1) Please tell me about Tomoye.
a. Based in Ottawa Canada, Tomoye has pioneered enterprise social computing, communities of practice and communities of interest, and cross-enterprise learning and collaboration since its inception in 2000. Tomoye continues to garner award after award for its implementations across a strong base of loyal customers, particularly in the government sector. Like NewsGator Social Sites, Tomoye’s Ecco social computing software enhances Microsoft SharePoint by adding a wide range of capabilities, including social media, social networking and communities. Ecco also provides an extremely rich feature set running in a standalone mode.
2) Why did NewsGator acquire Tomoye?
a. The combined entity delivers Enterprise 2.0’s most comprehensive product solution, the largest and most experienced R&D team, and the deepest integration with Microsoft SharePoint - resulting in a single source for intranet, extranet and Internet social computing solutions for the private and public sectors. Tomoye offered NewsGator:
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An excellent product that runs in standalone mode or on the Windows SharePoint Services version of SharePoint. In combination the two companies represent the deepest .Net and SharePoint Enterprise 2.0 talent bench and product offerings that cover every conceivable customer scenario from a quickly deployed standalone platform to a well-integrated SharePoint WSS solution to a deeply customized MOSS 2007 deployment to a SharePoint 2010 implementation.
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Tremendous expertise and market leadership in the government sector. This means we can even more quickly help new and existing government customers profit from social computing.
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Extensive extranet and Internet implementations which complement NewsGator’s leadership and primary focus in enterprise intranet implementations. This combination of product offerings covers intranet collaboration and expertise discovery to extranet customer and partner interactions to Internet communities for customers.
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Deep experience in making online communities vibrant and productive.
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A talented staff that can accelerate innovation for our customers.
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Extension of our geographic reach with offices in Canada and a product fully internationalized.
3) What are the product plans for Tomoye Ecco?
a. Tomoye Ecco will remain a standalone product with continued innovation and support for existing and new customers. In addition, there will be integration points and upgrade paths between Ecco and NewsGator Social Sites.
4) How will Tomoye and NewsGator customers benefit from this deal?
a. The combined entity offers a larger development, services, and support staff which will provide customers with accelerated innovation opportunities. Together NewsGator and Tomoye can react even more quickly to advances in the industry, enabling customers to reap the benefits of new social computing features that much sooner.
5) How many employees does Tomoye have?
a. Tomoye has just under 25 full time equivalent employees.
6) Will the Tomoye employees become part of NewsGator?
a. YES! The Tomoye folks have deep experience in social business communities and .Net and SharePoint technologies. NewsGator looks forward to adding their expertise to our company. The Tomoye team is based primarily in Ottawa, Canada and will continue to work from their current locations.
7) What role will Tomoye’s CEO, Eric Sauve, have at NewsGator?
a. Eric Sauve will join the deeply experienced management team at NewsGator. He’ll continue to be responsible for Tomoye products and will spearhead the combined companies’ aggressive expansion efforts in the huge Government 2.0 market.
8) Please share some examples of Tomoye’s customers.
a. Tomoye has extensive expertise in the government and military arena. A few of Tomoye’s customers are The United States Army, and The United States Air Force, Defense Acquisition University, Jacobs Engineering, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and U.S. Agency for International Development.
9) Please share some examples of NewsGator customers.
a. NewsGator Social Sites uptake is highest among very large public-sector enterprises particularly in the Financial Services, Pharma/Bio-Tech, and Professional Services industries. NewsGator customers include Novartis, Biogen, and Edelman. As of the end of 2009, NewsGator is happy to count the following as paid customers:
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8 of the top 12 pharmaceutical companies
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4 of the top 5 US commercial banks
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3 of the top 7 aerospace and defense companies
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2 of the top 3 US network & communications manufacturers
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4 of the top 15 consulting companies
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World’s largest private public relations firm
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World’s 2nd largest law firm
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The US’s largest energy company
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The US’s largest food consumer product company
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The US’s largest medical products manufacturer
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The US’s 2nd largest petroleum refining company
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The US’s 2nd largest telecommunications company
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The US’s 2nd largest advertising agency
10) What are the financial terms of the deal?
a. The financial terms will not be made public.
11) What will happen to the Tomoye brand?
a. NewsGator will be used as the corporate brand/name. The Tomoye brand will continue to be used in reference to the existing Tomoye products and services.
12) Was Tomoye a Microsoft partner?
a. Yes, Tomoye was a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. NewsGator is also a Gold Certified Partner but also holds a “Depth Managed” partner status with Microsoft – a status held by less than 3% of Microsoft Partners. In combination the two represent the deepest bench for .Net and SharePoint social computing capability in the world.
13) How did NewsGator perform in 2009?
a. NewsGator exceeded all its financial targets in 2009 by a wide margin. In 2009, NewsGator was promoted to a ‘Depth Managed’ partner – a status held by less than 3% of Microsoft Partners. In addition, during 2009 NewsGator was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States, was named to the Deloitte 2009 Technology Fast 500, and received Microsoft’s Search Innovation Award for Best Social Computing Solution.
14) Will NewsGator acquire additional companies in 2010
a. Certain companies in our market may potentially offer functionality, platform support or vertical expertise that our customers might need. We are always looking for ways to empower our customers and accelerate our market leadership, whether through internal or corporate development.