KlipFolio
Encyclopedia
Klipfolio Inc., is a Canadian Software company founded in 2001 and headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. The company was originally known as Serence Inc., reserving the Klipfolio name for its software dashboard product. With the emergence of XML
, RSS
, news aggregators and widgets
in 2001, the company initially focused on the consumer market, and later moved into the enterprise dashboard and operational business intelligence (OBI) space. Klipfolio has clients today in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Klipfolio Dashboard is now released in version 6.0.
. The program uses dashboard modules, called Klip
s to display KPIs (key performance indicators) and information that a user or organization chooses to see at all times.
Klipfolio Dashboard appears as an enterprise widget
which can take the form of a top bar, bottom bar, sidebar
, or a floating widget. The application installs with a variety of common Klip
s though many more are available for download.
Klip
s can be moved, resized, and reordered by the user. Alternatively, enterprise IT departments can "lock down" part or all of the Klips or the look and feel of Klipfolio Dashboard to guarantee that users are presented with the KPIs prioritized by the business.
Klips can present and sort data in columns, bar charts, interactive pie charts, and spark lines. Mousing over any data point triggers additional background information to appear in a fly out and clicking can take a user directly to the underlying enterprise data system with no additional log in required.
Klipfolio Publisher is a secure, hosted, and real-time messaging and alerting system that lets managers and communicators notify colleagues and coworkers without IT intervention. The author can choose both the timing and severity of their published messages. For example, an internal communications user could schedule a notification and link to an important new press release or announcement to arrive at the same time as the news is issued to the market. Depending on how important the announcement is, the alert may appear as passive news within Klipfolio Dashboard or as a highly visible alert on the desktop that requires user acknowledgment.
Klips are XML
files that contain markup
, styles and JavaScript
and provide the Klipfolio Dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as flat file
formatted data, XML
based data feeds, relational database
s and multi-dimensional databases/OLAP, in order to increase the visibility of business critical data.
Klipfolio offers an SDK
for developers who wish to write Klips for Klipfolio Dashboard. An official Klipblog and developer section has been created to support Klip developers
based semantic markup language which creates relationships among disparate bits of data, helps to present these data bits in a consistent manner, and allows a developer to create and modify Klips. Employing a semantic markup language also makes Klipfolio Dashboard portable: appropriate context for the data it presents can be maintained on the desktop
, on a mobile device, or even via an automated voice system.
The application is built using proprietary internal systems including an XML
parser
and HTTP
stack along with tailor made image scaling and PNG decoding. These developments were all designed to fit within a core code package that is still less than 500 KB
.
Klipfolio Dashboard also includes CSS
-based matching architecture to aid in the semantic markup of structured data based on HTML
and XML
.
KPI dashboards or enterprise dashboards. In 2008, Serence rebranded the company as Klipfolio Inc. to take advantage of the brand recognition of Klipfolio Dashboard in the marketplace. The move reflected an increased emphasis by the firm on the enterprise or business dashboard market.
The story of Serence and Klipfolio begins in 2001 when Allan Wille (CEO
) and Peter Matthews (Chief Experience Officer|CXO) pursue their vision of a simple application that assembles current information from multiple sources into a single, consistent, and coherent presentation format. Firms like PointCast
pioneered a similar market in the mid 1990s. But the convergence of new technologies like XML
, RSS
, and ubiquitous broadband
along with growing expectations from users in the late ’90s hinted at a future that Allan and Peter were excited to explore. Joined a month later by James Scott (CTO
), this trio represents the founding drive behind Serence and the Klipfolio Dashboard community.
The first version of Klipfolio Dashboard appeared later that year. As an early RSS reader, it leveraged this emerging technology to gather the information required to populate its various Klip
s.
2002 represented a year of busy start-up activity for the company. The application evolved to include a JavaScript
-based semantic markup language
which created relationships among disparate bits of data, helped to present these data bits in a consistent manner, and allowed a developer to create and modify Klip
s. Additionally, a strong belief in user interface
, and information design
excellence, drawing on the work by Edward Tufte
and , the company has adopted a very responsible and clean design philosophy.
To avoid various integration and performance challenges associated with off-the-shelf code, the research and development
team opted for proprietary internal systems including an XML parser, HTTP stack and novel CSS
-based matching architecture. These developments were all designed to fit within a core code package that is still less than 500 KB
.
At the same time, the public’s prevailing interest in start-up technology stories combined with the firm's interest in media coverage resulted in a unique relationship with The Ottawa Business Journal
. As the Serence team grew, pursued investment, research and development, and clients, The Ottawa Business Journal followed the story in a year long series of articles that represented the print equivalent of reality television
and wide exposure for a young firm.
For online retailers, publishers, and other e-businesses, Klipfolio Dashboard was among the first branded desktop applications (known today as Rich Internet Applications
). These RIAs represented an additional opt-in advertising channel that facilitated two-way interaction with customers rather than passive brand promotion. Over time, household names like Staples, Intel and H&R Block
began to take advantage of what Klipfolio Dashboard had to offer for their customers.
By 2007, the company's primary focus had shifted to the operational business intelligence
market. For the enterprise, Klipfolio Dashboard is used to increase the visibility of business-critical information of key performance indicators from different corporate databases and applications. To take advantage of these benefits, enterprise clients such as Lufthansa
, EMC
and IBM
have since deployed Klipfolio Dashboard as part of their operational business intelligence strategy.
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
, RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
, news aggregators and widgets
Software widget
A software widget is a generic type of software application comprising portable code intended for one or more different software platforms. The term often implies that either the application, user interface, or both, are light, meaning relatively simple and easy to use, as exemplified by a desk...
in 2001, the company initially focused on the consumer market, and later moved into the enterprise dashboard and operational business intelligence (OBI) space. Klipfolio has clients today in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Klipfolio Dashboard is now released in version 6.0.
Products
Klipfolio Dashboard is a KPI dashboard for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. The program uses dashboard modules, called Klip
Klip
Klip is an XML file that contains markup, styles and JavaScript that provides the Klipfolio dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as web pages, RSS feeds, databases, and proprietary XML back-ends...
s to display KPIs (key performance indicators) and information that a user or organization chooses to see at all times.
Klipfolio Dashboard appears as an enterprise widget
Widget engine
In computer software, a widget engine is a software service available to users for running and displaying applets on a graphical user interface, such as that of the desktop.The widget model in widget engines is attractive because of ease of development...
which can take the form of a top bar, bottom bar, sidebar
Sidebar (computing)
The sidebar is a term that is used for a GUI element that displays various forms of information to the side of an application or desktop user interface.-Widgets in sidebars:...
, or a floating widget. The application installs with a variety of common Klip
Klip
Klip is an XML file that contains markup, styles and JavaScript that provides the Klipfolio dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as web pages, RSS feeds, databases, and proprietary XML back-ends...
s though many more are available for download.
Klip
Klip
Klip is an XML file that contains markup, styles and JavaScript that provides the Klipfolio dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as web pages, RSS feeds, databases, and proprietary XML back-ends...
s can be moved, resized, and reordered by the user. Alternatively, enterprise IT departments can "lock down" part or all of the Klips or the look and feel of Klipfolio Dashboard to guarantee that users are presented with the KPIs prioritized by the business.
Klips can present and sort data in columns, bar charts, interactive pie charts, and spark lines. Mousing over any data point triggers additional background information to appear in a fly out and clicking can take a user directly to the underlying enterprise data system with no additional log in required.
Klipfolio Publisher is a secure, hosted, and real-time messaging and alerting system that lets managers and communicators notify colleagues and coworkers without IT intervention. The author can choose both the timing and severity of their published messages. For example, an internal communications user could schedule a notification and link to an important new press release or announcement to arrive at the same time as the news is issued to the market. Depending on how important the announcement is, the alert may appear as passive news within Klipfolio Dashboard or as a highly visible alert on the desktop that requires user acknowledgment.
Klips are XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
files that contain markup
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
, styles and JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
and provide the Klipfolio Dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as flat file
Flat file database
A flat file database describes any of various means to encode a database model as a single file .- Overview :...
formatted data, XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
based data feeds, relational database
Relational database
A relational database is a database that conforms to relational model theory. The software used in a relational database is called a relational database management system . Colloquial use of the term "relational database" may refer to the RDBMS software, or the relational database itself...
s and multi-dimensional databases/OLAP, in order to increase the visibility of business critical data.
Klipfolio offers an SDK
Software development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
for developers who wish to write Klips for Klipfolio Dashboard. An official Klipblog and developer section has been created to support Klip developers
Technical
Klipfolio Dashboard includes a JavaScriptJavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
based semantic markup language which creates relationships among disparate bits of data, helps to present these data bits in a consistent manner, and allows a developer to create and modify Klips. Employing a semantic markup language also makes Klipfolio Dashboard portable: appropriate context for the data it presents can be maintained on the desktop
Virtual desktop
In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the size of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical limits of the screen's real estate through the use of software, This saves space...
, on a mobile device, or even via an automated voice system.
The application is built using proprietary internal systems including an XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
parser
Parsing
In computer science and linguistics, parsing, or, more formally, syntactic analysis, is the process of analyzing a text, made of a sequence of tokens , to determine its grammatical structure with respect to a given formal grammar...
and HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a networking protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web....
stack along with tailor made image scaling and PNG decoding. These developments were all designed to fit within a core code package that is still less than 500 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
.
Klipfolio Dashboard also includes CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
-based matching architecture to aid in the semantic markup of structured data based on HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
and XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
.
History
Serence is the former name of a Canadian corporation known for its Klipfolio DashboardKlipFolio
Klipfolio Inc., is a Canadian Software company founded in 2001 and headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. The company was originally known as Serence Inc., reserving the Klipfolio name for its software dashboard product...
KPI dashboards or enterprise dashboards. In 2008, Serence rebranded the company as Klipfolio Inc. to take advantage of the brand recognition of Klipfolio Dashboard in the marketplace. The move reflected an increased emphasis by the firm on the enterprise or business dashboard market.
The story of Serence and Klipfolio begins in 2001 when Allan Wille (CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
) and Peter Matthews (Chief Experience Officer|CXO) pursue their vision of a simple application that assembles current information from multiple sources into a single, consistent, and coherent presentation format. Firms like PointCast
PointCast (dotcom)
PointCast was a company founded in 1992 by Christopher R. Hassett in Sunnyvale, California.-PointCast Network:The company's initial product amounted to a screensaver that displayed news and other information, delivered live over the Internet...
pioneered a similar market in the mid 1990s. But the convergence of new technologies like XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
, RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
, and ubiquitous broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
along with growing expectations from users in the late ’90s hinted at a future that Allan and Peter were excited to explore. Joined a month later by James Scott (CTO
Chief technical officer
A chief technology officer is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupant is focused on scientific and technological issues within an organization....
), this trio represents the founding drive behind Serence and the Klipfolio Dashboard community.
The first version of Klipfolio Dashboard appeared later that year. As an early RSS reader, it leveraged this emerging technology to gather the information required to populate its various Klip
Klip
Klip is an XML file that contains markup, styles and JavaScript that provides the Klipfolio dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as web pages, RSS feeds, databases, and proprietary XML back-ends...
s.
2002 represented a year of busy start-up activity for the company. The application evolved to include a JavaScript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
-based semantic markup language
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
which created relationships among disparate bits of data, helped to present these data bits in a consistent manner, and allowed a developer to create and modify Klip
Klip
Klip is an XML file that contains markup, styles and JavaScript that provides the Klipfolio dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as web pages, RSS feeds, databases, and proprietary XML back-ends...
s. Additionally, a strong belief in user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
, and information design
Information design
Information design is the skill and practice of preparing information so people can use it with efficiency and effectiveness. Where the data is complex or unstructured, a visual representation can express its meaning more clearly to the viewer....
excellence, drawing on the work by Edward Tufte
Edward Tufte
Edward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization....
and , the company has adopted a very responsible and clean design philosophy.
To avoid various integration and performance challenges associated with off-the-shelf code, the research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
team opted for proprietary internal systems including an XML parser, HTTP stack and novel CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
-based matching architecture. These developments were all designed to fit within a core code package that is still less than 500 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
.
At the same time, the public’s prevailing interest in start-up technology stories combined with the firm's interest in media coverage resulted in a unique relationship with The Ottawa Business Journal
Ottawa Business Journal
The Ottawa Business Journal is a regional business publication serving Canada's National Capital Region. Founded in 1995, it is owned by Great River Mediaand published on a biweekly basis with a circulation of 20,000 copies. Over its first decade, the Ottawa Business Journal has been recognized as...
. As the Serence team grew, pursued investment, research and development, and clients, The Ottawa Business Journal followed the story in a year long series of articles that represented the print equivalent of reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
and wide exposure for a young firm.
For online retailers, publishers, and other e-businesses, Klipfolio Dashboard was among the first branded desktop applications (known today as Rich Internet Applications
Rich Internet application
A Rich Internet Application is a Web application that has many of the characteristics of desktop application software, typically delivered either by way of a site-specific browser, via a browser plug-in, independent sandboxes, extensive use of JavaScript, or virtual machines...
). These RIAs represented an additional opt-in advertising channel that facilitated two-way interaction with customers rather than passive brand promotion. Over time, household names like Staples, Intel and H&R Block
H&R Block
H&R Block is a tax preparation company in the United States, claiming more than 22 million customers worldwide, with offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The Kansas City-based company also offers banking, personal finance and business consulting services.Founded in 1955 by brothers...
began to take advantage of what Klipfolio Dashboard had to offer for their customers.
By 2007, the company's primary focus had shifted to the operational business intelligence
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
market. For the enterprise, Klipfolio Dashboard is used to increase the visibility of business-critical information of key performance indicators from different corporate databases and applications. To take advantage of these benefits, enterprise clients such as Lufthansa
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
, EMC
EMC
EMC may refer to:In organizations:* EMC Corporation, an information management company* IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, a worldwide professional engineering society* Eastern Media Centre, a television channel in the UK...
and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
have since deployed Klipfolio Dashboard as part of their operational business intelligence strategy.
See also
- KlipKlipKlip is an XML file that contains markup, styles and JavaScript that provides the Klipfolio dashboard platform with rules for the retrieval, interpretation, and presentation of arbitrary information sources such as web pages, RSS feeds, databases, and proprietary XML back-ends...
This is the functional dashboard module used by Klipfolio Dashboard - Edward TufteEdward TufteEdward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and professor emeritus of political science, statistics, and computer science at Yale University. He is noted for his writings on information design and as a pioneer in the field of data visualization....
- Information designInformation designInformation design is the skill and practice of preparing information so people can use it with efficiency and effectiveness. Where the data is complex or unstructured, a visual representation can express its meaning more clearly to the viewer....
External links
- klipfolio.com
- serence.com This is the original company Web site which now redirects to klipfolio.com
- B-eye Network Spotlight interview with Klipfolio CEO Allan Wille