Press Releases

June 01, 2005

Critter Control Becomes 38th Franchisor to Partner With Insight Direct

Boston, MA and Traverse City, MI -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- June 1, 2005 --Critter Control ^®, the nation's leading animal and wildlife control firm, and Insight Direct, Inc. announced today the signing of a licensing and services agreement making ServiceCEO ^®the exclusive business management software solution for Critter Control's 100 franchises throughout North America. Critter Control's decision reflects the emergence of a new trend for franchisors that choose to partner with outside software companies rather than develop time-consuming and costly in-house software systems.

"We found that our custom-built solution was not meeting the demands of our Critter Control franchisees," said Kevin Clark, CEO, Critter Control. "After researching several alternatives we selected ServiceCEO based on its breadth of customizable features and the training and technical support services offered by Insight Direct."

Robin T. Miller, VP Business Development, Insight Direct noted that "Critter Control has become the thirty-eighth franchisor to partner with Insight Direct and embrace a new franchise model for software delivery. We look forward to helping Critter Control focus its efforts on building its franchise, instead of building software."

Today, franchisors are choosing to purchase off-the-shelf software, like ServiceCEO, in order to build a consistent platform across all franchisees, while also allowing individual franchisees the flexibility to configure software to fit their unique business needs.

This represents a distinct shift in the franchise model for software delivery: proprietary software was often developed in-house by franchisors, thereby keeping unique software features from other competitors. Yet, what franchisors have come to realize is that the time commitment required, as well as the cost of building and maintaining proprietary software, is prohibitive -- and it is virtually impossible to keep up with the latest technology while responding effectively to franchisee requests. Moreover, franchisors have determined that software features alone do not differentiate them from competitors; instead it is the franchise system of customer service, operating procedures, marketing, vendor relationships and knowledge management as a whole that creates competitive advantage.

Franchisors that have adopted this new approach have reallocated their time and money once previously dedicated to software development, and reinvested it back into their franchise system. This significant step has allowed franchisors to achieve faster growth in both the number of franchises sold and the size of those franchises.

About Critter Control
Founded in 1982, Critter Control is the nation's leading wildlife and animal damage control company serving municipalities and residential and commercial customers. Based in Traverse City, Mich., the rapidly expanding company currently has more than 100 franchises in the United States and Canada. Critter Control has developed integrated and ecologically sound management practices to resolve wildlife conflicts and practices live trapping and relocation of healthy wild animals whenever allowed by state laws. Call 800.451.6544 to reach the Critter Control corporate offices or find the company on the Internet at www.crittercontrol.com.

About Insight Direct
Insight Direct develops and markets ServiceCEO, recognized as the leading business management software solution for IT service and other field service businesses. Since the introduction of its first-generation product in 1997, Insight Direct has sold its software in more than 15 countries to over 2,000 customers, including almost 500 IT services businesses. Some of Insight Direct's customers include COIT Services, Critter Control, Maid to Perfection, MilliCare Commercial Carpet Care, Mr. Handyman, Professional Carpet Systems, Scheidt & Bachmann USA, SparkleWashand Unilever. For more information on this Boston-based company, visit www.insightdirect.comor call 800.471.4200.