On beyond Explorer

The computer world is riding a retro wave. Whereas we have been told in the past few years that the era of particularized interfaces was over and the time had come to united under Microsoft’s (Nasdaq:MSFT) Explorer (especially for portals at enterprises that needed a uniform presentation of information), the latest trend has been in the opposite direction.

A rising number of developers now say that, with all due respect, Explorer cannot meet all their needs. There won't be a return to the DOS era, when every program had its own interface with different menus. However, Explorer’s limitations on one hand, and networking needs, i.e. to download information from distant locations to operate software, on the other, has given rise to some creative solutions.

The Internet as we know it uses HTML code, whose sole task is to present content and link various pages. In late 1999, IDF veteran Koby Menachemi decided a new Internet language was needed, one that would also run applications. In the wider world, this vision is called “X-Internet”, with “X” representing “executable”. Even Bill Gates is in favor of it, so who are we to say no?

No doubt, many of our readers are now jumping up and exclaiming, “What about Java, ActiveX, and all the rest?” Indeed, in principle, we’re talking about similar visual effects, although the engines driving the systems are different. The people at Navicula, the company founded by Menachemi and his partners, say existing applications used by large enterprises cannot be converted into ActiveX and Java and still retain their operating principles.

XML’s concept simulator is also fundamentally flawed, because this is a standard that gives data “meanings” (dress shirt and t-shirt both refer to a piece of clothing for the torso, expressing a similar concept as far as XML is concerned). However, XML is not considered a code that runs applications.

Koby, his brother Eran, and colleagues Ofir Shachar, Eran Lagon and former Dmatek (LSE:DTK) CEO Doron Dovrat joined forces and founded Navicula in March 2000. They eventually realized they had to focus on product development, rather than abstract visions, and began working in Visual Basic, a programming language widely used in the developer community. They developed an application conversion technology that could convert an enterprise’s accounts, inventory and other applications for the Internet and intranet.

“The Internet applications’ advantage - fast dissemination capability using a browser interface - is Visual Basic’s disadvantage,” says Navicula CEO Dror Wettenstein. “Visual Basic’s advantage - an established language used to develop smoothly-running Windows-capable applications - is the disadvantage of Internet applications. It was only natural that we’d try to link them up.”

Wettenstein says there is no need to rewrite existing code. 90% is retained, thereby greatly expediting the conversion process. The changes, alterations and additions made to Visual Basic are automatically converted into Navicula’s code.

The applications are run by downloading the Navicula player once. The player can simulate Flash or Adobe’s Acrobat Reader. The principle is “one download - many applications.”

Wettenstein emphasizes that Navicula’s player is installed as an IT application, i.e. it is designed for the enterprise market, while the Flash player was designed to run graphics that Explorer couldn't handle on its own.

“Solutions that try to simulate applications for the Internet don’t work like the original applications, unless they’re written in a special language. For example, Flash can’t be used on programs that are operated by clicking the mouse’s right-hand button, nor is it possible to use operating shortcuts, because their use in Explorer activates obsolete operations. In short, it doesn’t work,” says Wettenstein.

Navicula also claims that customers save on both shorter conversion times for applications, and on not having to teach employees new software operating codes. That is because the interfaces are unchanged, as are all click-through links and shortcuts.

Navicula’s technology can be marketed to two types of customers. One is enterprises that want to convert their applications for the Internet, thereby providing their employees with access to data from anywhere in the world. The second is websites wishing to provide other surfing experiences to visitors and customers. For example, Navicula’s language can make a online day-trading site’s applications much stronger than those offered by Explorer.

Navicula is currently focusing on the enterprise market, which it believes will be source of most of its customers. Sales are carried out through strategic partners, in the form of integration and consultancy companies in the US, Europe and Latin America. Navicula already has contracts with one major European company, which has already converted six of its 200 applications to Navicula’s language, and an Israeli company. A contract with a large South American customer is pending. Navicula’s business model is to sell user licenses, using the SDK platform that converts the applications to Navicula’s language.

Navicula raised $1 million from private investors in its first six months. Veritas Venture Partners and Aurum-SBC Ventures invested $3.5 million in the company in September 2000. Some existing investors also participated in that round. Israel’s CRT Group, Veritas and Aurum-SBC invested another $1.25 million in May 2002. Additional financial rounds will be considered, depending on the progress of sales, which began recently. Wettenstein joined Navicula in June 2000 as development manager, after serving in the same position at Multimedia Kid for many years. He was appointed CEO a few months ago, after Dovrat left to pursue other ventures.

A major competitor of Navicula is Citrix Systems (Nasdaq:CTXS), which has a market cap of $2.4 billion. Citrix develops platforms that provide access to office applications through various end devices. These necessarily include components to convert original applications to other languages and display programs. Navicula, which has 15 employees based in a renovated chicken coop in the former farming community of Rishpon, expects to reach break-even point in the next quarter.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 13, 2003