This month marks THINKstrategies‘ fifteenth anniversary helping its clients achieve business success in the Cloud. (Of course, we didn’t call it the ‘cloud’ when we first got started.)

I founded the firm in November 2001 with the simple premise that the software and technology industry was going to move from a product-centric to a services-driven business model, and I wanted to help companies make this transition and transform their businesses.

While this idea may seem mundane today, back then the software and technology industry was still reeling from the Dot.com bust and demise of the first generation of application service providers (ASPs) and utility computing services companies. The major market research, management consulting and venture capital firms were abandoning the ASP and utility computing idea. THINKstrategies was the first independent advisory firm to focus entirely on the new services idea which we believed would become a reality with advancements in networking and software design, new go-to-market strategies and changing customer attitudes.

Salesforce.com and NetSuite proved this to be the case in pioneering the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) concept. Amazon Web Services (AWS) showed how the computing world could be converted into an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) business. Now “software is eating everything” and the proliferation of Cloud services in combination with commoditized sensor nanotechnology is fueling the Internet of Things (IoT) and ‘Everything-as-a-Service’. 

Through this 15 year period, THINKstrategies has helped over 100 established and emerging companies leverage the Cloud to redefine their businesses. We educate our clients about new opportunities and challenges; advise them about how to capitalize on the changing market dynamics; and promote their unique capabilities in the marketplace..

THINKstrategies has become a ‘thought-leader’ in the Cloud marketplace, and I’m proud to be recently recognized among the ChannelPro 20/20 Visionaries for 2016. Last year, I was also named among the Top 50 Cloud Bloggers of 2015 by the Channel Company and CRN, #16 on the Top 100 Individuals and Brands in the Internet of Things Landscape 2015 by Onalytica, #20 among the Top 100 Cloud experts on Twitter in the Huffington Post, and #23 on the VAR Guy’s 2015 Top 50 Channel Influencers. You can read THINKstrategies’ latest perspectives regarding the most recent Cloud industry announcements, events and trends on our website here.

In 2005, we founded the first vendor-independent, online directories focused on SaaS and Managed Services, and merged them together to form the Cloud Computing Showplace in 2010. Today, there are over 2800 companies listed on the Showplace in over 90 application, industry and service categories, along with links to the latest whitepapers, events and success stories in the best practices resource center.

In 2009, we launched the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards to recognize SaaS companies delivering measurable business benefits to their customers. The success of the BoSS Awards led us to create the Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards to showcase Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and IaaS providers also delivering measurable business benefits. We added the Connected Cloud Internet of Things (CCIoT) Awards in 2014. Over the past six years, we’ve recognized over 150 companies through these award programs.

In 2011, we created the Cloud Innovators Summit executive forum series to bring together industry leaders to discuss key issues and new opportunities in the Cloud marketplace. We hosted four annual Cloud Channel Summits focused on new partnering models for success; two Cloud Analytics Summits looking at how to capitalize on Big Data; and a Connected Cloud Summit which examined developments in the rapidly evolving IoT environment.

Since 2007, THINKstrategies has also been participating in the Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) bike ride to raise money for the Dana Farber Institute to fight cancer and help people survive this deadly disease. Click here to read more about this great event and why I participate in this wonderful cause.

The success of THINKstrategies’ events and other endeavors would not be possible without great clients and a terrific ecosystem of partners. I want to thank all of them for their support, and you for your interest in our perspectives and activities over the past 15 years!

Contact me if you’d like to explore ways we can work together to capitalize on the continuing shift to new service models in the Cloud. Thanks!