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.

VC problems could slow SaaS, cloud computing and on-demand services market growth.

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 »

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 »

THINKstrategies’ fourth annual Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) customer survey, in conjunction with Cutter Consortium, revealed that 63% of the responding organizations are using a SaaS solution, almost double the 32% who were using SaaS solutions in 2007!

Over the past four years, THINKstrategies and Cutter have been charting the growth of the SaaS market with a series of yearly customer surveys. Our surveys were the first to find widespread interest and substantial adoption of SaaS in 2005.

In 2006, we began to see businesses of all sizes adopting SaaS solutions specifically designed to meet their vertical market needs, as well as their horizontal application requirements.

In 2007, we found customers were beginning to examine the platform capabilities of SaaS vendors as they sought to identify those vendors that could serve as strategic sources for their SaaS requirements. We also found growing acceptance of 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 »

I received an email message from a frustrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company executive yesterday asking if I could publish a commentary clarifying the difference between cloud computing and SaaS.

His plea was prompted by a trade publication article which basically referred to cloud computing and SaaS as one and the same.

Anyone who has been intimately involved in the evolution of the SaaS or cloud computing worlds has a right to be frustrated by the blurring of the lines between the two concepts.

In my case, I view cloud computing as a broad array of web-based services aimed at allowing users to obtain a wide range of functional capabilities on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis that previously required tremendous hardware/software investments and professional skills to acquire. Cloud computing is the realization of the earlier ideals of utility computing without the technical complexities or complicated deployment worries. … 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 »

Anyone who follows this blog or the broader on-demand services market is well-aware of the disruptive impact Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is having on the software industry. Now, software and systems vendors are offering SaaS solutions that could have an equally profound affect on the way organizations acquire and manage technology, as well as transform the way vendors and channel companies sell and support technology.

While the managed services has grown steadily, many channel companies have experienced limited success migrating to a managed services model. As I’ve stated in previous blog entries and my other writings, part of the problem is that executives within established channel companies don’t fully understand what it takes to transform their businesses. But, another barrier to success has been the lack of cost-effective tools.

Until recently, many channel companies were unable to successfully transition to a managed services model … Read More »