Incentra Thinks Big

Incentra Solutions Inc. (OTCBB: ICEN) may be small, but it doesn't plan to stay that way, according to its earnings call today (see Incentra Reports Improvement).

The company, which emerged when broadcast archiving vendor Front Porch Digital bought storage service provider ManagedStorage International for $39 million in August, showed double-digit growth in revenues for its third quarter, albeit from a tiny base (see MSI's Incestuous Marriage).

Pro forma revenue was $5.3 million, up 64 percent year-over-year and 36 percent sequentially. Pro forma net loss was $4.4 million for the quarter, compared with a pro forma net loss of $4.7 million this time last year. The net loss includes $1.4 million in non-recurring costs related to the acquisition of MSI. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was approximately $113,000. In contrast, EBITDA for last year's quarter was a $857,000 loss.

CEO Thomas Sweeney points to the growth, not the teeny base. "Growth has started to occur, and we're especially pleased with the integration of the companies, which in some respects has had to be accelerated," said Sweeney on a conference call with analysts. The hurry to join forces comes from signing two new enterprise customers for comprehensive packages of storage hardware, software, and services.

It's these whole-package deals Incentra hopes will bolster its position in a market for networked storage it sees growing at 50 percent annually. The company's using the digital-content archiving software from Front Porch, along with MSI's services and hardware channels, to round out its margins and compete with bigger vendors and integrators.The tack seems to have worked in one instance: Incentra's claiming triumph over EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) for one customer, cable provider Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK). Incentra says Comcast is not only replacing EMC's Avalon digital-content archiving software with Incentra's Diva package, it's ordering extra storage and services from Incentra as well.

EMC isn't likely to take Incentra's claim passively, though the company couldn't be reached for comment at press time. It's a viciously competitive market, after all. On the plus side, offerings like Incentra's appear to be taking hold better than other kinds of storage services have in the past, widening the scope of players (see Equant, Others Add Archiving). It also helps that Incentra has its own software to offer as well.

Incentra's not leaving much to chance. It's enlisted the help of a range of firms to gain investor support and move off the bulletin board where it's traded and onto a major stock exchange. It's also getting help looking for acquisitions that could bolster its big-service charter.

Sweeney won't say how much the company has to spend in cash, and he's cagey on guidance, saying only that he hopes to proceed apace: "Next year, we would be significantly disappointed if we didn't continue growth," he says.

Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch0