Cloud Security Vendor Qualys Ready for IPO

According to research firm TechNavio, the global cloud security market is projected to grow at an estimated annual rate of 41% from 2010 through 2014 to reach $963.4 million. In 2010, the cloud security market accounted for 2% of the overall IT security software market. That share is also projected to grow to 4% by the year 2014. While the market is dominated by big players such as TrendMicro, McAfee, and CA Technologies, which together account for 27%-36% of the market share, smaller players are beginning to make their presence felt.

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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. >>>

RingCentral Gearing Up For IPO

In a report released last year, researchers at firm Point Topic estimated that voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) technology had more than 120 million subscribers worldwide. The report estimated the industry would grow to $40 billion by 2015. VoIP technology has helped many small and medium businesses (SMBs) establish a much bigger presence in the market. Recent news suggests that RingCentral, a leading player catering to SMB demand for phone systems over the cloud, may be looking at raising their IPO.

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Trend Spotting: CarTech, Enterprise Commerce

Over the last few months, my usual trend spotting nose has spotted a couple of interesting trends:

(1) CarTech: Well, I just coined this word. Cars, it seems, want to become more tech savvy, and hence,  the penetration of IT into them is becoming substantially more crucial. Yelp, for instance, wants to be integrated into cars, and it appears that car vendors are responding eagerly.

Recommended Reading: Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Chris Ruff, CEO of UIEvolution | Outsourcing: Ravi Pandit, CEO of KPIT Cummins

(2) Enterprise Commerce: Enterprise SaaS vendors like Concur and Rearden Commerce are becoming significant channels for commerce. The most interesting effect of this transition is the fact that their revenue models could expand to include transaction revenues, beyond subscription revenues. Concur, for example, manages the travel expense reporting process for businesses large and small. They have detailed insights into what people’s travel preferences are, as well as into corporate policy. They can place precise offers from travel vendors consistently, and at the point of purchase. The opportunity is not lost on either Concur or on the travel vendors looking for differentiated ways of engaging with business travelers.

Recommended Reading: Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Steve Singh, CEO of Concur | 1M/1M Incubation Radar: Quadmo

Hope you find it useful to investigate these trends.

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]. >>>

Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO, ShareFile by Citrix (Part 1)

File sharing in the business world has become as common as sending email with attachments. In 2005, when Jesse Lipson launched ShareFile, that was not the case. Lipson founded ShareFile in the days before cloud computing was all the rage. By the time Citrix acquired ShareFile in October 2011, the 100% bootstrapped company had grown from one employee to 165.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Jesse. Let’s start with some context about you, ShareFile, and your acquisition by Citrix. >>>