9/27/01 (WhatTheyThink.com) The once high-flying NowDocs has not been spared from major changes in their business plan. The company will survive, but will only offer solution software to Global 2000 companies going forward. The company will no longer offer print services, leaving those solutions up to the customer. Brad Adamske, CEO of NowDocs said major corporations were adopting their enterprise software solutions “allowing them to provide browser based job submission, job fulfillment and print center administration to their employees and customers.” The company will focus exclusively on software in the future. Sources say the company has reduced staff to “less than a dozen employees.” Key executives including Bennett Hirsch, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, have since left the company. NowDocs provided same-day on-demand printing and delivery service powered by web based print management software. The privately held company targeted corporations, small businesses and frequent travelers with a “distribute and print model.” NowDocs landed $31 million in funding from Goldman Sachs and Staples in July of 2001. The company announced a nationwide ad campaign to market it's services in October and planned to spend about $2 million. The restructuring started at the end of 2000 when NowDocs cut their national ad campaign and started reducing staff. NowDocs laid off 35 employees at the end of January which included 10 employees at their headquarters in Aliso Viejo, California. The company shut down it’s Boston, Dallas and Toronto offices but still maintained 10 offices and about 150 employees. In May, NowDocs laid off 30 more employees. At the time Hirsch told WhatTheyThink.com that they continued to increase revenue and print volume was growing at a feverish pace. Sources indicated at the time that investors were watching developments in the eprint space closely and would continue to tighten as needed. Adamske said their software solution has shown tremendous promise for the future. In a statement, Adamske said “we unfortunately will not be providing an Internet based service of our own but rather will rely on the customers who have licensed our software to implement their own service solutions. This path will ultimately provide (our customers) with multiple avenues for using the NowDocs award-winning interface and will allow us to focus on continually enhancing the technology and providing high-value solutions.” NowDocs has been perceived as a prime competitor to Mimeo. Mimeo offers online printing services for corporate customers. Jeff Stewart, co-founder of Mimeo, said they have received several calls from former clients of NowDocs looking to fill the vacuum. "Our customer care organization has converted numerous former NowDocs customers to Mimeo over the last few days. Our on-line order submission system, automated digital production facility and staff are ready to help." Stewart said their business remains strong and they do not anticipate a similar shift in focus. (removing print services and selling software management only) "We give away the software, and we charge for the printing and binding - it is a solid business model. Because of the economies of scale associated with our automated centralized production process, we are able to offer the service at 15% to 40% less than the cost of a local copy shop or internal copy center.”