Now that moving to the Cloud has become mainstream, it’s time for organizations to confront their biggest enterprise application challenge in the era of digital disruption – revamping their enterprise resource management (ERP) systems to keep up with the times.

A clear indication of the shifting tides in the ERP market is the growing number of organizations that are replacing their installed systems with a new Cloud-based solution.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ views in Datamation about the forces that are reshaping the ERP software business and the competitive landscape of this market.

It can be a full-time job trying to keep up with Salesforce’s latest cloud offerings and messaging. However, it is always worth the effort, because the company’s pronouncements are often early bellwethers of the future direction of the software industry.

This has become particularly true with respect to the company’s evolving efforts to penetrate and gain a prominent position in the artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. Salesforce’s most recent moves, in anticipation of its annual Dreamforce conference, also could be a key indicator of the rapidly changing competitive landscape.

Salesforce has been in the vanguard of promoting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and, more broadly, the value of the cloud. As it has gained success with its widening array of SaaS/cloud offerings, it also has borrowed a strategy from the traditional software industry playbook: adding a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) development layer … Read More »

There is no longer any doubt that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions have become the preferred method for organizations of all sizes to acquire business applications to satisfy their escalating customer and end-user demands while keeping pace with intensifying competitive pressures.

In fact, many organizations are expanding their SaaS subscriptions to support additional workers, and adopting additional SaaS solutions to redesign more of their business processes.

However, these organizations are often finding that their SaaS implementations are getting a lot more complicated as the SaaS industry and its growing legion of enterprise customers are falling into the same software development and implementation traps that derailed the previous generation of on-premise, perpetual license ISVs who the leading SaaS vendors successfully disrupted over the past decade.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ latest commentary in Datamation about why we believe the SaaS industry could face a significant speed-bump in the future if … Read More »

Everywhere you look, organizations are shifting their software acquisition preferences and policies away from traditional, on-premises legacy applications to a new generation of on-demand, Software as a Service, or SaaS, solutions.

Although I was an early advocate of SaaS for the unprecedented, business advantages it offers, I’m becoming concerned that many leading SaaS vendors and their enterprise customers are taking actions that significantly compromise the fundamental value of SaaS.

As the old adage goes, “the more things change, the more they remain the same.”

In the case of SaaS, a growing number of vendors and customers are demonstrating that they can’t get away from their old software habits and biases.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ latest perspectives in E-Commerce Times about how the SaaS industry could face a serious backlash if it lets this trend continue.

You can also click here to read our views … Read More »

Growing acceptance of cloud computing is quickly becoming a double-edged sword for the leading players in the SaaS, PaaS and IaaS marketplaces.

As a broader set of customers adopts cloud-first strategies, even the biggest cloud players are being challenged to scale their operations to keep pace with escalating customer demands without becoming too complex for customers to easily utilize their solutions.

The clearest example of a cloud company facing these issues head-on is Salesforce.com. It’s hard to suggest the company is suffering from its own success as it continues to defy the law of big numbers by posting impressive quarterly results a regular basis. Not only is it grappling with rapid growth, it must continuously reimagine its solutions to take into consideration new variables, such as mobile, social, big data and the Internet of Things.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ perspectives in E-Commerce … Read More »

Register now to join a growing number of key Cloud Computing industry executives speaking at the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, and save $100!

Executives from leading Cloud solution providers, major software and technology vendors, and innovative channel organizations will participate in highly interactive sessions examining partnering opportunities and best practices in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Big Data, and Small/Med-Size Business (SMB) segments of the Cloud marketplace. Click here to see the executives who have already confirmed their participation in this year’s Summit.

The Summit will also include a “Speed Networking” session to give attendees additional time to meet others interested in exploring new partnership opportunities. Click here to see the agenda for this year’s event.

We are also pleased to have AppDirect, CallidusCloud, Corent Technologies, CorSource Technology Group, Oracle, Salesforce.com and SoftServe returning as sponsors supporting this year’s peer-to-peer, executive networking forum. The Summit is also being supported … Read More »

THINKstrategies believes IT managers and their corporate counterparts should consider building internal appstores to counteract the challenges of the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) phenomenon. A growing array of Cloud-based marketplace platforms have emerged that can make it even easier to pursue this idea and regain control over renegade end-user app purchases. The tremendous success of the Apple, Google and Amazon appstores among consumers has encouraged their business alter egos, the prosumers, to seek new business applications from the same sources, causing a ‘Bring Your Own App’ (BYOA) trend to emerge. Click here to read our views in Datamation.

The agenda for this year’s Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4 has been designed to focus on the rapidly evolving Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Big Data and Small-/Mid-Size Business (SMB) partner opportunities in the Cloud. Register now and save $100 on the conference registration fee!

The third annual Summit will once again take place at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, and this year will include a special “Speed Networking” session to give attendees additional time to meet others interested in establishing new partnerships to expand their Cloud ecosystems.

Click here to see the full Summit agenda, and here to see the speakers who have already committed to participate in this year’s event.

CallidusCloud, Corent Technologies, CorSource Technology Group, Oracle, Salesforce.com and SoftServe are returning as sponsors supporting this year’s peer-to-peer, executive networking forum. Click here to learn more about the sponsors, and here to see the Summit partners.

Click here if you haven’t attended a … Read More »

Chris Rimer, Global Head of Partner Business for the Google Cloud Platform, Google Enterprise will join a growing number of key Cloud Computing industry executives speaking at the third annual Cloud Channel Summit on Monday, November 4 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

Chris will participate in the Cloud Channel Summit Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Industry Roundtable which will discuss Cloud Partner Success Stories: What’s Working and What’s Not. The roundtable panel session will also include:

Feyzi Fatehi, CEO of Corent Technology
Russell Hertzberg, Vice President Technology Solutions, SoftServe Inc.
Kevin O’Brien, Senior Director of ISV/OEM Business Development at Oracle

The Summit will include additional panel roundtable sessions focused on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Big Data, and Small/Med-Size Business (SMB) partner opportunities in the Cloud.

The Summit will also include a “Speed Networking” session to give attendees additional time to meet others interested in exploring new partnership opportunities.

CallidusCloud, Corent Technologies, CorSource Technology Group, Oracle, Salesforce.com and SoftServe as returning sponsors supporting this year’s peer-to-peer, executive networking forum.

Click … Read More »

Last month’s announcement of a “major” strategic alliance between Salesforce.com and Oracle attracted plenty of industry attention; but it holds more meaning for enterprise decision makers about how a new pragmatism is overtaking the polemics of the past in dealing with the realities of moving to the cCloud in a hybrid environment. Click here to read THINKstrategies’ perspective regarding the implications of this alliance for enterprise decision-makers on Sandhill.com.