In March I wrote about the integration of identity services with eXpresso. This has proven to be one of the most compelling adjunct services we’ve added to our product – allowing us to offer secure Single Sign-On to our large corporate clients as well as enabling standards based identity federation of user credentials from industry portals such as Covisint’s new AppCloud.

On the evening of July 29, we will be demonstrating the extent to which we’ve been able to verify and test the identity federation standard (SAML) and the identity federation service (myOneLogin) we have implemented. The demonstration is part of an impressive event hosted in San Diego by the Burton Group during which identity providers and service providers will showcase how standards like SAML, WS-Federation and OpenID can be used to achieve standards-based single sign-on to off-premise or cloud hosted applications.

When eXpresso was first invited to participate in this interoperability demonstration, I was admittedly somewhat skeptical on two fronts: 1.) The maturity of the standards, and 2.) The ability of competing vendors (most notably the identity providers) to work together. Well today I admit that I have gladly set my skepticism aside, and I take my hat off to the Burton Group for pulling this event together. What started off as a series of weekly conference calls with all participants about 10 weeks ago, led to a few days of configuration and testing and has brought us to this culminating event.

We are very pleased with what we’ve been able to achieve with minimal resources for this demo. And, we’ve been able to leverage the results of the testing with a number of corporate prospects that we are engaged with currently. At the time of going to press, eXpresso had proven secure single sign-on from CA Federation Manager, Novell Access Manager, Sun OpenSSO Enterprise, TriCipher myOneLogin, Ping Identity PingFederate, Cloud-Identity, FuGen Solutions and Siemens.

Please drop by to see it all in action at the Interoperability Event: SSO for Cloud-Based Applications in the Aqua room at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront on Wednesday, 29-July from 6:00-9:30 pm.

Do you tweet? Is hashtag part of your vocabulary? Are you constantly being followed or are you the one doing the following? Or, are you a Web extrovert and crave more friends?

Whatever the case, you can follow expressocorp on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.  With Twitter, you’ll receive short updates from our team. We’ll tweet about things like development, product announcements, user tips, and more. It’s painless, and we promise not to overtweet.

On eXpresso’s Facebook page, we would like to see our users participate in open discussions, in addition to seeing announcements, event info, and more. Please check out our page and follow us by becoming a fan.

Thanks and let the dialogue begin!

Note: We’ll tend to use both of these services to communicate informal information that is better suited for dialogue in these forms of media. Please continue to get official news through the eXpresso website, our email newsletter, and our blog.

Tags: twitter, facebook, expresso, expressocorp, office, collaboration, new, announcements

eXpresso Corp has been chosen by Dealmaker Media to participate in the Graduate Circle at the upcoming Under the Radar Conference | Cloud Computing and Business Applications, taking place on April 24, 2009 at Microsoft’s campus in Mountain View, CA. The Graduate Circle comprises a select group of companies that have “graduated” from being under the radar and are gaining major momentum. Graduate Circle companies will be making presentations on stage during the regular sessions as “sector leaders” on recent product launches, news and announcements.

We can offer our clients and colleagues a special price of $595 ($695 is the regular rate) to attend the event. To secure your discount, click through to
the following link: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=165707&qoanswer141102=%20VIP

More details about the conference:

**********************************************************
UNDER THE RADAR | Cloud Computing and Business Applications
April 24, 2009 | 8:00am – 6:00pm
Microsoft Campus | 1065 La Avenida Street | Mountain View, CA
http://www.undertheradarblog.com/

**********************************************************
The audience and experts will offer feedback to companies based on favorite features, areas for improvement, the ideal industry “partner” match-ups, and how best to reach out and build up their audience. The conference will also offer ample time for presenters and attendees to network and share ideas and information.

The audience’s and judges’ favorite picks will be revealed the next day on the Under the Radar blog.

For a list of confirmed companies and speakers, go to: http://www.undertheradarblog.com/speakers/?id=4

Don’t wait to register for this glimpse at the next round of successful companies! To secure your discount, click through to the following link:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=165707&qoanswer141102=%20VIP

We hope you can join us!

Tags: expresso, under, the, radar, conference, 2009, grad, circle, speakers

Please join one of our partners, Etelos, for the next Etelos Partner showcase, where they will show you how to save time and relieve spreadsheet frustration while trying to collaborate with others.

On Thursday, July 17, 10 AM PDT, their webinar will teach you how to share your Excel® spreadsheets online with other people using eXpresso. Remember, instead of emailing files back and forth, eXpresso enables multiple contacts to work on the same spreadsheet at the same time while online. All changes are tracked and published to a shared version of the file in real-time. Plus, eXpresso has added functionality to Microsoft Excel by providing much needed features like real-time collaborative editing, cell editing assignments, spreadsheet comparisons, individual-level access controls, file change history, and more. Registration is free.

Unique functionalities that will be demonstrated:

• Getting Started and System Requirements
• Uploading and Sharing Spreadsheets
• Editing Excel Files Online
• Inviting and Adding Contacts
• Sharing Cell Regions
• Setting Alerts
• Assigning Tags, Notes and Folders
• Accessing Controls

Sign up today and reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/306181319

Title: How to share your Excel® spreadsheets online
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

This webinar is co-sponsored by Etelos and eXpresso. The Etelos Partner Showcase features some of the innovative and useful web applications that can be found in the Etelos Marketplace™. The Etelos Marketplace is the place for developing, distributing and consuming web-based, on-demand business solutions. To discover more innovative web applications, please visit www.etelos.com/marketplace.

Webinar System Requirements

• PC-based Attendees need Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista
• Macintosh®-based Attendees need Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

This webinar invitation is open to both current and future Etelos developers, partners and customers. Etelos is revolutionizing how software is developed, delivered and consumed. For more information on other Web applications from Etelos, go to www.etelos.com/marketplace.

Tags: How, share, excel, spreadsheets, online, expresso, webinar, free, etelos, marketplace

The Web 2.0 Expo was a great opportunity for eXpresso to show its stuff and garner some press. But we did not expect to get press about eXpressoMan – a living version of our logo. Check out these mentions of eXpressoMan:

The Mascots of the Web 2.0 Expo
Getting Wild And Weird At The Web 2.0 Expo

PC World came by our booth at the Web 2.0 Expo and put together a little video clip about the interesting collaborative business tools they saw at the show. Check out the video.

Tags: collaborative, business, tools, Web2.0

If you came by our booth at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo, saw eXpressoMan, or got a live demo, please leave a comment and tell us how we did and what you thought. Thanks!

Tags: web2.0, feedback

We had a great time chatting with people at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco last week. Here is a list of questions people approached us with during this show…

What do you do?
We enable people to share Excel files online. Instead of emailing files back and forth, users can upload a spreadsheet, invite users to share it, and collaborate as a group in real-time. All changes are recorded and available for review. Learn more at the eXpresso web site.

How long have you been around?
eXpresso emerged out of an enterprise software company about two years ago. Alpha version was released in April 2007 and Beta followed in August. In March of 2008, we shifted from beta to general release.

Where are you located?
We have teams in the US, Europe, and Asia, but our main office is in Menlo Park. However, we will be moving to Palo Alto, California in May. If you are ever in the area and would like a personal demo of eXpresso, please send us an email, and we can set that up.

Is it secure?
eXpresso takes the security of your files seriously and has implemented several layers of protection to keep your data safe. All files are 128-bit SSL encrypted from the time you upload them to the eXpresso service. Plus, no one can view your spreadsheet unless you proactively assign access controls to that individual. And in addition to the security controls we give our users, we have put a lot of effort and design into creating a secure infrastructure.

Can I use eXpresso Off-Line?
Interesting question from a Web 2.0 crowd, but it is possible to edit the spreadsheets you have uploaded to eXpresso by downloading and installing the eXpresso Off-line for Excel Add-In. This enables you to pull your spreadsheets down from eXpresso and edit them locally on your desktop, no matter where you are. When you’re done, simply save the file back to eXpresso via the Add-In.

Does eXpresso run on Macs?
The Mac OS is not supported. eXpresso runs in a PC environment because of Active X controls and Microsoft’s Office Web Components.

What are the software requirements?
eXpresso runs in Internet Explorer because it requires the Active X control. If you use Firefox, you will need to install the IE Tab extension. You must also have a licensed version of Excel. In some case you may be asked to install Microsoft’s Office Web Components, but that is typically included in the Office suite.

What is the difference between you and Google Docs?
We were asked this question a lot. The quick answer is we make it possible for people who prefer Excel to upload, share and edit their spreadsheets online as a team. Excel is the most ubiquitous business application on the planet, and we have built useful features to help people become more efficient and effective with Excel. We also enable people to use eXpresso online or off-line with our Add-In for desktop installations of Excel. For more details, please check out the blog entry eXpresso’s Blue Ocean.

How much is it?
eXpresso is free, but we also offer a more advanced Pro version which includes additional functionality like cell tracking, file history, spreadsheet comparisons, access via the eXpresso Off-Line Add-In for Excel, and more. eXpresso Pro is only $15/month or $79/year – a savings of over 55%! Learn more at our eXpresso Pricing page.

How big is eXpresso Corp. and are you hiring?
We have over 25 people on our team. We are not currently hiring at this time.

For more answers to other FAQs, please visit eXpresso’s FAQs page.

You’re officially invited to join eXpresso Corp. at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco from April 22-25, the most important gathering of people directly involved in the design, development, engineering, marketing, and business of next-generation internet technology.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT for eXpresso Users:
Save $100 Off the Conference or Get a Free Expo Pass
Register today using discount code websf08co132 and save $100 off any conference package or get a Free Expo Pass.

Web 2.0 Expo brings together the industry’s big thinkers and visionaries who are creating and delivering the next Internet revolution, and we are thankful to be among the distinguished list of exhibitors. You’ll hear from interesting speakers from companies such as Sun, Google, Yahoo! and more.

If you are in the area or interested in next-generation Web applications, we’ll love to meet you at this highly anticipated show. Please stop by our booth and tell us how eXpresso is working for you and your colleagues. We’d love to feature your story on our Web site, blog, or other materials.

See you there!

Tags: events, web2.0, expo