We’re back from the 2019 FileMaker Developer Conference in Orlando and we’re just now getting a chance to catch our breath. A lot of changes were announced at DevCon this year. The big ones:
- There is a new CEO…Brad Freitag
- FileMaker, the company, is now Claris
- Claris Connect and the Stamplay acquisition
- FileMaker’s future is in the cloud
- “DevCon” next year will be “Claris Engage”
Here’s FileMaker’s two minute DevCon overview video with visuals of what it was like. LuminFire appears five times in the video…see if you can find us!
In this blog we’ll unpack a lot of the changes and provide as much info as we can, so that even if you weren’t able to be at DevCon, you’ll be in the know.
LuminFire Presentations and Booth
Our booth this year was a nod to the Disney/Pixar movie Up. Up is one of our favorite movies and provides a great analogy to software development with the house representing your custom FileMaker solution and all the balloons representing the products and services from LuminFire that can help take you on your adventure. Our booth included over 250 balloons that rose above the floor.
Attendees could take a fun DevCon 2019 survey via a FileMaker Go iPad app and see a live map showing the results via BrilliantConnect.
LuminFire showed new versions of our powerful products both at our booth and during our two live DevCon sessions titled “FileMaker Integration — Roadmap for the Future” The sessions appeared with the description: “Explore the latest techniques in the adventurous world of integration. Get FileMaker to talk to the world out there without complex plugins, JSON, cURL, or APIs in a secure and stable way. See real life stories of connecting FileMaker to inspire you. Examples include WordPress, PDFs, Twilio, Slack, AWS S3, Stripe, MailGun, MailChimp, Hubspot, and many more. Learn about brilliant solutions like fmIgnite [BrilliantHub], fmFlare [BrilliantConnect], BrilliantSync and BrilliantGateway that can take your business to new heights. The right solution partner can make all the difference.”
The recordings of these sessions will hopefully inspire you to see what is possible with FileMaker solutions.
Here’s session 1 focusing on fmIgnite and fmFlare:
BrilliantHub – Fully customizable FileMaker-based business solution
BrilliantConnect – FileMaker integration code modules
Here’s session 2 with a focus on BrilliantSync and BrilliantGateway:
BrilliantSync – Sync FileMaker with the world
BrilliantGateway – Enterprise FileMaker Data API
Our valuable free gifts to the community included: fmIgnite Starter, fmFlare Starter, and the eBook “Solving the Technology Puzzle – How FileMaker Fits.” Each of these is still available to the public at this link: https://luminfire.com/devcon.
These free solutions include a lot of code that you can use immediately to make your own powerful solutions.
Claris – The FileMaker Company Rebrand
You can now watch the DevCon 2109 keynotes online. In the Opening Keynote, CEO Brad Freitag announced the acquisition of Stamplay and the company-wide rebrand from FileMaker, Inc. to Claris International, Inc. Watch the Opening Keynote here:
In the Visionary Keynote, Claris VP of Product & Design Srini Gurrapu shared the new product vision. Product Managers showcased innovations in cloud, mobile, web, integrations and emerging tech. Watch the Visionary Keynote here:
We like the new Claris name for the company. It’s simple and yet clever, with a nod to the latin roots of the word meaning bright, shining, or clear. Actually, our name “LuminFire” has quite a similar meaning. Since the name was there all along, it’s a fun throwback to the future.
The statement that was shared during the keynote provides a clear vision: “Claris offers more than a platform for connected, custom-built solutions; we’re a starting point for you to activate your magic. We make it flexible, you make it seamless. We make it simple, you make it successful. We deliver intelligent tools, you bring next-level ideas to life. At Claris, it’s not about what we make — it’s about what you can achieve. We put the power of a global engineering team and partner community at your fingertips, so you can unlock your own ideas, your own creativity, your own power to change everything.”
The new Claris commercial created at DevCon is fun. Three of our clients made it in the video:
The text of the commercial is a lot like the original Apple “Think Different” campaign Apple made in the 80s. What’s old is now new. It reads as follows:
Our work is for the problem solvers
The question askers and solution seekers
Those who step up when it’s time to reach higher
Think bigger, work smarter
Using the right technology
Those who see a problem as an opportunity
And a challenge as a reward
Those who refuse to accept good enough
Because they’re too busy aiming for amazing
Our work is for the innovators
Our work is for you
Claris Connect (formerly Stamplay)
Details on Claris Connect are a bit hard to come by at this point, but for details we can look at what Stamplay was before acquisition and what competition there might be in the Marketplace, then make some assumptions about what it will be in the future. We are not sure how it will be sold, but may include options by workflows, connections, users, or integrations. Competition in the industry includes Tray.io, Zapier, workato, and Mulesoft.
Making this move is smart and should land more enterprise clients. There may be a lot of quick benefits of Claris Connect out of the box, but here will still be more difficult integrations that require custom coding and a partner.
FileMaker’s Future in the Cloud
The future Claris platform will include three products: (1) Claris FileMaker for custom apps, (2) Claris Connect and integration service, and (3) Claris Next Gen for workflow apps.
The opportunity of delivering a full FileMaker experience via a web browser entirely in the cloud (including the development environment) is exciting. We believe it is necessary in order to make inroads into so many companies where the installation of a client application on the desktop is difficult. It will reduce roadblocks from those who must give approval that sometimes stops FileMaker implementations today. Responsive design where a single layout can serve both desktop and mobile is also a big win. JavaScript will be a big part with components more easily integrated.
LuminFire is positioned well to complement all future offerings from Claris and partner with businesses through their transitions. BrilliantConnect does integrations with FileMaker very well, is already available today, and costs less than other integration platform offerings and, likely, the future Claris Connect option.
Other Announcements and Events
The new FileMaker Marketplace was introduced to replace the older “Made for FileMaker” webspace. It’s available today. LuminFire’s products on the Marketplace are available here with more coming soon.
The theme for the DevCon party this year was the 80’s. The LuminFire team went in costume as Back to the Future. It was a great match with going back to the future with the Claris name change.
One of the great things about DevCon is meeting friends from all over the world. I got to meet Naomi Fujimoto, a new friend from Japan, for the first time in person. It was fun to learn that he has translated some of our blog articles into Japanese!
Interesting Sessions
We will post a future article soon with summaries and comments on some of the best DevCon sessions.
Wrapping it All Up
The closing session, featured guest keynote by NY Times best-selling author and award-winning speaker Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Here’s a similar speech…
and visual summary of his book and message.
Following that were the 2019 FileMaker Excellence awards. Out of over 1,600 FBA (FileMaker Business Alliance) partners and developers worldwide, We were honored that LuminFire products were finalists in the categories of Design (for fmIgnite) and Innovation (for fmFlare). Last year we were awarded in Excellence for Advocacy and contributions to Women Innovating Together .
“DevCon” next year will be called the “Claris Engage” conference, August 3-6, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee. It should be exciting…as well as all the changes in store over the next year!
Tim Cimbura – CEO and Software Engineer
Tim is an expert in creating custom business solutions that make businesses more effective, productive, and profitable. He specializes in rapid application development with the Claris platform including FileMaker and WordPress. He also knows Apple macOS technology inside and out.