Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Mike Toplisek, EVP, Product and Marketing, EarthLink (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: So, it’s a technology-enabled solution. It’s not a people-empowered service; it’s software as a service.

Mike Toplisek: That’s right. It’s about empowerment. We’re driving more toward that. We have a business with an existing cost structure that enables us to provide human touch as needed. We’ll service our customers in the way that they want to be serviced, but more and more, the way they want to be serviced is by being empowered to make the changes without having to deal with a human touch. That is where most of our investment and research & development are going, into that MyLink control panel. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Mike Toplisek, EVP, Product and Marketing, EarthLink (Part 3)

SM: This is an interesting discussion. When people read this interview, can they gauge how to determine whether or not they would be a fit for you?

MT: Yes. It’s very broad. We play in multiple verticals. So, what we’re doing is alignment of value-add applications and bundling that with other necessary tools like collaboration services and traditional voice and Internet access services, professional services, IT support, security. If it’s a startup with something unique for the health care industry … maybe it does something to help with HIPAA compliance or customer billing for health care, which can be complex, we can bundle that with a lot of other services that are relevant for a regional hospital, for example. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Mike Toplisek, EVP, Product and Marketing, EarthLink (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Talk to me about some of the trends you are seeing.

Mike Toplisek: We started a little less than a year ago bringing some of these cloud computing and IT services to small and medium customers. The interest in the older flows and the funnels have validated the trend we believed to be there, which is that small businesses want to focus on what they do to compete in the marketplace. If they manufacture something, they want to focus on what they manufacture. If it’s a small chain of restaurants, they want to focus on their customers and their menu. Increasingly, it doesn’t make sense for them to invest in the often expensive and technical resources needed to manage servers and care for software programs. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Mike Toplisek, EVP, Product and Marketing, EarthLink (Part 1)

Although you don’t have to forget what you already know about EarthLink, you will have to adjust your thinking a bit. Today, EarthLink is an IT services, network, and communications provider that serves more than a million consumers, with more than 150,000 business customers spread throughout the United States. Cloud computing is the wave of the future, and the executives at EarthLink know that and they want to get their own share of that innovative, ever-changing pie.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Mike. Let’s start with a bit of context about EarthLink and your activities in the cloud. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO, ShareFile by Citrix (Part 5)

SM: Yes. I think one of the points that you raised earlier was that keeping on top of your email is no longer enough because messages are coming at you from all over the place. Even with Facebook messages, you can have them forwarded to your email, or you can have your LinkedIn messages forwarded. But if it’s on the wall or on Twitter, just in the Twitter stream, it’s a lot of keeping track of stuff.

JL: Yes. I feel like every day, I have to go log in to five or six different places to get all the information that might be relevant to me. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO, ShareFile by Citrix (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: When you look at cloud computing in general, where do you see startup opportunities? For example, in 2005, you identified file sharing as one of the opportunities. What do you see today from your vantage point?

Jesse Lipson: I think a lot of customers, especially on the enterprise side, still have not adopted a solution with which they can access and share their data from anywhere. The existing products line that we have around sharing files with people and across all devices still has quite a bit of growth in it for the next few years. I think that’s reflected in some of the valuations of companies like Dropbox and their latest VC rounds. If you look at the projections for the growth of this market, it’s projected to grow almost in the triple digits over the next three to five years. There’s a lot of potential there, and we’re still working to keep building out features and maximize the potential in data sharing. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO, ShareFile by Citrix (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Who are the leaders in those six quadrants? If you look at computer file sharing, who is the leader, in your opinion?

Jesse Lipson: I think on the consumer side, the ad hoc file sharing , companies like YouSendIt have specialized in that area. On the consumer storage and backup solutions, Dropbox tends to be the most popular. I think collectively, those two dominate the consumer space.

SM: And the small business part? >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO, ShareFile by Citrix (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Between 2005 and 2011, at the time of the acquisition by Citrix, how did the revenue run?

Jesse Lipson: We were definitely experiencing triple-digit growth every year. We were in the Inc. 500 the last two years. We actually ranked above some of the heavily venture-funded companies like Box.net and YouSendIt. We were growing faster, and in 2010, which was our first year of eligibility, we were #104 in the Inc. 500. Then I think were #241, maybe, in 2011. We went from one person to four people to 15 people to 30 people and [kept growing]. >>>