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 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.

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 »

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 »

The recent debate about the viability and value of cloud computing has generated at least one outstanding analysis from a friend at AT&T, that’s right AT&T!

Joe Weinman is the VP of Strategic Solutions Sales at AT&T Global Business Services. He published a terrific blog entry last week on GigaOM which was also distributed by BusinessWeek entitled, “The 10 Laws on Cloudonomics”.

I met Joe at a utility computing conference in NYC in 2004 where we both listened to a series of CIOs discuss how they were transforming their IT operations to achieve their business objectives.

What was facinating about their presentations was that they were not talking about hardware-based utility computing models that many vendors at the time, such as IBM and HP, were pushing. Instead, the CIOs from a number of major corporations and public agencies talked about how they were … Read More »

THINKstrategies is pleased to announce the launch of its new “Market Leaders” webcast series which showcases companies who are delivering innovative, on-demand solutions to meet the rapidly changing needs of large-scale enterprises, as well as small- and mid-size businesses (SMBs).

Our webcasts differ from the traditional, structured webinar format by combining the candid, unscripted, conversational qualities of podcasts with the visual benefits of online presentations.As the producer and host of the Market Leaders webcast series, my goal is to provide a more interesting and engaging discussion with senior executives of companies who are in the forefront of the on-demand market. The webcasts will be pre-recorded, archived and 20-30 minutes in length so you can view them whenever fits your busy schedule.

In our first webcast, we examine how the rapid growth of the on-demand market has created new operating challenges for entrepreneurs … Read More »

One of the benefits of being in the middle of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market is getting exposed to a variety of interesting resources and research projects.

For instance, at last week’s Software 2008 conference in Las Vegas I was able to attend the kickoff presentation by Abhijit Dubey of McKinsey & Company which summarized the firm’s latest SaaS research regarding the evolution of on-demand platforms. Dubey and McKinsey have produced a series of research reports which have verified THINKstrategies’ SaaS survey studies regarding the accelerated adoption of SaaS. Even more importantly, their research clearly shows the total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI) advantages of SaaS for enterprise customers and on-demand platforms for software vendors.

THINKstrategies’ SaaS Showplace has also attracted plenty of attention as a resource for a variety of other research initiatives. For instance, THINKstrategies is … Read More »

Last Friday’s government report indicating a dip in employment levels sent a scare through Wall Street and raised the spector of recession on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

The irony is that more than half of 112 IT executives recently surveyed by the Society of Information Managers cited the ability to attract and retain IT personnel as their No. 1 concern for 2008. As I indicated in my previous blog, these concerns are among the ten reasons why I think on-demand services will soar in 2008.

Nonetheless, I’ve also received a growing number of resumes from IT/telecom professionals seeking positions in the on-demand market. Some want to get into this rapidly growing market. Others are looking for new jobs because their previous companies failed or have been restructured to better position themselves to capitalize on the on-demand services movement.

In response to … Read More »