Versata
Encyclopedia
Versata is a business-rules based application development environment running in Java EE. It is a subsidiary of Trilogy, Inc.
that enabled developers to create a Web application rapidly using MS SQL Server or Oracle in the backend. The product, called Vision Jade, was released around 1997. It was enhanced to support three tier applications and Java thin clients.
Vision Software changed its key product and company name to Versata, went public in March 2000 and, on that day, was worth an astonishing $4 billion—astonishing considering that the company had revenues of about $60 million and was losing a lot of money; but this was during the Dot-com bubble
. Despite hard times, Versata has managed to stay alive and maintain its customer base.
In November 2000, Versata expanded into the business workflow area with the acquisition of Verve, Inc..
From early 2001 through mid-2003 Versata's revenues were in quarter over quarter decline until Alan Baratz took over as CEO. Five consecutive quarters of growth followed until early 2005 when revenues once again took a downward plunge.
Mid-2005 the company was notified by NASDAQ that it no longer met NASDAQ's requirements for continued listing, related to maintenance of a minimum amount of shareholder's equity, market value, or net income. Rather than continue to focus on these requirements, the company decided to move to the OTC (also known as the Pink Sheets
) in order to remain publicly traded.
On 7 December 2005, Versata announced that Austin based Trilogy, Inc
. had made an offer to acquire the company by tender. That deal was consummated in February 2006, taking the company private.
Trilogy then proceeded to merge portions of Trilogy, specifically, Trilogy Technology Group, into Versata and began acquiring further companies, reorganizing dramatically and offshoring most technical positions to its office in Bangalore, India.
From 2006 to 2008, Versata continued to make acquisitions mostly in US. Most of the employees in the acquired companies were laid -off with the majority work being offshored to its India office in Bangalore.
In early 2009, Versata made another major overhaul of its business model when it asked all its employees in India to work as contractors through oDesk
for a gDev which is an entity incorporated by Trilogy to manage it's outsourcing activities. The only employees left in Versata were the ones in US.
A jury in the Eastern District of Texas awarded Versata Software $139m following its decision that SAP infringed two of Versata's patents - U.S. Patent No. 6,553,350 and U.S. Patent No. 5,878,400. Sam Baxter, Ted Stevenson, Scott Cole and Steve Pollinger of McKool Smith
represented Versata on this case. iRunway
India Private Limited and NTrak LLC were the technical consultants and provided end-to-end litigation support to McKool Smith.
The case has been rumbling on for a couple of years now, hinging on Versata-owned patents that cover mechanisms for pricing products. In January 2011, the judge in the case set aside the damages award, and ordered a new trial on damages.
In June, 2010 Versata filed an antitrust
complaint against SAP AG
. It alleges that SAP illegally excluded Versata from selling to vast majority of large ERP customers.
1. The agreement approved by Judge C. Mott, Texas has no effect in Italy and in the EU, just to the provisions of the Italian Bankruptcy Law and Regulation (EC) on May 29, 2000 No 1346/2000;
2. the public prosecutor of Bologna in the person of Deputy Attorney Ms. Scarlett Poggioli has recently opened a criminal prosecution for bankruptcy fraud in relation to some distraction for senior management (legal representatives and / or directors) of Think3 and Versata (whose criminal liability will be assessed the outcome of future penal).
.
In September 2007, Versata acquired Nextance a provider of enterprise contract management solutions.
In November 2007, Versata acquired Gensym. Gensym is a leading provider of business rule engine software for mission-critical solutions that automate decisions in real time.
February 22, 2008 – Privately-held Versata Enterprises, Inc. Announced the acquisition of NUVO Network Management Inc. Nuvo was a Canadian based managed service provider/software provider.
February 25, 2008 - Versata acquired AlterPoint, a maker of Network Change and Configuration Management (NCCM) software.
March , 2008 - Versata acquired Tenfold Corporation. TenFold Corporation (OTC: TENF.OB)is a provider of EnterpriseTenFold SOA, an SOA-compliant, Ajax-enabled solutions framework for adding functionality to existing applications and building enterprise-scale applications.
In May 2008 , Versata acquired Evolutionary Technologies International (ETI) and Clear Technologies. ETI is a recognized innovator of data integration products while Clear Technologies is a leading provider of business process automation solutions for the financial services, and insurance industries.
On August 7, 2009 - Versata announced the acquisition of Everest Software, Inc. (Everest), a provider of retail and wholesale business management software.
On January 14, 2010 - Versata announced the acquisition of PurchasingNet, Inc. PurchasingNet,a Web-based provider of eProcurement, ePayables and Financial Management services and solutions to mid- and large-sized organizations.
Trilogy (company)
Trilogy is a software company based in Austin, Texas. It specializes in software services to Global 1000 companies, especially in the automotive, consumer electronics, and insurance agencies. It was founded by Stanford dropout Joe Liemandt....
History
Versata started in the early 1990s as a software consulting company called Vision Software. Over time it developed and sold software for Microsoft Visual Basic development market. Around 1994, it began development of an integrated development environment for applications. It included a GUI builder and a business rules engineBusiness rules engine
A business rules engine is a software system that executes one or more business rules in a runtime production environment. The rules might come from legal regulation , company policy , or other sources...
that enabled developers to create a Web application rapidly using MS SQL Server or Oracle in the backend. The product, called Vision Jade, was released around 1997. It was enhanced to support three tier applications and Java thin clients.
Vision Software changed its key product and company name to Versata, went public in March 2000 and, on that day, was worth an astonishing $4 billion—astonishing considering that the company had revenues of about $60 million and was losing a lot of money; but this was during the Dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
. Despite hard times, Versata has managed to stay alive and maintain its customer base.
In November 2000, Versata expanded into the business workflow area with the acquisition of Verve, Inc..
From early 2001 through mid-2003 Versata's revenues were in quarter over quarter decline until Alan Baratz took over as CEO. Five consecutive quarters of growth followed until early 2005 when revenues once again took a downward plunge.
Mid-2005 the company was notified by NASDAQ that it no longer met NASDAQ's requirements for continued listing, related to maintenance of a minimum amount of shareholder's equity, market value, or net income. Rather than continue to focus on these requirements, the company decided to move to the OTC (also known as the Pink Sheets
Pink Sheets
OTC Markets Group, Inc., informally known as "Pink Sheets", is a private company that provides services to the U.S. over-the-counter securities market including electronic quotations, trading, messaging, and information platforms. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, OTC...
) in order to remain publicly traded.
On 7 December 2005, Versata announced that Austin based Trilogy, Inc
Trilogy (company)
Trilogy is a software company based in Austin, Texas. It specializes in software services to Global 1000 companies, especially in the automotive, consumer electronics, and insurance agencies. It was founded by Stanford dropout Joe Liemandt....
. had made an offer to acquire the company by tender. That deal was consummated in February 2006, taking the company private.
Trilogy then proceeded to merge portions of Trilogy, specifically, Trilogy Technology Group, into Versata and began acquiring further companies, reorganizing dramatically and offshoring most technical positions to its office in Bangalore, India.
From 2006 to 2008, Versata continued to make acquisitions mostly in US. Most of the employees in the acquired companies were laid -off with the majority work being offshored to its India office in Bangalore.
In early 2009, Versata made another major overhaul of its business model when it asked all its employees in India to work as contractors through oDesk
ODesk
oDesk is a company with a global job marketplace and a series of tools targeted at businesses that intend to hire and manage remote workers. Based in Redwood City, CA, oDesk was founded in 2003 by Greek entrepreneurs Odysseas Tsatalos and Stratis Karamanlakis....
for a gDev which is an entity incorporated by Trilogy to manage it's outsourcing activities. The only employees left in Versata were the ones in US.
A jury in the Eastern District of Texas awarded Versata Software $139m following its decision that SAP infringed two of Versata's patents - U.S. Patent No. 6,553,350 and U.S. Patent No. 5,878,400. Sam Baxter, Ted Stevenson, Scott Cole and Steve Pollinger of McKool Smith
McKool Smith
McKool Smith, PC is a law firm based in Dallas, Texas founded in 1991 by attorneys Mike McKool and Phil Smith. The 125-lawyer firm has become notable primarily because of major patent lawsuit verdicts won against Microsoft Corporation.-Notable cases:...
represented Versata on this case. iRunway
IRunway
iRunway is a technology consulting and litigation support company in the intellectual property domain. It provides technology analysis in patent litigation, patent portfolio management and technology due diligence services to both law firms and corporations. The company has offices in Bangalore,...
India Private Limited and NTrak LLC were the technical consultants and provided end-to-end litigation support to McKool Smith.
The case has been rumbling on for a couple of years now, hinging on Versata-owned patents that cover mechanisms for pricing products. In January 2011, the judge in the case set aside the damages award, and ordered a new trial on damages.
In June, 2010 Versata filed an antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
complaint against SAP AG
SAP AG
SAP AG is a German software corporation that makes enterprise software to manage business operations and customer relations. Headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg, with regional offices around the world, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software...
. It alleges that SAP illegally excluded Versata from selling to vast majority of large ERP customers.
1. The agreement approved by Judge C. Mott, Texas has no effect in Italy and in the EU, just to the provisions of the Italian Bankruptcy Law and Regulation (EC) on May 29, 2000 No 1346/2000;
2. the public prosecutor of Bologna in the person of Deputy Attorney Ms. Scarlett Poggioli has recently opened a criminal prosecution for bankruptcy fraud in relation to some distraction for senior management (legal representatives and / or directors) of Think3 and Versata (whose criminal liability will be assessed the outcome of future penal).
Acquisitions
On July 3, 2006, Versata acquired Artemis International Solutions Corporation, a provider of project and product portfolio management tools, including Artemis (software)Artemis (software)
Artemis is the brand name of a family of software based project planning and management tools.-Origins:Artemis originated as the Artemis Project Management System developed by Metier Management Systems in 1978, a sister product to Apollo, Metier's first PERT network scheduling system launched in 1977...
.
In September 2007, Versata acquired Nextance a provider of enterprise contract management solutions.
In November 2007, Versata acquired Gensym. Gensym is a leading provider of business rule engine software for mission-critical solutions that automate decisions in real time.
February 22, 2008 – Privately-held Versata Enterprises, Inc. Announced the acquisition of NUVO Network Management Inc. Nuvo was a Canadian based managed service provider/software provider.
February 25, 2008 - Versata acquired AlterPoint, a maker of Network Change and Configuration Management (NCCM) software.
March , 2008 - Versata acquired Tenfold Corporation. TenFold Corporation (OTC: TENF.OB)is a provider of EnterpriseTenFold SOA, an SOA-compliant, Ajax-enabled solutions framework for adding functionality to existing applications and building enterprise-scale applications.
In May 2008 , Versata acquired Evolutionary Technologies International (ETI) and Clear Technologies. ETI is a recognized innovator of data integration products while Clear Technologies is a leading provider of business process automation solutions for the financial services, and insurance industries.
On August 7, 2009 - Versata announced the acquisition of Everest Software, Inc. (Everest), a provider of retail and wholesale business management software.
On January 14, 2010 - Versata announced the acquisition of PurchasingNet, Inc. PurchasingNet,a Web-based provider of eProcurement, ePayables and Financial Management services and solutions to mid- and large-sized organizations.