BackWeb Updates ProactivePortal Server

BackWeb

"The key element of BackWeb that interests me is the disconnected use," said Larry Bowden, vice president of portal solutions at IBM, one of BackWeb's vendor partners. "The great majority of opportunities that we are seeing are business-to-employee environments for the portal."

The new version of ProactivePortal Server bolsters the San Jose-based vendor's portal technology, which allows users to remotely access key content for offline and online viewing. The product also features alerts for timely critical content and a closed-loop delivery system. Cost runs at about $100 per user, according to the company.

IBM, also a BackWeb customer, was impressed enough with the product to jointly package the ProactivePortal Server with the IBM WebSphere Portal and begin bidding it as a full solution to IBM customers, said Bowden.

The formal relationship with IBM is the first official reseller agreement signed by the emerging portal vendor. BackWeb has also strengthened its channel efforts in the form of preferred partnerships with SAP Portals and Plumtree. In each instance, BackWeb is positioned as the offline vendor of choice.

Eli Barkat, CEO of BackWeb, said the company's focus on partnering with leading vendors this year is in synch with an IT market focus that has shifted from finding great products to successful deployment.

"It's impossible to find one vendor to give you everything you need in the portal space," said Barkat. "So the portal space is evolving more into an ecosystem of solutions that complement each other, and that's great news for the channel."

Patrick Tormey, director of strategic alliances for Unitas, a Waltham, Mass.-based portal e-services company, said BackWeb's new product allows Unitas to help clients solve the mobile user problem.

"Life as a portal user won't really change," said Tormey. "But the disconnected use [that ProactivePortal Server provides bridges the gap created by a purely Web solution and a client/server solution."

There's no official partnership yet between BackWeb and Unitas, but Tormey said BackWeb's cooperative marketing agreement with Plumtree, a strategic alliance partner with Unitas, is the linchpin that allowed the portal integrator to tap into the disconnected portal technology. Tormey said it's already resonating with clients. For instance, he said Unitas is working with a financial services client now sold on implementing the technology.

Bob Braham, vice president of marketing at BackWeb, said the small company is not yet in a position to sign up a number of integrators, which he and Barkat identify as key partners in portal implementation, but BackWeb is engaged in conversations to further the company's channel strategy.

"As we get more traction and become more mature, that will be the next phase in our reseller and solution provider/channel strategy," said Braham. "Right now the focus is working with framework."