LogMeIn keeps connections open [Correction 3/9/11]

Pig Pen, a character in Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" series, wasalways accompanied by his own cloud of dust. Substitute data fordirt, and many of us today are living in similar bubbles -surrounded by information radiating from smartphones, laptopcomputers, and home and office desktop computers.

Connecting and managing that constellation of devices - so, forexample, users can pull up a report on their computer hard drivesfrom their smartphones - is the mission at LogMeIn Inc. The Woburncompany aims to tame the digital cloud that surrounds informationage Pig Pens.

"Yes, we've heard the Pig Pen comparison before," said CraigVerColen, the director of corporate communications at LogMeIn."We've all got our personal clouds, and our business is all aboutconnecting all your devices, simply."

LogMeIn is part of a growing sector of the state's technologyindustry that enables people to access information anytime,anywhere, in an increasingly mobile and interconnected world. It isalso example of the long-term shift in the tech sector frommanufacturing to services: LogMeIn doesn't make devices, but adds totheir value by allowing them to work better, together.

As personal computers and devices have proliferated, so hasLogMeIn's business. The company, founded in 2003, has connectedthrough its software more than 100 million devices worldwide, andraised more than $160 million from stock offerings.

LogMeIn has achieved its success by taking paths rarely traveledby Massachusetts tech firms in the late '90s, when no expense wasspared by companies swimming in investor money. There are no high-priced servers running in the basement or customized equipmentsitting on desks. The company's hardware, VerColen states proudly,is "pretty much off the shelf."

LogMeIn's sales strategy is also a reflection of the modernInternet culture. It's based on a "freemium" model: give the productaway, and upsell happy users into paying customers. Today, thecompany has over 11 million active users, but only 585,000 pay.

In 2010, LogMeIn reported revenues of $101 million, up 36 percentfrom 2009.

That's enough to enable the company to break anotherMassachusetts technology mold that has persisted since the region'sfirst computer boom, which was built on selling high-priced hardwareand software to large companies.

"We don't have that enterprise focus that once dominated theBoston scene," VerColen said. "We've been able to blur the linebetween the professional and the consumer."

D.C. Denison can be reached at denison@globe.com.

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