History
BWise was founded in 1994 by two entrepreneurial technology consultants, one of which, Luc Brandts, is still the Company’s current Chief Technology Officer. BWise was originally designed as a consulting organization that specialized in providing services and strategy advice around risk management and internal controls. In 1997, BWise developed its first marketable product and soon after received its first round of institutional financing to grow its capital base and accelerate the sales and marketing efforts around its new technology.
By 1998, BWise had effectively made the transition from a consulting organization to a product-based company. License sales exceeded services revenue, and BWise had established itself as a best-of-breed provider of robust compliance tools. In early 2000, BWise acquired the software solution SDW or System Development Workbench, from Capgemini Ernst & Young. As a result of the transaction, BWise progressed further towards becoming a complete risk management and compliance solution provider.
In late 2003, BWise shifted its strategy to attack the compliance and risk market on a global level. Early in the following year, the shareholders and the supervisory board hired Robert Pijselman as CEO to lead this transition. In addition, an office was opened in New York. Under Pijselman and Brandts' direction, BWise quickly gained traction and recognition in the global compliance market. Revenues grew at an aggressive clip without sacrificing profitability. Customers, competitors and industry analysts alike began to take notice of this highly focused Dutch innovator.
In 2006 and early 2007, the major research firms covering the industry validated BWise’s goals. Capgemini, Gartner and Forrester all published reports citing BWise as one of the leading providers for GRC software. BWise continued its momentum into 2008. Great strides have been made in penetrating the U.S. markets, with license sales in the U.S. outpacing European license sales for the first time. BWise also continues to be a leading innovator in the GRC marketplace, releasing product upgrades, enhanced feature sets and new service packs at regular, rapid intervals. Key customers include Southern Company, Marathon Oil, ING, Transcontinental, LeapFrog, AngloGold Ashanti, Health Alliance Plan (HAP) of Michigan, TNT, AEGON, Connexxion and Crucell and many other renowned companies. The main investor in BWise is NIBC Principal Investment.
In 2009, BWise was one of fourteen select companies that independent analyst Forrester invited to participate in the Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance Platforms, Q3 2009. The companies were evaluated on their current offerings, strategy and market presence. According to the report, “The BWise platform remains one of the most impressive products in the GRC platform market, with strong technical capabilities in all the categories evaluated.” BWise was cited “a leader in Enterprise GRC Platforms”. In 2010, BWise was evaluated along with other EGRC vendors by independent analyst Gartner. BWise is positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Enterprise GRC Platforms.
