Flexera: The Link Between Software Developers And Users

Company: Software

Headquarters: Schaumburg, Ill.

Technology Sector: Software

Key Product: InstallShield software installation

Year Founded: 2008

Number of Channel Partners: About 100 worldwide

Ideal Channel Partner: Enterprise-Focused Solution Provider

Why You Should Care: As software increasingly becomes a strategic asset for many businesses, tools for properly managing those assets, like ones from Flexera, are in demand.

The Lowdown: Flexera is in the enviable position of being a relatively young company with a well-known product.

Flexera was spun out of Macrovision in April 2008, acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo and named Acresso. Last October the company changed its name to Flexera. "In essence, it's a new company," said Randy Littleson, Flexera senior vice president of marketing, in an interview.

But the company's products are known brands, particularly its flagship InstallShield software for installing software in Windows environments. Flexera provides a line of software tools, including InstallShield, FlexNet and AdminStudio, which provide critical links between software developers and software users.

"We sit at the nexus of where applications are being developed and where they are being consumed," Littleson said. "We hear this all the time: 'The application runs the business today.'"

FlexNet applications help software vendors manage how their products are distributed and used, such as by embedding licensing terms into the software, and help IT executives manage the licenses of the software they use in-house. FlexNet products are largely sold direct.

But Flexera relies on the channel to help sell its InstallShield and InstallAnywhere software and its AdminStudio software deployment tool. The latter is particularly hot right now, Littleson said, as companies are using it to upgrade applications to virtualization platforms and the new Windows 7 operating system. Flexera announced AdminStudio 9.5 with Windows 7 support back in November.

The channel accounts for about 30 percent of InstallShield sales in the Americas and about 50 percent of AdminStudio sales. A higher percentage of sales of those products in EMEA and Asia-Pacific are through channel partners.

Flexera's partners include volume resellers and distributors such as Software House International, Softchoice and Programmer's Paradise. Some of those, such as Lifeboat Distribution, in turn sell to dozens of VARs, said Steve Schmidt, Flexera vice president of product management.

Flexera has both traditional resellers and sales referral partners under its tiered Channel Excellence Program. The company offers a lead-registration program and provides partner training and support and a range of sales collateral materials.