Blog-like software aids collaboration, security
Traction Software Inc., a 10-year-old Providence-based technology company, is developing a national reputation for its blog- and wiki-style software.

Founded in 1996 by Greg Lloyd, Traction’s president, and Chis Nuzum, its chief technology officer, the company received two rounds of funding from private investors, including the Slater Technology Fund and In-Q-Tel, the venture arm of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Traction’s flagship software, TeamPage, provides a secure, easy-to-use Web-based communications and collaboration hub.

Since hitting the market in 2002, it has become a leading hypertext editor among private enterprises, universities and many branches of the U.S. government; it is now used by 220 customers, including more than 15 Fortune 500 companies and more than 10 Global 100 companies.

TeamPage combines wiki-style group editing; blog pages that enable teams to collaborate over time; and a unique comment and permission model that facilitates communication among teams working to develop products, manage projects, gather and disseminate intelligence and communicate with sales and marketing field workers, Lloyd said.

“We’re talking about people working together in a business to accomplish some goal, and it’s really security and the group focus that makes our software product different,” he said.

“We’re making it easy for people to see what’s going on in their organization, without being overloaded by e-mail.”

Traction’s TeamPage software was recently named a “trend-setting product of 2006” by KMWorld, a trade magazine focusing on knowledge management.

The magazine said it selected products that represent “some of the very best thinking about, and development of, solutions for nearly every vertical industry and every organization, public or private.”

Lloyd said the award acknowledged the way TeamPage was customized to meet the needs of teams that need to communicate well and respond quickly to new opportunities.

“There are many products out there with flashy technology,” he said, “but particularly when you’re selling to people doing designing or other intelligence work, it has to really be usable by the people doing the work, or it will just sit on the shelf.”

Last week, Traction began marketing a new search function for its award-winning software.

The FAST Search Module, priced at $15,000, provides TeamPage customers with instant access to highly relevant data, Lloyd said.