BUSINESS
Ecora brings software jobs to Cork
21-06-2004
by Craig Liddell
Up to 60 software jobs will be created in Cork following the announcement that US company Ecora will base its European headquarters in the county.
US-based software company Ecora Software recently finalised discussions with investment agency IDA Ireland to locate its European headquarters in Cork, Tanaiste Mary Harney announced on Monday. The office is the first for the company outside of the US.
The initial focus of the European division will be sales, training and support for clients in Ireland, the UK and Central Europe. Current plans call for staffing to reach 24 by early to mid-2005, with total employment projected at 60 within five years.
"This investment by Ecora is an important addition to the range of quality international services locating in the Cork area", said the Tánaiste. "Such quality services continue to add to the range of skilled employment being offered in the region and is further confirmation that Ireland continues to attract high quality investors."
Meanwhile, Ecora's founder and CEO, Alex Bakman, praised the local jobs market during Monday's announcement. "Because of its location, and its talented and enthusiastic labour pool, Cork is an ideal location to launch and manage our European operations," he said. "Cork has knowledgeable workers with skills to grasp our products' subtleties and communicate effectively with IT managers throughout the market."
Founded in 1999, Ecora develops tools which automatically deploy software security patches, which are primarily used by companies to fight virus and malicious hacker attacks on corporate networks. The company also develops software that tracks and documents network configuration settings.
Angel investors, including former Compaq CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer and one-time Digital CEO Bob Palmer, initially financed the company. The board of directors includes John Rando, former Compaq group general manager of professional services, and Morton Goulder, a founder of defence electronics giant Sanders Associates, which was acquired by Lockheed Martin.
Ecora, which is an electronic-sounding version of Mount Chocorua, a popular destination for hikers in New Hampshire, where the company is headquartered, had sales of USD6.58 million (EUR5.44 million) in 2003, up from USD5.69 million in 2002.
In 2003, the Aberdeen Group wrote an upbeat report on the company's software. "Ecora's Total Configuration Management approach to IT realities is a marvel in pragmatism," the analyst report noted. "The solutions install without effort, fit unobtrusively into the IT landscape, run without intervention, perform as advertised, and deliver rapid return on investment (ROI) with immediate time-to-value."
Ecora has also won several awards, including the Network Computing Review Report on patch management in May 2004. The company, however, faces stiff competition in the market from the likes of Marc Andreessen-founded Opsware, Microsoft, and PatchLink, which develop similar patch management tools and are broadening their focus to combat other security vulnerabilities such as poor system configuration.
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