Keeping virtual company -Portlock Software in Butte

Butte native moves storage management to Thornton Building
The headquarters of a software company that has a half-million cus tomers has settled on the fourth and fifth floors
of the Thornton Building in Uptown Butte.

By Leslie McCartney of The Montana Standard

“ It’s good; I like Butte. It’s home,” said Portlock Software creator John Hanley, 41.
Hanley’s decision to move his company — of which he is the sole owner — to Butte has given his hometown its first
major inroads into the computer software industry.
Hanley, who shared responsibility for the creation of a well-regarded program called Ghost, announced in early February that he was relocat ing
company headquarters from Hawaii to Butte. He has offices and staff sprinkled throughout the world as well.

The return to small-town life, which includes joining three broth ers who live in Butte, influenced his decision to come home, he said.
Four people are hired and others are starting soon, Hanley said. They may find their new boss a different type of executive.
The night before his interview with The Montana Standard, Hanley was in the office until 3:15 a.m., working with a customer, he said. His office is
filled with flowers, a soothing water fountain, leather couch and humidifer.

“ It’s definitely not a 9 to 5 job,” Hanley said, while he contemplated slipping into a fresh shirt and tie for a picture.
Although he has mentors and advisers, he makes all the decisions. He runs the business — and creates the software that powers it. And, with a virtual
company setup, an order can be taken and delivered without human intervention.

“ If I was struck by lightning tomorrow, this company could func tion for another three to six months,” Hanley joked.
As for corporate executive duties, raising capital isn’t one of them. So, Hanley insists that his company doesn’t have burdensome debt or onerous
obligations.

“ I don’t want to spend my time chasing money,” Hanley said.
Instead, he’d rather talk to cus tomers to ensure their satisfaction, develop software and improve processes.

Portlock Software’s primary product is called Storage Manager, which is affiliated with Novell NetWare 6. At its most basic, Storage Manager focuses
on provid ing answers to storage management problems.
“ I use it everyday,” said Les Merryman, chief executive of Micro Masters, a company that provides computer services and support to businesses in
California. “ His (Hanley’s) contribution to the com puter industry is pretty significant.”

Merryman said that using Storage Manager saves his compa ny, based in Camarillo, Calif., count less hours by allowing employees to recover
corrupted data easily.
He pointed out that the product also costs much less than competi tors’ products, which makes it even more attractive.

Pricing is another strategic move by Portlock in an effort to capture market share. By keeping its prod ucts reasonably priced, Hanley believes they
are more accessible to businesses, government agencies and other customers.

And the strategy has seemed to pay off since the product is No. 1 in sales, according to Hanley.
Hanley also believes that Portlock’s presence could attract other companies’ interest in Butte, which would be a boon for the strug gling economy.
Employee prospects in Butte have been satisfactory, he said.

“ I find people here have less of an attitude; less of a “ me” attitude and more of a “ we” attitude,” he said.
Projections call for the company to grow to about 40 people within the next three years.
Although wooed by the Butte Local Development Corp., Portlock Software did not need financing or incentives to locate in Butte.

However, after surveying the economic climate in Montana, Hanley believes that more capital needs to flow in from out of state. Such a dynamic
would create more jobs, more money and more busi nesses.

He also believes the state needs to balance its industries. Always heavily invested in natural resources, Hanley believes hightech firms and other
industries, such as aerospace, could do well here.

He doesn’t believe that things are as bad as some would believe and that many businesses have thrived in the state for generations.

“ Those with a defeatist-type atti tude are very vocal,” he said. “ Successful people keep their mouths shut.”

http://www.mtstandard.com/newslocal/lnews3.html