Pipeline Q&A: Micromuse (cont'd)

How does your personal philosophy as a technologist guide Micromuse's product development?

I believe the whole must be more than the sum of its parts. We just made our Netcool strategy for the next two years. The most important aspect was integrating the suite very tightly. There's a reason why our customers use Impact on top of Omnibus and it's because the suite integrates together and you can leverage any part of the suite. That's one of the core visions for Netcool, and as we solve specific problems for our customers that will guide our products from now on.

We're certainly embracing things like XML and web services, and most of that is around integration. These are just means to an end, and that end is integrating. The value of integrating is making sure the whole is more than the sum of its parts. If you integrate these disparate functions well together, then you really do have a world-class solutions, just like we discussed is happening at Telecom Italia.

At a time when there is more focus on corporate governance and compliance for public companies, the OSS industry specifically needs leaders that do business honestly and deliver what they promise. What steps is MUSE taking to insure its business integrity from the top down, and to promise to customers only that which it can deliver?

We have to be Sarbanes-Oxley compliant like everyone else. Some of the things we've strengthened are our internal controls and promises. I have genuine customer examples of doing this. We have long engagements with our customers as well - long substantial engagements over a number of years. If we're going to do that, then we have to do what we say we're going to do - that's the way we have to continue doing business. If you have a look at some of our management team, we have experience coming from companies like HP and GE and Juniper - guys from large companies who know how to deliver what you say over time.

For me, my job is to keep our technology and products leaders in this space. You want to have the best products solving your customer problems the best you can at the right time for (them). That's the same whether you're public or private. The pressure of product being out there on time comes more from customers and deals than from quarterly performance, more from the customers as opposed to making a number by the end of quarter. I'm responding to our customers, and not to the analysts per se. But, if you asked the same question of someone in sales or finance the answer would probably be a little different.

When you look at the future, where and why do you see Micromuse having continued success?

Security is hot right now, there's no doubt about it. When you look at what security really is, you need to take on, manage and prioritize more events. It's similar to what we already do. When you have different types of security events you need to display them and prioritize them. We need some security expertise and are partnering in the security space, but we have all the (technology) you need to do well in the security space. It's about events and knowing which are important and which are not, and that's something we already do.

Then there's the VoIP area and converged networks. We're in the IP management business, so the fact that the industry is more and more IP-centric all bodes well for Micromuse's future. There's no question the industry is moving in the IP direction, and IP is what we do.

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