Packaged solutions for complex yet common integration problems.

AppFusions started in March 2010 doing integration, migration and single sign-on work for enterprises, and packaging the patterns that kept recurring as products. The 2012 site sold four things: development services, “canned ‘black magic’ solutions for many common pain points,” agile mentoring, and managed hosting with software resales.

Most of that work centered on Atlassian’s JIRA and Confluence, and AppFusions was listed as an Atlassian Expert. From the start it also connected those tools to the rest of the enterprise: JIRA in Jive, launched at JiveWorld11 in October 2011; IBM Connections and Sametime integrations by January 2012; and connectors for Box, Dropbox, Google, Alfresco, UserVoice and iRise, with single sign-on through Active Directory, Kerberos, SAML and Crowd.

The company ran on its own wiki, and so did its public website. A proposal went into the wiki before anyone pitched it.

• Customers in 23 countries by July 2012, “from SMB to Fortune 100”
• January 2013: one of five partner demos voted onto the IBM Connect opening keynote stage, out of 27 entries
• Talks by Ellen at Enterprise Search Summit (Nov 2010) and JiveWorld11 (Oct 2011); quoted in Forbes (May 2012)
• Named a 2012 Hot Vendor in Content Management, Collaboration and Authoring by Aragon Research
• Co-founder Patrick Li wrote JIRA 4 Essentials and JIRA 5.2 Essentials
• “The UWC Sr. developer is on our team”: the lead developer of the Universal Wiki Converter, the open-source tool for moving other wikis into Confluence

“Working with AppFusions was a joy. We upgraded a very large JIRA instance from 3.13 to 4.2.2 with over 130k issues. (Not to mention 5 custom plugins/services, and 1 modified plugin.) … We met our deadline - with no downtime - to our 140 engineers worldwide.”

Tim Murphy, Engineering Director, Calypso (San Francisco), on the 2012 home page

In May 2013 AppFusions began moving licensing for its products off the Atlassian Marketplace and onto its own shopping cart and licensing system. The June 2013 product page listed 36 products, and the partner page listed ten vendors, with IBM, Jive, SugarCRM, Lingotek and iRise alongside Atlassian. That June AppFusions was a Silver Sponsor of the E2 Conference in Boston and hosted a social business open-standards workshop organized by the OpenSocial Foundation and W3C. By September an OAuth2 provider linked IBM Connections with Atlassian applications.

AppSpokes, the integration framework for cloud web apps that AppFusions launched in 2015, came to run for user bases of more than 120,000. By August 2016 the partner page listed 16 platform vendors, with IBM first. In 2017 the hub was IBM Connections. The AppSpokes line, shown in the diagram below, brought Salesforce, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, GitHub, Asana, Zendesk, WordPress, Wrike and JIRA into IBM Connections communities, cloud or on-premise.

The social platforms AppFusions worked with had no framework for registering and connecting outside apps, so AppFusions built its own: AppSpokes, its integration and registration framework and APIs, and a growing set of pre-built integration apps (UX, authentication, workflow).

At Cisco, AppSpokes was deployed turnkey for 125,000 users. Because it already worked, Cisco didn’t have to wait for a platform vendor to build one, and AppFusions’ part of the IBM–Cisco program came to about $4.5 million.

Sources: Beyond Exclamation, Jun 2019 · CIO Applications profile, Nov 2019

• More than 500 enterprise customers by 2013
• 2013 customer table: 63 named customers in nine countries, with the work done for each
• 2016 partner page: 16 platforms, from IBM, Box and Google to Lingotek, New Relic and WordPress
• 2017 services included IBM Big Data analytics automation and cloud-to-on-premise integrations
• June 2015: hosted eight San Francisco high-school students in the city’s Future Graduates summer tech internship program

“The AppFusions team have been invaluable resources to our company as we transitioned to Confluence. They respond quickly to our needs and add value by suggesting solutions and alternative ways at looking at things.”

IT Director, Connect Hearing, Chicago, on the 2017 home page

In 2017 AppFusions developed AlohaDXP, a scalable integration and digital experience platform, later sold as AlohaCloud. By October 2018 the company had three product lines: AppSpokes, an iPaaS architecture with more than 25 packaged integrated app services that could run inside any web-app platform; AlohaDXP, a no-code and low-code digital experience and workplace platform; and the original Atlassian server apps that had informed both.

The platform ran on IBM Cloud, using IBM Watson natural language processing among other services, and shipped from one codebase as a multi-tenant public cloud, a private dedicated cloud, or a containerized on-premises install. In 2018 AppFusions sponsored CMSWire’s DX Summit in Chicago, and Ellen was interviewed for CMSWire’s DX Leaders series.

AppFusions’ integration user experiences and authentication were refactored onto AlohaCloud, a vendor-neutral platform connecting Salesforce, Zendesk, SharePoint, Google, Box, Dropbox, Jira and Confluence, and in 2017–2018 the team evaluated IBM and AWS AI and machine-learning services for it. The company moved to the AlohaCloud domain in 2017, keeping appfusions.com online alongside it. From then on the platform business ran as AlohaCloud Digital Networks, AlohaCloud for short, the same name as the platform itself.

The name carried three ideas. The beach: long, endless sand is what you want, and chaotic waves are what you have, which to Ellen was enterprise tech. The ocean: a blue-ocean opportunity, open water no one had claimed. And Cloud: the platform was cloud-native from the start.

AlohaCloud was the third generation, built on the first two rather than starting over. AppFusions’ integrations and apps were packaged, shrink-wrapped and downloadable. AppSpokes rebuilt the most popular of them as microservices, with an integration framework. AlohaCloud added a multi-tenant platform with user management and a drag-and-drop builder for mixing those integration apps with in-platform content, plus APIs and a registration system for adding more. It was designed for real enterprise structure: one global enterprise with many divisions, a private cloud serving many tenants, or thousands of semi-independent organizations sharing centrally managed services while keeping their own identity, data and permissions.

Full development ran from November 2017 to January 2020, funded by reinvested AppSpokes revenue. In January 2020 the company began raising outside funding, and COVID arrived the next month. From February 2020 to February 2023, with enterprise software budgets frozen, Ellen deployed many smaller AlohaCloud instances, including public websites for nonprofits. AppFusions also kept consulting under its own name through 2022.

Sources: CMSWire, Aug 2018 · Mirror Review, Oct 2018 · The Software Report profile · Engage 2018 · Beyond Exclamation, Jun 2019 · See Change, Sep 2019 · CIOReview, Nov 2019 · CIO Applications list, Nov 2019 · CIO Applications profile, Nov 2019 · Women in Cloud, Jan 2020 · Azure AD release notes via dirteam, Aug 2020 · Microsoft Marketplace blog, Aug 2020 · Women in Cloud, Mar 2021 · Ideagen panel, 2021

• May 2018: workshop with Dion Hinchcliffe at Engage, the IBM collaboration user group conference, aboard the ss Rotterdam
• 2019: regional directors for APAC and for North America and EMEA, with customers in the USA, EMEA and APAC
• 2019: a proof of concept with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, which ended when COVID arrived in 2020
• 2019: deployed for an Australian smart-city program covering economic development, transport and parking
• November 2019: named to CIOReview’s Top 20 Smart City Solution Companies and CIO Applications’ Top 25 Digital Experience Solution Companies
• 2019: exhibitor booths at IBM Think in San Francisco in February and the Gartner Digital Workplace Summit in London in September, with a session by Ellen at Gartner
• January 2020: AlohaCloud one of five finalists in Women in Cloud’s inaugural #CloudInnovateHER pitch challenge
• July 2020: AlohaCloud added to Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory app gallery with single sign-on (federation) support
• August 2020: AlohaCloud featured by Microsoft’s commercial marketplace team for National Nonprofit Day, among the nonprofit solutions on Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace
• 2021: Ellen spoke at the Women in Cloud Microsoft Cloud Accelerator kickoff and on an Ideagen Global Summit panel, “Cloud Innovations for Fortune 100 Companies”

“Technology matters a lot, but the invisibility of the technology (to the digital experience) matters more.”

Ellen Feaheny, CMSWire DX Leaders interview, August 2018

Looking back · 2026AI changes what an experience can do, but not what must be true underneath it. Identity, permissions, context, data and services matter more, not less, once software can act on its own. Those are the layers AlohaCloud was built around.

The products page grouped work by the platform it connected. This catalog keeps the original names and shows which page each product appears on. Most ran inside JIRA or Confluence in 2013; by 2017 a second family ran inside IBM Connections.

How the count worksThe June 2013 products page lists 36 products. The June 2017 page lists 43, three of them marked coming soon. This catalog combines the pages into 53 distinct products listed as available: a product counts once when it appears on several pages or under a later name, and IBM Sametime counts once across the five Atlassian apps it was sold for.

“Working together, great things happen. Continued thank yous to our customers for success together.”

appfusions.com · Customers · 2013

Each row keeps the 2013 page’s own description of the work, lightly cleaned. These customers were named publicly on the site at the time.

How the count worksThe June 2013 table names 63 customers and the September 2017 page names 44. Of those, 14 appear on both, so this page names 93. The company’s total of more than 500 enterprise customers by 2013 isn’t broken out on the archived pages.

“Many of our packaged products are deep solutions to common problems. Check our many products to make sure it is not already available, or jump-start your solution!”

• Jun 27, 2013ZDNetHow we can create open standards for social businessArticle by Dion Hinchcliffe; AppFusions referenced
• Jun 26, 2013GlobeNewswireAnnouncing Social Business Open Standards Workshop, Organized by OpenSocial Foundation and W3C, and Hosted by AppFusions
• Jun 17, 2013PR NewswireE2 Conference (Boston 2013) Silver Sponsor AppFusions Enables Collaboration
• Jun 2012Aragon ResearchSpecial Report: Hot Vendors for 2012Listed under Content Management, Collaboration and Authoring
• May 31, 2012MarketWatchNew Atlassian Marketplace Launches with Easy One-Stop Shopping for Hundreds of Business SolutionsMentioned
• May 16, 2012Portals and KMAppFusions Integrates iRise Visualization with Atlassian JIRA, ConfluenceReview by Bill Ives
• May 4, 2012ForbesWhy Atlassian is to Software as Apple is to DesignEllen Feaheny quoted
• Apr 24, 2012Business WireAppFusions Speeds Enterprise Software Development, Integrating iRise Visualization with Atlassian JIRA, Confluence
• Mar 14, 2012Atlassian BlogsJIRA 5 Deep Dive: Activity StreamsCallout to Google Docs for JIRA, Box for JIRA and UserVoice for JIRA
• Feb 28, 2012GlobeNewswireAppFusions Rolls Out Eight Integrations to Support Atlassian’s Most Significant Release to Date: JIRA 5
• Jan 18, 2012PR NewswireAppFusions Integrates IBM Connections and IBM Sametime With Atlassian JIRA, Confluence
• Dec 29, 2011Atlassian BlogsJIRA Best XI of 2011Callout to JIRA 4 Essentials by Patrick Li
• Dec 28, 2011Atlassian BlogsThe Starting XI of 2011: Confluence EditionCallout to Google Docs for Confluence
• Dec 15, 2011IBM blog (Luis Benitez)AppFusions Integrates IBM Connections and Atlassian’s JIRAFeaturing JIRA+ Enterprise Activity in IBM Connections
• Oct 12, 2011NewsBlazeAppFusions Launches JIRA in Jive and Attensa in Jive at JiveWorld11
• Oct 5, 2011JiveWorld 2011, Las VegasFrom Plugins to AppsSession by Ellen Feaheny
• Oct 3, 2011Business WireJiveWorld11 to Showcase Global Social Business Success
• Aug 11, 2011PR NewswireNetworkedHelpDesk.org Welcomes 34 New Member Companies
• Jul 29, 2011Jive Apps Developers BlogLet’s get it started (Jive Apps Market)
• Jul 25, 2011PR NewswireJive Executives and Jive Apps Partners Explore Impact of ‘Consumerprise’ Era on Future of Business
• Jul 14, 2011Atlassian BlogsJIRA 4 Essentials: a book by Patrick Li
• Jun 6, 2011AtlassianAtlassian Summit 2011 Sponsors
• Dec 22, 2010Atlassian BlogsThe Best of Confluence 2010
• Nov 16, 2010Enterprise Search Summit, Washington DCMaking the Old and New Systems Work Smarter, Not HarderSession by Ellen Feaheny

Still online

Third-party pages that could still be found in October 2026.

• 2013W3CAppFusions position paper for the W3C Social Business workshopOpenSocial integrations: Immersive for Atlassian in IBM Connections and in Jive
• Nov 19, 2014EntrepreneurGoing Global? Don’t Let Your Business Get Lost in TranslationArticle by Ellen Feaheny
• Aug 21, 2018CMSWireEllen Feaheny: Approach Digital Experience Holistically, Not as a One-Off ProjectDX Leaders interview
• Oct 29, 2018Mirror ReviewAppFusions: Contextual Integrated Digital ExperiencesCompany profile
• Jun 28, 2019Beyond ExclamationLeapfrog Your Digital Transformation. Now.Ellen on building AlohaCloud: “Privately, I knew this would be one of our trickiest endeavors to date.”
• Sep 3, 2019See ChangeSmart Cities: from Hype to ActionAlohaCloud and smart-city data, by Patrick Spedding of the AlohaCloud team
• Sep 10, 2019CMSWireAndré König: Democratize Emerging Technologies to Realize True ChangeAppFusions director for North America and Europe
• Nov 2019CIOReviewAppFusions: Connected Smart CitiesTop 20 Smart City Solution Companies, 2019
• Nov 2019CIO ApplicationsTop 25 Digital Experience Solution Companies, 2019AppFusions and AlohaCloud listed
• Nov 21, 2019CIO ApplicationsAppFusions: The Dawn of Modern Integrated Digital Experiences Is Finally HereProfile interview with Ellen: from packaged integrations to AppSpokes to AlohaCloud; AppSpokes deployed to a 125,000-user corporation
• Aug 4, 2020dirteam.comWhat’s New in Azure Active Directory in July 2020Microsoft’s release notes, relayed by Sander Berkouwer: AlohaCloud among 55 apps added to the Azure AD app gallery with federation support
• Aug 10, 2020Microsoft Tech CommunityMicrosoft’s commercial marketplace and National Nonprofit DayMarketplace blog: “AppFusions’ AlohaCloud is a modern scalable community, networking, and collaboration platform…”
• UndatedO’ReillyJIRA Essentials, by Patrick LiAuthor bio: “a cofounder and senior engineer at AppFusions”

“APIs are not enough!”

Ellen at IBM Connect 2017, as reported on the AppFusions blog

Photos: AppFusions on Instagram

• Nov 2010Enterprise Search SummitSession by Ellen: “Making the Old and New Systems Work Smarter, Not Harder”Washington, DC · Source: In the Press page, 2013
• Jun 2011Atlassian Summit 2011Listed sponsorSource: In the Press page, 2013
• Oct 2011JiveWorld11Session by Ellen: “From Plugins to Apps”; launched JIRA in JiveLas Vegas · Source: In the Press page, 2013
• Jan 2013IBM Connect 2013Exhibitor; one of five partner demos voted onto the opening keynote stage from 27 entriesOrlando · Source: AppFusions blog
• Jun 2013E2 ConferenceSilver Sponsor and featured exhibitorBoston · Source: PR Newswire
• Aug 2013W3C and OpenSocial Foundation Workshop on Social StandardsHost; IBM was the sponsorSan Francisco · Source: AppFusions blog
• Jan 2015IBM ConnectED 2015Silver Sponsor; booth, two demo pods, team of nine; fourth consecutive year at IBM’s social business conferenceOrlando · Source: AppFusions blog
• Apr 2015Social Connections 8Bronze SponsorBoston · Source: Planet Lotus
• May 2016Gluecon 2016SpeakerBroomfield, CO · Source: Crunchbase
• Feb 2017IBM Connect 2017Silver Sponsor; expo booth; session by Ellen: “Confront the Madness! All Your Tools and Systems of Record Integrated Natively in IBM Connections”San Francisco · Source: AppFusions blog
• May 2018Engage 2018Workshop with Dion Hinchcliffe: “Digital transformation of the workplace: Creating an integrated digital workplace for a better end-to-end experience”Rotterdam · Source: Engage
• Nov 2018CMSWire DX SummitSponsorChicago · Source: CMSWire
• Feb 2019IBM Think 2019Exhibitor booth: “Build vs. buy? Leapfrog 2 years ahead”San Francisco · Source: AppFusions on Instagram
• Sep 2019Gartner Digital Workplace Summit 2019Exhibitor booth; session by Ellen with Ted Hopton of the AppFusions team:“A Tragedy of Errors,” a tragicomedy about digital transformation in five actsLondon · Source: AppFusions on Instagram
• Nov 2019CMSWire DX SummitSponsorChicago · Source: CMSWire
• Jan 2020Women in Cloud #CloudInnovateHER Pitch ChallengeFinalist, one of five (AlohaCloud)Source: Women in Cloud
• Feb 2021Women in Cloud Microsoft Cloud Accelerator, Cohort 5.0Kickoff speakerSource: Women in Cloud
• 2021Ideagen Global SummitPanelist: “Cloud Innovations for Fortune 100 Companies”Source: Panel listing

These links open the pages as the Wayback Machine captured them. The site itself ran on Confluence.

• Homeappfusions.com/display/Dashboard31 Jul 2012
• Servicesappfusions.com/display/SVC11 Nov 2012
• Productsappfusions.com/display/DIST12 Jun 2013
• Partnersappfusions.com/display/PARTNERS21 Jun 2013
• Customersappfusions.com/display/Dashboard25 Jun 2013
• In the Pressappfusions.com/display/Dashboard3 Sep 2013
• Partnersappfusions.com/display/PARTNERS25 Aug 2016
• Homeappfusions.com/display/Dashboard31 Mar 2017
• Productsappfusions.com/display/DIST14 Jun 2017
• Blog: Eventsblog.appfusions.com/category/events14 Jun 2017
• Blog: IBMblog.appfusions.com/category/ibm14 Jun 2017
• Servicesappfusions.com/display/SVC25 Sep 2017
• Customersappfusions.com/display/Dashboard26 Sep 2017
• Everything elseappfusions.com/*All captures

The logo as it appeared on the site.