Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Your first question comes from the line of Kevin Liu - B. Riley & Company, Inc.
Kevin Liu - B. Riley & Company
Solid Q4 all around. But looking out towards the guidance, you have already mentioned that some of the Q4 pipeline got pushed out. Just curious, how much of that do you anticipate being able to close within this year or have your financial service customers pretty much indicated that spending will be relatively weak for most of the year?
Peter I. Cittadini
It varies, Kevin, to tell you the truth. We do anticipate that most of it will be closable within 2008. However, the datapoints are varied and point to a weaker first half of 2008 than a second half of 2008.
So, again, when you look at the slippage, it is indeed that, it’s slippage. It’s not web-based applications that they do not intend on doing, it’s a timing issue, and I would hope that most of the slippage would be achievable to secure within the confines of 2008.
Kevin Liu - B. Riley & Company
And then in terms of the receivables climbing a bit from Q3 to Q4, was that just primarily the late closing of some of these deals?
Peter I. Cittadini
Yes. There were some large billings right at the end of the year.
Kevin Liu - B. Riley & Company
And then going to your performance management offering, the SAS offering. Just curious what type of initial response you’ve gotten in the marketplace? And I know you aren’t baking in too much for 2008, but I just want a general sense for what the feedback has been like, and maybe what the timeframe is for you during the season traction of the product?
Peter I. Cittadini
Yes. Very exciting. We’ve already done some marketing campaigns. We’ve obviously launched it to the industry analyst’s community. It’s being extremely, extremely well received.
As a matter of fact, you’d be hard pressed to really find a high-quality, large, public-oriented company with a SAS offering for performance management; so as I said, I characterize it as a potential tiger by the tail, the initial reaction very positive.
Kevin Liu - B. Riley & Company
And then just lastly, given the sound growth coming from the BIRT channel, what verticals are picking up the slack for financial services right now?
Peter I. Cittadini
Interesting question, and the one that rose highest on the list, specifically in Q4 where we had the financial services revenue deficit, was healthcare. The OEMs are back in a very big way, and we actually even had a decent showing, believe it or not, from the travel industry and some of the online systems that they have, and web-based systems that they have.
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