Wendia AG International, an international software company headquartered in  Switzerland,  recently established a physical presence in North America by launching  Wendia North America. Based in Orem, the new division will be headed by former Tech Serv President and longtime CA executive Hal Tueller. We caught up with Hal to discuss Wendia, why they chose Utah, and to their plans for expansion in the U.S.

Silicon Slopes:  Thanks for spending some time with us today. Can you give us a quick snapshot of Wendia and the products you offer?  

Hal Tueller:Wendia is an international software company specializing in business service management solutions. We provide truly best-of-breed or best-in-class service management solutions (SMB). 

Wendia’s goal is to improve and maintain excellent service levels in organizations worldwide. It fulfills this goal through a solution set called Point of Business (POB). POB is a proven standard and compliant service management system which has helped save time and money while increasing the service levels in many organizations throughout the world since 1992.

Wendia offers a complete solution family including service management software solutions, implementation consulting, training, support, and service agreement management. It covers a broad spectrum of services from analysis, evaluation and optimization of existing service processes, to implementation and training, all based on the POB solution.

Silicon Slopes:Where do you really excel?

Hal Tueller:We excel in the following areas:

• Speed of delivery—our software installs and is implemented using a rapid deployment methodology
• Flexibility—our out-of-the-box functionality is the best in the industry.  In addition, we allow the customer the ability to customize the software to their internal business processes
• Seamless integration—with respect to our clients existing infrastructure and environment.

Silicon Slopes:  You just recently opened your doors here in Orem, Utah. How are you being received so far and how big are the company’s operations in Orem?

Hal Tueller:We have been accepted warmly in the IT community and in the business community in general.  We are leveraging existing relationships that have been forged over the last 20+ years in the market.  Wendia North America is executing a two-pronged sales and distribution strategy in order to reach the sizable SMB market:

1. Create an effective network of channel partners and solution providers
2. Partner with independent software vendors (ISVs)

The Company initiated an active reseller network development effort in January 2008. We will grow the Orem office to around 10 employees over the next year but our primary focus is to work through partners for sales and for service.

Silicon Slopes:  How long has Wendia International been planning a move to the U.S., and how did they ultimately settle on Utah?

Hal Tueller:Wendia International chose Utah as its North American headquarters because of the strong relationships that the local executives have in the market.  As Senior Vice President at CA, and President at TecServ Inc. I actively worked this area. The state's high quality and respected information technology reputation was also a factor.  Utah is the mini Silicon Valley with some of the finest technology companies in the industry. 

Silicon Slopes:  Did the current economic situation here in the U.S. worry Wendia International at least a little?

Hal Tueller: I am sure it has some affect on the industry.  But, for the most part IT spending has continued.

Silicon Slopes:  Wendia International has over 250 customers worldwide. Can you give us an idea of how many of those customers reside in North America and the traction that you already have here?

Hal Tueller:Approximately 12 have a presence in the US, with many more customers coming on board this quarter and throughout the year.

Silicon Slopes:  Tell us about your journey with Wendia. How did you first become acquainted with them and eventually end up as the CEO of Wendia North America

Hal Tueller:I met the owners a year and a half ago and was very impressed with the technology, the people, and the way they treated their customer base.  In November 2007, I spent a week with the owners visiting their corporate headquarters in Switzerland, calling on customers, and meeting their development team and sales leadership and was very impressed with what I saw.  I agreed to the role of CEO and to open up North America in January 2008, with my good friend and business associate partner Kevin Goertzen, CTO for the US.

Silicon Slopes:  Who do you consider to be your major competitors here in the U.S., and what are your advantages over them?

Hal Tueller:Hewlett Packer, CA, BMC and IBM. 

Our advantages over our competition is our streamlined focus in service management, our intense commitment to industry best practices such as ITIL (we have the highest certification in the industry and our best-of-breed focus on Service Management.

Our focus on speed, flexibility and integration also are major differentiators.  We implement quicker, thus saving time, money and resources.  We are flexible and scale very well.  We offer seamless integration to other tools in the IT environment.

Silicon Slopes: Thanks!