Business Catalyst

Adobe Business Catalyst

Developer(s)	Adobe Systems
Stable release	2.0.0 / 2012
Operating system	Cross-platform - web-based.
License	Trialware
Website	businesscatalyst.com

Business Catalyst is a hosted (SaaS) all-in-one solution for building and managing business websites. The company uses the term "Online Businesses" to represent a new approach to building and running websites. An online business differs from an ordinary website in that it has greater awareness of its visitors and customers. At its core, it has a built-in customer relationship management framework and is complemented with rich sales, service and marketing features such as eCommerce and Email Marketing tools.

The company was founded in 2004 by two Australian entrepreneurs, Bardia Housman and Adam Broadway. It was acquired by Adobe Systems in August 2009.^[1][2][3]

Business model

Business Catalyst's business model differs from many others in that they allow web designers to resell their hosted service as part of a "Partner Program".^[4]

A reseller channel of paid "Partners" receive specialized tools for site provisioning and management, commissions on hosting fees, live training and in some instances ability to rebrand the platform as their own.

Business Catalyst experimented with a direct-to-customer strategy under the “GoodBarry”^[5] brand before the offering was closed down as a part of the Adobe acquisition.

Platform features

The Business Catalyst platform incorporates a wide range of features^[6] including:

• Content Management
• eCommerce
• Email Marketing
• Integrated CRM Database
• Reporting & Analytics

Community

The major communities available for tips, help and support with the Adobe Business Catalyst community are:

• BC Sandpile is a weekly online meeting run by Business Catalyst Partners for the purpose of sharing ideas, best practices, and networking.
• Adobe BC Cafe on Linkedin is a free group aimed at letting the Business Catalyst community discuss the system outside of the Business Catalyst forum. There is also a private sub-group for Business Catalyst partners only and Adobe BC London, a regional group for BC developers based in the United Kingdom.
• Adobe Community forums allow BC Partners to get a prompt assistance directly from Adobe team
• EZ-BC Blog shares tips, tutorials and updates on new website templates for Business Catalyst Partners
• BC ACADEME offers an online training program to help everyone master Business Catalyst
• Questions from BC Partners on StackOverflow
• Community-powered support for BC Partners on GetSatisfaction
• Gallery showcasing best Business Catalyst Design on Behance
• Business Catalyst SEO SEO Services Designed for Business Catalyst Websites and Business Catalyst Partners.

History

• 2004 - Business Catalyst is released as a platform designed for building and managing online businesses.
• 2005 - Business Catalyst launches their Dreamweaver Extension “Triangle”. An early extension to provide real-time connectivity between Dreamweaver and a hosted service.
• 2006 - Business Catalyst completes its Australian “Designer Success” tour officially launching its offering throughout Australia.
• 2007 - The company quickly gains attention with its retail "GoodBarry" brand, targeted towards do-it-yourself business owners.^[5][7]
• 2008 - Business Catalyst open their first international office in San Francisco, USA.^[8]
• August, 2009 - Business Catalyst is acquired by Adobe Systems, closing down the GoodBarry brand to focus solely on the web professional market.^[2][9]
• April, 2010 - Adobe announces the opening of the first of three new datacenters for their Business Catalyst service^[10]
• May 2012 - Adobe includes base Business Catalyst hosting as part of the Creative Cloud platform.^[11]

References

External links

• Official website