In just 15 years using the modern, personalized internet, Americans have seen many areas revolutionized, from communication to sales. As convenience has increased, so has the speed of information so that seemingly every service can be accessed over the internet at the push of a button. Nowhere is this more prevalent than the business world, where online tools are increasing the speed and convenience of sales, services, acquisition and analysis. And in some cases, previously held business sectors are becoming obsolete.

With cloud computing, a type of mobile software service that allows technicians to install software and implement technical changes to entire computer networks over the internet, corporations are doing away with in-house IT departments. But while cloud computing allows large corporations the ability to shave a few dollars off their bottom line, smaller businesses are looking to get in on the action. Carlisle's WorkXpress has been putting small business heads in the clouds since 2003 but, because cloud computing is such a new phenomenon, the company is considered an innovator and an upstart. When global software consultants BTC Logic released their highly-lauded ranking report this week, WorkXpress rated amongst the best up-and-coming cloud firms in the nation.

"We have been offering our solutions since 2004 but cloud computing has only been popularly talked about since (2008-09) so there are companies being formed while we had been working on it for six to seven years at that point," says WorkXpress CEO Treff LaPlante. "Not only does this make our positioning unique, but we have a history of five to six years of customer engagement backing it up. Normally they wouldn't look at a company our size."

WorkXpress, housed in the Murata Business Center and a Keystone Innovation Zone, has distanced themselves from larger firms like IBM, Amazon and Microsoft by creating a cloud platform that requires no programming and no previous knowledge of computer languages. Companies that can't afford to employ programmers can still work within the WorkXpress model, which LaPlante believes sets his firm apart from his Goliath-sized competitors and is making the analysts and consultants take note.

"When you look at what IBM is offering, they are trying to speak to developers or systems administrators, whereas we are trying to speak to guys who are really good with a spreadsheet," says LaPlante. "The notion of taking all these complex capabilities and trying to include the semi-technical person, I guess, is an exciting vision to a lot of people."

Source: Treff LaPlante, WorkXpress
Writer: John Steele