THINKstrategies, Inc., the leading strategic consulting company focused on the business implications of the Cloud Computing services market, announced today that ZirMed, a leading health information connectivity and management solutions company, has been named a winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Award. This program promotes the measurable business benefits delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards is an ongoing program administered by THINKstrategies’ Cloud Computing Showplace to recognize SaaS companies that are delivering measurable business benefits to specific user organizations. These benefits can include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations and greater profitability                         .

ZirMed’s cloud-based network facilitates, manages and analyzes billions of healthcare transactions, driving bottom-line performance with clinical communications, comprehensive analytics, eligibility, claims management, coding compliance, reimbursement management and patient payment services including credit … Read More »

You only have until the end of today to take advantage of the special early-bird discounts and save $150 to attend the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. So, register now!

The executive, peer-to-peer networking forum will bring together the leading providers of Cloud-based solutions along with the most important channel organizations in the industry. Key executives from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Avnet, Google, Salesforce.com, Oracle, VMware and many other Cloud industry leaders and innovators will share their perspectives and best practices for building successful partnerships in the Cloud. Click here to see the Cloud industry executives who are speaking at this year’s Summit, and check out the full agenda for the event.

The Summit sponsors include AppDirect, Aria Systems, BetterCloud, CallidusCloud, Corent Technology, CorSource Technology Group, Oracle, Ping Identity, Progress Software, Salesforce.com, SoftServe, and VMware which is serving as … Read More »

Although the cloud marketplace is growing rapidly, the current rate of growth will continue only if a broader set of strong channel companies emerge to extend the reach of today’s cloud leaders into new industries and geographies. I’ve been suggesting for years that building more channels to market for cloud vendors is essential to the growth of the industry. This issue came to the forefront again recently when I spoke to two groups of employees of the provincial government of British Columbia in Victoria and a group of entrepreneurs at an incubator in Vancouver. Click here to read my perspectives on the market implications of today’s Cloud channel opportunities and challenges in E-Commerce Times.

THINKstrategies’ third annual Cloud Channel Summit will bring together executives from the leading Cloud vendors and channel companies to discuss how to overcome these challenges and capitalize … Read More »

A growing number of successful Cloud industry channel relationship management executives are joining the roster of speakers at the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. The latest executives who have agreed to speak at the Cloud Channel Summit are:

Sharon Gordon, VP, Alliances & Emerging Market Sales, Birst
Jamie Perlman, Sr. Director of Business Development, Box
Nima Badiey, Business Development, Cloud Foundry/Pivotal
Adam Nelson, Head of Channel Sales and Partnerships, Dropbox
Nikesh Kalra, Global Cloud Services, Equinix
Eric Keosky-Smith, Development Director, InfusionSoft
Ross Mason, Founder and VP of Product Strategy, MuleSoft
Kris Bliesner, CEO and Co-Founder, 2nd Watch, Inc.

Click here to register now and save $150 on the standard conference registration fees!

The executive, peer-to-peer networking forum is bringing together the leading providers of Cloud-based solutions, along with the most important channel organizations in the industry, who will share their perspectives and best practices for building successful partnerships in … Read More »

Now you can lead your own roundtable session on the topic of greatest interest to you regarding how to build successful partnerships in the Cloud at the third annual  Cloud Channel Summit, on Monday, November 4, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

The executive, peer-to-peer networking forum is adding a new, ‘unConference’ component to the agenda, powered by CompTIA, which will give attendees an opportunity to trade perspectives and share best practices regarding how to capitalize on today’s growing Cloud channel opportunities. The unConference luncheon session will be led by Katherine Hunt, Director of Communities of CompTIA. The unConference topics will be proposed during the moring session of the Summit. So, arrive early to nominate the topic that is most important to you!

Register now to be a part of this unique networking opportunity and save an additional 10% off the … Read More »

Michael Gerardi, Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales and Business Development at Aria Systems has agreed to participate in the Channel Industry Roundtable entitled, What are Today’s Best Practices for Building Successful Cloud Partnerships?, at the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

Aria Systems has also agreed to be the latest sponsor of the Cloud Channel Summit peer-to-peer, executive networking forum focused on building successful partnerships in the Cloud.

Michael will join the following industry executives who have already signed up for the Channel Industry Roundtable:

Nick Freund, Director of Business Development, BetterCloud
David Hoff, CTO and Co-founder, Cloud Sherpas
Carlos Roman, Director, Insight Cloud Programs, InsightCloud Solutions

Click here to take advantage of an additional 10% off current registration rates or $150 off the single attendee registration fee by registering now for the Summit!

The Channel Industry Roundtable is one of a series of highly interactive panel sessions during the Cloud Channel Summit which will give participants a … Read More »

BetterCloud, a leading provider of enterprise Cloud management and security software for Google Apps, has agreed to sponsor and speak at the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

BetterCloud announced today that it has raised $6 million in Series B funding to expand the functional capabilities of its flagship FlashPanel solution beyond the Google Apps suite into new Cloud areas, beginning with user management and security features for Salesforce.com, Zendesk and other prominent Cloud software systems. FlashPanel currently serves more than 22,000 organizations with 14 million end-users around the world and transitioned from beta to a freemium model earlier this month.

BetterCloud’s Director of Business Development, Nick Freund, will participate in a roundtable discussion about “What are Today’s Best Practices for Building Successful Cloud Partnerships?”

Click here to join key executives from a wide array of leading Cloud solution providers and channel companies at the Cloud Channel … Read More »

I recently had the privilege of moderating an executive forum regarding private clouds that attracted CIOs and other key decision-makers from a cross-section of major corporations and public sector agencies. The attendees were attracted to the event because they are being pressured by internal and external forces to develop a cloud strategy, and they believe private clouds must play a critical part in their plans. Click here to read my views in Datamation about the three key questions enterprise decision-makers should ask to determine how to approach today’s private cloud alternatives.

Tom Halle, Senior Director of Global Alliances at Savvis/CenturyLink and Sean McCaffery, Vice President of Channel Sales and Operations at ViaWest have agreed to participate in the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Roundtable that will discuss, “Creating New Customer Opportunities via Cloud Partnerships”, at the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

Tom and Sean will join Brian Matsubara, Head of Global Technology Alliances at Amazon Web Services (AMS) on the panel that will be moderated by Andy Schroepfer, Founder/CEO of Big Cloud Sales, and previously Vice President of Enterprise Strategy at Rackspace and founder of Tier1 Research.

Click here to save $100 by registering now for the Summit!

The IaaS Roundtable is one of a series of highly interactive panel sessions during the Cloud Channel Summit peer-to-peer, executive networking forum which will give participants an intimate opportunity to share experiences and industry best practices for building successful partnerships in the Cloud. The other sessions will … Read More »

I’m not a religious guy, but I’ve been preaching about the virtues of moving to the cloud for a long time. Well before the idea became popular, I saw the potential cost savings offered by the cloud, as well as the opportunities to leverage it to generate new innovations. Now, nearly every industry is recognizing these potential benefits, including church pastors and other religious leaders. Over the last few years, I’ve been pleased to see corporate executives and end-users increasingly seek cloud-based alternatives to traditional, on-premises software and systems to achieve their business objectives. However, I was surprised to see the level of adoption that has already occurred in the religious community, according to a recent Intacct survey. Click here to read my views in E-Commerce Times about the industry implications of the survey findings.