Industry Leaders from Microsoft, PeopleSoft, TIBCO Join Up-and-Comers from Alphablox, Bang Networks, and Thrasys to Discuss Opportunities in The Zero-Latency Enterprise

PALO ALTO, CA–June 18, 2002–One hundred venture capital investors joined industry leaders and rising stars in technology today to explore real-time computing during “State of the Art: The Zero-Latency Enterprise,” a conference hosted by venture capital investment bank Garage Technology Ventures. The event, the second in Garage’s new series of State of the Art conferences, is an invitation-only gathering designed to bring thought leaders and emerging young companies together to spotlight technology trends and investment opportunities in specific technology sectors.

“The continuing market downturn has intensified the interest in timeliness in the enterprise, because of the promise of improved competitiveness, operational efficiencies, and increased profits,” said Anita Rao, Vice President, Enterprise Software, Garage Technology Ventures. “The companies we chose to participate in State of the Art are at the forefront of developing or implementing technology solutions that are leading the way toward achieving that goal,” added Ajmal Noorani, Vice President in Garage’s Enterprise Software Group who co-hosted the event with Rao.

The conference featured an august panel of software vendors and enterprise customers, and showcased three up-and-coming private companies. The panel, moderated by Rao, included:

  • Dan’l Lewin – Corporate Vice President of .NET Platform Strategy, Microsoft
  • Fred Meyer – Chief Strategy Officer, TIBCO
  • Chris Wong – Vice President of Corporate Strategy, PeopleSoft
  • Sateesh B. Lele – Chairman, Mokume, former SVP/CIO of General Motors-Europe, Avon Products, and FritoLay-PepsiCo
  • Michael Malone – Editor At Large, Forbes ASAP, Real Time Report

“The zero-latency enterprise is the next big wave, but the reality of how long and how difficult it will be to adopt should not be underestimated,” explained Sateesh B. Lele, former CIO of General Motors-Europe, Avon Products, and FritoLay-PepsiCo. Others on the panel echoed Lele’s sentiments. “The whole category has so much runway, it’s a great opportunity. It’s just early in the cycle,” added Chris Wong, Chief Strategy Officer, PeopleSoft.

Dan’l Lewin, Corporate Vice President of .NET Platform Strategy for Microsoft, addressing the challenge of implementation said, “It’s a more straightforward business process issue and not a technology issue.” Lele agreed, “The technology is the least of the problems. It’s also about changing the way business people function.”

Private companies and presenters selected to discuss their approaches to the zero-latency enterprise included:

Polly Sumner, CEO, Alphablox Corporation. Alphablox develops infrastructure software and solutions that enable Global 2000 companies to improve the predictability of their businesses and optimize profitability by integrating analytics with core processes and transactional applications across their enterprise. The company was recently named as one of Upside Magazine’s Hot 100 list of private companies and received Technologic Partners’ Investors’ Choice award.

Timothy Tuttle, Ph.D., Founder and CTO, Bang Networks. Bang Networks provides real-time Web messaging that enables enterprises to develop and deploy composite Web applications and Web services. MIT’s Technology Review recently recognized founder Tuttle as one of the top young innovators.

Ramesh Balakrishnan, President and CEO, Thrasys. Thrasys is pioneering a next generation of extended enterprise applications, delivered as XML/Web services, that allow companies to manage resources and processes across multiple tiers of partners as an integrated “virtual” enterprise. These applications also use closed-loop controllers to implement real-time business processes that can provide substantial competitive advantage to companies in responding flexibly to market changes, reducing inventory costs, and improving service levels with customers.

About Garage Technology Ventures
Garage Technology Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm located in Silicon Valley focusing on emerging technology companies on the West Coast. The firm is currently investing in its third fund, a seed-stage and early-stage fund anchored with an investment from CalPERS. Unlike some venture funds, Garage is happy to support first-time entrepreneurs who are building the next great technology company.

Media Contact:
Krause Taylor Associates
Betty Taylor
mailto:bettyt@krause-taylor.com
408-918-9082

All securities and securities-related services are offered by Garage Technology Ventures’ wholly-owned subsidiary Garage Securities, Inc., member NASD/SIPC.

Copyright 2004 Garage Technology Ventures. All rights reserved. Garage Technology Ventures and Garage.com are trademarks of Garage Technology Ventures. All other company names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.