????初創公司Huddle有一個硅谷式的名字，并且在舊金山、紐約和華盛頓特區都設有辦事處，客戶包括美國政府的多個分支機構。但再走近點一看，大家可能會非常驚訝地發現，這家提供云計算協作服務的公司其實是一家英國企業。

????這家公司擁有170名員工，其中大約三分之二都在Huddle的東倫敦總部上班，乘地鐵從總部出發，用不了多少工夫就可抵達那家南倫敦酒吧——7年前，Huddle的創始人就是在那里萌生了創業的念頭。

????這家公司迅速走紅?，F如今，全球各地有超過10萬家企業正在使用Huddle提供的軟件即服務內容協作平臺，其中不乏寶潔(Procter & Gamble)、聯合利華(Unilever)和起亞汽車(Kia Motors)這樣的大牌公司。它的同名產品致力于幫助團隊更有效、更安全地協同工作，無論是編輯文檔，管理任務，還是跨設備（比如從桌面到平板電腦）共享文件。

????但英國本土，Huddle最響亮的稱號是，這是一家成功的英國初創公司。

????Huddle聯合創始人安迪?麥克洛克林曾經是一位郁郁不得志的咨詢師，整天忙著為保險和財務公司實施文檔管理和業務流程系統。

????“每一家企業都有自己的一套歸檔和記錄管理系統，”他說。“每個企業都說，他們希望有一種工具能夠幫助內部和外部團隊輕輕松松地協同工作。”

????直到碰到了好友阿拉斯泰爾?米切爾（現任Huddle公司CEO），他的這個想法終于開始付諸實施。阿拉斯泰爾此前一直嘗試著實施微軟協同辦公平臺Microsoft SharePoint，但總是以失敗告終。很快，兩人下定決心，一定要打造一套遠比市場現有產品“更簡便易用、更有吸引力”的新系統。這對創業拍檔堅決放棄了笨重的界面和工作流（這是傳統商業工具的典型特征），轉而追求一種更接近于消費類軟件的應用體驗。

????“傳統的辦公概念已經土崩瓦解，員工們不只是在四面墻內朝九晚五地工作，”麥克洛克林說?！癏uddle可以讓團隊無論身處何地都能高效工作，哪怕其中一些人效力于不同的公司。”

????他補充說：“我們也明白，用戶希望他們在工作中使用的軟件簡便易用，設計巧妙，而且最好能夠像他們平常使用的社交軟件工具那樣輕松有趣?！?/p>

????迄今為止，Huddle已經進行了三輪募資，共籌得4,000多萬美元的投資。麥克洛克林透露，這家公司現在為英國中央政府80%的部門提供服務，從而使Huddle成為英國最高決策圈內應用最多的云計算軟件之一。他說：“這是件非常了不起的事情?！?/p>

????與這種特權相伴的當然是莊重的責任。鑒于Huddle的云端儲存了這么多敏感的第三方數據和信息，麥克洛克林說，安全依然是這家公司的頭等大事。“安全性與合規性被我們擺放在了至高無上的位置，”他說?！拔覀円詳祿行牡陌踩裕瑢訉蛹用芎蛽碛袛祿鳈酁闃s，我們在英國和美國設置的數據中心充分落實了各項關鍵的安全指標?！?/p>

????

????The startup Huddle has a Silicon Valley-style name, is used by several branches of the U.S. government, and has offices in San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C.. But look a bit closer, and you might be surprised to discover that the cloud-based collaboration company is actually British.

????About two-thirds of the company's 170 employees are located at Huddle's East London headquarters, just a tube ride away from the South London pub where the company was conceived seven years ago.

????The company's rise has been meteoric. Huddle now has more than 100,000 businesses worldwide using its software-as-a-service content collaboration platform, including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Kia Motors. Its namesake product promises to help teams work more effectively and securely together, whether editing documents, managing tasks, or sharing files, across devices, from desktop to tablet.

????But at home, Huddle is known best as a British startup that made it.

????Huddle came about after co-creator Andy McLoughlin became frustrated in his job as a consultant, spending his days implementing document management and business process systems for insurance and finance companies.

????"Every single business used systems for archiving and record management," he said, "and each said they wanted a tool alongside this to easily collaborate with internal and external teams."

????It wasn't until he met with friend Alastair Mitchell -- now Huddle's CEO -- that the idea took off. Alastair had been trying unsuccessfully to implement Microsoft SharePoint. The duo quickly became intent on making a new system that was far more "intuitive and attractive" than what was on the market. Instead of the clunky interfaces and workflows found on traditional business tools, the pair sought an experience that was more akin to that of consumer software.

????"The notion of the traditional office has broken down -- employees don't just work between 9 and 5 inside four walls," McLoughlin said. "Huddle allows teams to be productive wherever they are, even if some of them work at different companies."

????He added: "We also understand that users expect the software they use at work to be as intuitive, well-designed and -- gasp -- fun as the tools they use in their social lives."

????To date, Huddle has conducted three funding rounds, and has raised more than $40 million. The company now services 80% of Britain's central government, McLoughlin said, making Huddle one of the largest deployments of cloud software inside the upper echelons of U.K. decision-making. "It's terrific," he said.

????That privilege comes with serious responsibility. With so much sensitive third-party data and information in its cloud, security remains Huddle's top priority, McLoughlin said. "Security and compliance is absolutely paramount," he said. "We pride ourselves on data center security, encryption, and data sovereignty with centers in the U.K. and U.S. and all key compliances in place."