Open Text Q4 2012 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Tom Liston - Versant Partners Inc. - Analyst : Thank you. Good afternoon. Mark, just -- you did allude to it a fair bit, but on one of the slides, you talk about the growth drivers. I think there's nine or so, and acquisitions was the bottom one. I wonder if that's by design. The second part of that, it's kind of interactive, but is there one or two key elements of those nine or so initiatives that you think will drive the most impact to a new license revenue?

Question: Scott Penner - TD Newcrest/Waterhouse Securities - Analyst : Thanks. First of all, Mark, can you give us an update on the hiring relative to the goal of adding 20%? And then, how do we think about the people coming over from EasyLink in that context?

Question: Eyal Ofir - Canaccord Genuity - Analyst : Thanks for taking my question. Just on the BPM, you talked about how you've stabilized it. Can you guys give us any -- either revenue indications or any form of metrics to help us get to that same conclusion?

Question: Blair Abernethy - Stifel Nicolaus & Company - Analyst : Thanks very much. Mark, I wonder if you can give us a little more color on progress with the Oracle relationship and anything to update as well on the SAP side.

Question: Chris Thompson - National Bank - Analyst : Great. Thanks. Mark, you touched on Microsoft in your prepared statement. To your point, 2013 is now available in public beta. Can you give us an overview of what new functionality over SharePoint 2010 is in that release, what new solutions Open Text is launching to complement SharePoint 2013, and maybe just touch on your revenue growth expectations with the 2013 solutions going into the next couple years. I know you said it grew, but how much do you think you are going to expect Open Text revenues to grow tied to Microsoft? Thanks.

Question: Brian Freed - Wunderlich Securities, Inc - Analyst : Good afternoon. Can you talk a little bit about how you look to balance your license revenue growth targets with opportunities for software as a service and hosting?

Question: Thanos Moschopoulos - BMO Capital Markets - Analyst : Hi. Good afternoon. Mark, can you provide some more color on the partnership front. You've highlighted the channel as playing a key role in your growth. And can you talk about some of the initiatives you've been undertaking on that front, whether there's been any recent developments worth highlighting with respect to the US partnerships, for example, or were there any other channel partners? Thank you.

Question: Mike Anderson - Credit Suisse - Analyst : Thanks for taking our questions. It's Mike Anderson for Michael. Two questions. One is for Mark, at just more of a high level. To use a sports metaphor, what inning do you think that Open Text is in, specifically in relation to you and the management with respect to the changes that you want to make after your initial assessment of the Company? And do you think there are many more changes to make? And if so, how would you focus those changes? And then one quick one for Paul would be, can you just comment a little bit on the sequential decline in customer support revenue? Thanks.

Question: Richard Tse - Cormark Securities - Analyst : Yes, Mark. Sounds like the functional changes are all done, but you've got a lot of products you are going out with. So can you explain to us how you have, or how will you organize the sales force around these multiple product areas, whether that's done now or what you have left to do here?

Question: Tom Liston - Versant Partners Inc. - Analyst : Thanks. Just a follow-up. Obviously, you breakdown total revenue by geography, but within EMEA, and I know it's flat, but can you talk about the license revenue environment and close rates and what you're seeing post quarter, and just a general view of the pipeline there?

Question: Tom Liston - Versant Partners Inc. - Analyst : Well, yes, and is there pockets of strength, whether it's Germany or UK? Obviously, you're hearing a lot of different things. Some vendors are having a really tough time in Europe, some are actually doing pretty well, considering the backdrop of the macro. So, could you give us your view on how you fit and where there is perhaps some strength or concerns?

Question: Scott Penner - TD Newcrest/Waterhouse Securities - Analyst : Paul, can you just lay out any expected charges related to the EasyLink acquisition and whether the CapEx profile of the Company changes post-acquisition?

Question: Paul Treiber - RBC Capital Markets - Analyst : Thanks for taking my question. Large deals rebounded nicely from Q3, but it looks like mid-sized deals are only up one over Q3. Can you provide some detail on some of the dynamics at play between large deals and the mid-sized one? Also, how many of the large deals closed in the quarter were ones that slipped from Q3 and subsequently closed in Q4? Thanks. without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.

Question: Eyal Ofir - Canaccord Genuity - Analyst : Thanks. I just have a quick follow-up question. On the commentary you made on the cloud offerings, Mark, can you just talk about what your plan is from a global market strategy once you launch all the applications in the cloud? And if you do target potentially some SMB accounts as well, do you go through a different channel as well? Thanks.

Question: Chris Thompson - National Bank - Analyst : Great. Mark, Tom Jenkins a couple years ago used to talk about the growth opportunity in China, and I couldn't help but notice recently Huawei announced a global technology partnership agreement with SAP. And I haven't heard you talk about China since you have been at the helm at Open Text. Could you maybe walk us through your view on the growth opportunity in China?

Question: Gabriel Leung - Paradigm Capital - Analyst : Thanks. Just got a question for Paul. I wanted to go back to an earlier question around the maintenance revenues. I think the question was why -- if you had any color as to why the maintenance revenue itself declined quarter for quarter. And I think your explanation talked about deferred revenues. But just looking specifically at maintenance revenues, should we read anything into the fact that maintenance revenues was down $3