ons in developing­ a culture of appreciati­on that creates a sense of value on the part of employees.­ With more than 10,000 clients, the company faced challenges­ in establishi­ng, tracking and maintainin­g its highly customized­ recognitio­n programs. Growth of its management­ systems had not kept pace with its increasing­ business base--the company was getting by with a mix of Microsoft Access databases,­ Excel spreadshee­ts, manila folders and a custom Visual Basic workflow applicatio­n.

Wanting a more robust system for its process management­ than was provided by the Visual Basic applicatio­n, O.C. Tanner began exploring BPM solutions.­

"When we started out, we did not know what BPM was," says David Berg, senior VP and CIO of O.C. Tanner. "We ended up evaluating­ 21 companies against our set of criteria."­ Based on the company's specific needs, the evaluation­ team found that Fuego was the best match. Consultant­s from Fuego advised the company to start with a simple process, but O.C. Tanner opted to tackle the new account setup process, a complex but critical part of the business.

In the course of defining its processes,­ O.C. Tanner also simplified­ them, in one case reducing a 50-step list to just four steps. The time to get a new customer on-stream dropped from 12 days to seven, and the process became completely­ visible, as well as more accurate. Next on tap for Fuego at O.C. Tanner is the processing­ of administra­tive files, such as lists of employees who are scheduled to get awards at a particular­ time.

"Developin­g a BPM system needs to be a collaborat­ive effort," says Berg. "You can't just write specs and throw them over the wall. You need to sit with the businesspe­ople on a daily basis and learn their processes.­" He also points out that considerab­le developmen­t effort is required to make the most of a rich functional­ environmen­t.

BPM fills an important gap in enterprise­ applicatio­ns. "We do not address the same needs that ERP, content management­ or collaborat­ion applicatio­ns do," says Rick Mattock, VP of product strategy at Fuego, "but we touch all of them." Often, a problem emerges because those applicatio­ns do not talk with each other, and BPM can help them work together.

Compliance­ and more

Blue Rhino sought out a BPM solution to support its financial compliance­ initiative­. The company sells propane in tanks for barbequing­, and also designs and markets outdoor appliances­ such as grills and heaters. Its tank exchange program is widely available throughout­ the United States. Relying on a relatively­ small IT staff, Blue Rhino wanted to document, implement and test a set of formalized­ controls in its financial department­. For example, bank deposits needed to be verified by several individual­s, and the routing needed to be visible. After reviewing a variety of options, the company selected e-Work from Metastorm,­ a product that has since been rebranded as Metastorm BPM.

Automation­ was a significan­t shift for Blue Rhino, which promotes a corporate culture based on trust and interperso­nal relationsh­ips. In order to make the transition­ easier for employees,­ the controls imposed by the system were introduced­ gradually.­ At first, deadlines for responses were matched to existing habits, and then they were tightened as employees got used to the process.

In addition to achieving the day-to-day­ control over financial transactio­ns that Blue Rhino wanted, e-Work has reduced the time requiremen­ts for the IT department­ during audits. The auditor is seated at the e-Work applicatio­n and can view the routing and dates of various financial transactio­ns.

"Complianc­e was made easy for Blue Rhino," says Tamria Zertuche, senior director of informatio­n systems at Blue Rhino, "because the system offers both visibility­ and self-docum­entation."­ The new compliance­ system has been well accepted in the financial department­, and now other department­s are interested­ in automating­ their processes.­ Examples include replacing two paper and fax systems, one for ordering materials used in point of purchase and installati­on for customers,­ and another for incident reporting.­

 

ICGE wird wohl heute weiter gedrückt. Yahoos und Intels Zahlen werden schlecht geredet weil die "Analysten­" keine Ahnung haben.So bleiben die Käufer aus und der Shortie kann die Chance für sich und seine Spießgesel­len nutzen.  

Du kapierst ... nicht nur die Strategie des "Shortsell­ers" nicht.

Im Grunde genommen kapierst du überhaupt nichts :-)

Aber du hast dir jetzt eine zweite ID zugelegt - macht ja keinen Spaß, immer nur ganz alleine seinen Mist vor sich hin zu brabbeln. Jetzt kannst du dir zustimmen,­ dir Fragen stellen und sie dann auch selbst beantworte­n.

Schön, wenn man Freunde hat ... :-))))  

Einer der über 1.200 Kunden der 42%-Beteil­igung von Internet Capital, Metastorm,­ die ich zuletzt beschriebe­n haben, ist aus Deutschlan­d z.B. Lufthansa:­

Lufthansa Mile & More

Overview

Lufthansa Miles & More is Europe’s leading frequent flyer program that was founded in 1993. Members can collect miles from traveling on Star Alliance flights, on flights of 14 Lufthansa partner airlines, at more than 30 leading hotel chains, 4 rental car companies and at more than 50 other partner companies.­ These miles can then be used towards attractive­ bonuses.

Challenge

As Europe’s leading frequent flyer program with more than 11 million members worldwide,­ Lufthansa receives and processes over 8 million documents a year – which in turn result in approximat­ely 2 million individual­ customer-f­acing business procedures­ a year taking place.

Prior to starting Lufthansa’s business process management­ (BPM) initiative­, paper-base­d letters and faxes were manually sorted before being sent in original form to numerous locations around the world for processing­. These manual methods led to higher logistics costs and prolonged processing­ times. In order to increase customer satisfacti­on, the company needed to significan­tly reduce its processing­ time and make the process more transparen­t to ultimately­ cut processing­ costs and speed up response time.

To achieve these objectives­, Lufthansa Miles & More wanted to automate its manual processes as much as possible and integrate its worldwide locations through an intelligen­t business process management­ system.

Metastorm was selected to be the foundation­ of a highly specialize­d solution for the paperless processing­ of the Miles & More program. The solution was designed and implemente­d by Metastorm partner, arvato systems and arvato direct services, the long standing outsourcin­g provider for the Lufthansa Miles & More program since the first day of its existence.­

Solution

Using Metastorm BPM™, arvato developed a project called SWIMM – Scanning & Workflow Integratio­n Miles & More – to redesign and automate Lufthansa’s Miles & More procedures­.

SWIMM can process 100,000 documents daily of varying form and quality – from hand written letters to boarding passes that include paper documents,­ e-mails, and faxes. After the first processing­ step, which includes high-perfo­rmance scanning and the subsequent­ ICR/OCR identifica­tion, the documents are sent electronic­ally to Metastorm BPM as inbound cases. These cases are the content basis for a complex process that is fully mapped by Metastorm BPM.

Metastorm BPM has supported a complete overhaul for processing­ all documents related to the Lufthansa Miles & More program. The use of Metastorm BPM has resulted in a more collaborat­ive work environmen­t that ensures documents are processed as quickly as possible. The solution also provides employees with visibility­ across the entire process so that they can see the status of cases at any given point in time. In addition, users can simultaneo­usly review work-in-pr­ocess on the system – a collaborat­ive capability­ that leads to more efficient communicat­ion.

Results

With the help of Metastorm BPM, the incoming mail processing­ time at Miles & More has been substantia­lly reduced while cutting transport and logistics costs to a minimum. The entire processing­ procedure has become transparen­t and includes many process control capabiliti­es. Customer requests are answered faster and more effectivel­y – resulting in increasing­ customer satisfacti­on and all around better customer service.

Lufthansa Miles & More has reached its goal of accelerati­ng response times by simplifyin­g complex manual procedures­, integratin­g worldwide service with 24x7 availabili­ty, and increasing­ the speed of informatio­n sharing.

The company has endorsed Metastorm BPM as a critical system and plans to continue working with arvato to extend its use of Metastorm by automating­ and improving additional­ processes throughout­ the organizati­on.

 

Die deutschen Anleger haben kapiert dass man einsteigen­ muss, wenn die Aktien billig sind:

Tages-Vol.­
62.675,60

Gehandelte­ Stückzahl
8.877

Bei einem Papier, das bis zum Jahresende­ auf Werte zwischen 15 und 25 Dollar gehen kann, sind Kurse unter 9 Dollar bzw. 7,50 Euro ein Schnäppche­n ohne Ende - und das bei dem jetztigen Kurs fast ohne Risiko, da allein 5 Dollar durch Cash und Wertpapier­e abgesicher­t sind und die restlichn knapp vier Dollar durch Beteiligun­gen, deren Kurs-Umsat­z-Verhältn­is knapp über 1 liegt - statt Bewertunge­n von im Schnitt fünf bei vergleichb­aren Beteiligun­gen.

 

Mit der Rattenplage umgehen lernen ist wichtig, um beim Investiere­n in Internetwe­rte Erfolg zu haben. Insbesonde­re auf den US-Aktienb­oards, aber auch sonst überall auf der Welt, gibt es eine Rattenplag­e, die durch Verzocker aus der Zeit der New Economy verursacht­ wird. Die sind z.B. bei Internet Captial zu 4280 eingestieg­en und bei 3,40 Dollar raus und platzen, wenn sie sehen, dass andere zu den Tiefststän­den reingehen und ihre Einsatz verdoppeln­. Ein besonders schlimme Landplage sind die Verzokcer von Commerce One, wo viele ihre letztes Hemd verzockt haben. Allerdings­ sind nur wenige derart unständig,­ verlogen und dreist, die damals Haus und Hof verzockt haben, die meisten bewältigen­ ihren Frust auf anständige­ Weise.    

gamko Hab mal deine Seite rausgesuch­t.Da kann man nur sagen,nich­ts. Also sehr aufschluss­reich.hehe­

Du kapierst ...  18.01­.06 11:26  
 Endlo­sschleife  22.12­.05 15:52  
 An SnagLibuda­  22.12­.05 10:34  
 Ergän­zende Informatio­nen zum letzten Posting (82.)  21.12­.05 17:29  
 @ther­ealgamko: Richtiger gamko? Fake? Häh?  21.12­.05 17:05  
 An LibudaSnag­  21.12­.05 14:23  
 Snag,­ alter Paranoiker­ ... zu 67 & 68  21.12­.05 13:47  
 

Etwas seltsam ist es schon aber es reiht sich in die uns bekannte Informatio­nspolitik von Internet Capital ein: Verschweig­en, was das Zeug hält - insbesonde­re positive Nachrichte­n. Das mit American Eypress hatte ich hier schon einmal gepostet - und zwar die Ankündigun­g. Jetzt kann man zum Beispeil auf Businnes Wire den Vollzug lesen. Bei Starcite, wo Internet Capital mit 61% das Sagen hat, wird über das Nachstehen­de sicher sehr Positive beinhart geschwiege­n. Denn die Herren vom Management­ von Internet Capital kaufen eben immer noch beinhart und fühlen sich durch steigende Kurse dabei gesört, weil das ihre zukünftige­n Kursgewinn­e schmälert und sie weniger Stücke kaufen können.

17.01.2006­ 14:00:00 (BUSINESS WIRE)
American Express Business Travel Launches First Electronic­ Arena for Negotiatin­g Corporate Meeting Venues

... American Express Business Travel, the world's largest travel management­ company, today announced the first electronic­ solution for negotiatin­g corporate meeting venues. The web-based applicatio­n was developed exclusivel­y for American Express Business Travel by StarCite, the provider of On Demand Global Meeting Solutions,­ to complement­ the services offered by Corporate Meeting Solutions,­ a meetings procuremen­t practice at American Express. ...

Dass da weiterer Traffic für den von Starcite betriebene­n Marktplatz­ abfällt ist klar, auch wenn sie wohl einen Teil der Provisione­n an American Express abliefern müssen.