News & Press

Green Hills Software Announces Record Sales and Earnings in 2008

Green Hills Earned More than Wind River in 2008 and in Nine of the Last Ten Years


EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, SAN JOSE, CA—MARCH 31, 2009—Green Hills Software, Inc., the world leader in certified safe and secure real-time operating systems (RTOS), announced today that in 2008 Green Hills Software earned $29.8 million on a GAAP basis (almost three times as much as Wind River), on new orders of over $130 million. As a private company, Green Hills Software does not regularly issue financial press releases. This press release is issued to correct recent false and misleading statements made by the competition regarding Green Hills Software’s financial health and viability.

Recently, Ken Klein, chairman, CEO and president of Wind River Systems, Inc., was quoted in Investor’s Business Daily, "We face one giant (rival), Microsoft, and a bunch of midgets and dwarfs. We're taking market share away from those smaller, private companies. That’s the good news about a recession - the rich get richer."

Dan O’Dowd, CEO and founder of Green Hills Software, comments, "I can’t resist saying that our earnings dwarf Wind River’s. It’s ironic that Wind River highlights financial viability as an important factor when considering an RTOS vendor. Recently, Wind River announced that, in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), they lost money last quarter and they project to lose money again this quarter due to a decline in revenues.

"Wind River’s troubles began a little over a year ago with Wind River’s first restructuring during the recession in which they announced the layoff of 80 to 90 people. They reorganized into four product divisions, one of which was the Device Management Division. Earlier this month, Wind River also announced 'a shift in our focus from Device Management,' necessitating a write down of $12 million.

"The recession has already wiped out Wind River’s profit margins. Wind River did not fare well in the last recession, either, when its revenues plummeted more than 50%, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and the layoff of nearly half of its staff. Financial experts predict that this recession will be worse than the last. Vendor profitability is important to customers. A company that is losing money typically downsizes – as Wind River did repeatedly in the last recession – or it will go out of business. The inevitable reduction of support and engineering staff reduces the quality of customer support and requires discontinuing product lines (or even divisions) that customers depend on.

"In contrast to Wind River’s troubles, Green Hills Software made a profit last quarter and will do so again this quarter, as well as for the rest of 2009, just as we have done every year since 1982, including every recession year," O’Dowd said. "Continuing profitability through recessions enables Green Hills to always provide consistent products and support."

The Key to Success in Troubled Times
Green Hills has succeeded by consistently providing certified safe and secure RTOSes for the most demanding safety and security-critical systems, such as the Airbus A380, top secret communications systems, implantable medical devices, and industrial control systems. Green Hills Software has obtained the highest safety and security certifications for each industry, in order to assure customers that their products can be safe and secure.

"In good times, marketing-driven, technology-challenged companies wow customers with impressive marketing presentations and unrealistic technology claims and schedule commitments," said Christopher Smith, vice president of marketing of Green Hills Software. "But in difficult times, any failure of a product to meet schedules or requirements can result in the cancellation of orders, the discontinuation of the product, or even the failure of the entire company. In difficult times, there are no excuses, only success and failure. Survival depends on cutting through the hype and carefully evaluating vendors to reduce risk."

The World Leader in High Reliability RTOSes
In 2002, Green Hills Software’s INTEGRITY-178B RTOS received its first of many certifications by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to the highest level of safety certification, DO-178B Level A. Ever since, Wind River has been claiming that its VxWorks 653 RTOS is "certifiable" to the same standard. But even after seven years, Wind River has failed to deliver a VxWorks 653 RTOS that has been approved for use in a DO-178B Level A-certified airborne system. Their customers had to realize that before they bet their airborne system on an RTOS, they should insist on talking to satisfied customers who have successfully certified and deployed that RTOS in a DO-178B Level A system. Green Hills INTEGRITY-178B is the safe choice for DO-178B Level A certification.

The World Leader in Secure RTOSes
In 2005, Green Hills Software submitted its INTEGRITY-178B RTOS to the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) for certification under the international standard for commercial IT security, ISO/IEC 15408. In 2008, NIAP granted INTEGRITY-178B the first and only certification to EAL6+ High Robustness, the highest security level ever awarded to an operating system. This made INTEGRITY-178B the only operating system ever certified for the protection of classified information from sophisticated, well-funded attackers.

Since 2002, Wind River has been claiming that its RTOSes are EAL7 "certifiable." In 2002, Wind River claimed VxWorks 653 was EAL7 "certifiable." These claims were dropped a few years later when Wind River announced VxWorks MILS, accompanied by claims that it was EAL7 "certifiable." Eventually, these claims were dropped in 2008, when Wind River introduced VxWorks MILS 2, claiming that it was EAL6+ "certifiable" and that it was "in evaluation" to EAL6+. But, in the United States, only NIAP can award an EAL6+ or EAL7 certification, and no Wind River RTOS has ever been certified by NIAP for anything (a list of all products certified by NIAP can be found at http://www.niap-ccevs.org/cc-scheme/vpl/).

Wind River customers now understand the huge difference between INTEGRITY-178B, which has been deployed for ten years and has been formally certified to EAL6+, and Wind River VxWorks MILS 2 that has never been deployed and has never been certified for anything.

Looking Forward
"Consistent profitability for more than two decades, including two recessions and more than a year into this recession, prove that Green Hills Software’s superior technology and business model enable it to succeed and remain profitable even in the worst of times," said Dan O’Dowd. "Green Hills will continue its success and profitability through this recession ensuring that our customers will continue to receive consistent support and product continuity."

"In difficult times, the real differences between companies become apparent," said David Chandler, senior vice president of sales of Green Hills Software. "Empty marketing promises, delays, and excuses for not delivering will eventually be exposed and the truth be known. However, great products that meet customer requirements are always in demand, even in recessions. So, we continue to search for the industry’s top sales professionals who know how to identify, understand, and advise customers on how to use the only certified, totally-reliable, absolutely secure RTOS to solve the problems that cost embedded developers, managers, and companies millions of dollars every day."

About Green Hills Software
Founded in 1982, Green Hills Software, Inc. is the technology leader in device software optimization (DSO) and real-time operating systems (RTOS) for 32- and 64-bit embedded systems. In 2008, the Green Hills INTEGRITY-178B RTOS was the first and only operating system to be certified by the NSA to EAL6+ High Robustness, the highest level of security ever achieved. Our royalty-free INTEGRITY® and velOSity™ real-time operating systems, µ-velOSity™ microkernel, compilers, IPv6-ready TCP/IP networking stacks, GateD® Layer2 switching and Layer 3 routing, MULTI® and AdaMULTI™ integrated development environments, DoubleCheck™ integrated static analyzer and TimeMachine™ tool suite offer a complete development solution that addresses both deeply embedded and high-reliability applications. Green Hills Software is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, with European headquarters in the United Kingdom. Visit Green Hills Software on the web at www.ghs.com.

Green Hills, the Green Hills logo, MULTI, INTEGRITY, velOSity, µ-velOSity, AdaMULTI, DoubleCheck and TimeMachine, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Green Hills Software, Inc. in the U.S. and/or internationally. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

North American Sales Contact:
Green Hills Software, Inc.
30 West Sola Street,
Santa Barbara, CA 93101,
Tel: 805-965-6044
Fax: 805-965-6343
Website: www.ghs.com
Email: sales@ghs.com

Media Contacts:
Green Hills Software, Inc.
Barbel French
Tel: 805-965-6044
Email: bfrench@ghs.com

International Sales Contact:
Green Hills Software Ltd
Fleming Business Centre
Leigh Road
Eastleigh
Hampshire SO50 9PD
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0)2380 649660
Fax: +44 (0)2380 649661
Email: mktg-europe@ghs.com

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