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Enterprise software has never been sexy, but it used to pay the bills. Newly launched  management software product Paglo is changing that assumption by offering a free version of its software in hopes of signing up lots of users and then finding a way to make money.

Paglo Labs Inc. founders Brian De Haaff and Chris Waters told Tech Confidential that the startup already has 3,500 users testing the software in private beta. The application tracks computers, software usage and network activity across an organization and allows IT administrators to retrieve information using a search engine.

There's plenty of competition in the IT and network management arena. But in addition to being free, Paglo adds a social component to help differentiate its service from rival tools. Queries entered into the software by administrators can be saved and accessed by other users seeking the most efficient way to find information.

If Paglo succeeds in attracting enough IT decision-makers, advertising might be a compelling model for the company. That approach is already used by Spiceworks Inc., a network management software vendor that also gives its product away and relies on ad revenue. De Haaff says Paglo also might opt to charge users for premium services.

The company has raised an undisclosed amount of money from Geneva Venture Partners, the same firm that invested in on-demand leader Salesforce Inc., and France Telecom's venture capital arm, Innovacom. The two founders previously created a wireless security startup called Network Chemistry that sold most of its assets to Aruba Networks Inc. [ARUN] in July for an undisclosed sum. Network Chemistry still exists and is the parent company of Paglo. De Haaff says the initial investors in Network Chemistry were "so excited about Paglo that they took the proceeds from the transaction and put that into Paglo." He declined to offer details on that arrangement.

With nine employees, an evolving business model and no revenue, Paglo hopes to sign up enough users to make the software an attractive proposition--to someone. The software is compelling and the goal of taking something as complicated at IT systems and network management and turning it into something that resembles a Google search of a company's IT resources is potentially a breakthrough. Next year the firm plans to seek an unspecified amount of venture capital. - Stacey Higginbotham

See Paglo's launch presentation

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