ETC and Cast Software jointly announced changes to their worldwide distribution relationship today.
Effective January 1, 2005, Cast Software will take over worldwide marketing and distribution of WYSIWYG™, while ETC, in partnership with Cast, will continue the development and marketing of its own Emphasis® control system. Additionally, Cast will supply ETC with WYSIWYG Perform Console Edition for distribution with several of its control products including the Avab, transtechnik Lichtsysteme, and Emphasis product lines.
The decision to amend the distribution agreement was reached jointly based on a number of factors. Under the previous agreement, ETC was the exclusive distributor for the WYSIWYG suite of products worldwide. Since forming the original partnership with ETC four years ago, Cast and WYSIWYG have enjoyed tremendous growth. Likewise, ETC has expanded and grown its product portfolio.
“At this stage of development, ETC and Cast have mutually agreed that it is the right time for Cast to take over full distribution of WYSIWYG products themselves,” says Bill Gallinghouse, VP of Marketing & Business Development at ETC. Gil Densham, President and CEO of Cast Software remarks, “We are very pleased with the new arrangement. For both companies it means we are better able to allocate resources and ensure more focused development of our individual product lines.”
There will be no impact to ETC or Cast customers. Only the logistics of distribution will be changing. In order to smooth the transition for WYSIWYG dealers and end-users, ETC and Cast are taking steps to simplify the process. Both companies will provide technical support for WYSIWYG users: ETC will continue providing service to Emphasis customers without any changes; Cast will be working with existing ETC dealers to migrate their WYSIWYG business over to Cast; and both companies will continue to update the Emphasis control system software.
“The aim of this agreement is to simplify the user experience and more effectively develop our products," says Bob Mani, VP of sales & business develepment, Cast Software. "Both companies are looking out for the best interests of their customers, and this was the best business decision we could make. Cast is especially looking forward to a more direct relationship with our dealers, end users, and potential customers.”
For Cast, the agreement also means new opportunities for the WYSIWYG Perform Console Edition product. ETC and Cast confirmed that they will continue to release software and fixture library updates for Emphasis on a regular basis. “The Emphasis console line has grown significantly over the past two years, both in terms of sales and capabilities," says ETC product marketing manager David Lincecum. "We are very pleased with the direction the product is moving. We are excited about the Emphasis software we released this year, and we look forward to our continued partnership with Cast.”
In addition to the continued Emphasis development, ETC will begin shipping WYSIWYG Perform Console Edition with some of their other control products. Despite the discontinuation of the former distribution agreement, both companies are dedicated to the advancement of technology in the industry and intend to work together on such efforts.
ETC will continue distributing WYSIWYG software until the end of 2004. Cast will be contacting all ETC dealers and distributors about their WYSIWYG business in the upcoming months. Both ETC and Cast software will be exhibiting at ETC's booth 3300 at ETS-LDI.