Sheffield data firm Cirata has announced quarterly bookings of $1.7m as its CEO Stephen Kelly highlighted the strides its management team have been making to rebuild trust with its partners.
Last month, Mr Kelly unveiled falling losses and rising revenues in its interim results, but said that reassembling the business from the wreckage of WANdisco had been demanding, with deal delays hampering evidence of its turnaround .
Now the company – which also has offices in Newcastle, Belfast, California, China and Japan – has issued an unaudited trading update for the quarter ended September 30, highlighting 16 contract signings, the release of its new Live Data Migrator 2.6, new board appointments and a cash position of $12.9m. With its current pipeline, prospects in progress – including those delayed from the previous quarter – and three months remaining of its financial year, the board said its full year bookings guidance of $13m to $15m remains achievable, although demanding.
The firm said that, as stated in its turnaround plan, “meaningful commercial partner engagement is a prerequisite for the company to build sustainable growth”, and that the new management team has worked hard to rebuild trust with partners”.
Cirata said: “We have made strides in this regard, and post-period end were pleased to announce the amendment of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) sales agreement with IBM. The revised agreement signifies the commitment by both organizations to this partnership and as part of this commitment the remaining $1.7m of the prepay has been retired early. This means future bookings will no longer be drawn down against this prepaid balance, ensuring a fresh commercial alignment between both parties that will help pipeline development.”
The company has also announced the appointment of Amanda Jobbins, chief marketing officer at Vodafone Business, and Eric Collins, co-founder of Impact X Capital Partners, to the board as non‐executive directors with immediate effect.
Mr Kelly said: “I am pleased with the development of the partner engagement in Q3, and in particular with the announcement of the IBM OEM amendment and the removal of the prepay overhang. Our sales teams are engaging constructively with our partners as we see an improving ramp in joint leads. People familiar with enterprise software will know a small transaction can take as much work as a seven-figure contract.
“Cirata’s strategy include ‘land & expand’ which we are seeing early signs of bearing fruit with multiple purchase orders from the same customers as their projects deliver successfully. The number of DI contracts completed in the period signals an improving level of sales activity and, although too early to call a trend, it is encouraging.
“As I stated in the Q2 update, we are making good progress, but this is not represented in the headline numbers. Q3 was very much as expected and the deals we are tracking in our pipeline remain in play and are aligned to customer timelines and consistent with our FY24 bookings guidance.
“I would like to extend a warm welcome to our two non-executive directors Amanda Jobbins and Eric Collins. Amanda and Eric bring a huge amount of growth experience and energy to the board. I know they are excited to help us in our goal to deliver a sustainable high-growth company.”
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