Software firms scatter their products as fast and far as possible

W. J. Kitchen, the CEO and president for San Diego-based Ameranth Technology Systems Inc., is feeling good these days.

His small software company recently lined up a $5 million investment from a Laguna Beach venture capital firm, and is gearing up for the launch of its product which it calls the 21st Century Restaurant.

Ameranth’s software allows waiters to connect with a restaurant’s point of sale system through a mobile wireless device, giving them the ability to send customer orders to the cooks and process their checks at their tables.

This year, the 4-year-old company should generate about $2 million in revenues, but after its product is launched sometime early next year, Kitchen said sales should reach at least $15 million.

Though the general impression may be that most restaurants seem to be doing a good job in terms of getting an order to a patron’s table quickly, Kitchen says, “They think they can be faster.”

By getting an order to a customer more quickly, food servers can tend to additional requests more efficiently, and tables are turned quicker, he said. Considering the razor-thin margins in the restaurant industry, the product should generate lots of interest, he added.

- Firms Proliferate In Software Industry

Ameranth’s story is indicative of thousands of other firms operating in the little-known and understood software industry.

Unlike the manufacture of products such as autos or medical instruments, software is more elusive. It’s essentially made up of code, the binary language that runs so much of today’s machinery. Without it, practically every other industry sector would not be able to function.

“Software has become so important to everything we do, but the more you try to pin it down, the less you understand what’s going on,” said Bob Slapin, executive director of the San Diego Software