FileMaker Inc., a modest sized but consistently profitable Apple subsidiary, just announced this Tuesday that they will reclaim – and completely reimagine – their ancestral name from more than 20 years ago: Claris.
While this dramatic change shows a clear and deliberate intention towards marketing, rebranding, and an overall company reinvention, newly appointed CEO Brad Freitag emphasized that the FileMaker product (which has seen over 80 consecutive quarters of profitability) is not going anywhere. In fact, Brad stressed in his interview with TechCrunch1, that despite all of the changes, the company will remain “100% committed to the FileMaker platform.”
For those unfamiliar with FileMaker’s history, Claris was the company that provided the office productivity and database software for early Apple Computers. Founded back in 1986, Claris offered popular Apple software classics like MacPaint, MacWrite, and FileMaker. As its other products began to fall to the wayside, Steve Jobs announced in 1998 that the Apple-owned company was rebranding itself as simply “FileMaker Inc.” to emphasize its main product of the same name.
The Claris rebrand is not only an homage to our roots, but Claris – a name meaning clarity, illumination – best represents our technology today and in the future.
– Brad Freitag, CEO
The rebranded company has posted three new articles on the FileMaker website addressing the reasons for the change, their intentions, and their priorities for the years to come. They also mention that the brand of their actual software will preserve its identity as Claris FileMaker. Lastly, Claris has expounded that their vision for a broader, multi-product “Claris Platform” clearly includes FileMaker in a key role of app-creation tool for workplace innovation.
The Claris Platform
While the FileMaker software may be here to stay, Claris intends to expand their reach further than ever before by heavily investing in more “cloud-first, cloud-native web and mobile based applications with easier API integration.” These software trends are becoming an industry standard for software development.
Part of their corporate rebranding is also to emphasize this new standard, promising the addition of completely new and complementary products and services beyond their current FileMaker offerings. Below are the company’s “Four Pillars of the Claris Platform” which outline several of these key ideas and act as a kind of foundational guide:
The Four Pillars of the Claris Platform
- Cloud-First– All new technologies will be built in the cloud with active migration to the cloud while continuing to support hybrid on-premise customers.
- Native Web and Mobile Experiences– Deliver native web and mobile experiences with consistent application authoring and consumption experiences.
- API Integrations and Orchestration– Orchestrate workflow integrations to cloud and on-premise services.
- Emerging Technologies– Enhance all FileMaker services with AI and advanced technologies such as AR/VR.
FileMaker, meet Claris Connect
So how exactly will newly re-monikered Claris approach these four pillars and services? For API integrations at least, the company has already taken a massive first step with Stamplay.
Stamplay, a relatively unknown European startup purchased by Apple for $5.6 million USD back in March2, has now been revealed as a core product: Claris Connect.
Already boasting over 150 “drag and drop connectors” with popular cloud-based apps, like Dropbox, Slack, Twilio, Stripe, and Salesforce, the potential for having something so powerful and easy to use integrated with the FileMaker platform promises to be a BIG game changer.
Stamplay cofounder, Giuliano Iacobelli (now serving as Claris Director of Product Management) refers to the service as “Legos for APIs” or even a kind of “Super power-up, transforming little Mario into a fireball-throwing giant”3.
It remains to be seen what other types of products and services Claris intends to implement in the coming future. Claris Connect will dramatically extend the solutions available to our clients.
There you have it, the company formerly known as FileMaker has now assumed the name Claris, a name rich with beloved history and symbolic overtones as they forge ahead into a broader, multi-solution cloud-centric future. While the company appears to have completely changed its name, image, direction, and CEO, the FileMaker platform itself is here to stay. The new Claris Platform promises exciting offerings to complement FileMaker, like the newly announced Claris Connect.
Want to know more about Claris’s plans and initial announcements at DevCon? Check out our other blog posts “Welcome, Claris” and “Claris Vision” by our CEO Scott Love, in which he shares his reactions to the announcements this week. If you enjoyed this article, please show your support by forwarding it to others and by reposting it on your social media platform of choice.
Related Articles and Sources:
From Codence Inc.
- Welcome, Claris – by CEO Scott Love
- Claris’ Product Vision – by CEO Scott Love
From Claris Inc:
- An introduction – by Brad Freitag, CEO
- A clear future as Claris – by Ann Monroe, VP of Marketing
- The future of the Claris Platform – by Srini Gurrapu, VP of Product Management & Design
Other Sources
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