News: Newly-independent software firm says RP still Asia base

[Submitted by Dennis D. Estopace, Reporter, to BusinessMirror, August 26, 2010.]

HAVING exited from Emerson Electric Co., business software-maker
LANDesk Software Inc. said Thursday it will retain the Philippines as
its operations base for Southeast Asia.
"We see areas where we can grow faster in Southeast Asia and Asia,
particularly China. We see there's a right staff in the Philippines to
be the headquarter for Southeast Asia," LANDesk vice-president for
Asia-Pacific Andrew Ruse said three days after the company announced
its purchase by Thoma Bravo LLC.
The Salt Lake City, Utah, US-based LANDesk makes software to manage
computers in a business like doing an inventory of its machines or how
many computers it has as well as the software installed in these
computers. Ruse said they also make and sell security products running
on a network of computers. Some of these security features are
installed as part of laptop computers made by Lenovo Corp., a Lenovo
executive said.
LANDesk was originally with Intel Corp. when its a hundred or so
employees put up a separate company in 2002. It was bought by Avocent
in 2006, which was subsequently bought by Emerson in October last
year.
The company has been operating in the Philippines through Avocent
subsidiary Touchpaper and then through Emerson.
Ruse said that after the Emerson purchase of Avocent, they asked
management to help them spin off.
"There were many options but we settled the best would be tapping
private equity," Ruse said adding they saw Alabama-based firm Thoma
Bravo as a "good fit."
While Ruse said they can't disclose the purchase amount, LANDesk
claims to have contributed to the 20-percent annual revenue growth of
Avocent.
He said they are still targeting a 20-percent growth this year but may
have to "wait for the expectations of our new bosses [in Thoma
Bravo]." Ten of its 800 employees worldwide are in the Philippines.
Ruse also shares the optimism the firm's operations Philippines can
carve a share in the US$2.1-billion global enterprise management
software market and the US$2.5-billion business security management
software market.
A statement quoted LANDesk chief executive Steve Daly as saying that
the company eyes the "500 million personal computers with five billion
Internet-protocol connected devices in the corporate environment
today."
"When you make money and have a good product, everybody wants you,"
Ruse said on the day he flies to Hong Kong to check on LANDesk's
operations there.
He said the company has filed incorporation papers to the Philippine
Securities and Exchange Commission but the Thoma Bravo acquisition
will still be completed end-September.
No figures were disclosed.