I was invited to attend the fifth annual ConnectWise Partner Summit in Orlando this past week and was surprised to discover that it has become one of the premier meeting places for aspiring Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and industry enablers.

I was also impressed with the amount of attention ConnectWise’s executives, other event speakers and sponsors, and the conference attendees gave to the convergence of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), managed services and cloud computing.

ConnectWise may not be a household name in the SaaS or cloud computing markets, but it is a key player in the managed services arena. Although ConnectWise calls itself a professional services automation (PSA) provider for IT professionals, its software also helps them manage their helpdesk operations and sales processes. 

ConnectWise’s solutions are typically used by IT service providers, including VARs and MSPs, and it has built its success on a highly leveraged partner strategy. Its software is … Read More »

THINKstrategies today that it has entered into a partnership with RepFolio to help Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Cloud Computing providers expand their sales channels so they can better position themselves in today’s rapidly changing marketplace.

RepFolio has launched a web-based platform which can transform the way B2B companies build and manage external sales forces with minimal upfront investment and zero overhead. RepFolio’s platform provides powerful online tools for both sales reps and businesses:

Sales reps can browse and apply to businesses whose solutions fit their skills, and build and manage an “ecosystem” of services that can be cross-marketed to target customers. They can also generate detailed sales and activity reports, and track their commissions through the RepFolio platform.
Businesses can receive applications and review profiles of prospective sales reps, track performance by service, on-board new customers, and issue and monitor commission payments via the … Read More »

THINKstrategies announced today that WebEquity Solutions LLC (“WebEquity”) has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards program has been created by THINKstrategies to bring attention to SaaS and cloud computing companies which are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations, and greater profitability.

WebEquity offers on-demand lending software which helps over 500 financial institutions and 10,000 lending professionals automate and streamline their lending processes and reduce their operational costs, while making more consistent and profitable credit decisions. A unique benefit WebEquity offers lenders is a single system that works for commercial real estate, construction, commercial industrial, small business, agriculture and consumer loans. The … Read More »

THINKstrategies announced today that Sabrix, Inc. has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards program was announced in January 2009 as the latest initiative by THINKstrategies to bring attention to SaaS and cloud computing companies which are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations, and greater profitability.

Sabrix is a leading provider of transaction tax management software and services for companies of all sizes. Sabrix Managed Tax Service (MTS) is an outsourced sales and use tax compliance service that allows companies to entrust their compliance obligation to Sabrix tax experts. Sabrix MTS combines the services of professional tax experts with best practice methodologies … Read More »

Nearly thirty companies have joined forces to form a new European Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud computing services business community, called EuroCloud.

The purpose of this new group is to bring together Euro-based SaaS and cloud computing vendors, enablers, integrators and industry experts to share best practices and promote new business opportunities across the continent.

The European Launch Promoters (ELP) are: Amazon Web Services, Cloudberry Associates, Cloudmore, Compubase, Dassault Systèmes, E-Kenz, Emailvision, Esker, Huddle, INES, ipsCA, McAfee, Microsoft Corporation, Mimecast, MrTed, NTRglobal, Odyssee Mobile, Oodrive, OpSource, Panda Security, Procullux Ventures, Qualys, RunMyProcess, Saas-it Consult, salesforce.com, Servoy, STS Group, SuccessFactors and Twinfield.

The group also includes the French ASP Forum, with 70 members, which has renamed itself EuroCloud France. EuroCloud also has local communities in the UK, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Spain. 

The group is actively recruiting additional members in hopes of growing to twenty (20) EuroCloud regional organizations … Read More »

THINKstrategies announced today that Host Analytics has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards program was initiated by THINKstrategies to bring attention to SaaS and cloud computing companies that are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations and greater profitability.

Host Analytics is a leading provider of on-demand corporate performance management  (CPM) solutions that help finance and departmental executives improve their budgeting, forecasting, financial consolidations, dashboarding, scorecarding, reporting and analysis.

Click here to read more about Host Analytics’ award winnning SaaS solutions.

Click here to learn more about the BoSS Awards and to apply for an award.

We’ve fallen into a lengthy pattern of rainy weather in the Boston area. Even though it’s starting to feel like we’re living in Seattle rather than Beantown, I don’t mind wet Sunday’s because they allow me to catch up on work and reading, and enjoy a guilt-free afternoon staying indoors watching football (the Red Sox season being over).

If you’re looking for some interesting reading that you might have missed during the past week, here are a few good articles:

The French Get Lost in the Clouds Over a New Term in the Internet Age. This 10/14/09 Wall Street Journal article discusses the humorous way in which the French government is attempting to rename “cloud computing” because of its double-entendre meanings in the French language. It not only highlights the language barriers to promoting an idea internationally, it also speaks to the fundamental ambiguities of … Read More »

THINKstrategies announced today that Boomi has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards program was announced in January 2009 as the latest initiative by THINKstrategies to bring attention to SaaS and cloud computing companies which are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations, and greater profitability.

Boomi provides on-demand integration technology which connects providers and consumers of SaaS and on-premise applications via a pure SaaS integration platform-as-a-service (PaaS) without software or appliances.

Click here to read more about Boomi’s award-winning SaaS capabilities.

Click here to learn more about the BoSS Awards program and to apply for an award.

THINKstrategies announced today that IDeaS Revenue Optimization has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards program was announced in January 2009 as the latest initiative by THINKstrategies to bring attention to SaaS and cloud computing companies which are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations, and greater profitability.

IDeaS, a SAS company, is a leading provider of Pricing, Forecasting and Optimization solutions and services. Acquired in 2008 by SAS, IDeaS enables global organizations such as leading hospitality, travel and transportation companies to understand, anticipate and react to consumer behavior in order to optimize company-wide revenue and profits.

Click here to read more about IDeaS’ … Read More »

Salesforce.com has teamed with Unit 4 Agresso to create a new company, called FinancialForce.com, that will build upon the Coda 2go on-demand financial application.

This move is another indication that CFO receptivity toward SaaS-based accounting, financial management and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications is rising.

The new joint venture will build on Coda’s original Force.com-based SaaS solution, and the growing momentum in the SaaS accounting and financial management applications market produced by NetSuite , Intacct and others in this area. (Disclosure: I’ve done work with all of these companies.)

This announcement is newsworthy because it is Salesforce.com’s first direct foray into the financial application market and its first joint venture.

There are probably an assortment of marketing and legal reasons why the two companies have formed this joint venture. However, the reality is that  few joint ventures in the tech and software industry have been successful because the partners often … Read More »