Informatics Unit to Get New Name, New Outlook
The Canoga Park-based division of what used to be the Informatics General software company is getting a new name and a new business outlook.
Sterling Software, which acquired Woodland Hills-based Informatics after a landmark takeover battle last year, is expected to announce today that the Canoga Park division will be renamed Answer Systems. Dallas-based Sterling also is expected to project a profit for the previously loss-plagued unit, which had been called Corporate Systems Products Group, in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
Firm Reorganized
Since acquiring Informatics in September for $140 million--concluding a hostile takeover that was the biggest ever in the software industry--Sterling has reorganized the Canoga Park division and cut its staff from 260 to 170, mostly through layoffs. About 80 workers are in Canoga Park, down from about 160 last year.
The division makes two main software products, MARK and Answer, the basis for the unit’s new name.
Businesses use the products to link their mainframe computers to personal computers. The MARK software helps businesses build and maintain a mainframe’s data base, the electronic equivalent of a filing cabinet. The Answer software allows personal computer users to access the database.
David M. Saykally, president of the Canoga Park division, said it should have $15 million to $20 million in sales in the fiscal year, about 10% of Sterling’s total revenue. Saykally estimated the division’s losses in 1985 at $5 million to $10 million, but would not say how much profit he expects it to make this year.
Besides the layoffs, Saykally said, the division has reduced expenses by taking steps such as cutting paper work.
More Service Business
Saykally said the division plans to expand its revenue partly through getting more service business. Previously, customers frequently tailored the software to their needs themselves. Saykally said his division is now doing more of that work, which results in larger contracts.
He said the company also is shifting its marketing efforts to sell more software to large customers such as telephone companies, big insurance firms and major oil companies.
