Counting the "cloud" concept unit in U.S. stocks

SaaS (Software-as-a-service) means software as a service, a software application model that provides software services based on the Internet, a SaaS provider for all network infrastructure and software and hardware platforms needed to build information for an enterprise, and is responsible for all prior implementation, After the maintenance of a series of services, enterprises do not need to buy hardware and software, building rooms, recruiting IT staff, can use the Internet Information System. Just like opening a tap to water, an enterprise leases software services from a SaaS provider, depending on the actual needs.

In the area of SaaS, in addition to the well-known companies like Salesforce, as well as other software giants such as Microsoft, Oracle and IBM that were followed up, other companies listed in the United States or planned to go public are also involved in this area, and they are engaged in a variety of business, have to do online expansion of food, Have to do Word-of-mouth marketing, have to do online video platform, but also to do E-commerce platform and so on. This article will give you a brief introduction to these SaaS companies.

Operation mode: OpenTable is an online booking platform in the United States, the company to the restaurant customers to provide a set of electronic book Book (REB) software, borrowed from the network to the restaurant to transport meal booking services. Through this set of software, the OpenTable website can be used for commercial reservation management, table management, mail marketing and customer relationship management. OpenTable This SaaS operating model partly offsets the volatility of consumer spending brought about by the macro economy, which in the past has mostly become the dominant form of profit by advertising or booking, while OpenTable sells Reb systems and charges monthly fees to restaurants. Reb system from the OpenTable site to accept diners dinner table booking information (diners can also through the restaurant site directly to order the meal), of course, OpenTable to the restaurant to charge a predetermined channel fees, that is, scheduled fee income. At present, the company has developed into a well-known U.S. online booking platform.

IPO information: May 22, 2009, OpenTable in the Nasdaq market IPO, the issue price of 20 U.S. dollars, the first day of the listing rose 59%, the report 31.89 U.S. dollars, the market value of 626 million U.S. dollars. At present, the company's stock price of about 33 dollars, market value of 800 million U.S. dollars.

2) Bazaarvoice: Using SaaS technology to service Internet reviews

Operation mode: "Bazaarvoice" literally understand "market voice" means, this company for brand manufacturers and retailers and other customers to organize, show, analyze consumer network word-of-mouth social Business Solutions, to the customer site to provide comments platform SaaS solution. With Bazaarvoice SaaS (software as a service) platform, customers can improve product sales, marketing efficiency, access to new users, improve products and quality of service, in general, compared to business advertising, consumers are more willing to believe that other users feel, That is, consumer comments have a big impact on product sales and product improvement, and Bazaarvoice's socialized business solutions will help businesses build "consumer-centric" business models. The company's customers cover retail, automotive, tourism and leisure, the Internet, financial services, health care and other major industries. The company's active users reached 587 in 2010.

IPO information: August 27, 2011, Bazaarvoice to the SEC to submit an IPO application, the proposed listing to raise 86 million U.S. dollars. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse are mainly underwriters.

3) Demandware: Use SaaS as an E-commerce platform manufacturer

Operating mode: Demandware is an on-demand e-business solutions provider. Demandware provides customers with an SOA (service-oriented architecture) based e-business platform that sells e-business solutions and related products to retail business customers, helping them improve the operational efficiency of e-business platforms and the consumer's shopping experience. With the help of Demandware solutions, customers can choose the type of service according to the needs of their respective e-commerce sites, and can even choose an application development environment to make their own customized applications and build a personalized business platform. Demandware's clients are involved in a number of industries, including apparel, health and beauty, sporting goods, household goods, furniture and gardening, and as of March 31, 2011, the company's customers reached 75, with 237 e-commerce sites operating on its platform.

IPO information: July 15, 2011, the company submitted the SEC document plan to land on the NYSE listing, the stock trading code for DWRE,IPO raised funds up to 100 million U.S. dollars, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank will be its joint underwriter.

4 Brightcove: Online video platform with SaaS

Operating mode: Brightcove was founded in 2004, is a professional video content distributor, Brightcove with its "video cloud" platform to help customers publish and distribute their video and other digital media content. GM, for example, has launched a new model that wants to advertise on its own website, and it can spend money to subscribe to the Brightcove technology platform to post video content. Brightcove.brightcove Target group into the corporate video market, creating a business-to-business model of the online video platform. Other customers, such as media content producers, web publishers and advertisers, can distribute content in the form of online television by subscribing to Brightcove related technical service platforms. At the same time, consumers or viewers can view, discover, share and participate in the channel through Brightcove.

IPO information: August 24, 2011, Brightcove to the SEC to submit an IPO application plan to land on the Nasdaq listing, the stock code is "Bcov", the IPO proposed to finance 50 million of dollars.

5 ExactTarget: Use SaaS to do marketing promotion

Operating mode: ExactTarget is a "software as a service" company, mainly to provide customers with on-demand cross-platform interactive marketing application software. Simply put, customers use the software services and tools provided by the company (including email applications, mobile applications, social media, and Web application software to design, optimize, and implement their own marketing activities, while helping customers achieve real-time communication with target consumers, such as posting email coupons, automatic anti-fraud reminders , electronic declarations, SMS text messages, and so on.

IPO information: The company submitted an IPO application in 2007, plans to land on Nasdaq, but then suffered the U.S. financial crisis, the IPO aborted. Beijing Time November 24 the company again submitted a listing application, the plan to raise up to 100 million U.S. dollars.

Supplemental information: What are the advantages of SaaS?

Not only does SaaS reduce or eliminate traditional software licensing costs, but vendors deploy applications on a unified server, eliminating end-user server hardware, network security equipment, and software upgrades for maintenance expenses, Customers do not need it investments other than personal computers and Internet connections to get the software and services they need over the Internet. SaaS vendors usually charge according to the software modules rented by the customer, so users can order the software application service on demand, while traditional management software is usually the buyer needs to pay a substantial fee to start. For a large number of small and medium-sized Enterprises, SaaS is the best way to adopt advanced technology, which eliminates the need for enterprises to purchase, build and maintain infrastructure and applications.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)