Jay Fulcher, the new CEO at Agile Software Corp., brings a broad management background to the job, along with experience in growing small companies into major players. Fulcher, who joined Agile in October 2002 as president and chief operating officer, believes building a consistently successful software company depends on a customer focus, robust technology, and the right people and partners.
In an interview with Managing Automation, Fulcher talked about the investments in people and technology that Agile has made in preparation for the next phase of growth for both the PLM segment and the company.
Q: As part of Agile since October 2002, first as president and COO and now as president and CEO, what is your vision for the company and how does it differ from that of your predecessor?
A: The vision for our company really remains unchanged. I lead a company that is dedicated to what I think is a very exciting segment of enterprise software, product lifecycle management (PLM). Product information is the next critical enterprise asset. Manufacturers have been focusing on automation, trying to save their way to prosperity by wringing out all the costs they can. But at some point, the only way to grow the bottom line is to grow the top line. The only way to do that is with new products. The only way to develop new products effectively is with a PLM strategy. Our goal is to be the best in the category. We have a blue-chip customer list. We have the best track record for customer success in the category. We plan to build that vision going forward. The only thing that may be different in terms of our next era is growth and profitability. Our company has reached a certain level of maturity. Our focus now must shift to good execution -- optimizing efficiency and optimizing products and services while making money and being profitable.
Q: What are your top three priorities for Agile during fiscal 2007?
A: My three priorities are growth, profitability, and an expanded value proposition. Number one, we want to grow our company. We want to grow faster than the market. We want to grow faster than our competitors. We want to profitably continue to add to our bottom-line results over an extended period, and we want to continue to broaden and expand our product investments.
Q: How do your previous roles at SAP, PeopleSoft, and Red Pepper Software help in this new role?
A: I have had the good fortune to be part of a number of really successful companies that had the chance to scale and grow from rather small organizations to some of the larger players in the industry. I also have been lucky enough to have served in a variety of different management roles. My experience in previous companies has helped shape Agile in terms of its investment mix and the assembly of a talented and experienced management team. We have everything we need to build the business: great people, domain expertise, and a focus on having the best products in the industry.
Q: How would you say your management style differs from or compares with that of your predecessor, Bryan Stolle?
A: Companies require different leadership styles at different phases of evolution. You need a start-up mentality for the first phase. Bryan, our founder, brought a very entrepreneurial style of leadership with a focus on getting things done, growing the company, and shaping the emerging PLM category of software. Not only has Agile grown and developed, but the category has started to take shape. Moving beyond the start-up phase, attention needs to shift to a disciplined and organized approach to make the most of the investments made and scale the business going forward.
Q: Agile has made a number of investments in recent years. Which ones will be most significant for the company going forward and why?
A: There are two major things we've done that I would characterize as the most significant. Number one is a major transition from a technology perspective where we have moved from client-server to Java to Web services. This was a major transformation from a platform and architecture perspective. It's allowed an improved ability to scale with our customer and it has positioned us well for the future.
The second thing we've done is to radically transform our employee base and management team. At Agile, folks have lots of experience in the software business, in working with customers and partners, and in scaling a business.
Q: Agile has established a number of partnerships. What is the rationale behind these alliances and what impact have they had?
A: We think an ecosystem of partners is really essential to our ability to do the best job for our customers. Our customers operate not just on Agile but other applications. We believe partnering extends the value we are able to provide. The rationale is that we believe it takes ecosystems not only to do the right thing for customers, but also to enable us to grow our business more aggressively and successfully. Frankly, it has provided us with the ability to be a lot more competitive in some of the largest PLM evaluations. The reach we have, the opportunity to work with customers, the ability to collaborate on issues customers are working on are all heightened because we have these relationships in place.
Q: How do you see the PLM space evolving in the coming years?
A: We're still at the very early stages. We're convinced that PLM remains a critical area for companies trying to control their internal innovation process, both in terms of how it occurs within the four walls as well as how customer and supplier relationships are leveraged to design, manufacture, and deliver the right products at the right price at the right time and at the right quality.
Q: What is driving PLM's strong performance? Is the current rate of growth sustainable?
A: PLM is becoming a business imperative because companies are realizing they have to innovate to continue to grow their business. Companies are no longer satisfied with taking costs out or somehow streamlining operations to get a better bottom-line result. The only way to improve the top line is by bringing more innovation and more product to market. A lot of companies and industries are recognizing that PLM is the prerequisite to doing a better job of managing innovation and bringing more lucrative products to market because it can support product development and help improve margins, environmental compliance, or product quality. This is what's driving the PLM sector, which is poised for more growth and will probably grow faster than any other sector of enterprise software for the next few years.
Q: What do you think needs to happen in the PLM space to convince manufacturers sitting on the fence to invest in the technology?
A: Few manufacturers remain on the fence. Most companies are trying to understand how to best control their product information internally and craft a comprehensive strategy that allows them to leverage all the information necessary to be a successful manufacturer. This is challenging because the information resides in so many different places. Companies that haven't already embarked on a PLM strategy are working through [questions such as] 'How do I begin? What business problems do we want to start with? How do we adopt the technology and capability out there to solve problems? How do we begin to link the technology we choose and the problems we initially solve to subsequent opportunities for our business?'
Q: How does a manufacturer derive maximum benefit from PLM software?
A: It depends on the manufacturer and the industry and what they specifically perceive as the number-one problem. For some, it's getting engineering that's now distributed across the globe to work more collaboratively. Others may focus on solving problems with product information and are looking for a way to bring together all elements of intellectual property and leverage that knowledge across the company. Still others may be concerned about environmental or other regulatory compliance issues. PLM permits manufacturers to address each of these challenges.