5 SaaS Companies To Watch
By Dina Moskowitz, CEO and Founder of SaaSMAX
As cloud matures, we see two major trends, consolidation and specialization. Consolidation typically involves larger companies making acquisitions to complete their portfolios, while new and exciting start-ups are innovating and driving specialization. Although these specialists can initially appear to be long-tail plays, it is these ideas that are shaping the future of technology, particularly in software.
The software landscape’s growth these days is mostly attributed to business Cloud Apps (SaaS), and as the founder of SaaSMAX, I’m getting to know many exciting SaaS Apps that are growing their sales through the reseller channel. We all hear about the SaaS sector media sweethearts like DropBox, Salesforce, Ultimate Software, Google Apps, Microsoft Office365, etc., but I thought it would be interesting to highlight a few “under-the radar” and more specialized SaaS solutions that are growing and attracting interest among SaaSMAX resellers.
My picks for five companies to watch:
Clio – Clio is a legal practice management software that enables small and growing law practices to effectively run their legal services operations. While I always thought lawyers would be the most difficult set of customers to transition to “in-the-cloud” solutions, Clio is proving that they’ve figured out how to successfully sell into that sector with a great solution.
FileLocker –FileLocker by Infrascale is a solution for internal and external file sharing, with a simple user interface to aid adoption. What’s interesting is that they include three types of security encryption, and it can be run within a company’s private cloud.
Vana WorkForce – Vana is a robust HR/Workforce management solution that incorporates mobile, social, and global feature sets. I like how they provide transparent pricing and substantial cost savings over typical enterprise HR software products, and how they are making it affordable for non-enterprise companies to access enterprise strength HR tools.
Shiftplanning – Shiftplanning is a simple to use SaaS solution for employee scheduling, time clocking, and payroll. It’s extremely affordable, available on mobile devices for employees, and can create operational efficiencies even for the least technical companies.
GoBIG – GoBIG is an exciting new turnkey guest management Wi-Fi solution that enables retail and hospitality businesses to easy collect, manage, and market to their customers. Now even the smallest independent restaurants and independent hotel operators can afford to offer free Wi-Fi and implement highly professional marketing campaigns.
Dina Moskowitz is recognized by UBM Tech Channel CRN as one of the Top Women in the Channel, the recipient of the SMB 150 Award, the CRN Top 500 Solution Providers Award, and San Diego IT Leadership Award. She has been leading and/or consulting to cloud-based, SaaS and other technology companies throughout her career. As founder and CEO of SaaSMAX Corp., she conceived and built a market place allowing resellers to create new revenues and partner opportunities.Prior to SaaSMAX, Moskowitz was CEO and founder of Critical Digital Data Solutions Inc., which developed cloud-based data storage solutions. She has presented at various IT Channel events, including Channel Partners, SaaS University, CompTIA Breakaway, RetailNOW (RSPA), ChannelPartners, and gSocial 2.0.