Support.com 2006 Annual Report Download - page 15

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 15 of the 2006 Support.com annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 96

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96

surrender to us any proprietary information, inventions or other intellectual property they generate or come to possess while employed
by us. These precautions may not prevent misappropriation or infringement of our intellectual property.
Competition
We compete in markets that are highly competitive, subject to rapid change and significantly affected by new product
introductions and other market activities of industry participants. Although we do not believe there is one principal competitor for all
aspects of our offerings, we do compete with a number of other vendors.
Companies we encounter in competing for corporate customers include a broad range of publicly−traded and privately−held
companies. In our digital service provider business, we compete with Motive, NGB, Fine Point Technologies, 2Wire, Alcatel,
Motorola and Siemens. In our corporate IT business, our principal competition comes from companies such as ATG, BMC, CA,
eGain, Hewlett Packard, Talisma, Kana, Knova and RightNow. In addition, we expect that internally developed applications will
continue to be a significant source of competition in the foreseeable future. We believe that the principal competitive factors for our
corporate offerings include the following:
• Breadth and depth of product functionality;
• Demonstrated customer success and return on investment;
• Scalability of platform and integrated architecture;
• Quality, performance and reputation of solutions;
• Pricing;
• Implementation services and support; and
• Product innovation.
We believe that we presently compete favorably with respect to each of these factors. However, the markets for our products are
still rapidly evolving, and we may not be able to compete successfully against current and potential competitors. Our ability to expand
our business will depend on our ability to maintain our technological advantage, introduce timely enhanced products to meet growing
support needs, deliver on−going value to our customers and scale our business. Our potential competitors may have longer operating
histories, significantly greater financial, technical and other resources, stronger strategic alliances or greater name recognition than we
have. Competition in our markets could reduce our market share or require us to reduce the price of products and services, which
could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.
As we enter the market for consumer technology support, we expect to compete against a set of competitors different than the
competitors against whom we have historically competed, including retailers offering on−site technology support services, companies
offering online technology support services and companies offering local technology support services. Principal competitive factors in
this market include breadth and depth of service offerings; quality of the consumer experience; pricing; brand recognition; and
relationships with industry participants. Certain of our competitors in this market have longer operating histories, significantly greater
financial, technical and other resources, stronger strategic alliances or greater name recognition than we have.
11
Source: SUPPORTSOFT INC, 10−K, March 16, 2007