Company: Apprenda
Headquarters: Clifton Park, N.Y.
Technology Sector: Software
Key Product: SaaSGrid
Year Founded: 2005
Number of Channel Partners: 2 in U.S., 3 international
Ideal Channel Partner: Business Process Consultant
Why You Should Care: Apprenda says it solves the full gamut of challenges associated with moving apps to the cloud, taking into account infrastructure and business considerations.
The Lowdown: Companies that start down the path to building SaaS applications quickly realize that engineering and architecture takes up most of their time, and that's before operational and management costs are factored in. Apprenda, a Clifton Park, N.Y.-based vendor, solves these issues and helps software companies move their offerings to the cloud.
What separates Apprenda from the pack is that it solves all the fundamental issues involved with SaaS, addressing thorny technical issues like multitenancy and scalability while also handling the business side, according to Sinclair Schuller, CEO of Apprenda. "Some companies focus on the infrastructure, while others focus just on the commercial side. Apprenda offers the bridging technology in the middle," Schuller says.
Apprenda's flagship offering, SaaSGrid, is a distributed application server that ISVs can use to migrate their existing apps to the cloud, and enterprises can use for developing internal line of business apps. Apprenda licenses its technology to software companies, which can install it in their own data centers or in an existing cloud deployment. SaaSGrid applications are built with Microsoft .NET and other Microsoft technologies, making the platform ideal for Microsoft partners.
In addition to solving the architectural issues, Apprenda also tackles the problem of how to track everyone who's using a particular application and ensuring that they're being billed correctly. Schuller says this has been one of the biggest obstacles for cloud apps to date.
"Multitenancy is something you have to tackle at the database level, and it ends up being a huge tax on the development life cycle," he says. "Our technology deals with the intricacy of slicing up those resources. We take that whole burden away from customers, enabling them to deliver their software more effectively."
Apprenda's channel consists of SIs and consulting firms using Apprenda's technology to help their clients move their software to the cloud, according to Schuller. Apprenda is also building an ecosystem of partners, and works with the likes of GoGrid and Amazon in this effort.
"For companies that are looking to move to the cloud, our technology lets you build a SaaS offering without taking on the costs. It's the ecosystem and the multitenancy that set us apart," Schuller says.
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