Category: cloud computing
Preparing for SaaS
15th January
I’ve just returned from two days in a chilly Florida where I was participating in a sales kickoff meeting for an independent software vendor (ISV) that is preparing to add a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) component to its portfolio.
I’ve presented to plenty of sales teams about SaaS, cloud computing and managed services, what made this session unique was that this ISV isn’t planning on rolling out its new SaaS solutions for another 9-10 months.
To the credit of the company’s management team, they know that it will take a long time to fully prepare the sales team to properly sell their new SaaS solutions.
Especially, because they’ve been successfully selling the value of their legacy, on-premise applications against a competitor’s “ASP” solution for the past five years.
While the company was confident that it has employed the latest in Web 2.0 technologies and techniques to … Read More »
Will Salesforce.com's Outage Derail the SaaS Market?
10th January
The service disruption which Salesforce.com experienced this week came at a bad time for the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud computing market.
Although I believe the long-term prospects for SaaS and cloud computing remain strong, there are plenty of short-term challenges facing SaaS and cloud computing vendors in today’s tough economic environment.
Salesforce.com’s outage reignites the debate about the reliability of web-based services, and will intensify the concerns of those IT and business decision-makers who have been reluctant to adopt on-demand solutions.
It also validates the claims of legacy software vendors that SaaS and cloud computing are not viable platforms for enterprise applications.
The ultimate irony is that the public website which Salesforce.com created after it experienced a series of outages in 2005-2006 to demonstrate greater accountability, www.trust.salesforce.com, also went down during the latest outage.
In 2006, Salesforce.com was quick to turn its problems into marketing opportunities. This time there is even more … Read More »
Silly Ideas About SaaS
9th January
I’m sorry to see that the new year and today’s severe economy crisis haven’t rid the technology industry of old, outmoded thinking.
One of the most recent exmples is a blog post by ComputerWorld’s Mark Everett Hall entitled, “How SaaS Hurts a Fragile IT Economy”, in which Hall suggests that Software-as-a-Service solutions represent a threat to both IT professionals and the technology industry because SaaS commoditizes traditional, on-premise IT systems and software applications.
Of course, what Hall fails to recognize is that customers are migrating to SaaS, as well as a broadening array of cloud computing services, because legacy systems and applications failed to fulfill their promises or justify their costs. And, in today’s economic environment and rapidly changing marketplace, few companies can continue to accept the exorbinant costs, complexities and risks associated with legacy apps and systems.
In contrast, SaaS and cloud computing are proving to … Read More »
THINKstrategies Launches Best of SaaS Showplace Awards
7th January
THINKstrategies launched a new awards program today aimed at showing how Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud computing and other on-demand services are helping organizations of all sizes across every industry grapple with the operational challenges created by today’s unprecedented economic crisis.
The new Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards are aimed at promoting the tangible benefits which web-based services can deliver.
The awards will be given to SaaS and cloud computing companies listed on the SaaS Showplace which can demonstrate that their on-demand solutions have produced measurable business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits could be increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations, etc.
Click here for more details regarding the nomination process, criteria for selection, fees and award program benefits.
On-Demand Service Providers Becoming Best Practices Model for Enterprise IT Organizations
16th December
I’ve just returned from my last business trip of the year. This time I was in Washington, DC, hosting the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud computing and managed services track of NetworkWorld’s IT Roadmap event.
The keynote speaker at the event was Bechtel Corporation’s CIO, Geir Ramleth, who gave a fascinating talk about how his IT team is transforming the way Bechtel leverages technology and business applications by modeling their operations on YouTube, Google, Amazon.com and Salesforce.com, rather than traditional enterprise organizations.
Ramleth has recognized that these on-demand service providers are delivering high-value solutions in an amazingly low cost fashion, making them the envy of CIOs at many of the greatest companies in the world.
Although Ramleth’s team has decided that today’s commercially available SaaS and cloud computing solutions don’t meet their corporate requirements, they still felt the operating model of today’s on-demand service providers … Read More »
Will Acquisitions Accelerate in the SaaS and Cloud Computing Industry?
11th December
Given the proliferation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud computing players over the past year in response to the rapid rise of customer interest and demand, it was easy to predict that a shake out in the on-demand services market was inevitable. The question is whether today’s turbulent economic environment will accelerate this shake out process and kickstart a series of mergers and acquisitions heading into 2009.
One school of thought is that many of the weaker players in the on-demand services market are not mature enough to attract buyers and, therefore, the volume of acquisitions will not be any greater than normal.
Compounding this situation is the fact that many potential acquirers are facing their own financial challenges and lack the currency to take advantage of a “buyer’s market” and make acquisitions.
I’m not an expert in the art and science of M&As, … Read More »
'Cloud-Rush' Attracts Shady Characters
5th December
I’ve been suggesting for a few months that the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and ‘cloud computing’ market has been experiencing a ‘gold-rush’ era of accelerated growth. The rapid adoption of SaaS solutions was confirmed by THINKstrategies’ latest survey in conjunction with Cutter Consortium.
Just like in the original gold-rush of the 1800s, today’s ‘cloud-rush’ is not only attracting a proliferation of players, but also an assortment of unsavory characters.
The scandal surrounding IT Factory of Denmark is the most recent example. If you haven’t been keeping track of this one, it is worth reading about. The company’s CEO, Stein Bagger, disappeared before Thanksgiving after financial ‘irregularities’ were discovered at his company and a half billion kroner were found to be missing from the company’s bank accounts. Bagger is presumed to be hiding out in Dubai, and his company has fallen into bankruptcy.
The scandal doesn’t … Read More »
On-Demand Services Face Escalating Challenges In Today's Economic Crisis
23rd November
Today’s deepening economic crisis is testing the mettle of IT/business decision-makers, IT solution providers and technology investors alike.
IT and business decision-makers in nearly every industry must make cuts to their capital and operating budgets in order to offset rapid declines in business and tightening credit markets. In many cases, this is forcing them to fundamentally reevaluate the way that they acquire and utilize technology and business applications, and leading them to seriously consider various on-demand service alternatives such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud computing, and managed services.
I have recently suggested in commentaries in Datamation and the Business Technology Roundtable that any IT/business decision-maker who isn’t seriously considering these on-demand alternatives is doing their organization a disservice and could be jeopardizing their jobs.
THINKstrategies’ latest customer survey in conjunction with Cutter Consortium clearly shows that organizations of all sizes are adopting SaaS solutions … Read More »
NetSuite and HP Team to Push SaaS Through the Channel
11th November
One of the most vexing questions in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market, and broader on-demand services industry, is what role traditional channel companies will play in this brave, new world.
While Salesforce.com and other SaaS vendors are touting the enormous advantages of leveraging the ‘cloud’, there are still plenty of companies on Main Street who are just beginning to become familiar with today’s online services. Many of these small- and mid-size businesses (SMBs), and even large-scale enterprises, have relied on their local value-added reseller (VAR) and system integrator (SI) as not only their primary technology supplier but also their ‘trusted advisor’ for their technologies strategies.
These VARs and SIs have been uncertain about the impact of SaaS solutions and on-demand services on their businesses. In fact, many feel down right threatened by these services.
There is no question that SaaS solutions and on-demand services … Read More »
Securing and Managing SaaS Apps
25th October
One of the primary concerns of IT and business decision-makers regarding Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications is security.
Although most SaaS vendors have been able to demonstrate that their cloud-based applications are secure from an operational point-of-view, there are still access control issues which enterprises need to address to ensure their corporate data is fully secure from an end-user perspective.
It is becoming particularly important to address these issues because SaaS applications are gaining popularity in today’s increasingly challenging economic climate.
The economy is also producing a new round of layoffs which means businesses need to be especially vigilant about how they manage user access to their SaaS applications to be sure laid off employees do not inadvertently or intentionally compromise sensitive or proprietary corporate data.
I’ve had the privilege of participating in two recent webcasts regarding these issues hosted by OutProtect and Symplified. These companies, … Read More »