Kaazing
Careers at Kaazing
Mission
Kaazing’s mission is to offer its customers secure, on-demand Application-to-Application (A2A) connectivity without the need for legacy networking solutions.
History
John Fallows was an employee at Oracle Corporation, one of the architects behind the company’s web applications. His work made him highly knowledgeable about the difficulties involved in creating web application software. He and his colleague Jonas Jacobi decided to capitalize on this expertise by writing a book about the technology they used. Much of the content included involved the process of making the web more interactive, with more real-time capabilities.
Fallows and Jacobi left Oracle and spent time promoting the book. The two traveled around the world giving talks at developer conferences, which helped build their personal brand. They were often asked whether they had any demos illustrating their proposed solutions. This response encouraged them to launch their own company, Kaazing, in 2007. The firm provides a platform that simplifies web application development and deployment. It also enables real-time, instantaneous delivery of data to mobile devices and browsers from any type of enterprise information system.
Kaazing raised money early on to help it get off to a strong start, and garnered a $1 million investment in 2008 from a Series A round of funding. It used these funds to build its product line. The company initially focused on customers in the financial services industry, as they deal with a large volume of information and tend to have a strong preference for centralized deployment. It ultimately expanded to the retail and logistics sectors. Because of its success, Kaazing was able to raise $4 million in 2010 in a Series B round, $17 million in 2012, and $15 million in 2013 from investors.
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Business model of Kaazing
Customer Segments
Kaazing has a mass market business model, with no significant differentiation between customers. The company targets its offerings at companies across industries that want to simply the development of web and mobile applications and rely less on complex web architecture.
Value Proposition
Kaazing offers three primary value propositions: performance, risk reduction, and brand/status.
The company’s WebSocket solution improves performance by minimizing the drag on connectivity for services. Specifically, it connects cloud applications to on-premise services without application code changes. Its network architecture can scale to support hundreds of applications at a time.
The company’s Enterprise Shield solution reduces risk by enabling access to a trusted network while maintaining security behind the firewall. Administrators typically need to open a port to the outside world to allow access, creating the risk of hacks. The solution allows them to close their inbound ports while still being able to initiate connections.
The company has established a strong brand due to its success. It pioneered the innovative HTML5 WebSocket standard. Its customers include one of the world’s top trading and energy-producing firms, one of the world’s largest five commercial airlines, one of the three leading U.S. transportation companies, and one of the top global retail brands. Specific customers include Allstate Insurance, HSBC, FedEx, United Airlines, BMC Software, JPMC, Union Pacific, Banque Populaire, and XPO.
Channels
Kaazing’s main channel is its direct sales team, through which it acquires most customers; its website is also used for this purpose. The company promotes its offering through the site, its social media pages, and attendance at various industry conferences.
Customer Relationships
Kaazing’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service, automated nature. Customers utilize the service through the main platform while having limited interaction with employees. The company’s website features several self-help resources, including “how-to” articles, tutorials, white papers, case studies, data sheets, demos, developer documentation, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Despite this orientation, there is a personal assistance element in the form of e-mail support. The company also offers phone support, the extent of which varies by subscription level. Customers with a “K2” level subscription can receive guidance 12 hours a day, five days a week (Monday to Friday), while those with a “K1” level subscription can receive support 24/7.
Key Activities
Kaazing’s business model entails maintaining and updating its platform for its customers.
Key Partners
Kaazing operates a partner program that provides training, solutions, and other support needed for third parties to serve their customers effectively with its product. The program has two categories:
Technology Partner – Includes OEM, Certified Technology Partner, and Referral partnerships. Kaazing works with companies that build enterprise web and mobile solutions using its technology (specifically WebSockets and its Kaazing Gateway). Specific partners include Apica, BMC Software, Informatica, ITRS, Neotys, and Tibco.
System Integration Partner – Includes Certified Implementation Partner and Reseller partnerships. The company works with third parties by providing them with necessary tools and resources to help them ensure a successful deployment of its platform for customers. Specific partners include Cognizant, DataArt, Ekito, Ener4Soft, Hartford Consulting Group, JDK, Kentor, StormMQ, Tavant Technologies, and Zenika.
Key Resources
Kaazing’s main resource is its proprietary software platform. It also depends on its human resources in the form of technology staff, particularly its skilled application server professionals. Other important employees include customer service workers who can provide up to 24/7 support. Lastly, as a startup it has relied heavily on funding from outside parties, raising $37.02 million from four investors as of April 2013.
Cost Structure
Kaazing has a cost-driven structure, aiming to minimize expenses through significant automation and low-price value propositions. Its biggest cost driver is likely research and development, a fixed expense. Other major drivers are in the areas of customer support/operations, administration, and sales/marketing, all fixed expenses.
Revenue Streams
Kaazing has one revenue stream: the subscription fees it charges for access to its platform. Its pricing is not publicly available – sales staff must be contacted for specifics.
