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 »

Last week, Dell made its second acquisition of a remote management services company in less than six months. After buying into the remote server management business with its acquisition of SilverBack Technologies in June, Dell expanded its remote management capabilities to encompass the desktop and mobile devices with last week’s acquisition of Everdream.

(A recent THINKstrategies whitepaper sponsored by Everdream gives some indication of how Dell will leverage the Everdream acquisition.)Both transactions are a part of Dell’s larger strategy to expand its product and service portfolio with a variety of automated solutions. The biggest of Dell’s recent acquisitions with this goal in mind was its EqualLogic purchase for $1.4 billion in cash, which will give Dell automated iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions optimized for virtualization environments.

While the EqualLogic acquisition dwarfs the SilverBack and Everdream buys, and has garnered far more … Read More »

I’m pleased to announce that THINKstrategies unveiled today a new set of packaged services aimed at helping Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Managed Service providers (MSPs) ensure that they have properly designed and can reliably deliver their web-based solutions.

Our new Readiness Assessment Services (RAS) have been developed in response to the rapid rise in demand for SaaS and Managed Service alternatives to traditional, packaged applications and network/system management (NSM) solutions among end-user organizations of all sizes. This demand is attracting a rapidly expanding array of start-ups and established vendors attempting to capitalize on this new market opportunity.

We at THINKstrategies have found that many of these companies are not fully prepared to succeed in the SaaS and managed services markets because they’ve under-estimated the organizational, operational, sales, marketing and financial requirements of these service-oriented, subscription-based businesses.

Despite the growing interest and acceptance of SaaS … Read More »

Dell announced today it plans to acquire privately-held SilverBack Technologies, Inc., one of the original managed service providers (MSPs) who has transitioned its business to offer a service delivery platform that enables MSPs to deliver remote monitoring and management services.

This acquisition is important because it clearly shows that Dell is serious about strengthening its service delivery capabilities as part of its overall effort to regain its momentum in the market. It also adds further validation to the importance of managed services as a key component of today’s vendor and channel strategies.

I expect Dell to leverage SilverBack’s capabilities to add a new layer of managed services to its product portfolio. I believe Dell is in a unique position to capitalize on SilverBack’s capabilities because it has a strong relationship with customers as a result of its direct sales heritage. This relationship … Read More »

The findings of a 2006 survey recently released by Gartner has brought renewed attention to the fundamental shortcomings of today’s major network/system management (NSM) platforms from companies such as IBM, HP, CA and BMC.

The survey found that 40% gave their NSM vendors a mediocre “C” and nearly 30% of the respondents gave their vendors a “D” because of their frustrations with the costs and hassles involved in deploying and administering the vendors’ platforms.

These frustrations aren’t news. When I was the director of strategic marketing at International Network Services (INS), we were the first company to rollout a network performance management software service on a subscription pricing basis in response to these same frustrations. Our EnterprisePRO solution was unveiled in 1996, prior to the advent of the managed service provider (MSP) and application service provider (ASP) ideas.

Unfortunately, although there were plenty … 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 »