RPath is in expansion mode

Raleigh business software company rPath has hired a new top sales executive and is looking to hire 10 new employees at its Raleigh headquarters thanks to expanding revenue.

The privately held company doesn't disclose sales results, but CEO Mike Torto said fourth-quarter revenue is double that of a year ago, thanks in part to the growing popularity of cloud computing.  Cloud computing enables companies to access networks of computers over the Internet.

RPath's technology enables corporate information technology departments to more easily access and manage their software -- regardless of whether that software is in a physical, virtual or cloud environment.

"RPath is absolutely the best way to deliver applications to the cloud," Torto boasted. "We take the chaos out of delivering those applications. We make it simple."

The company inked a sales-and-marketing partnership with network computing giant Cisco Systems in April, and other partnerships with major industry players are in the works, Torto said.

RPath was formed in 2005 by two alumni of Raleigh-based Red Hat and has raised $32.5 million in venture capital to date. Today the company has about 50 employees, including 45 in Raleigh, and it's seeking another 10 workers locally.

Additional hires are likely, but that will depend on future revenue. "We always have taken a managed-growth approach," Torto said.

Torto said that 100 percent of the customers that rPath had last year have renewed their software subscriptions, which average more than $200,000 a year. He said those renewals are a testament to the company's customer service as well as its technology.

"I'm not an advocate of outsourcing," he said. "I will never outsource customer support."

RPath has about 100 corporate customers after adding 10 new customers this year, Torto said.

The company's new vice president of worldwide sales, Doug May, will be based in a new sales office in Waltham, Mass. May previously was northeast regional sales manager for publicly traded BMC.