Cleo Communications LLC, simply referred to as Cleo, is a privately held software company founded in 1976. The company is best known for its ecosystem integration platform, Cleo Integration Cloud with RADAR.[1]

Cleo Communications LLC
Company typePrivately held company
IndustrySoftware
Founded1976
Headquarters,
Key people
Mahesh Rajasekharan (President and CEO)
Number of employees
400
Websitewww.cleo.com

History

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Cleo originally began as a division of Phone 1 Inc., a voice data gathering systems manufacturer, and built data concentrators and terminal emulators — multi-bus computers, modems, and terminals to interface with IBM mainframes via bisynchronous communications. The company then began developing mainframe middleware in the 1980s, and with the rise of the PC, moved into B2B data communications and secure file transfer software.[2] Since being acquired in 2012,[3] the company’s offerings have evolved into Cleo Integration Cloud,[4] a platform for enterprise business integration.

Business

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Based in Rockford, Illinois (USA), with offices in Chicago, Pennsylvania, London, and Bangalore, Cleo has about 400 employees and more than 4,100 direct customers. The company's flagship offering, Cleo Integration Cloud, provides both on-premise and cloud-based integration technologies and comprises solutions[buzzword] for B2B/EDI, application integration, data movement and data transformation. Previous products now incorporated into the Cleo Integration Cloud platform include Cleo Harmony, Cleo Clarify, and Cleo Jetsonic.[5]

Cleo solutions[buzzword] span a variety of industries, including manufacturing, logistics and supply chain, retail, third-party logistics, warehouse management and transportation management, healthcare, financial services and government.[6]

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs adopted Cleo's fax technology, Cleo Streem, in 2013 when in need of FIPS 140-2-compliant technology to protect information,[7] and the City of Atlanta has used Cleo Streem for network and desktop faxing since 2006.[8]

Cleo also serves U.S. transportation logistics company MercuryGate International[9] and SaaS-based food logistics organization ArrowStream.[10] It powers the architecture for several major supply chain companies, such as Blue Yonder and SAP.[11] Cleo integrates the pharmaceutical supply chain for such companies as Octapharma.[12] Key partners include FourKites[13] and ClientsFirst,[14] among many others.

Cleo customers also include household brands such as New Balance, Barilla, Duraflame, Reddy Ice, and Brother Industries. Cleo has partnerships with more than 300 system integrator, reseller, and technology companies including VAI, SrinSoft, Vertext, Remedi, and delaPlex.

In May 2023, Cleo announced it entered a global partnership with consulting and multinational information technology services company, Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH). Together, the companies announced CCIB, powered by Cleo, which is a B2B iPaaS solution that provides B2B managed services with built-in, scalable infrastructure on the cloud. The solution comprises elements from Cleo’s flagship offering, Cleo Integration Cloud.[15]

Expansion

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In June 2014, Cleo opened an office in Chicago for members of its support and engineering teams.[16] In 2014, the company hired Jorge Rodriguez as Senior Vice President of Product Development[17] and John Thielens as Vice President of Technology.[18] Cleo hired Dave Brunswick as Vice President of Solutions[buzzword] for North America in 2015,[19] and Cleo hired Ken Lyons to lead global sales in 2016.[20] Lyons now serves as the company's Chief Revenue Officer. More recent additions to the company's leadership team include Vipin Mittal,[21] Vice President, Customer Experience, and Tushar Patel,[22] CMO.

Cleo opened its product development facility in Bengaluru, India, in 2015[23] and expanded its hybrid cloud integration teams into a new office there in 2017.[6] The company also opened a London office in 2016 and expanded its network of channel partners in EMEA.[24]

In 2016, Cleo acquired EXTOL International, a Pottsville, Pa.-based business and EDI integration and data transformation company for an undisclosed amount.[25] In 2017, the company moved its headquarters from Loves Park, Illinois, to Rockford.[26] In 2021 the company received a significant growth investment[27] from H.I.G. Capital.

In July 2022, Cleo opened a new, 5,000-square-foot office[28] located in Chicago's Loop.

In November 2022, Cleo launched an accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics 365 SCM-to-X12 and a connector for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.[29] These pre-built solutions allow businesses and users to quickly build integration flows that integrate their digital ecosystems. In March 2023, Cleo released CIC PAVE (Procurement Automation and Vendor Enablement).[30] PAVE provides customers with enhanced supply chain visibility via a supplier portal that allows the customer to keep vendor interaction in a single location, even if they cannot use EDI or have API-ready applications.

Certification

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Cleo regularly submits its products to Drummond Group's interoperability software testing for AS2,[31] AS3[32] and ebMS 2.0.[33]

In January 2020, Cleo announced that its new application connector for Acumatica ERP has been recognized as an Acumatica-Certified Application (ACA).[34] The company also holds SOC 2, Type 2 certification.

Awards

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Cleo was a Xerox partner of the year award for five years, from 2009 to 2014. The Cleo Streem solution[buzzword] integrates with Xerox multi-function products, providing customers with solutions[buzzword] for network fax and interactive messaging needs.[35] Cleo was named to Food Logistics’ FL100+ Top Software and Technology Providers Lists in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.[36]

Cleo CEO, Mahesh Rajasekharan was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Midwest Award winner.[37] Rajasekharan is serving as a judge for the 2023 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of the Year Awards.

As of April 2022, Cleo has been named a Leader in EDI on the G2 Grid, a peer-to-peer review site, for 20 straight quarters.[38] In Spring 2023, Cleo won 23 G2 awards—including EDI Leader Enterprise, MFT Leader Enterprise, On-Premise Data Integration Best Support Enterprise, and iPaaS High Performer Asia.

References

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  1. ^ "RADAR Tool Allows Cleo Customers to Improve Customer Relationships with Real-Time SLA Resolution | CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly". www.supplychainquarterly.com. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  2. ^ Kelly, Brian W.; Grimes, Dennis J. (2008-01-28). Kelly/Grimes IBM PC compatible computer directory - Brian W. Kelly, Dennis J. Grimes - Google Books. Wiley. ISBN 9780471878193. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  3. ^ Alex Gary. "Private equity firm acquires Loves Park company - Blogs - Rockford Register Star". Rrstar.com. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  4. ^ "Introducing Cleo Integration Cloud, Delivering Enhanced Cloud Experiences for the Modern Enterprise". Business Wire. 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  5. ^ "Cleo announces new data solution - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL". Rrstar.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  6. ^ a b "Cleo: Cleo aims to help enterprises and CIOs overcome cloud implications, IT News, ET CIO". Cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  7. ^ One-VA Technical Reference Model
  8. ^ "13-R-3556 - City of Atlanta, Georgia". Atlantacityga.iqm2.com. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  9. ^ "Loves Park business selected to provide online services - Rockford Register Star". rrstar.com. 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  10. ^ "Cleo Acquires EXTOL". Sdcexec.com. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  11. ^ Grackin, Ann. "Smart sensors bring the supply chain to life". Searchmanufacturingerp.techtarget.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  12. ^ "How to use IT to improve healthcare supply chain operations". Health Data Management. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  13. ^ "Cleo and FourKites Partner to Increase Supply Chain Agility and Visibility for Global Logistics & Transportation Industry". Cleo. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  14. ^ "The Latest Clients First and Cleo Partnership". Cleo. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  15. ^ "Cleo, Cognizant Form Global Cloud Integration Partnership – Company Announcement - FT.com". markets.ft.com. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  16. ^ "Cleo continues to grow, expands operations into Chicago office | The Rock River Times". Archived from the original on 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  17. ^ "Jorge Rodriguez Joins Cleo as Senior Vice President of Product Development". MarketWatch. 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  18. ^ "John Thielens Joins Cleo as Vice President of Technology". MarketWatch. 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  19. ^ "Cleo announces new hire - Rockford Register Star". rrstar.com. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  20. ^ "News: Ken Lyons Joins Cleo as Vice President of Enterprise Sales". 28 January 2016.
  21. ^ "Cleo Accelerates Channel Strategy - Names Vipin Mittal as Vice President to Lead the Charge". Cleo. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  22. ^ "News: Cleo Names Tushar Patel Chief Marketing Officer". Cleo. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  23. ^ "Cleo Bengaluru centre plans co-innovation". Deccanherald.com. 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  24. ^ "Cleo Welcomes Mark Seaman as Vice President of Channels" (Press release). 13 December 2016.
  25. ^ "Pottsville tech firm acquired by Illinois company". LVB. 2016-04-06. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  26. ^ Kayli Plotner (2017-04-06). "Cleo moves to new headquarters in southeast Rockford - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL". Rrstar.com. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  27. ^ "Cleo Receives Strategic Growth Investment to Accelerate $5.5 Billion Ecosystem Integration Software Category". Cleo. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  28. ^ "Cleo Opens New Chicago Office as Its Business Booms | Built In Chicago". www.builtinchicago.org. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  29. ^ "Cleo Supercharges Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP Integrations with Out-of-the-Box EDI Automation | CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly". www.supplychainquarterly.com. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  30. ^ Brooks, Steve (2023-03-14). "Cleo Improves Visibility and Control Over Supplier Ecosystem". Enterprise Times. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  31. ^ "Drummond Group Wraps Up 2017 with 16 AS2 Certified Products – Drummond Group". Drummondgroup.com. 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  32. ^ "AS3 Secure Messaging Products are Drummond Certified™ in 1Q14 Interoperability Test Event". Drummond Group. 2014-02-19. Archived from the original on 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  33. ^ "Newest ebMS 2.0 Secure Messaging Products are Drummond Certified™". Drummond Group. 2013-09-09. Archived from the original on 2014-06-07. Retrieved 2014-06-05.
  34. ^ "Cleo becomes Acumatica certified". www.kmworld.com. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
  35. ^ "Cleo Wins Xerox Partner of the Year Award - News - Rockford Register Star". rrstar.com. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  36. ^ "Cleo Honored for 2nd Straight Year for Outstanding Food Logistics Integration Solutions - Startup 365". Startup365.fr. 2017-12-18. Retrieved 2018-02-21.
  37. ^ "EY Announces Award Winners for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 Midwest Award". www.ey.com. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  38. ^ Bluemner, Paul (2022-03-09). "Cleo Earns Top 10 Spot on G2's 2022 Best Software List for IT Infrastructure Software Category". citybiz. Retrieved 2023-04-19.