Mayfield established a solid venture capital track record in the enterprise software industry through investments in pioneering companies such as BroadVision, Legato, TIBCO, webMethods, and Vantive. Today, the web is fundamentally changing the industry. The new paradigm embraces openness. Yet, this very openness has created new business challenges for startups and their customers. Enterprises relying on open source for mission critical infrastructure and applications require rich functionality and attentive customer support. CEOs must safeguard customer information as they conduct business online. Burned by complex software integration of the past, customers increasingly prefer that applications are delivered over the web. And a constant increase in the number of servers has forced IT administrators to search out datacenter consolidation solutions.
Data is growing in volume and complexity. Unprecedented growth in storage requirements forces corporations to seek consolidation solutions that are both flexible and open. 3PARdata's "utility storage" vision permits customers like Merrill Lynch and Verizon to cost effectively scale their storage systems.
Protecting corporate assets is becoming increasingly difficult. Nothing is more critical than protecting data: the corporation's most important asset. Mendocino Software identified the need for disk-based recovery and developed patent-pending technology to meet the most stringent requirements of enterprises. Elemental helps companies meet compliance management needs under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Determina makes a host intrusion prevention system that provides real-time protection from the latest worms, malicious code and hacker attacks.
Productivity applications are distributed at the departmental level. A wide array of new web-based applications are increasing employee productivity throughout the enterprise. Companies like Jobster allow hiring managers to conduct job searches online by leveraging the power of social networks. TrueDemand provides an application that consumer goods manufacturers use to improve product availability with major retailers through replenishment execution and advanced store forecasting. Perfect Commerce built an open web-based network of 11,500 suppliers that departments use to connect and manage relationships.
Distribution methods are more critical than content. "It's no longer just about what you sell, but where and how you sell it," says Mayfield Managing Director Yogen Dalal. Companies like JotSpot (acquired by Google) offer software as a service, challenging the expensive packaged software paradigm. Webroot's anti-spyware business grew exponentially as a result of a multi-faceted sales strategy. In addition to the classic direct enterprise sales force, the company cultivated relationships with VARs and resellers. Even more importantly, Webroot attained a leading position in traditional retailers including Best Buy, CompUSA, Office Depot, Target, and Wal-Mart.
Open source serves as a disruptive business model. Linux paved the way for open source to co-exist alongside proprietary packaged software. "Open source technologies are now finding a home in every corner of the enterprise," says Mayfield Managing Director Robin Vasan. Alfresco provides a robust document and content management application and framework, delivered through an open source model. GroundWork supplies systems monitoring and management software based on popular open source components including Nagios and Ganglia.
New concepts such as virtualization are revolutionizing the industry. Virtualization promises to fundamentally alter the way IT administrators approach systems management. Akimbi Systems (acquired by VMware), for instance, leverages the raw capabilities provided by processor virtualization from VMware and Microsoft to automate the process of dynamically configuring machines for use in the software development and test lifecycle.
