Strategy & Business Model Validation Mission Portfolio: Growing a Software Company

Situation

A mid-sized enterprise software firm wanted to expand its market potential. It was linked to one specific hardware platform, and while that proved successful, its investors grew concerned that the software firm’s fate was in the hands of another firm it could not control. They approached Aurora GPS with a strategy to build a bridge to another – completely dissimilar – consumer hardware platform.

Method

Aurora GPS used a variety of analytical tools to validate and challenge the assumption that a consumer platform was the correct strategic choice. The final analysis showed it would be better for the company to build on its strengths in enterprise software rather than expand into territory it did not understand, nor was it prepared to successfully service. Sufficient market opportunity remained in a new breed of cloud-based enterprise platforms as an alternative strategic direction.

Results

The software firm ended up taking both pieces of advice, using an additional round of funding to spin off a consumer division while using its own resources to expand to a now-dominant niche inside the enterprise software market.