Indiana software: leading developers find solutions for diverse industries.

• Author: McKimmie, Kathy
• Position: Information Technology

INDIANA IS NO SILICON Valley, but it doesn't have to be to succeed in software development.

That's the word from software-development expert Kyle Lutes of the Department of Computer Technology at Purdue University The secret, he says, is to bring software solutions to areas in which the state already excels.

"Software is a combination of two skill sets," he observes. "You need to know how to write software, and you need to know what the software is supposed to do."

For example, it takes some expertise in both banking and software to write good banking software. It takes both knowledge of the travel industry and technical expertise to create travel-industry software. "If there are certain areas unique to Indiana, that's a place where software can help out with some aspect of the industry."

How about life sciences as a Hoosier software opportunity down the road? "Health care is a nice one because we already have background and other companies in the field," Lutes says. What about manufacturing, or agriculture, perhaps even auto racing? All might be opportunities, he believes.

Indiana's software-development companies already have a good start. They're filling needs and creating niches in industries as diverse as travel, fund-raising and bill collecting. Many of the companies are also application service providers, or ASPs, using the latest Web-based technology to give customers the ease of accessing information via a secure Web site 24/7, with nary a worry about having to install and update software on their own systems.

Following are several examples of Indiana software-development successes.

Aprimo, Indianapolis. Using the Internet to help clients get more bang for their buck in their marketing programs is Aprimo, providing Web-based software applications. The 6-year-old company, headed by president and CEO Bill Godfrey, has become the leader in what for several years has been called marketing resource management (MRM).

Large companies with decentralized operations, Aprimo's target market, use its Web-based applications to get a bird's-eye view of their marketing activities. Clients include Bank of America, Amway, AOL, Computer Associates, Cummins, Delta Faucet, Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch, Sony and Pfizer. It acquired Then Ltd., a leading UK-based MRM software developer, earlier this year, expanding its international presence.

Cingular Wireless, a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, sought out Aprimo to improve the production efficiency of its direct-marketing team in the areas of job submission, task management, campaign calendaring and reporting capabilities. In Indiana, Aprimo's use by engine-maker Cummins improved vendor collaboration and performance and more accurately managed the marketing budget, leading to a 61 percent reduction in average project cycle-time, and a 78 percent reduction in average revisions.

Baker Hill, Carmel. Since 1989, Baker Hill has been developing software solutions exclusively for banks and now has more than 1,000 banking clients and 180 employees. Consulting and installation services comprise half of its income. OnePoint, an integrated relationship-management product to collect customer data from disparate systems, was its breakthrough product.

Currently a Windows-based solution, where the software is at the client location, it is being...