Two announcements on the same day this week vividly illustrated the scalability and ubiquity of today’s Cloud Computing phenomenon. They also showed the diversity of users seeking to take advantage of Cloud Computing services.

The first was Amazon’s announcement that it is offering a free usage tier of its Amazon S3, Amazon Elastic Block Store, Amazon Elastic Load Balancing, and AWS data transfer services for new users for a full year. 

Amazon Web Services’ (AWS)  innovative and groundbreaking approach to packaging, pricing and delivering computing power has been the primary impetus and standard bearer of the Cloud Computing movement. Its commodity and even spot-pricing techniques have captured the attention of entrepreneurs and enterprises alike.

UBS Securities estimates that Amazon will generate $500 million in 2010 and $750 million in 2011, making it the largest Cloud vendor by far with minimal marketing effort. Yet, this still only … Read More »

Yesterday’s announcement that Ray Ozzie is retiring from Microsoft is newsworthy because he has been at the heart of the company’s efforts to keep pace with the rapidly evolving Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and broader Cloud Computing movement.

Ozzie joined Microsoft when his company, Groove Networks, was acquired in 2005. Groove was an independent software vendor (ISV) trying to commercialize the groupware ideas which Ozzie had pioneered with Lotus Notes.

Around the same time as the acquisition, Bill Gates warned Microsoft’s employees of the far-reaching implications of the coming “Internet Tidal Wave” in an infamous internal memo which quickly became public and stated,

“This coming ‘services wave’ will be very disruptive…Services designed to scale to tens or hundreds of millions will dramatically change the nature and cost of solutions deliverable to enterprises or small businesses.”

Ozzie issued his own memo warning about the “The Internet Services Disruption” shortly after he arrived at Microsoft … Read More »

THINKstrategies announced today that Accept Corporation has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards is an ongoing program which recognizes SaaS companies that are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits can include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations and greater profitability.

Accept Corporation’s SaaS-based Accept 360 Innovation Management solution empowers product teams to more quickly develop compelling products that generate greater revenues, because they’re better aligned with the market and company strategy.

Click here to read more about the measurable business benefits which earned Accept Corporation the latest BoSS Award.

Click here to learn more about the BoSS Award program or to apply for an Award.

Based on the success of the BoSS Awards program which focuses on SaaS solutions, THINKstrategies … Read More »

The entire world was enthralled by the successful rescue of the thirty-three Chilean miners this week. The way in which the rescue was broadcast worldwide so we could all watch the drama unfold moment-by-moment was an unprecedented event that enabled us to share the tension, as well as the elation of the successful effort.

It was also a unique case study of how an organization can achieve success by perfectly executing a series of actions which are too often hollow business ideals. Here’s the quick list which came to mind as I tried to digest the significance of this extraordinary feat:

Commitment: The mining company made a commitment to do all that it could to save the miners.
Determination: The miners were determined to survive.
Alignment: Both agreed to work together to make it happen.
Collaboration: The company leveraged a combination of internal and external resources from … Read More »

THINKstrategies  announced today that Geminare has been named the latest winner of THINKstrategies’ Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s cloud computing solutions.

The CCBV Awards program was launched earlier this year to recognize Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers delivering tangible business benefits to specific user organizations. These benefits include lower costs, faster deployment times, greater profitability, etc.

The CCBV Award program builds on the success of THINKstrategies’ Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program which was initiated in 2009, and has issued over fifty (50) awards since its inception.

Geminare is a provider of Recovery-as-a-Service (RaaS) solutions to the Cloud Computing market, with products including Cloud Recovery and Cloud Storage Assurance. Geminare delivers its solutions through a network of channel partners worldwide including Qwest Communications, Hosting.com, Bell Canada, CA Technologies Inc., and Ingram Micro.

Click here to read about … Read More »

Many people believe there is only one way to sell Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions — via free, online trials and outbound tele-marketing tactics. Read my latest E-Commerce Times commentary to see how some SaaS companies are dispelling this myth and demonstrating how SaaS solutions can be sold in various ways. Click here to read more.

In addition to posting my views and latest THINKstrategies’ news on this blog, I’ve also become a regular contributor to the UBM TechWeb online macrosite called Internet Evolution.

In recent weeks I’ve examined the following topics,

When Cloud Terminology Backfires 
Purpose-Built Social Networks Make Corporate Inroads 
Cloud Providers Hope Dashboards Build Trust 
Telcos Invade Cloud Services 
A New Take on Cloud Standardization

Click here to find all of my Internet Evolution commentaries and comments. I hope you find them interesting.  If so, you can set up an RSS feed to follow these commentaries or follow my latest Twitter updates @thinkstrategies.

THINKstrategies announced today that ReactorNet has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards is an ongoing program which recognizes SaaS companies that are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits can include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations and greater profitability.

ReactorNet provides a SaaS-based e-Procurement (E-PRO) platform capable of streamlining the purchase process, ensuring supplier collaboration, delivering paperless A/P and reducing spending across the board.

Click here to read about the measurable business benefits which earned ReactorNet the latest BoSS Award.

Click here to learn more about the BoSS Award program or to apply for an Award.

A list of previous winners of the BoSS Awards can be found at http://www.saas-showplace.com/registerforbossaward.html.
 
Based on the success of the BoSS Awards program which focuses on … Read More »

NetSuite has unveiled a great video to promote its new Hairball Institute for Business and associated Award program aimed at curing “Software Hairball Syndrome” (SHS).

The video is a fun and effective way to bring attention to the fundamental flaws of pulling together an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, including the endless integration, customization and support issues.

However, NetSuite’s video and award program takes aim primarily at applications focused on the individual piece-parts of an ERP system in the small- and mid-size business (SMB) segment of the market, specifically inventory and project management represented by Microsoft Great Plains and Project, financials illustrated by Intuit QuickBooks, and eCommerce exemplified by Websphere. It also can’t help itself and includes its sibling rival, Salesforce.com, as a ‘standalone’ CRM solution vendor.

Yet, the real culprits of this syndrome are the bigger players–SAP and Oracle–along with a myriad of like-minded legacy software vendors. Unless NetSuite has … Read More »

When Oracle announced its intention to acquire Sun Microsystems in April 2009, CEO Larry Ellison proclaimed the acquisition, “transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems.”

Although he was not ready to use the term at the time, it didn’t take long for Oracle to refer to its combined capabilities as a Cloud Computing solution set, which it recently put on full display at its annual OpenWorld conference.

The event was also a coming out party for its new President, Mark Hurd, the high flying former HP CEO who departed in disgrace only a month earlier. Hurd’s appointment wasn’t hard to understand given his hardware experience at HP and NCR, and now gives Oracle’s move into the system business even more significance.

HP has retaliated by announcing the appointment of Leo Apotheker as its new CEO, along with Ray Lane as its non-executive chairman of the board. Apotheker comes to HP … Read More »