I S S E L - Sears makes enterprise-wide commitment to Pilot Software

Sears makes enterprise-wide commitment to Pilot Software

Demonstrates global retail interest in performance management solutions

Pilot® Software Inc., the original provider of operational performance management solutions, today announced that Sears Holdings Corporation has upgraded to a PilotWorks enterprise deployment. Previously used by 2,800 Kmart business users in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the retail giant plans to expand usage of Pilot Software enterprise-wide so that its worldwide workforce can make profitable decisions that deliver on its customers’ needs.

"Kmart has undergone significant changes during the 10+ years that we have used the Pilot Software technology," said Karen Austin, Sears Holdings’ Chief Information Officer. "Through it all, Pilot’s solution has been able to address our dynamic needs and has helped us make decision critical to the business, even as we underwent the recent merger with Sears. Expanding to an enterprise license will allow us to continue to grow our business and reach our operational goals today and into the future."

With an enterprise license, both Sears and Kmart will have unlimited users of the Pilot Software technology," said Kurt J. Bilafer, vice president and co-founder, Pilot Software. "Having grown with Kmart through the years is a testament to Pilot’s recommended incremental approach: start small, see results and then grow with the organisation. We are very excited to help the entire company take full advantage of the Pilot system."

PilotWorks, Pilot Software’s flagship performance management offering, is the only product on the market with the ability to manage goals, initiatives and metrics in one comprehensive, yet modular, offering. PilotWorks is designed so that organisations can launch their performance management program anywhere in the organisation – not necessarily in a top-down manner – first focusing on high-impact areas and then rolling out to the rest of the organisation. Unlike other performance management solutions that don’t allow for independence, with Pilot, this initial performance management foothold is not in danger of becoming a silo, disconnected from the rest of the organisation. Furthermore, each individual component in PilotWorks can be deployed individually or as part of a larger effort, in whatever combination suits the organisation. No other performance management system allows users such a high level of personalisation while providing the organisation seamless scalability and cohesiveness.

About Pilot Software

Validated by more than 300 worldwide customers, Pilot provides operational performance management solutions for progressive commercial and public sector organisations that dramatically increase performance. Pilot’s unique incremental, middle-out approach, combined with its patent-pending software, aligns all three of the performance management cornerstones — goals, initiatives and metrics. With both the first-ever performance management solution deployed and the largest-known operational performance management deployment within the U.S. federal government — Pilot’s solutions are used by leading companies worldwide such as American Heart Association, The Boeing Company, Cheapflights, Coors Brewing Company, de Bijenkorf, General Services Administration, Health Net, Ingersoll-Rand, JetBlue Airways, Pacific Life Insurance, Phillips Medical, Sarasota County Government of Florida and SMARTpages.com®.

Pilot Software is privately held with funding from Excelsior Venture Partners III, LLC, a private equity fund managed by U.S. Trust; G-51 Capital, a Texas-based venture capital firm; and individual investors, including management team members. More information is available at www.pilotsoftware.com.

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Pricing and Availability

PilotWorks 2006 is available now. Pricing starts at around £15k. Pilot is distributed in the UK by ISSEL (www.issel.co.uk) and by local partners in other European countries. For more information about PilotWorks, email us at pilot@issel.co.uk

“Operational Performance
Management, which is imperative to improve operational performance and includes sales, service and marketing, is the fastest growing segment of performance management. With a solid technology foundation, and domain expertise, Pilot Software is well positioned to deliver high value solutions for organizations in this area.”

Mark Smith, CEO of Ventana Research

Pilot Software press release

Sears makes enterprise-wide commitment to Pilot Software