|
Data who? DataChannel may not be a household name in the world of high tech, but thanks to the Bellevue (Wash.) company and others like it, people don't have to know how to code XML when sending information over the Web. They don't even have to know that XML, or extensible markup language, is fast becoming the new language of the Internet -- allowing for an easy exchange of data, as HTML allows for the fixed display of info on the Web. Both languages use pointed brackets around codes that identify data so the computer knows what it's reading. By coding data this way, an XML-based site allows anyone who logs on to not only access and read data but also change it. "So many portals just bring you information," says Kate Fessenden, a research analyst at Boston-based Aberdeen Group. "Yahoo!, Mindspring, Northern Light -- you send in a query to any of them and you get an answer, but you can't do anything with it but read it or print it. If you go in through a DataChannel portal and get information on, say, a purchase order, you can adjust it and respond to it and put it back in the system in a changed way." "LEADING THE WAY." What DataChannel does is build corporate portals using the XML language. That way, a company can store all its information and make it available to employees -- and maybe clients and partners, too. Things like sales numbers, personnel records, product specifications, documents, and e-mail can be found in one place. And it's all coded in XML, which makes it possible to easily transfer data from computer to computer -- from a Web server, say, to a PC word-processing program like Microsoft Word -- then change it and send it back. Plenty of companies, including Sequoia Software, PlumTree Software, and WebMethods, are working to make XML an Internet standard for data transfer. Like its competitors, DataChannel essentially puts all the corporate data through an XML strainer, places it on a server, and sets up the portal so employees or clients can reach it. But DataChannel differs from its competitors in an important way: Because it made XML a central part of its business from the beginning, it has always emphasized the two-way exchange of data and is better at it than its competitors, analysts say. "From a pure technology standpoint, DataChannel is leading the way," says Joshua Walker, a senior analyst at Forrester Research. EASY ACCESS. A production manager, for example, might call up a list of widgets that are ready for shipping and send it to a sales manager, who could then alter the list based on demand from clients and forward it to the distribution manager. It all happens without the usual problems that crop up when transferring data from one computing program to another. For example, since different programs read different data formats, when sending info to a co-worker, you might have to copy and paste it into another program to allow him or her to open it. XML bypasses that difficulty, making the same data available to everyone in the same format. Other companies are good at bringing data together in one place, but because they added XML late and it's not a central part of their systems, the two-way exchange is not as easy, analysts say. Some of the biggest names in technology, venture capital, and consulting are betting that XML will become the lingua franca for Internet data -- and that DataChannel will be one of the market leaders. The company recently raised $45 million in a financing round led by longtime San Francisco fund manager Garrett Van Wagoner, who has a venture-capital business in addition to his mutual funds. Plenty of big-name clients are using DataChannel's service. KPMG Consulting, in a partnership with Cisco, hired DataChannel to provide the server and build portals to enable KPMG to offer online-consulting services for businesses. And Boeing hired the company to provide XML training to employees and managers so they'll know how to enter future data and content. DataChannel says that, typically, a top American corporation may pay $1.5 million for a package that includes the server, pulling together data in XML, building the portal, and mapping the way to the data through the portal. DataChannel expects to earn $18 million in revenue this year, up nearly 150% from 1999. The company projects it will more than double sales again in 2001, to $40 million. IPO-BOUND? DataChannel was founded in 1996 by Dave Pool, who created SPRY, one of the first Internet browsers. Pool later sold SPRY to CompuServe for $103 million. Today, he runs a venture-capital firm called the XML Fund, which holds stakes in DataChannel as well as several other companies that have complementary XML-based products. These include Aventail Corp., which helps companies use XML to share information with business partners, and search-engine maker XML Global Technologies. Pool is still chairman and a major shareholder in DataChannel, although he's not active in the day-to-day running of the company. At the helm now is Lucie Fjeldstad, a former IBM exec. What's next for DataChannel? Company executives say they hope to go public, though they haven't registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission. They're also building portals for applications-service providers, as well as business-to-business sites, where they face stiff competition from other XML-based companies like WebMethods. And while its products are still mostly for the big guys, the company is working on bringing less-expensive portals to smaller companies. That may not be enough for the company to become profitable, says Forrester's Walker. He says DataChannel will have to move beyond creating online networks within single companies or among a few partners and court online exchanges with multiple parties doing business. Only then will XML become a truly global Internet language. Michael Molinski is a freelance writer based in San Francisco |
