Update from FileMaker/Claris DevCon 19
You read that right – FileMaker is now Claris
The big news Tuesday at Filemaker Claris DevCon 19 was the name change of the wholly owned subsidiary of Apple: FileMaker Inc. has changed its name to Claris. For those not around 30 years ago, Claris was Apple’s software suite, including Claris Draw, ClarisWorks, and more.
Why Change from FileMaker to Claris?
Part of the change was rebranding – FileMaker has been around for a long time and is just one product. FileMaker still exists and is the flagship product of Claris…but now there are more products. Claris is adding two distinct products in the next six months or so.
- FileMaker Cloud
- Claris Connect
FileMaker Cloud
FileMaker Cloud is a very fast way to set up a client on a cloud based server. From a web interface, choose the license type and number of users, pay or set up a PO, click a button, and voila! – in minutes you will receive an email with login instructions to a new installation of FileMaker server on a cloud server. Pretty slick. And there will be a web based version of FileMaker Pro to allow development and modification of databases. Expect FileMaker Cloud sometime in Q1 2020 if all goes well.
Claris Connect
Claris Connect is the brainchild of Stamplay, a Naples, Italy based company that won an Apple contest for the most creative way to connect solutions to various internet services. I attended a workshop Wednesday and came away very impressed. Connecting to a service is called a “Flow”, and it’s as easy as 1-2-3. All the hard work – authentication, commands, security, logging, and error capture and response, just to name a few, are all taken care of by Claris Connect. There are one hundred plus connections already finished, with hundreds more in the pipeline. FileMaker is on the verge of easily connecting to the world…and it’s coming this fall.
There’s a lot more…
But I have to go to another workshop…and another one later today on building Particle iOT devices to connect FileMaker to hardware sensors. I’ll blog more next week.
UPDATE: Just found this video from RCC
I haven’t watched it yet, but it should have more info. Enjoy!
PS: If you see skinny Pac-Man icons in the new Claris logo, you’re not alone. And last night’s FileMaker party was a trip back to the 80’s nostalgia trip. Thankfully, Claris is heading into the future, not the past. And the future looks bright.
D.S.
August 8, 2019 @ 10:55 am
I understand the gist of your comment but I think it could cause confusion. As far as I understand, “FileMaker Inc.” will change name (or go back) to “Claris International Inc.”. FileMaker (Pro, Go, WebDirect, Server, etc.) will not change its name.
30 years ago, Claris was created in an era when it was thought that Apple did not mean “application software”. Claris purpose was to decouple Apple “application software” from Apple hardware and even create Windows versions of software like MacDraw, FileMaker and so on. Eventually they created a suite called Claris Works. When Steve Jobs returned he chose to bring all products back to Apple, renaming Claris Works to AppleWorks and making Mac versions only. The only software that survived was FileMaker because having a no Windows version would be the death of the product. Since Claris was only left with one product the company was renamed FileMaker. Now Claris will have more than one product/service so they will go back to its roots.
Don Clark
August 8, 2019 @ 11:05 am
Thanks for the clarification and the history…I did mention that FileMaker will be its flagship product, but that there will be other products as well.
Anand Mohan
August 19, 2019 @ 7:29 am
One thing is confusing though. The article mentions that FileMaker Cloud will be launched in 2020. But we are already using FileMaker Cloud with AWS now. So, can you please elaborate ? Thanks
Don Clark
August 21, 2019 @ 6:18 am
It is confusing…I presume Claris will differentiate with a better name, but who knows? The new product coming in 2020 will be very easy to setup and get started for even a novice: Choose your licensing, pay for it, click a few buttons, and a few minutes later you have a fully functioning FileMaker instance in the cloud. No developer needed so far. I spend much more time setting up an account for clients, setting up an AWS instance (with all that entails, then transferring files to install, doing the install, and so on. I get paid to do it, but it’s not a lot of fun. And there will be a web based version of FileMaker that will make it easier to connect and develop (maybe – not sure why they are pushing that, except that users don’t have to have FileMaker installed on their computer). Hope this explanation helps.