Enterprise ASP Agilera has named a new CEO and announced plans to reorganize its business development operations into seven major metropolitan hubs.
Robert Unger, former president and COO, has replaced former chairman and CEO Paul Rudolph, initiating the company’s re-focused direction on profitable operations for applications hosting, management and professional services. The implementation of a regional hub strategy for business development and a consolidation of resources mark the new course of senior management.
“We’re very healthy financially, and we want to maintain that financial health,” Unger told InternetNews. “We started working on this plan a few months ago for being fiduciarily responsible to our clients, our board and our staff.”
Unger said Rudolph left Agilera on good terms. “Paul’s the kind of leader – and this is rare today – who in this process came to believe that the best thing he could do for Agilera was to step down,” he said.
Agilera will reorganize its business development operations into seven major metropolitan hubs – New York; New Jersey; Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas and Houston; Denver; Los Angeles and San Francisco. The company will also maintain its operations centers in Columbia, S.C., Denver, Colo., and Menlo Park, Calif. The strategy is expected to more closely align the company with its channel partners, national customers and prospective clients.
Unger said that some layoffs would result from streamlining its workforce, mostly in operations, general administration, sales and business development. The customer-facing divisions would not be significantly affected, he said. “Our customers will see very little change. We’ve taken a look at our applications across the verticals we support, and we’ve made sure that we focus on areas important to our existing client base as well as areas where we have future plans,” Unger said.
This flatter organizational structure, along with a reduction in general and administrative expenses, will enable the company to focus its investments in marketing, productized solutions and filling its sales pipeline.
The pivotal component of the company’s refined applications hosting strategy is the introduction of Agilera FastPacks, application-specific templates and methodologies built on best practices. The FastPacks consist of hosting, application management and professional services elements. Benefits include speed of implementation and cost efficiencies, Unger said.
FastPack users are not limited to the basic services included in the bundle – customization is available to those who need it, Unger said. “Just under half of our existing customers started with a basic FastPack service up front, and then let it grow with them,” he said.
Agilera, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., was founded by CIBER Inc., Verio Inc. and Centennial Ventures. In December 2000, the company announced plans to acquire vertical ASP Applicast.
