StepStone Positioned in the Leaders Quadrant in Leading Analyst Firm’s 2009 ‘Employee Performance Management Software Magic Quadrant’…from StepStone

February 13, 2009

 

Analyst Evaluation Based on StepStone’s Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute

 

HRchitect featured StepStone in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider.

 

StepStone (OSE:STP) (LSE:STPS), a leading global provider of human capital management solutions, headquartered in Europe, today announced it is positioned in the ‘Leaders’ quadrant in Gartner, Inc’s 2009 “Magic Quadrant for Employee Performance Management Software”.

 

According to the report: “Leaders had strong product functionality and superior customer experience with the vendor and its products. In addition, leading vendors had strong or emerging multinational solutions (with corresponding service and support).”

 

StepStone believes that its profitable financial position, strong global footprint presence, best-in-class capabilities and above average high quality customer support rating solidified StepStone’s leading position.

 

StepStone also was named a “Leader” in Gartner’s most recent Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software 2008, based on the company’s completeness of vision and ability to execute.

 

StepStone’s ETWeb talent management platform provides a full range of strategic human capital management capabilities within a software as a service (SaaS) environment, including performance management, succession planning, compensation management and 360 degree feedback. The solution enables organizations to retain and develop staff, improve the ratio of internal promotions to internal hires, and drive succession planning by finding succession options for senior level positions. At the same time, ETWeb places employees in the driving seat of their own careers. Harnessing ETWeb’s self-service features, staff can be able to feed back to their line managers and HR officers on their skills and career objectives, whilst gaining accurate, up-to-date information on the progress they make against their development objectives.

 

“We’re pleased to be positioned in the leaders quadrant for employee performance management software,” said Colin Tenwick, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone. “During 2008, we cemented our position as the strategic supplier of Human Capital Management solutions to our customers. With a solutions customer base of over 1,600, a strong balance sheet and a continued emphasis on global delivery, we are confident that we are well-placed for continued momentum during 2009.”

 

For more information on StepStone, please visit www.stepstone.com

Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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StepStone ASA delivers Q4 performance in line with expectations…from StepStone

January 27, 2009

 

StepStone ASA (“StepStone” or the “Company”), a leading international provider of software and services for the Human Capital Management (“HCM”) sector, announced that the fourth quarter closed in line with the expectations outlined to the market on December 5, 2008.

 

HRchitect featured StepStone in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider.

 

Colin Tenwick CEO said “We expect to report fourth quarter revenues in the order of €31m, some 8% higher than the same period last year, despite the widely reported deterioration in economic conditions that occurred in the quarter.

 

StepStone’s strategy is to have a portfolio of products delivered to a wide geographic base of customers. Our Software as a Service products generate predictable revenues whilst our online products, which clearly benefit from the ongoing structural shift away from traditional media to online search and matching, are more affected by cyclical demand.

 

We are seeing continued requirements for our talent management solutions, especially performance management and succession planning, with 84 new customers contracting during the quarter. In contrast, demand for the Online products has decreased as customer confidence continues to be impacted by uncertainty about future employment levels. Sales of Online products declined just over 10%, compared to a year ago.”

 

Operational highlights for the quarter included:

  • 84 new Solutions customers contracted in the quarter (compared to 88 in Q4 2007) and churn remaining at 1% per quarter
  • 96 existing Solutions customers extended their commitments
  • Close to 1,600 customers globally now rely on StepStone’s talent management products
  • New and renewing customers included: Zumtobel (Austria); Havelock (Bahrain); AXA Group and Carrefour (Belgium); A.P. Møller Mærsk and Legoland(Denmark); Carlson Wagonlit and Sony (France), TUI and Xing (Germany); Teva (Israel); Mercedes Benz (Italy); Phillips and Rabobank (Netherlands); Sparebanken and Telenor (Norway); Cision and Tetrapak(Sweden); Hottinger (Switzerland); East Sussex County Council and Northumbrian Water (UK) and CSL Behring (US).
  • Action taken in November to reduce Online headcount by 15% and Online cost base by €2m per quarter
  • Continued focus on cost, profitability and cash

 

Colin Tenwick, also said:
“StepStone continues to invest in the Solutions business, both in Europe and in Asia. In Europe the focus is on product development and customer facing functions. In Asia we are expanding operations and increasing sales capability. In January 2009 we further expanded our Asia Pacific operations when we acquired the remaining 30% of StepStone’s Chinese operation.

 

As previously reported, we acted quickly in order to realign the cost base in our Online business with the objective of reducing the impact of reduced sales on our margins.  These actions are expected to reduce the Online cost base by €2 million per quarter from its run rate at the start of Q4 2008. The savings are expected to be realised by Q2 2009 and will cost between €2.5 and €3.0 million to achieve. The majority of this cost will be recorded in the fourth quarter with the balance in the first half of 2009.

 

2009 is expected to be a challenging year, with reduced overall visibility and continued softening of demand, particularly in the Online business.  Having already taken action to reduce the cost base, StepStone will continue to closely manage both costs and cash through 2009.”

 

StepStone will announce its results for Q4 2008 on 26 February 2009.

 

For more information on StepStone, please visit www.stepstone.com

 
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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StepStone Strengthens Executive Team with Chief Marketing Officer Appointment…from StepStone

January 23, 2009

 

HRchitect featured StepStone in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider.

 

StepStone, a leading international provider of human capital management (“HCM”) software and services, today announced the appointment of respected marketing executive, Jim Cassidy, as Chief Marketing Officer.

 

Jim brings to StepStone more than 25 years international experience in senior marketing roles and leadership positions across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. He was previously Vice President Marketing of BEA Systems EMEA, a world leader in business infrastructure software.

 

At BEA, Jim transformed the company’s go-to-market strategy programmes, industry solutions and product and customer marketing across Europe. Prior to this, he was Director of Marketing for IBM Asia Pacific Software Group.

 

In addition, Jim has also held senior positions at J Walter Thompson Direct, where he focused on the development of integrated marketing offerings within the Ford Automotive business in Detroit and News Corporation, where he was Group Marketing Director of the commercial print and distribution companies across Australia.

 

Jim’s immediate responsibilities at StepStone will be to streamline the company’s marketing activity under a strengthened StepStone brand and enhance the reach and impact of marketing operations across the globe.

 

For more information on StepStone, please visit www.stepstone.com

 
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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StepStone Publishes Q3 / 2008 Results…from StepStone

October 24, 2008

Demand for Talent Management drives 25% revenue growth during third quarter

 

HRchitect featured StepStone in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management.

 

StepStone, a leading global provider of total talent solutions, reported a 25% increase in third quarter revenues to €31.8m, from €25.4m in Q3 2007. Underlying organic revenue growth excluding recent acquisitions was a healthy 21%.

 

StepStone operates a unique business model. The “Software as a Service” products generate predictable revenues and cash flows whilst the online products continue to benefit from the ongoing structural shift away from traditional media to online search and matching.

 

The company strategy is to have a portfolio of products delivered to a wide geographic base of customers. The volume based online products enhance the company’s ability to take advantage of favorable economic conditions, whilst the software as a service based talent management products soften the impact of potential adverse economic conditions due to the inherent predictability of the monthly revenue streams from an increasing international customer base.

 

Demand for the company’s online products increased in September after the traditionally slower summer months of July and August.  Total invoiced sales of online products in the third quarter of 2008 were up 24% versus the same period last year.  The current quarter sales will impact future quarter revenues due to the deferred revenue recognition model which the company uses.

 

Online demand in European markets is however developing at markedly different rates. StepStone’s online sales in Germany continued to grow at a rate consistent with that of the last few quarters, whilst there is a clear deceleration of growth rate in most other markets.

 

Demand for the company’s talent management products remained robust during the quarter, attracting 95 new talent management customers and the company continued to complete an increasing number of cross sale and up sale transactions amongst its extensive customer base.

 

The final quarter of the year is traditionally the company’s strongest, and we see little reason at present to indicate any change to this fourth quarter trend.

However, after the unprecedented economic turmoil of the last three months, economic conditions are tightening across Europe which is in turn impacting customer confidence.

 

HRchitect’s expectation is that overall growth will continue to soften into 2009. In anticipation, the company will continue to closely manage its cost base and cash generation.

 

For more information on StepStone, visit www.stepstone.com

 

Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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