In a recent interview with the Web site Xconomy, Jay Deady, Awarepoint‘s CEO—who took over that position late last year—explained why his company purchased Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS) in April 2011 for an undisclosed amount of money, and how the company has changed its approach to the market (see Awarepoint’s New CEO Enacts Plans to Expand Wireless Health Business, Software Portfolio).
In the interview, Deady said Awarepoint had done a great job of developing its real-time location system (RTLS) technology for tracking medical equipment, supplies and people throughout a hospital, and that it had acquired some great customers. But the firm was still not growing quickly, he noted, because the adoption of RTLS technology was not growing quickly.
According to the article, Awarepoint had acquired about 8 percent to 9 percent of the RTLS market in the United States. But industry analysts estimate that the total RTLS penetration of the health-care market amounts to only about 10 percent to 12 percent in North America, and just 5 percent internationally. When a hospital decided it wasn’t interested in Awarepoint’s RTLS, the company had no other products to offer—hence, the purchase of PCTS.
“My perspective, both offensively and defensively, was to go to market with a broader software portfolio,” Deady told Xconomy. “Today, we can still sell them millions of dollars in software and services.” What’s more, PCTS has a different set of customers, so now Awarepoint can cross-sell solutions.
The article also discusses some internal sales and personnel changes that the company has made. It’s an interesting article, because all RFID firms are struggling with the fact that the market is not growing as quickly as they would like. Not every company has the resources to purchase another business, but Deady talked about how to do a better job of managing accounts to help customers use the technology in new ways.
It’s good stuff.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark’s opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog, the Editor’s Note archive or RFID Connect.