Careers at ASG Technologies
Mission
ASG Software Solutions’ mission is to help customers become the companies they’ve always dreamt of being.
Founding story
Arthur L. Allen was a retired businessman with significant experience in the software industry. In 1986 a friend requested that he use his expertise to help market a performance monitoring solution for Integrated Database Management System (IDMS) databases. Allen decided to turn his service into a business, launching Allen Systems Group (ASG) with a $100,000 line of credit.
Allen dreamed of transforming ASG into a global company. Its first marketing assignment was for an IDMS monitoring tool called ShopMon. The next was for a solution called Fast Access, which increased IDMS database throughput. Believing in the product’s promise, Allen purchased Fast Access. It was the first of what would eventually become more than 30 acquisitions.
During the 1980s ASG grew significantly through these purchases, and by the end of the decade it had a diverse line of performance and automation software products in its portfolio. It also had offices in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. It initially faced difficulty collecting payments from foreign nations on a timely basis, but soon fixed the problem.
The 1990s saw many milestones. In 1996 ASG made a strong effort to expand its European presence. By 1997 it had more than 30 products in its lineup, with solutions for data center automation, file transfer, data entry, and more. In 1998 it made an aggressive move into Latin America, the fastest-growing technology market. By 2000, it was the third-largest private software firm in the U.S.
Business model of ASG Technologies
Customer Segments
ASG has a mass market business model, with no significant differentiation between customer segments. The company targets its offerings at organizations across industries and sizes.
Value Proposition
ASG offers three primary value propositions: accessibility, performance, and brand/status.
The company creates accessibility by providing a wide variety of options. It has acquired several firms since its founding, including NTRglobal, Atempo, RiverGlass, PS’Soft, and Dirig Software. This strategy has enabled it to greatly diversify its portfolio. Consequently, its broad range of capabilities includes Applications Management, Metadata Management, Operations Management, Performance Management, Content Management, Infrastructure Management, and Security Management.
The company demonstrates strong performance through tangible results. Specific outcomes for individual clients include the following:
- Baylor Health Care System used ASG’s Cypress solution for its employee and patient reporting processes, resulting in a $500,000 reduction in annual reporting and printing costs
- Opsource used ASG’s Time Navigator solution to back up and archive operations and application data, resulting in the saving of 70% per gigabyte stored and reduced deployment times
- University of Pennsylvania Health System used ASG’s Cypress solution to streamline its network’s printing processes, saving more than $1.5 million per year in printing and archival costs
- Generali used ASG’s Workspaces solution to reduce application delivery costs, enabling it to securely deliver 700 apps to 15,000 employees.
- One of the top five banks in the U.S. used ASG’s Data Intelligence lineage solution to enable migration projects, resulting in over $100,000 in savings and an 80-fold efficiency improvement
The company has established a strong brand due to its success. It serves over 4,000 clients, including 70% of the Fortune 500. Its prominent customers include American Express, Daimler, General Electric, Coca-Cola, IBM, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, Verizon, Sony, and Wells Fargo. It has over 1,000 employees operating out of more than 40 offices.
Channels
ASG’s main channel is its direct sales team. The company promotes its offerings through its website, social media pages, and participation in webcasts, seminars, summits, and conferences.
Customer Relationships
ASG’s customer relationship is primarily of a personal assistance nature. The company assists its customers in the following ways:
Support Services – The company provides general phone, e-mail, and online customer support 24 hours a day, five days a week. It also offers emergency support on a 24x7 basis, with support personnel responding within 30 minutes of an initial call.
Professional Services – The company offers the following services:
- Migration Services – Helps clients migrate their solutions to the applications they need
- Implementation Services – Helps clients implement its solutions
- Integration Services – Helps clients integrate their solutions with new added systems
- Enablement and Training Services – Helps clients understand how to use its solutions through on-site and public training courses
Despite this orientation, there is a self-service component. The company’s website features a “Resources“ section that includes white papers, data sheets, case studies, brochures, and compatibility guides.
Key Activities
ASG’s business model entails designing and developing its software products for customers and delivering related services.
Key Partners
ASG’s key partners are the firms that sell its products in order to extend its reach, such as integrators. Specific partners include Dell, IBM, Sandhill, Xerox, Teradata, Wipro, and Trillium Software.
Key Resources
ASG’s main resources are its human resources, who include the technology employees that design and develop its products, the sales employees that sell them, the training/consulting employees that provide instruction/advice, and the customer service employees that provide support. Over 30% of its employees focus solely on product development maintenance and enhancement.
Cost Structure
ASG has a value-driven structure, aiming to provide a premium proposition through significant personal service and frequent service enhancements. Its biggest cost driver is likely cost of services, a variable expense.
Other major drivers are in the areas of sales/marketing and customer support operations, both fixed costs.
Revenue Streams
ASG has one revenue stream: revenues it generates from the sale of its products to its customers.
Our team
info: Charles earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Georgetown University and an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of The Attachmate Group and worked at Vignette Corporation.
info: Chuck earned a B.A. degree in Chemistry at the University of Kansas. He previously served as Vice President of Americas Strategic Accounts at Hewlett-Packard and as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Services at Vignette Corporation.
info: Dilip earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at Trinity University and an MBA at Southern Methodist University. He previously held leadership roles at Micro Focus, NetIQ, Tivoli, and The Attachment Group.
info: Swamy earned a B.Sc. in Physics at University of Madras and a Master of Computer Applications at the National Institute of Technology. He previously held executive roles at Qlip Media, Vignette Corporation, SDL and Language Weaver.