Tech Confidential
By Kate Gibson
Sep-30-2005   

Spending software on demand

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Salesforce.com Inc. must be gratified to see the likes of Ketera Technologies Inc. on the software scene.

Ketera is mimicking Salesforce's approach of providing companies with customer relationship management services over the Internet and applying it to "spend management" services.

"We do for this space what Salesforce.com is doing for CRM," says Ketera's chief executive, Steve Savignano.

Ketera delivers hosted, or "on demand," spend management services, providing customers with online tools to analyze their purchasing costs, ease procurement, automate sourcing and manage contracts, among other functions. Founded in 2000 as MarketMile LLC with financial backing from then-thriving business process software maker Ventro Corp. (now NexPrise Inc.) and American Express Co., Ketera in September was in the process of generating a fourth-round of venture capital.

The company has about 70 customers, including ServiceMaster Co., and expects to break even in early 2006.

"Most business software you shouldn't need to own," says Savignano, an engineer by training. Yet companies were convinced of just the opposite by "Rolex-wearing sales guys who say you should pay me millions of dollars up front for this delayed value proposition in the future."

Ketera charges a monthly subscription fee based on the number of users at a company and on how many suppliers it wishes to transact business with.

Smaller customers pay as little as $500 a month, while larger companies are billed as much as $25,000 each month, Savignano says.