5. LucidEra
Founded: July 2005
Location: California, U.S.
What does the company offer? Business intelligence for midsize firms in the software-as-a-service model.
Why is it worth watching? LucidEra lets customers outsource business intelligence with an application that is relatively simple to set up and use. "Behind the scenes, LucidEra prepares and presents the business data to you," the company says. "We house the platform that delivers the information; all you do is point the LucidEra service to your company's applications and other external data sources. No special skills are needed." The company went to market in March after several months in beta. Pricing starts at about US$3,000 per customer, per month, which covers the first 100 user seats, connectors to three data sources and forecast-to-billing software that combines sales and financial data.
How did the company get its start? CEO and co-founder Ken Rudin, who was formerly the vice president of marketing for Siebel Analytics and ran a consulting company that did business-intelligence implementations, wanted a business intelligence tool that would be affordable for midsize businesses. Instead of answering "any question about anything you can think of," LucidEra focuses on answering the questions business employees are most likely to ask, Rudin says. "I was always frustrated by the fact that (business intelligence is) so complex, that unless you're in a very large company, implementing one of these solutions wasn't going to be feasible," Rudin says.
How did the company get its name? "LucidEra" signifies the company's goal of providing visibility into what is happening within a business.
CEO and background: In addition to Siebel, Rudin has worked at Salesforce.com, NetSuite and Oracle. After his stint as vice president of marketing for Siebel Analytics, he was vice president and general manager of Siebel CRM OnDemand.
Funding: US$7 million in venture funding from Benchmark Capital and Matrix Partners.
Who's using the product? About a dozen customers, including IronPort Systems , Ingres , 3PARdata and SuccessFactors .
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Best Practice in Building an Integrated Information Management Strategy
The state of Middleware
Refresh your AUP: Top tips to ensure your acceptable use policy is fit for purpose
IT Service Management Needs and Adoption Trends: An Analysis of a Global Survey of IT Executives
Solve Exchange Mailbox Storage Issues Once and for All
Achieving the impossible: Unlimited application scalability
Controlling storage costs with Oracle database 11g
Everything you need to know about email and web security (but were afraid to ask)
Zones provide focussed content from Computerworld and leading technology partners.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
- The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid
Click here for more information.
- +
Computerworld Live Podcast #97: The Future of Enterprise Networking 25/07/2008 09:45:36
This week CW Live chats with Mark Thompson, global sales and marketing manager for HP ProCurve, on the future of the enterprise networking. Mark discusses the trends we can expect to see in the near future and how the right infrastructure can ensure your enterprise network is secure. - +
Computerworld Live Podcast #96: Security at the Edge 11/06/2008 09:22:22
CW Live speaks with Amol Mitra, HP ProCurve Director of Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan. Today's topic: how enterprises are starting to shift away from simply controlling security via server logins, firewalls and moving to more adaptive security frameworks. - +
Data Management Edition #10: Multi-Petascale Systems 02/05/2008 09:12:33
This week we look at sustainability and the development of multicore technologies to build multi-petascale systems. - +
IT Security Edition #11: How to poison the Storm botnet 01/05/2008 08:51:55
This week CW Live presents a case study on how to poison the notorious Storm botnet . Plus we take a look at Cisco's plans for Ironport. - +
IT Security Edition #10: Cyber-battles fought and won 24/04/2008 11:09:47
Vendors bow to end user pressure to improve product security, and we take a look at the latest concepts shaping the cyber-battlefield of the future.
F-Secure: Growth In Internet Crime Calls For Growth In Punishment 2008-12-05 13:00:00+11
International researchers gather in Sydney to preview the clever web 2008-12-05 09:48:00+11
Borderless corporate networks to shift focus to secure content management in Australia in 2009 2008-12-04 16:06:00+11
IDC Says Asia/Pacific Excluding Japan IT Market Will Remain The Bright Spot... 2008-12-04 15:04:00+11
MySpot SOS "Panic Button" Smartphone Application could save lone worker lives 2008-12-04 13:34:00+11
Strategies for Eliminating .PST Files
Join industry expert Martin Tuip to discover best practice strategy for the archival and removal of .PST files using email archiving. Learn how to ensure long-term email records are there when needed, and reduce the risk to your business and clients.
Buying Guides
Latest Products
Buying Guides
