Clarizen and Kaltura in IDC’s top 10 Innovative Applications Companies Under $100M to Watch
Filed under: IT management, Information Technology, SaaS, Uncategorized, Video, Web2.0, cloud computing, open source, virtualization
Israeli companies Kaltura and Clarizen have been included in IDC’s top 10 innovative applications companies under $100M to watch.
According to IDC chosen companies were identified based on whether they exemplified one or more of three key trends in applications today, which the company cited in January 2009 to be:
- Acceleration of software as a service (SaaS), business process outsourcing (BPO), and open source over traditional on-premise software
- New business models for software use by service providers (software-within-a-service)
- Web 2.0-like functionality moves into the enterprise (e2.0).
Clarizen is a project management software company that allows contributors to edit at the same time and for the changes to be visible immediately to anyone involved on the project. Last week it reported that it gained over 100 new customers in Q3. Clarizen is headquartered in Israel with its US headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Kaltura, according to its site, is “the first open source video platform for online video management, creation, interaction & collaboration.” Earlier today it was listed as one of 49 hot new open source applications on Earthweb.com as a video tool. The company has an R&D center in Israel.
Crescendo Networks raises $5 million
Last week Crescendo Networks announced that it raised $5 million in funding. The company, which provides software that enhances the Web application delivery process, will use the money to “further fuel sales expansion” and to move its corporate headquarters to Menlo Park in California, though engineering and some operations will remain in Tel Aviv.
Since 2002, when the company was founded, it has raised $45 million and attracted customers ranging from Forbes.com to Aeropostale to Fujitsu. As more business processes become based online and virtualization, SaaS and cloud computing matures, Crscendo Networks’s line of AppBeat products will continue to offer any size business with the necessary solutions to accelerate application delivery, cut data center costs and boost capacity for business growth.
As Peter van Oppen of Trilogy Equity Partners, one of the investors in the round, stated,
“As the IT world experiences a paradigm shift in the way applications are delivered, data centers are incorporating cloud computing, SaaS and virtualization as part of modern web application infrastructures. We believe Crescendo Networks’ application delivery solutions are perfectly poised to capitalize on these expanding market opportunities.”
Crescendo’s products include, AppBeat DC, AppBeat SC and Maestro Platform.
Software-as-a-service “comes of age” with Clarizen
As budgets get tighter and software-as-a-service (SaaS) matures, there is an increasing amount of interest among small and medium-sized businesses and now the eneterprise to use SaaS solutions.
In an article by Kevin White about online project management software that appeared on CBRonline.com earlier this week, White mentions that in addition to companies turning to SaaS solutions for managing projects because of the low price point, another benefit is that SaaS is “inherently collaborative since it allows any user of an application to access information anytime from anywhere.”
The company that he focuses on that is proving this theory right is Israel-based Clarizen. Clarizen, a project management software company, has enjoyed popularity in the past few months because it allows contributors to edit at the same time and for the changes to be visible immediately to anyone involved on the project. In addition it covers all the aspects of managing a project, from assigning tasks to budget tracking.
Clarizen has also received a lot of positive attention as a significantly cheaper alternative to other enterprise collaboration solutions ($25 a month per user vs. $125,000 entry point). Though it currently faces steep competition from other free or low cost solutions such as Google Docs and Basecamp, Clarizen is expected to roll out new enterprise features in the upcoming months that will set it apart.
Ilient Ltd. announces SaaS-based solution, SysAid CSS (Customer Service and Support)
Filed under: CRM, IT management, Information Technology, SaaS, Uncategorized, Video
Ilient Ltd, a helpdesk software solutions provider, announced yesterday the latest extension to its flagship product, SysAid IT. The new solution, SysAid CSS (Customer Service and Support) is a SaaS-based solution “designed to address customer relationship management (CRM) operations” of small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) looking to secure and grow customer loyalty.
According to the news release,
“As the industry’s first free and on-demand customer service and support solution, SysAid CSS provides a comprehensive toolkit for tracking and resolving issues, increasing client response times and lowering organizational costs. Through a Web-based user interface, SysAid CSS allows customer service providers and their clients to receive feedback on submitted requests quickly with e-mail integration, self-service portals and Web form integration. With its robust feature set and highly customizable applications, service requests and processes are streamlined seamlessly across the organization.”
SysAid IT is a web-based helpdesk software that provides asset management, monitoring, reports and analysis and project and task management, among others.
Ilient recently posted a video on YouTube showing SysAid IT in action. You can view it below.
Company Facts
Founded in 2002.
Headquartered in Ohr Yehuda, Israel.
Israel Lifshitz, Founder and CEO.
Products: SysAid IT, SysAid CSS.
Website: www.ilient.com
Magic Software’s Data Replicator lets users access their data on-premise
Filed under: Business Intelligence, CRM, Data Storage, Information Technology, SOA Governance, SaaS, Uncategorized, Video
Magic Software Enterprises, Ltd., a provider of application platforms and business and process integration solutions, announced yesterday the general availability of its latest SaaS offering for CRM, the Data Replicator for Salesforce.com.
Designed to provide automatic, real-time data back-up for organizations using Salesforce.com, Data Replicator allows organizations to now “rapidly and easily reproduce any snapshot of their Salesforce.com data and make it available on their on-premise databases.” By doing such, organizations can leverage their Salesforce.com data for better reporting, forecasting and regulatory compliance.
The Data Replicator for Salesforce.com is part of Magic Software’s iBOLT business and process integration product line and can be used for business intelligence, data storage and data mining needs.
Below is an video overview from a few months ago of the iBolt for Salesforce.com suite.
Product information for the Data Replicator for Salesforce.com can be found on the Magic Software site here.
SAManage Secures Series A Funding from Xenia Venture Capital
Filed under: CRM, IT management, Information Technology, SOA Governance, SaaS, Uncategorized, VC, cloud computing
SAManage, a provider of on-demand (SaaS) IT Management services with an R&D office in Israel, announced today that it has secured an undisclosed amount of Series A Funding from Xenia Venture Capital and existing investors to help support its growth and development of new SaaS-based services.
The company, which was was founded in 2007 by Doron Gordon, offers solutions for IT Asset Management, IT Risks Management, License Management and more. In September 2008, SAManage made its IT Contract Management software available for Salesforce.com users as a free AppExchange application. The software enables users to manage the organization and tracking of IT contracts, software licenses and subscriptions.
SaaS Industry outlook
According to an InformationWeek article by Andrew Conry-Murray in November 2008, a Forrester Research report released at the time predicts that while SaaS-based IT management currently accounts for 1% of IT management software, it is expected to grow to 10% of the market by 2013 because it offers cheaper and faster deployments. The report also predicts that enterprises with 1,000 or more employees will account for 50% of SaaS installations in 2009 and that while the Big Four (BMC, IBM, HP and CA) are active in the cloud, “complex applications can’t quickly be retooled for SaaS, giving upstarts time to secure enough customers to flourish.”
Additional SaaS Information
- An Aberdeen Group survey of over 130 enterprises found that top companies are implementing SaaS successfully and “view their use or planned migration to SaaS as a long-term solution.”
- Research from Gartner analyst Michael Maoz predicts that by the year 2012, 30 percent of investments in CRM will be via software-as-a-service (SaaS). (via Lauren McKay of DestinationCRM.com)
- Interest in SaaS has lead to several acquisitions by vendors, including Cisco’s acquisition of WebEx, Dell’s purchase of MessageOne and Google’s purchase of Postini among others.
- Other Israeli SaaS companies include: Clarizen, G.ho.st, Magic Software, PNMsoft, Confidela and Nolio Ltd.
SAManage Launches New Salesforce.com AppExchange Application for IT Contract Management
SAManage, a provider of on-demand (SaaS) IT Management services, recently made its SAManage IT Contract Management software available for Salesforce.com users as a free AppExchange application.
According to the news release, the free software addition allows Salesforce.com users,
“to incorporate the management of IT contracts, software licenses, and subscriptions into the Salesforce.com environment. Built on Salesforce.com’s Force.com platform, the application provides an easy-to-use, innovative way to organize and track IT contracts, including software licenses, SaaS subscriptions, and ISP and hosting services.”
SAManage has been around since April 2007 and in the words of its founder and CEO, Doron Gordon,
“Helps companies manage their PC and software assets, organize software licenses and IT
contracts, and detect risks to their assets (such as illegal software, games or file sharing applications as well as license compliance issues).”
The company also offers solutions for IT Asset Management, IT Risks Management, License Management and more.
If you’re looking to understand IT governance and compliance better, ebizQ.net (ITGumbo’s parent site) is holding an SOA Governance virtual conference next Wednesday (Sept. 24, 2008) that will also cover IT governance.
Company Facts
Founded in April 2007.
Doron Gordon, Founder & CEO.
Headquarters in Redmond, Washington. R&D in Israel.
Products: Solutions for IT Asset Management, IT Risks Management, License Management and more.
Website: www.samanage.com.
About the author: Lisa Damast currently resides in Israel. Any questions or inquiries regarding this blog can be directed to her via email at lisa (at) israelinnovation20 (dot) com. She can also be followed on Twitter, where she covers additional Israeli technology companies and headlines among other topics.
Company in Focus: G.ho.st
News:
Last week, Europe had its 4th annual LeWeb3 conference focusing on technology in Europe. During the conference, Israeli Web-based operating system, G.ho.st received third place in a competition among the most promising startups that had been showcased.
Background:
According to the G.ho.st website,
“G. ho.st (“ghost”, the Global Hosted Operating SysTem) provides a free and complete Virtual Computer (VC) service, including personal desktop, files and applications, available from any browser. G.ho.st is the world’s first and only true open Web Operating System (Web OS), working seamlessly with leading third-party web applications. The G.ho.st VC delivers a mature computing environment to every person, which is free of charge, available everywhere and admin-free.”
Analysis:
G.ho.st is getting a lot of positive feedback and comments from the media and blogosphere. While, G.ho.st, which is open source, is competing against dozens of other web-based operating systems, most people seem to be impressed with its functionality, easy user-interface, and its stability — factors that surely led to G.ho.st being chosen as a startup to watch at LeWeb last week.
According to KillerStartups.com, “the service is ideal for people that travel a lot, or students that frequently use community computers.” With its 3 gigabyte of storage, it seems like the perfect replacement for the USB storage drive that individuals and companies embrace.
Aside from business travelers, G.ho.st’s VC also has significant potential to impact the enterprise market, which is currently being overtaken by open source and software-as-a-service (SaaS), as a whole. Although some of the biggest players in the field, Google and I.B.M., use the term cloud computing instead of WebOS, the basis for both is distributed computing on the Internet.
While Google’s online collaboration and office applications are ultimately G.ho.st’s biggest threat, Google will also help define the future of the field as it will be the one that will take the hit or bask in the glory when its services and other WebOS services, such as G.ho.st, start to really take business away from Microsoft’s Windows and Office sales and the software giant is forced to retaliate.
Of course, any G.ho.st role in the enterprise will depend on how companies receive it in the workplace. Such a virtual desktop has the potential to offer significant pros and cons for employees and companies alike. It also might blur the line between the line of work and home and create a new security threat for IT departments to address.
However, before that point, as previously mentioned, G.ho.st is one of dozens devoted to a universally web accessible desktop, and a close eye on their progress should be kept. On this level, it seems that G.ho.st’s most immediate threat is Jooce, which has several similarities and differences to G.ho.st.
Additional Resources:
Interview with the G.ho.st – Zvi Schreiber
Can G.ho.st scare Microsoft?
G.ho.st Crunchbase profile
Mashable review
G.ho.st on TechCrunch
LeWeb recap
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