Lecture: The Top 100 Software Companies of 2020

Introduction

• The Software Report announced "The Top 100 Software Companies of 2020."
• Companies span various functionalities: data analytics, business intelligence, workflow tools, sales enablement, security, etc.
• Selection based on nominations, product strength, management, organizational composition, and growth.

Top Companies Overview

1. Salesforce

• Category: Customer Relationship Management
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Innovator in SaaS and CRM with Customer 360 platform.
• Offers automation for sales and marketing processes.
• Clients: Farmers Insurance, ADP, Amazon Web Services.
• ARR: $17.1 billion.

2. Workday

• Category: Human Capital Management
• Location: Pleasanton, CA
• Focuses on cloud-based HR and Financial Management.
• Clients: HubSpot, Netflix, Quicken Loans.
• ARR: $1 billion/quarter.

3. ServiceNow

• Category: IT Service Management
• Location: Santa Clara, CA
• Offers Platform-as-a-Service for business automation.
• CEO: Bill McDermott.
• Tackles workplace health with Safe Workplace suite.

4. Akamai

• Category: Cloud Computing
• Location: Cambridge, MA
• Leader in content delivery networks (CDN).
• Founded by Tom Leighton and Danny Lewin.
• Revenue: $2.7 billion in 2019.

5. Zoho

• Category: Customer Relationship Management
• Location: Chennai, India
• Offers integrated cloud-based CRM solutions.
• Over 50 million customers worldwide.

6. Tableau

• Category: Data Analytics and Visualization
• Location: Mountain View, CA
• Acquired by Salesforce.
• Known for customizable data visualization dashboards.

7. Splunk

• Category: Data Analysis
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Data-to-Everything platform for real-time insights.
• Partnership with Google Cloud.

8. Cvent

• Category: Event Management
• Location: Tysons, VA
• Focuses on virtual event management and integration with video platforms.

9. Veeam

• Category: Data Management and Backup
• Location: Baar, Switzerland
• Provides IT backup and data protection solutions.
• Acquired by Insight Partners.

10. Atlassian

• Category: Project Management
• Location: Sydney, Australia
• Known for Jira and Confluence platforms.
• Offices in NYC, Amsterdam, Manila.

Notable Companies & Innovations

Zoom

• Category: Business Communications
• Location: San Jose, CA
• Gained popularity for videotelephony during the pandemic.
• Concerns over security lapses addressed.
• Valuation: $16 billion.

Slack

• Category: Business Communication
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Introduced Slack Connect for business-to-business communication.
• Partnered with AWS.

Stripe

• Category: Financial Services
• Location: San Francisco, CA
• Provides payment processing solutions globally.
• Valuation: $36 billion.

Qualtrics

• Category: Experience Management
• Location: Seattle, WA / Provo, UT
• Acquired by SAP for $8 billion.
• Focus on customer and employee experience data.

ZoomInfo

• Category: Business Information
• Location: Vancouver, WA
• Offers a database for marketers to find clients.
• Valuation: $13.4 billion post-IPO.

Conclusion

These top software companies are leaders in their respective fields, providing innovative solutions that are critical to the modern business infrastructure. Their impact spans globally, contributing to advancements in technology, business efficiency, and digital transformation.