Informix shuffles federal unit; Hammersla departs

Informix Software Inc. last week folded its Vienna Va.-based federal division into its commercial sales organization as part of a corporatewide restructuring. As part of the reorganization Edward Hammersla III executive director of Informix's federal operations has left the company.

Under the new corporate structure the Informix federal unit will become one of four lines of business along with tele-communications retail and finance rather than being run like a wholly owned subsidiary company executives said.

Osasa to Lead Organization

The federal office will remain intact but will be under the purview of Grant Osasa executive director of the company's mid-Atlantic sales region which also includes the Bethesda Md. commercial operations. For now Alan Kraft director of federal sales will be the top executive in the federal office.

The corporate office has been disappointed in the company's performance in the federal market Osasa said. "They are looking to renew their interest [in this area] and to increase their expectations " he said.

While Informix has done well in the Defense Department it has been less successful in the civilian agencies and the intelligence community than its competition Osasa said.

Informix would like to see its federal group do a better job of establishing business partnerships that in turn could increase its visibility in the market - a standard practice in the commercial operations Osasa said. "We lose some business by not being involved in evaluations [with other vendors] " he said.

Informix's roster of contracts includes the Coast Guard's Standard Workstation III through Unisys Corp. the Air Force's Integration for Command Control Communications Computers and Intelligence through Cordant Inc. and the Navy's Tactical Advanced Computer-4 program through Hewlett-Packard Co.

In the new corporate structure Informix's federal office will become a more integral part of its corporate sales organization. In the past the Virginia office had been run pretty much as a wholly owned subsidiary reporting to Informix's chief financial officer but not to the executive sales management team. It "never really reported up through the sales organization - it never had access to the resources of the sales organization " Osasa said.

Osasa who joined Informix three months ago said he plans to beef up federal office staffing in both sales and support. The new organization "is really a renewed emphasis on the federal sales organization " Osasa said.