Industry-specific regulations, standards and other requirements are evolving, and unfavorable industry-specific regulations, standards or other requirements could harm our customers and our business.
Our customers and potential customers conduct business in a variety of industries, including financial services, healthcare, telecommunications and the public sector. Regulators in certain industries have adopted and may in the future adopt regulations or interpretive positions regarding the use of cloud-based solutions. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, industry-specific laws, regulations and interpretive positions may limit our customers’ use and adoption of our services. Compliance with these regulations may also require us to devote greater resources to support certain customers, which may increase costs and lengthen sales cycles. Further, if we are unable to comply with these regulations, our business may be harmed. In addition, an inability to satisfy the standards of certain voluntary third-party certification bodies that our customers may expect could have an adverse impact on our business and results. In some cases, industry-specific laws, regulations, standards or interpretive positions may also apply directly to us as a service provider. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with such requirements could have an adverse impact on our business.
Prolonged economic uncertainties or downturns could harm our business.
Economic downturns or negative conditions in the general economy both in the United States and abroad could harm our business and results of operations and cause a decrease in corporate spending on enterprise software in general.
General worldwide economic conditions have experienced, and in the future may experience, significant downturns. Fluctuations in economic conditions make it extremely difficult for our customers and us to forecast and plan future business activities accurately, and they could cause our customers to reevaluate their decision to purchase our offerings, which could delay and lengthen our sales cycles or result in cancellations of planned purchases. Furthermore, during challenging economic times our customers may face issues in gaining timely access to sufficient credit, which could impair their ability to make timely payments to us. If that were to occur, we may be required to increase our allowance for doubtful accounts, which would harm our results of operations. We have a significant number of customers in the business services, advertising, financial services, government, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, high technology, manufacturing, media and entertainment, oil and gas, online services, retail and telecommunications industries. A substantial downturn in any of these industries may cause firms to react to worsening conditions by reducing their capital expenditures in general or by specifically reducing their spending on information technology. Customers in these industries may delay or cancel information technology projects or seek to lower their costs by renegotiating vendor contracts. To the extent purchases of our offerings are perceived by customers and potential customers to be discretionary, our revenue may be disproportionately affected by delays or reductions in general information technology spending. Also, customers may choose to develop or utilizein-house self-support capabilities as an alternative to purchasing our other offerings. Moreover, competitors may respond to market conditions by lowering prices of their offerings. In addition, the increased pace of consolidation in certain industries may result in reduced overall spending on our offerings.
We cannot predict the timing, strength or duration of any economic slowdown, instability or recovery, generally or within any particular industry. If the economic conditions of the general economy or industries in which we operate worsen from present levels, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be harmed.
The terms of the agreements governing our revolving credit facility restrict our current and future operations.
The agreements governing our revolving credit facility contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on indebtedness, liens, investments, acquisitions, mergers, disposition of property or assets, dividends and other distributions, changes to the nature of the business, transactions with affiliates, use of proceeds, amendments to organizational documents, and prepayment of certain debt.
In addition, the restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our revolving credit facility require us to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial condition tests. Our ability to meet those financial ratios and tests can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may be unable to meet them.
A breach of the covenants or restrictions under the agreements governing our revolving credit facility could result in an event of default. Such a default would affect the availability of the revolving credit facility. It may also allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt and may result in the acceleration of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In the event our lenders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness and, even if we do, we would no longer have access to that capital. As a result of these restrictions, we may be limited in how we conduct business, unable to raise additional debt or equity financing, or unable to compete effectively or take advantage of new business opportunities.
58