MARKHAM, ON, and SOUTHBOROUGH, MA, Sept. 29 -- CNW/ AsiaNet
As part of a strategic effort designed to enhance and accelerate its
ability to extend the Geac Performance Management product family and grow
software license revenue globally, Geac(R) (TSX: GAC, NASDAQ: GEAC) today
announced the appointment of Jeffrey W. Murphy to lead the Geac Performance
Management software business worldwide. Mr. Murphy, an 18-year veteran of the
enterprise software industry who previously served as Senior Vice President and
General Manager of SAP America, Inc., will oversee all customer-facing
operations related to Geac Performance Management, the segment of Geac's
business that the Company has identified as its longer-term "umbrella strategy"
for growth.
"Nothing is more important to Geac's future success than the growth of our
software license revenue," Charles S. Jones, President and CEO of Geac said.
"Jeff's impressive track record speaks for itself. He has a solid history of
growing software company revenues through a range of market channels and
strategic alliances, and he has successfully directed global sales
organizations with demonstrable results. Geac Performance Management will
benefit greatly from his creativity, energy and business acumen."
Mr. Murphy will lead the Geac Performance Management software business
worldwide with direct responsibility for Sales, Professional Services, Business
Development and Sales Development. With this effort, the Company has
centralized reporting for Geac Performance Management, which had previously
been managed on a regional basis. Based in Geac's Southborough, MA office, Mr.
Murphy will report directly to Mr. Jones.
"Geac has had an impressive year in a continually challenging market," said
Mr. Murphy. "With a promising growth path, with a strong management team and
with a compelling future strategy, I am very excited to be joining the Company."
Mr. Murphy has built a track record of success in the enterprise software
industry predicated on growing company revenue through direct sales to Fortune
500 organizations, and by developing strategic alliances with systems
integrators and other channel partners. At SAP America, he was responsible for
the $250 million Services Sector P&L, comprising seven industries, and the $120
million Human Resource Business Unit. Mr. Murphy also has held executive
positions at several other enterprise software companies, including Performix
Technologies (employee performance management software), Yantra Corp.
(fulfillment management and supply chain software), and Storage Networks
(storage as a service), all of which he led through major growth phases. Mr.
Murphy began his career at Oracle Corporation.
As part of the global restructuring, the Company also announced the
promotion of Brian Hartlen to Vice President of Global Marketing. Mr. Hartlen,
who was previously Vice President of Marketing for Geac Enterprise Solutions in
North America, will now be responsible for executing all market research,
branding, promotion, advertising and marketing programs on a worldwide basis in
an effort to build Geac's sales pipeline across many product lines.
Mr. Hartlen joined Geac in 2003 through Geac's acquisition of Comshare, the
cornerstone product suite in Geac Performance Management. Before coming to
Geac, Mr. Hartlen spent the majority of his successful marketing and sales
career with Comshare. Mr. Hartlen will be based in the Southborough, MA office
and will also report directly to Mr. Jones.
"Brian was building and positioning performance management software in the
enterprise software market before the pundits had even coined the Business
Performance Management category. His keen understanding of this compelling
product family and the many critical customer needs it addresses for the CFO is
invaluable," continued Mr. Jones. "By rearranging our structure more closely
with our target global client audience and by centralizing the reporting of
these important functions to me, we are aligning the marketing and sales teams
around mutually supportive business goals and objectives. Having examined our
global and regional reporting models over the past two years, this global
structure is the one we judge will be the most beneficial to our customers."
Concurrently, Geac announced that James Travers, Senior Vice President and
President of Geac Americas, is leaving Geac to pursue other opportunities. "In
the past two years, Jim has led the integration and stabilization of the sales
force and U.S. operations following the acquisition of Extensity and Comshare,
the two organizations that provided the foundation for the Geac Performance
Management family of products," said Mr. Jones. "We wish him well in his future
endeavors."
About Geac
Geac (TSX: GAC, NASDAQ: GEAC) is a global enterprise software company for
Business Performance Management, providing customers worldwide with the core
financial and operational solutions and services to improve their business
performance in real time. Further information is available at
http://www.geac.com or through e-mail at [email protected]
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current
expectations. Important factors that could cause a material difference between
these forward-looking statements and actual events include those set forth
under the heading "Risk Factors" in Geac's report on Form 6-K for the fiscal
quarter ended July 31, 2004, filed on September 8, 2004 with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission available through the website maintained by
the SEC at http://www.sec.gov/, and Geac's MD&A filed on September 8, 2004 with
the Canadian Securities Administrators and available through the website
maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian
Depository for Securities Limited at http://www.sedar.com/. Geac is a
registered trademark of Geac Computer Corporation Limited. All other marks are
trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Geac Computer Corporation Limited
CONTACT: Investor Contact: Alys Scott,
Geac,
1 (508) 871-5854,
[email protected];
Media Contact: David Domeshek,
Geac,
1 (508) 871-5064,
[email protected]
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