As I’ve suggested multiple times, the major hardware and software vendors are aggressively pursuing the tremendous business opportunities in the managed services market.

Now, the key questions are how will they bring these offerings to market and what role will their channel partners play in provisioning these new services?

The two most recent examples are IBM’s new Express Advantage security-as-a-service offerings and Dell’s April 24 closing of its MessageOne acquisition.

IBM’s security-as-a-service solutions are its first on-demand offerings based on its acquisition of Internet Security Systems in August 2006. The new solutions will primarily serve small and midsize businesses (SMBs). They include Express Penetration Testing Services; Express PCI Assessments; Express Multi-Function Security Bundle, which includes protection against worms, spyware, anti-virus and spam in a unified threat management offering; and Express Managed Protection Services for Servers.

These solutions have been historically been offered as on-premises … Read More »

Google made two announcements this week which received limited attention because they had been anticipated for some time. Nonetheless, these two new offerings will still have an impact on the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and managed services markets.

Google’s first announcement unveiled a series of security “products” based on the email message filtering, encryption and archiving capabilities Google acquired when it purchased Postini. Although Google refers to these offerings as products, they are being sold on a subscription service direct to customers or via channel partners who can package these capabilities into managed services.

Google’s objective when it acquired Postini was to fortify its messaging and archival capabilities so it could appeal to a broader cross-section of business customers, especially large-scale, publicly traded enterprises who are facing stricter compliance requirements. Google’s new Message Filtering, Security and Discovery offerings provide a solid, yet simple and … Read More »

On August 23, 2007, Perimeter eSecurity announced that it was acquiring USA.NET, a leading provider of secure eMessaging services. The announcement came just two weeks after Perimeter received a $50 million dollar commitment from Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Ventures and the Stripes Group.

Perimeter eSecurity, formerly Perimeter Internetworking, has become one of the largest independent managed security services providers (MSSPs) in the U.S. as a result of a series of acquisitions over the past three years. Here’s a quick chronology in reverse order:

In January 2007, Perimeter acquired Message Secure, a leading provider of managed security solutions to financial institutions and other businesses in the U.S.
In June 2006, Perimeter acquired ANE Technologies, a MSSP that provided security services to community banks and other financial organizations based in the Midwest.
In February 2006, Perimeter acquired Breakwater Security Associates, a leading provider of managed … Read More »

Two announcements last week served as reminders that, despite growing interest in on-demand solutions, professionals services remain an essential part of the technology landscape.

On January 30, Salesforce.com announced a strategic alliance with Deloitte Consulting to extend the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) leader’s reach into the enterprise market. Salesforce.com already has a similar agreement in place with Accenture. But, the Deloitte alliance confirms the growing interest in SaaS among large-scale enterprises and the desire of a growing number of established consultancies to join the SaaS movement.

As I’ve stated many times, any suggestion that SaaS will eliminate the role of channel organizations in the software industry is ludicrious. However, there is no question that many value-added resellers (VARs) and consultancies will need to shift their focus from technology integration to process or change management projects. A clear example of this shift, as well as … Read More »

With the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) movement becoming generally accepted among organizations of all sizes, a growing number of SaaS vendors are seeking to differentiate themselves by creating on-demand solutions specifically designed to address the unique requirements of particular industries or vertical markets.

THINKstrategies’ SaaS Showplace includes nearly 600 company listings by industry. Many of these companies are simply targeting specific industries rather than offering industry-specific solutions. However, a growing number are designing their on-demand solutions to cater to the specific needs of targeted industries.

The shift in attention is timely according to THINKstrategies’ latest SaaS survey in conjunction with Cutter Consortium. In the second installment of our three-part series on the findings of this survey we will discuss how a substantial proportion of the survey respondents are either currently using industry-specific SaaS solutions or considering them.

Leading SaaS vendors, such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite, … Read More »