Tuesday, December 4. 2007

"The MapInfo name is not going away"

Mike Hickey, president of Pitney Bowes Software, stated emphatically that the MapInfo brand will live on. Speaking at Korem's Geodiffusion conference in Montreal, Hickey said, "MapInfo Professional is part of a very strong future."

Hickey also elaborated on Pitney Bowes Software's forward looking strategy. At present, Pitney Bowes Software represents a a combination of MapInfo & Group 1 Software, two former $200 million public companies. His objective is to grow the company to $1 billion over the next 3 to 5 years. To do this, he expects to organically grow the business 10% each year and add an additional 10% through acquisitions during this period. Currently, Pitney Bowes Software divides its solutions accordingly:

• 54% Location intelligent software solutions
• 10% Data quality software such as for direct marketing, ETL, enterprise address management all of which act as a support role for CRM and ERP systems
• 18% Mailing efficiency: address standardization as well as optimizing and tracking mailing
• 18% Customer Communication Management

All of the above will contribute to the broader strategy of offering a Customer Information Management (CIM) Architecture to its clients. Hickey said, "The opportunity is not to compete with some of the bigger players but to focus on the individual verticals...We have the nimbleness of a $400 million company with the resources of a $6 billion company."