The new marketplace which has already received positive endorsements from international IT market analysts Bloor Research, Ovum and Redmonk is the brainchild of software industry entrepreneurs, Justin Floyd whose expertise is in subscription licensing models, and Suki Gallagher, banking and
financing specialist.
Together Justin and Suki have created smartfundit.com,
(www.smartfundit.com)with a vision to deliver an independent marketplace that transparently brings together the top banks from around the world that want to finance software, and where software companies can exchange ideas, find services partners and achieve the transition to subscription
licensing.
The first phase of the marketplace, which is launched on Jan 30th, enables software vendors to transparently and quickly finance their customers� procurement of software. smartfundit�s gateway to the world�s top software financiers will open in April 2006, shortly followed by the vendor ecosystem exchange hub. The ecosystem will support hundreds of managed services providers and software vendors wishing to adopt a subscription based route to market, by providing the funding needed to migrate technology into a managed services environment and provides a place to exchange ideas and find services partners. �This is a world first for software financing,� says Tony Lock, Chief Analyst at IT market analyst firm Bloor Research. �This is a unique proposition, providing core financial services for a whole host of ISVs, and allowing comparisons between different offerings. What�s particularly special about smartfundit.com is that it is an open market� it isn�t just offering a single source of finance. It acts almost like a clearing house.
It is a single, independent, central point of focus for both software houses and financial services providers, making it very simple for the two parties to get together.� �As a company with a reputation for providing quality and innovative online financial tools for our customers, we�re delighted to be able to support and partner with CCL in this endeavour,� added Rod Tonna-Barthet, Director, Siemens Financial Services. Rod continues. �smartfundit provides significant added value to the IT channel and is in a major step forward for the intermediary industry.� Applying for finance using smartfundit.com couldn�t be quicker or easier.
Software companies simply provide three pieces of information online. A quote is returned rapidly, enabling the vendor to make an immediate offer to their customer. The customer�s monthly payments can be calculated automatically on the portal too. ISV�s are free to brand the financing packages as their own. Smartfundit acts as a facilitator with no interest in managing customers directly. Justin Floyd is Chairman of smartfundit and his background is steeped in software and subscription licensing. �Although software financing options have been around for years, the onus until now has been on the software developer to single out and strike up a relationship with a financing house � or to entrust themselves to the proprietary financing scheme offered by the larger IT companies they partner with, such as IBM or Microsoft.�
Justin continues, �This has left many software publishers out of their depth. Without an easy ability to compare and contrast different software deals, or the flexibility to alter arrangements based on customers�
differing needs, software vendors have risked signing themselves – and their customers – up to heavy commitments they haven�t properly understood.� A central premise of smartfundit.com is that experts in software do not have to become experts in finance to be able to offer their customers a great financing deal that perfectly suits their needs. �We have automated the finer details to reduce the application process to a three-click activity,� commented Suki Gallagher, CEO of smartfundit.com. �Because we manage the rental stream on behalf of the ISV, we remove all of their cash flow risk, so that they are never out of pocket. Because we are handling the financing of the deal, we pay our ISV partners for the total solution upfront. We look after all of the credit risk assessment, as well as the administration and billing of the licensing agreement, so this frees the ISV to concentrate on what they do best – developing and selling great software.� Smartfundit.com is open for business on January 30th. For more information
please visit our website on www.smartfundit.com. About smartfundit.com smartfundit.com, a CCL company, is the world�s first independent software financing marketplace where an ecosystem of vendors, finance providers and complementary suppliers work together to simply and transparently finance customers� procurement of software. smartfundit.com was founded by software industry entrepreneur Justin Floyd and banking and financing specialist, Suki Gallagher. More than 230 software vendors rely on smartfundit to manage their software sales pipeline and to underpin their subscription software financing models. Smartfundit is open for business on January 30th, 2006. For more information please visit www.smartfundit.com
Kaynak : 