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In today's world of slick smartphones and information on the go, the database business just isn't that sexy.
It doesn't have to be that way, though, and FileMaker, a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), has created an application that allows users to create Web pages easily viewable on the popular iPhone.
The application, which is built into FileMaker Server -- the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's enterprise database product -- is ideal for mobile workers.
"With a push of a few buttons, you can enter in your data from wherever you are are, and that data is stored on your corporate servers," said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services at FileMaker.
It's a new twist on a company that has been selling database software for small to large businesses since 1998.
Origins in Claris
Back in the 1980s, Apple was mostly a hardware company. However, it controlled a company called "Claris" that built software applications specifically for Macs -- including database software.
When CEO Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the '90s, the company was reorganized, and Claris was moved into the Apple fold.
FileMaker, however, was kept outside of Apple.
"The thinking was that the company would be spun off," Rosenberg said, "but it happened that the company was really doing well and was very profitable. Now, the company is a part of Apple, and it's a subsidiary."
Easy-to-Use Database
Databases are incredibly useful tools -- but too often, many people see them as difficult to understand and unwieldy.
"People think you need a white lab coat if you want to touch one," Rosenberg said. "Our products are designed to be easy to use, however. Someone could do it without any training at all. You also have people with home businesses or small organizations -- such as youth sports where soccer schedules need to be organized."
The company has a wide variety of products, but its most popular is FileMaker Pro, now in its 10th version. The product is targeted to workgroups within organizations.
The newest version was rebuilt to look more like the latest online software applications.
"There has been a major update to the interface -- very much like a Web page and a toolbar, and very interactive with features like built-in saved searches," Rosenberg said.
In mid-October, 2008, FileMaker also updated its consumer product known as "Bento" -- a personal database application.
The company ships about 1 million units of FileMaker Pro per year and counts as customers 70 of the Fortune 100 companies, 50 of the top 50 public universities, an array of government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and numerous small businesses and nonprofits.
In terms of competitors, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Access is FileMaker's main rival.
The company has been profitable since its inception, Rosenberg said.
Strong Mac Foundation
While many of today's CRM (customer relationship management) and Software as a Service applications have supplanted personal databases in business settings, FileMaker still has a strong presence in the Mac world.
"The Apple environment is still based largely around workgroups," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "FileMaker is comfortable and does the job, and there probably isn't a lot of need to migrate away from it. It's hard to see Oracle and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) making much of a play in the Mac space."
