NewsGator Technologies

NewsGator Technologies

Type	Private
Industry	Social networking Social computing Computer software Social software Collaboration software Enterprise content management RSS feed reader
Founded	2003
Headquarters	Denver, Colorado, USA
Key people	Greg Reinacker, Founder J.B. Holston, CEO Mark Nass, CFO Brian Kellner, VP, Products Eric Sauve, VP, Tomoye
Products	Social Sites 2010 Social Sites 2007 Tomoye Feed Demon TapLynx NetNewsWire NewsGator Widgets
Employees	85[citation needed]
Website	newsgator.com

NewsGator Technologies, headquartered in Denver, Colorado with offices in Canada and the Netherlands, is a provider of social and collaborative computing software that utilizes Enterprise 2.0 and Government 2.0 technologies. Its flagship product line, Social Sites, integrates with SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) and SharePoint Server 2010.

NewsGator is well known for its consumer RSS aggregators such as NetNewsWire and Feed Demon for the Web, desktop, mobile devices, and email clients. In addition, NewsGator offers Widget Services and iPhone applications that let media and brand companies easily syndicate content. TapLynx is NewsGator's application development framework for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

On January 20, 2010, NewsGator announced their acquisition of Canada-based Tomoye, an enterprise community and collaboration computing vendor who has a strong presence in the government sector and integrates with SharePoint 2007 (MOSS) and Windows SharePoint Services/Foundation (WSS). Existing government-sector customers include the Federal Reserve System, GSA, IRS, National Security Agency, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the US Agency for International Development (US AID), the US Air Force, and the US Army, among others.

Enterprise 2.0

NewsGator’s products help businesses and users adopt Enterprise 2.0 technologies. “Enterprise 2.0 is the strategic integration of Web 2.0 technologies into an enterprise's intranet, extranet and business processes. Enterprise 2.0 implementations generally use a combination of social software and collaborative technologies such as blogs, RSS, social bookmarking, social networking and wikis.”

These technologies are designed to improve collaboration, as well as spur productivity and efficiency through the increased accessibility and availability of information and knowledge. Industry analyst firm Gartner, Inc. predicted ^[1] in April 2010 that, by 2014, social networking services will replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for 20 percent of business users.

Market Differentiation

Rather than a standalone application or point solution, NewsGator’s Social Sites is directly integrated within the SharePoint platform. This direct integration allows companies with existing SharePoint-based infrastructures to easily extend the platform and make it fully social. Social Sites capabilities currently include microblogging^[2], advanced RSS, aggregated activity streams, Q&A, social profiles, rich mobile and desktop clients, communities, ideation, social analytics, and expertise location.

NewsGator focuses on creating products that increase collaboration and productivity within companies. NewsGator currently designs solutions for the consumer and packaged goods, financial services, life sciences, professional services, technology, and manufacturing industries - as well as for government and military agencies.

Company History

NewsGator was founded by Greg Reinacker in 2003. The company was initially focused on developing the potential of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to transform the way people consume information. Early on, the company decided to shift business focus from the individual/consumer to the organization/enterprise. Following this decision, Newsgator focused on developing an enterprise-class server-based product - NewsGator Enterprise Server - that let companies deploy RSS aggregation technology to help streamline internal communications and information awareness. The evolution of this platform’s feature set, including connecting with Active Directory and Exchange server, led to a closer working relationship with Microsoft and the first version of Social Sites.

In December 2007, NewsGator closed a new $12 million round of funding. Led by new investor Vista Ventures, the round also included existing investors—Mobius Venture Capital and Masthead Venture Partners. Most recently in January 2009, the company earned a new $10 million funding round^[3] from investors that again included Masthead Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital, and Vista Ventures.

On January 9, 2008 NewsGator announced that all of its client RSS reader products would be available free of charge, with free synchronization through NewsGator’s online platform included.^{[4] [5]}

Products

• Enterprise Software
  • Social Sites 2010 for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
  • Social Sites 2007 for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS)
  • Tomoye^[6]
• RSS Feed Readers
  • Feed Demon
  • NetNewsWire
  • TapLynx
  • NewsGator Widgets

Corporate Social Responsibility

NewsGator is very focused on corporate social responsibility and is highly engaged in many worthwhile activates within the community. One of the largest initiatives that NewsGator is involved in is the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado. This foundation’s main goals are to ensure the long term health and sustainability of Colorado. As a founding member, NewsGator is committed to helping EFCO identify entrepreneurs early on in their endeavors that are also committed to their goals. The members of this board provide advice and financial resources to the selected entrepreneurs with the hope that they will eventually make a positive difference within the state.

Some of NewsGator’s other philanthropic activates include sponsorships and support for the March of Dimes, Coats for Colorado, Children’s Hospital, and The Denver Rescue Mission.

Management team

NewsGator is led by a team of experienced executives from diverse backgrounds, including:

• J.B. Holston – CEO and President – J.B. has run a wide range of technology and media enterprises over the last two decades. As President of Ziff Davis International, Holston managed Ziff Davis' operations across more than 100 countries, and launched Yahoo! Europe. He’s also held senior posts with General Electric, NBC, and the Boston Consulting Group.
• Walker Fenton – General Manager, Media & Consumer Products – Walker began his career in the Internet working for Netcom Online Communications, the first nationwide dial-up Internet Service Provider, and has since been involved with several start-ups including dbDoctor, Inc. and Xaffire, Inc.
• Dave Keller – General Manager, Enterprise – In charge of sales and business development, Dave has held executive sales management positions at several successful early-stage companies including The Saddlebrook Corporation, Mosaix (now Avaya), Individual Inc., and IONA Technologies.
• Brian Kellner – Vice President of Products" – Responsible for product development, Brian has held product and development management positions for over 12 years. Prior to joining NewsGator, he was Vice President of Enterprise Products for Webroot Software.
• Mark Nass – Chief Financial Officer – Overseeing all finance, accounting, and administration operations at NewsGator, Mark previously was CEO of SmartTalk, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado.
• Melissa Risteff – Vice President of Marketing – Melissa is responsible for all marketing activities at NewsGator. She has held senior level marketing and product management roles at Sun Microsystems and General Electric.
• Mike McGurkin – Vice President of Services and Support – Mike is responsible for services and technical support for all NewsGator customers. Prior to joining NewsGator, Mike served as VP of Services and Support at Vericept, a network security enterprise software provider.
• Eric Sauve – Vice President of Tomoye – The founder of Tomoye, Eric is a leading expert on Web 2.0 technologies, communities, and social networking. Eric has worked with private and public sector organizations to help them make Web 2.0 a reality in their organization and drive meaningful business results.

Investors

NewsGator is currently funded by these leading early-stage venture capital firms:

• Masthead Venture Partners^[7]
• Mobius Venture Capital^[8]
• Vista Ventures^[9]

Clients

This is a handful of current NewsGator customers:

• Accenture
• Adidas
• Avanade
• CME Federal Credit Union
• Defense Acquisition University (DAU)
• Deloitte
• Edelman^[10]
• Merck^[11]
• Ericsson
• General Mills
• Kraft Foods
• JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Merck & Co.
• USAID
• Unisys Corporation
• United States Air Force
• United States Army
• Universal McCann

References

1. ^ http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1293114
2. ^ http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/newsgator-adds-microblogging-iphone-client-support-to-sharepoint-006739.php
3. ^ http://www.cio.com/article/475720/Enterprise_2.0_Vendor_NewsGator_Gets_Funding_Boost
4. ^ http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/10/rss-newsgator-feeddemon-tech-intel-cx_bc_0110rss.html
5. ^ http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/01/09/netnewswire.free/
6. ^ http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/newsgator-acquires-tomoye-expands-solution-offering-markets-006462.php
7. ^ http://www.mvpartners.com
8. ^ http://www.mobiusvc.com
9. ^ http://www.vistavc.com
10. ^ http://www.intranetstoday.com/Issues/1660-Jan-Feb-2010.htm
11. ^ http://aiimcommunities.org/e20/blog/conversation-mercks-bob-maguire-onemerck-and-one-place-work

External links

• NewsGator Technologies, Inc.