WebLayers chooses Jeff Papows, the former head of Lotus, Cognos and Maptuit, to be its new CEO. SOA governance software maker WebLayers also announces a $3 million round of venture funding.
WebLayers has announced the appointment of industry veteran Jeff Papows as its
president and CEO.
The SOA (service-oriented architecture) governance software maker also
announced that the company has secured $3 million in a new equity round of
funding from Ascent Venture Partners, Cedar Fund and Veritas Venture Partners
with a contingency for additional funds if required. Additionally, to
accommodate continued growth, WebLayers has relocated its headquarters.
In an interview with eWEEK, Papows said his immediate plans for the company
include "continued top-line growth." As for down the road, Papows
said, "As you know, WebLayers is a venture-backed company, so in the
spirit of total candor, venture-backed companies are for sale ... So I have to
be looking at some kind of merger or an IPO, which is not my favorite thing,
although I took Cognos public. It would be optimal to find a place where
there's synergy, not unlike IBM and Lotus."
Papows has more than 25 years of industry experience, including having
served as president and CEO of Lotus
Development, where he helped steer the company's successful integration into
IBM.
Papows also was president of
Cognos, where he took the business intelligence
software provider to a successful public offering. Most recently, Papows was
the president and CEO of Maptuit, a provider
of real-time commercial navigation software. Having led Maptuit to
profitability and market leadership, Papows will continue to play an active
role in that company as chairman of the board.
Is
SOA dead? Click here to read about the debate.
WebLayers develops software and provides related services to help businesses
of all sizes be more efficient, reduce costs and improve productivity through
automated governance of SOA. Founded in 2002, WebLayers has realized continuous,
double-digit revenue increases and is poised to reach the next level in its
growth, Papows said.
"WebLayers has been experiencing significant growth and the board
wanted a more veteran executive to take the company forward," Papows said.
"The WebLayers board and investors are thrilled to have recruited Jeff
Papows as chief executive officer," said Geoff Oblak, general partner at
Ascent Venture Partners. "Jeff has a phenomenal track record of success in
building emerging technology companies into established market leaders. He has
the ideal experience and skill set to accelerate WebLayers' success."
Papows said, "[S]ervice-oriented architecture and SAAS [software as a service]
seem to be the place to go in a time when there are tight IT budgets."
Weighing in on the recent "SOA is dead" conversation, Papows said he
agrees with Burton Group analyst Anne Thomas Manes, whose blog post spurred the
discussion. Papows said the issue seems to be one of vocabulary and how service
orientation is perceived, not that services and service orientation are no
longer necessary.
Services and service orientation will be around for
some time, Papows said. "Believe me, I do this because I am interested in
taking this company forward," he said about taking the helm of WebLayers.
"The last thing I need is to take a roll at a company in a marketplace
that is in trouble. This market is not going anywhere."
Email
Print
