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Metastorm Transforms eBusiness One Process at a Time Severna Park-based Metastorm develops e-process automation software. When we asked company officials to define e-process automation, they said the best way to define it was by example. Bakersfield, CA, had Metastorm install their e-work software behind the city's website to allow citizens to request information or inform the city of problems such as street light outage, pot holes or uncollected trash. Once a form is filled out online by a resident, that's where e-process automation takes over. Rather than just printing out a form for manual handling, the e-process software automatically routes the request to the appropriate department for resolution and it includes a feedback loop so the person who submitted the problem can get a status report. The result of automating this process is higher productivity, improved communication, and in the Bakersfield case problems are resolved faster. Metastorm began about 1990 as an electronics forms provider for the Federal Government. It developed electronics forms that government workers filled out at a terminal, printed and then manually processed through its cycle. In 1997, Metastorm's founder Avi Hoffer, rightly concluded that the electronics forms business was going to disappear due to the impact of the Internet. His company of about 30 people was going to have to go through a major transformation if it was going to survive. The first step along the way was to acquire London-based Sysgenics, the original developer of the company's flagship product, e-work. e-work is a platform for the design, development, deployment and maintenance of process-based enterprise applications. Then in December 1999, Metastorm received its first injection of $15 million in venture capital from a group of investors. Riggs Bank and Momentum Group a spin off from Alex Brown were among the original investors. According to company officials, Metastorm is now in the final stages of another and hopefully last round of financing. Metastorm has experienced dramatic growth over the last three years, going from about 30 to approximately 150 people. It's staff is split about 50/50 between Europe and North America as well as its revenues. Some of its clients include Hunter Douglas, British Telecom, North Broward Hospital and Nordstrom.com. Apparently, Avi has been successful in negotiating the transition of his business. Metastorm announced today that they were #3 on the Greater Washington Fast 50 list. Less than 2% of the company's revenues are generated from products prior to 1998. It projects the e-process market to grow at a 40%-60% rate per year and looks forward to the opportunity to go public once market conditions improve.
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