Folio Corporation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | Curt Allen, Brad Pelo |
| Headquarters | Provo, Utah , United States |
| Products | NFolio, Folio Views, Folio Legal Views, MailBag, Folio SiteDirector, LivePublish, NextPage NXT |
Number of employees | 190 |
| Parent | Open Market (from 1997) |
Folio Corporation (established in 1987) was a United States-based software company focused on producing publications related to CD-ROM technology.
History
The company debuted its initial product, NFolio 1.2, in September 1988 as a component of Novell NetWare. This software delivered online NetWare documentation accessible via DOS commands, utilizing the Folio Infobase format. Over subsequent years, Folio became a fundamental element within Novell’s network ecosystem, reportedly reaching approximately 25 million desktop users.
NFolio allowed users to access information from multiple sources, annotate content, and generate shareable "infobases" featuring automatic full-text indexing. With the release of version 2 in March 1989, NFolio was rebranded as Folio Views 1.0.
March 1990 marked the introduction of Folio Views 1.3, which included Folio Legal Views designed for creating and indexing legal documents with the "DepoPrep" tool. By July 1990, Folio Views 2.0 launched, incorporating around 100 new features such as hypertext linking within documents and across files, as well as connections to external media and applications.
In that same year, Paul Brent Allen and Dan Taggart founded Infobases, Inc., distributing LDS Church materials on floppy disks using Folio Views software. Paul Allen had been involved with Folio Corporation since its inception by his brother Curt Allen and brother-in-law Brad Pelo.
Folio introduced MailBag in March 1991, an infobase application for archiving and retrieving email on Novell LANs. June 1991 saw the release of Folio Views 2.1 alongside a Personal Edition tailored for MS-DOS PCs, enabling users to search, annotate, edit, link, and export information.
The Electronic Labyrinth recognized Folio Views 2.1 as a robust DOS-based document indexing and retrieval system supporting Boolean logic searches, wildcards, proximity queries, and multimedia linking. It employed "underhead" compression technology to reduce file sizes by approximately half and supported importing over forty file types with storage capacity up to 2GB. The full-featured version was priced at $695; the Personal Edition cost $295; while an unlimited license for non-profit organizations was available for $1995.
By the year 2000, all Folio DOS-based applications had been discontinued.
Acquisition by Mead Data Central (LEXIS-NEXIS)
On December 31, 1992, Mead Data Central, Inc., known for providing LEXIS and NEXIS services, acquired Folio Corporation. At that time, Folio’s software was utilized by more than 80 commercial publishers to produce and distribute electronic editions of thousands of printed titles primarily via compact discs and magnetic storage media. With annual revenues totaling $469.5 million, Mead Data Central was strategically positioned to challenge market leader Lotus Notes. In December 1994, LEXIS-NEXIS was sold to Reed Elsevier Group.
Folio released version 3.0 of Folio Views in May 1993. By early 1994, the workforce had expanded to 104 employees—double the previous year—and sales figures doubled following this product launch.
The company sustained its growth trajectory with an October 1995 extension of its collaboration with Novell, embedding Folio products into Novell’s NetWare Directory Services. Folio established its infobase publishing platform as an industry standard among professional content providers in sectors such as legal, accounting, tax, medical, pharmaceutical, and insurance fields. Nearly 600 commercial publishers employed its software across an estimated user base of 30 million desktops.
In June 1996, Folio unveiled Web Retriever 2.0 to facilitate importing web content into infobase-indexed documents. This capability later evolved into products such as Folio SiteDirector, LivePublish, and subsequently NextPage NXT.
September 1996 marked the release of Folio 4 as the successor to Folio Bound Views 3.11.2. A core component of Folio 4 was Folio Builder (formerly known as Infobase Production Kit), which enabled indexing and compilation of ASCII files along with documents from Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, FrameMaker, and Folio flat files into encrypted and compressed infobases featuring security controls. The comprehensive Folio product lineup included Folio SiteDirector, Folio Views, Folio Builder, Folio Publisher, Folio Integrator, Folio 4, LivePublish, and SecurePublish.
Sale to Open Market
In March 1997, after being under the ownership of Mead Data Central and LexisNexis for fewer than five years—and subsequently part of Reed Elsevier since December 1994—Folio Corporation was acquired by Open Market, an internet firm based in Massachusetts. Open Market intended to capitalize on Folio's technology to penetrate the expanding e-commerce sector by facilitating online product sales. Folio's multimedia database segment did not align closely with LexisNexis’s primary business focus.
Open Market purchased Folio for $45 million, shortly following its acquisition of WayPoint, a provider of business-to-business catalog solutions. Folio’s workforce of 190 employees continued operations at its Provo, Utah headquarters as a division led by president Bill Bennett. The plan was to merge Folio’s document management software with Open Market’s OM-Transact platform, aiming to develop integrated offerings that combined server-based transaction processing with Folio’s advanced search and retrieval functionalities. These combined products were projected for release by mid-1997.
Market reception
Network Computing placed Folio SiteDirector 3.1 eighth in a ranking of ten internal search engines, highlighting its distinctive method of delivering searchable infobases—compact collections of text and graphics—as HTML content. SiteDirector enabled swift searches across multi-gigabyte infobase files, converting them instantly upon browser requests.
Media organizations recognized the revenue opportunities within archival content; for instance, the Salt Lake City Tribune utilized SiteDirector to monetize archives stored in Folio’s infobase format.
In July 1997, Allen and Taggart acquired Western Standard’s interest in Ancestry, Inc. (Ancestry.com). Brad Pelo, who was president and CEO of Infobases (which employed Folio’s digital technology), had formerly served as Folio Corporation’s leader.
By February 1998, Open Market announced intentions for Folio to support emerging XML content standards along with XSL styling protocols.
Originally developed for local area networks, intranets, and CD-ROM publishing, Folio’s technology proved difficult to adapt to Open Market’s web-based e-commerce and content management platforms. Subsequent evaluations indicated that retrofitting Folio for Internet use incurred significantly higher costs than initially expected.
In October 1998, Open Market launched Folio 4.2 and LivePublish (which replaced SiteDirector); SiteDirector licenses were priced at $4,995. Businesses employed SiteDirector to provide secure online access to private information repositories.
During mid-1998, Open Market licensed Folio technology to ITM Products for their Fusion product, which linked Lotus Notes databases with Folio infobases; Fusion was marketed at approximately $15,000 per license covering 300 users.
In the first quarter of 1999, Open Market reported a 116% year-over-year increase in e-commerce revenue reaching $12.6 million; however, sales from Folio products represented only $3 million of this total.
Although Open Market maintained the position as the top consumer e-commerce software provider, its market share declined from 31% in 1997 to 22% in 1998 due to growing competition from BroadVision. While Open Market initially pursued major clients such as AT&T and Time Warner with expensive online mall initiatives, competitors concentrated on smaller-scale solutions better suited to rapidly evolving customer demands.
Challenges integrating Folio technology alongside diminishing investor confidence in technology stocks led to a downturn in Open Market’s performance. Management restructuring and strategic realignments in 1999 resulted in licensing Folio technology back to Brad Pelo and Utah investors including Alan Ashton, known for WordPerfect, under the ABSB entity.
Folio licensed to NextPage
On July 1, 1999, Open Market discontinued direct sales of Folio products and granted a license to NextPage, a company led by Brad Pelo, one of Folio Corporation's original founders. Prior to establishing NextPage alongside investors such as WordPerfect co-founder Alan Ashton, Pelo had served as head of business development at LEXIS/NEXIS and was president of Bookcraft, Inc.
NextPage secured exclusive rights for the ongoing development, marketing, sales, and support of Open Market’s Folio product line. This agreement included the transfer of all associated contracts and nearly all of Open Market’s 90 Folio staff members. Initially operating under the name ABSB L.C., NextPage held a three-year exclusive resale agreement for Folio products and non-exclusive rights to Open Market’s commerce tools. Open Market received guaranteed royalties totaling $14 million for Folio and an additional $14 million in licensing fees related to commerce tools. This strategic divestiture enabled Open Market to concentrate on its Internet commerce offerings that integrated order processing with secure payment systems.
Open Market had intended to leverage the publishing industry's transition from CD-ROMs to web-based applications by incorporating Folio; however, after the spin-off, it reduced its workforce by 90 employees following an earlier 20% staff cut. This restructuring contributed to a 5% rise in Open Market’s stock price. The licensing arrangement included provisions for a final sale after the exclusive three-year period.
Following this shift, Open Market redirected its focus away from Folio’s document management capabilities toward FutureTense technology, which was better aligned with e-commerce applications. Despite acquiring several content management firms, Open Market filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Subsequently, FatWire Software Corporation acquired FutureTense assets in 2004.
NextPage advanced Folio technology by developing Peer-To-Peer Content Networking and its eContent Platform, which facilitated indexing and sharing of documents across internal organizational networks (intranets). By the year 2000, NextPage marketed this platform under the name NXT.
In January 2000, NextPage acquired Complete Data Systems, followed by the acquisition of netLens, Inc. in January 2001. The integration of netLens' PeerSpace technology enabled connectivity between networks and mobile devices.
By September 2000, NextPage was preparing to launch NXT version 3. CEO Brad Pelo appeared before the U.S. Senate on October 9, 2000, where he emphasized NextPage’s peer-to-peer document management benefits amid congressional discussions regarding Internet technologies such as Napster.
October 2000 marked the opening of NextPage’s new headquarters at Thanksgiving Point, with key figures including Pelo, Ashton, and Utah Governor Mike Leavitt in attendance. The company introduced NXT 3 as a solution that consolidated access to distributed information through a secure "Peer-to-Peer Content Network."
Folio products received only maintenance updates through mid-2008 (up to version 4.7), while active development concentrated on NextPage LivePublish (later rebranded as NextPage NXT). This platform supported indexing for formats including Word, HTML, XML, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, and Folio infobases. LivePublish evolved through multiple versions culminating in NXT; upon its January 2001 release, NXT 3 was priced at $85,000 for a license covering 250 users.
Sale to NextPage
On March 23, 2001, Folio was sold outright to NextPage for $6.6 million. Previously licensed to NextPage in July 1999 with an option to purchase, the transaction also included ownership of the building and facilities that NextPage had been leasing from Open Market since that time.
In October 2001, NextPage enhanced its NXT product line to support peer-to-peer collaboration within secure customer networks; this offering maintained a price point of $85,000 for a license accommodating 250 users. An additional upgrade released in April 2002—NextPage Solo—enabled users to securely access the network via local desktops or offline through CDs.
NextPage moved its corporate headquarters from Lehi to Draper, Utah in April 2003.
Acquisition by FAST
On September 1, 2004, NextPage revealed that Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), a Norwegian company specializing in enterprise search and alerting technologies, had agreed to purchase NextPage's publishing applications division. This acquisition included products such as NXT, Folio, LivePublish, and GetSmart, as well as more than 500 customers and partners. NextPage maintained ownership of its document management services segment, known as Project Chrome.
The transaction provided NextPage with $6 million in cash upfront and the potential to receive an additional $9 million tied to performance milestones over the following four years.
Since 1991, FAST had served as a Value Added Reseller for Folio products.
In January 2006, FAST introduced ProPublish 4.1, which offered improved compatibility with Folio and NXT content formats. The following year, FAST rolled out Folio Views, Folio Builder, Folio Publisher, and Folio Integrator version 4.7.1 shortly before being acquired by Microsoft.
Acquisition by Microsoft
Microsoft finalized its purchase of FAST on April 25, 2008.
Acquisition by Rocket Software
On December 2, 2009, Rocket Software, headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, acquired Folio and NXT from Microsoft. Rocket Software focuses on Enterprise Infrastructure solutions including databases, business intelligence, storage systems, networking and telecommunications, terminal emulation, FTP services, integration frameworks, modernization initiatives, SOA implementations, and security products.
Rocket Software launched Folio Views, Folio Builder, Folio Publisher, and Folio Integrator version 4.7.2 on February 10, 2010—marking the first official Folio release compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Folio Versions
| Version | Release Date | Company | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFolio 1 | Sep 1988 | Folio Corp. | Designed for use with Novell's Netware |
| Folio Views 1.0 | Mar 1989 | Folio Corp. | Renamed from NFolio Version 2 |
| Folio Views 1.3 | Mar 1990 | Folio Corp. | |
| Folio Views 2.0 | Jul 1990 | Folio Corp. | |
| Folio Views 2.1 | Jun 1991 | Folio Corp. | First iteration supporting DOS |
| Folio Views 3.0 | May 1993 | MDC LexisNexis | |
| Folio Views 3.11.1 | MDC LexisNexis | ||
| Folio Views 3.11.2 | MDC LexisNexis | ||
| Folio Views 4.0 | Sep 1996 | MDC LexisNexis | Superseded version 3.11.2 |
| Folio Views 4.1 | Apr 1997 | Open Market | Included Builder and Publisher tools; supported OLE as well as both 16-bit and 32-bit applications |
| Folio Views 4.2 | Oct 1998 | Open Market | |
| Folio Views 4.5 | NextPage | ||
| NXT 2 | Oct 1999 | NextPage | Featured LivePublish and LiveEnterprise; compliant with native XML standards, Y2K ready and W3C standards compliant |
| NXT 3 | Oct 2000 | NextPage | |
| NXT 4 | June 2003 | NextPage | |
| Folio Views 4.6 | March 2005 | Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) | |
| Folio Views 4.7.1 | Early 2007 | Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) | Final release prior to Microsoft's acquisition of FAST |
| NXT 4.4.1 | June 2007 | Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) | |
| Folio Views 4.7.2 | Q1 2010 | Rocket Software | First version released by Rocket Software supporting Windows Vista and Windows 7 |