| Krissi Danielsson |
SaaS WeekSaaS Week discusses market trends and roundups of Software as a Service (SaaS) industry news, along with social networking, collaboration, and other neat enterprise Web 2.0 technologies. SaaS Week also offers Q&As with interesting Web 2.0 and SaaS vendors. |
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December 12, 2007
BEA Announces Project Genesis to Enable SaaS for ISVs BEA has announced phase one of what it calls "Project Genesis," an effort that it says will enable dynamic business applications for the ISV community. With this effort, BEA hopes to simplify the process of creating and releasing dynamic business applications for ISVs. In its press release, BEA claims that Genesis will be the first open enterprise-class SaaS application platform to address the challenges that ISVs face in creating, operating, and governing dynamic business applications. But I wonder how BEA's effort compares to IBM's SaaS enablement services for ISVs. I interviewed IBM's Dave Mitchell last month in a First Look podcast, in which he described a lot of what IBM does in this field. BEA says the first phase will include a container for SaaS applications, presentation services for user access, metering capabilities for end-user billing, fine-grained entitlements, and BEA WorkSpace 360. Posted by krissidanielsson in Vendors | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) November 04, 2007Google: GAPE is Not Lightweight In an interview with eWeek, Google Product Management Director Matt Glotzbach talks about Google's plans to offer enterprise and consumer services. Glotzbach discusses how Google tries not to have a clear line between its enterprise and consumer applications, which primarily come through Software as a Service, and he mentions Google's acquisition of Postini, about which I recently interviewed Google's Rajan Sheth. One interesting comment in the interview was when Glotzbach stated that people tend to misunderstand/misinterpret the offerings in Google Apps. People tend to see these offerings as "lightweight versions of the traditional office technologies," but Glotzbach suggested they were actually for power-users, enabling you to do neat things like pull real-time data from the Web and integrate it directly into the spreadsheet. It does seem that a lot of media coverage of Google Apps treats the offering as if it is a bare bones, basic offering that no company would want to rely on exclusively. Increasingly, the opposite seems to be true. It will be interesting to see where Google Apps evolves over the next couple of years. Posted by krissidanielsson in Vendors | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 11, 2007Microsoft: SaaS No Threat to MS Office Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke recently at the Gartner Symposium in Orlando. Among other things, he commented on the trend toward SaaS, stating that the world is definitely moving in that direction but also that "you will never be able to do as good a job on Microsoft Office if it's just browser-based," according to a It is true that offices that regularly use office applications and rely a lot on features will probably In other Microsoft news, Posted by krissidanielsson in Vendors | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 08, 2007Five9 Uses "Premise-Based Pricing Model" for SaaS I've heard a lot of talk about a big downside of SaaS, from the vendor's perspective at least, being that it means a lot less immediate money from each new sale, meaning that a business's revenue would be spread out over a much lengthier amount of time and less accessible for business growth. So I was interested to find a press release by Five9 in which it decided to offer permanent access to its SaaS-based predictive dialer for a one-time initial purchase followed up by a yearly maintenance fee. In other words, the deal means customers can use the same pricing model for SaaS as if they were buying on-premise hardware. The model certainly solves the initial problem for the vendor, but will the model be popular among customers? It is hard to imagine companies being willing to pay similar rates for permanent access to a service as they would for physical, on-premise products. But then again, the idea of paying upfront for future services is hardly new -- Web hosting companies have offered annual rates for Web server space for years, with a discount for customers who pay by the year rather than by the month. It will be interesting to see whether or not Five9 is onto something. Posted by krissidanielsson in Vendors | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) February 01, 2007Project Management on Demand Project-ON-Demand from Projity is a project management solution in your browser. Project-ON-Demand is role based with functionality optimized for Gantt role in managing the project. Team Members can update tasks and see project status, all in their browser. Projity has a easy to use interface for Team Members, even integrating with Salesforce.com. Team Members can complete their tasks either within Project-ON-Demand or Salesforce.com. In both instances there is a simple interface for keeping tasks updated. Project Managers have all the tools available to create, model and track projects. To view full list of features and demo click here and here. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) November 27, 2006Salesforce.com integrates to get ahead Salesforce.com is today expected to take its latest step towards improving integration with third-parties' software, including business rival Oracle. The hosted CRM pioneer will announce an extension to its recently launched Apex platform and language called ConnectOut, which enables other applications to be notified of business events in Salesforce.com. ConnectOut a part of Salesforce.coma s new ApexConnect family of services - is scheduled for release with the Winter 07 edition of Salesforce.com CRM. Also due is ConnectOracle for integration with the Oracle 11i database, for bi-directional synchronization of data like customer account information between Salesforce.com and an Oracle repository. Integration is provided through a pre-built customer-master template. ConnectOracle follows this summer's launch of ConnectSAP, starts at $1,000 per customer per month, runs to $12,000 annually and is available on request from Salesforce.com. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) November 24, 2006RewardStream Selects OpSource for Enhanced SaaS Delivery of Loyalty and Reward Marketing Technology By selecting OpSourcea s Optimal On-Demand for SaaS delivery, RewardStream can focus on continuous innovation of its marketing feature set while providing world-class service delivery. RewardStream clients will benefit from rapid delivery of enhancements and significantly reduced IT deployment costs when compared with traditional on-premise software delivery and use. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) November 21, 2006Intacct and National Bank of California to Offer First Integrated On-Demand Financial and Banking Services for Small and Midsize Businesses New Web-Based Solution Gives Businesses Greater Financial Insight, Improved Cash Flow and Increased Productivity Intacct Corporation, the leader in on-demand financial applications, and National Bank of CaliforniaA yesterday introduced the first integrated on-demand financial management and banking services for small and midsize businesses. The Web-based solution enables mid-market companies to automatically exchange information between Intacct's accounting and supply chain software suite and National Bank of California's electronic banking services. The new service is immediately available. Integrating business processes for managing payables and receivables with banking services allows businesses to eliminate time-consuming administrative duties, enhance cash flow and gain real-time insight into their finances. "The new solution we are jointly taking to market addresses customer needs by automating the process of exchanging accounting and banking information, thus helping our mutual customers reduce administrative costs and manage cash more wisely," said Robert J. Jurkowski, CEO and president of Intacct. "Through our strategic relationship with National Bank of California, we are able to help Intacct customers realize additional value from their on-demand financial application investments." Also, see Phil Wainewright's blog post, So much more that software, as a service... Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) November 18, 2006FaceTime and WebEx Provide On-Demand Security and Compliance Capabilities WebEx Advanced Auditor Powered By FaceTime Enhances Security for On-Demand Instant Messaging and Web Collaboration Services. FaceTime, a leading provider of solutions for securing and managing real-time communications such as instant messaging (IM), peer-to-peer (P2P), VoIP and web conferencing, and WebEx (Nasdaq: WEBX), a leading provider of collaborative software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, have developed a hosted instant messaging module to provide security, hygiene and auditing of content shared via the recently-announced WebEx Connect. The WebEx Advanced Auditor Powered by FaceTime will provide full-capture recording, archival and auditing, and comprehensive malware protection against worms, viruses, spyware and SpIM for all instant messaging conversations and file transfers conducted over WebEx Connect. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) November 15, 2006Brand New Software Set to Revolutionise Web Development Industry SiteJourney, LTD, is launching its brand new software which will enable small to medium businesses to save AL1000a s on their web development.The only UK system to use Software as a Service technology, the software provides a one stop shop for website design and construction. This includes the provision of a content management system, a shopping cart facility, online forums and online recruitment tools as a complete package. This differs from traditional website designs, which rely on several different suppliers providing content, tools, license and hardware. Additionally it wona t need updating as often as other websites as all the software upgrades are provided free of charge and delivered automatically. SiteJourneya s clients who have assisted in the three year development of the software include recruitment agencies, consultancies, sports clubs, as well as British landmarks such as the Cutty Sark. Press Release here...A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Microsoft Opens SaaS On-Ramp One of the largest proponents of the software as a service model, software giant Microsoft (microsoft.com) announced it has launched another program to help independent software vendors and Web hosts more easily move into the SaaS market Microsoft says the SaaS On-Ramp program is currently available in North America and Europe and will be launched in Asia in February 2007. To get involved in the program, ISVs have to sign a service provider licensing agreement with Microsoft or a Microsoft reseller.A Michael van Dijken, lead marketing manager for hosted solutions at Microsoft's Communications sector, adds that within the next couple of months, Web hosting providers will be able to provide the licensing directly to the ISVs with a single packaged price, so that ISVs won't have to sign a SPLA with Microsoft. Van Dijken says Microsoft's SaaS On-Ramp program is just one component of a broader set of initiatives from Microsoft surrounding software as a service, and that the company is following the natural evolution of the software industry. Microsoft says its program helps lower initial set-up risks and costs by offering two of its core components of software, Widows Server and Microsoft SQL Server, at a reduced price for the first 12 months after signing up, which delivers a total of approximately 80 percent in savings. The hosting partner program is called the Microsoft SaaS Incubation Center Program, while the ISV program is called the Microsoft SaaS On-Ramp Program.A A Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 25, 2006SIIA Announces 12 'Preview' Presenters for OnDemand Conference Early-Stage SaaS Companies Selected The Software & Information Industry Association, the principal trade association for the software and content industries, today announced the selection of twelve young Software as a Service companies as presenters during its OnDemand Conference, November 8-9 at the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose, CA. These SaaS innovators were chosen from a pool of applicants that represent some of the most interesting new ideas in online software services. Each will give a five-minute presentation to the attendees and will be available at exhibit tables for further discussion. @Road, Inc.; Apangea Learning; Aria Systems; Demandware; Expensewatch.com; Fortiva; Involve Technology; LeCayla; LucidEra; Remend; Spoke Software and Talent Technology Corporation.A PRESS RELEASE... Posted by ebizQ in Events • Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) SaaS Goes Customisable Get it the way you want itThe (generally speaking uncustomisable) user interface of online business services is the last significant stumbling block they have had to face. This has meant that users of services such as those from Software as a Service (SaaS) vendor NetSuite have had to use the UI that comes with the service, even if it didn't really fit their business processes.A
That now changes with what the company claims is a first a a fully customisable UI that means businesses can have the interface that maps onto their business process needs. This is at the heart of SuiteFlex, a new application development platform that is targeted specifically at the company's channel partners. This adds the ability to build their own vertical applications on top of the NetSuite business management system as well as an integrated, end-to-end customised UI for their customers, and then have it all available as an online, on demand service delivered via NetSuite. The company has also launched Suite Bundler, which it defines as "Service as Software". This allows the channel partners to code and embed their knowledge of industry best practices and applications directly into the NetSuite system. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 24, 2006Saas Provider Etelos Teams w/ 3Tera for Grid Hosting Etelos, a provider of open source SaaS business solutions, has teamed with 3Tera Inc. to enable Etelos' customers to utilize the latest in scalability technologies to easily increase computing power and manage Web applications on demand. Companies running an Etelos application can now choose to deploy it with hosting providers that leverage 3Tera's AppLogic Grid operating system, giving them flexibility and control over their applications and infrastructure in real-time as their business grows. Using only a Web browser, an entire server infrastructure can be remotely managed, deployed and scaled on demand to give Etelos' customers scalable, highly available hosted environments faster and more cost-effectively than previously possible. "Etelos and 3Tera share the belief that software no longer needs to be static or centrally located, and that Web 2.0, Office 2.0 and SaaS enablers should be able to easily manage, deploy and scale their applications without being constrained by the cost and complexity of owning and operating their own infrastructure," said Bert Armijo, vice president of marketing for 3Tera. "The new partnership enables Etelos customers running on demand, open source Web applications to cost-effectively compete in today's online marketplace." Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Software as a Service: You're Not in This Alone As SaaS picks up steam, more resources are coming online to help with the transition to on-demand delivery. Ariba Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., claims the world's largest supplier network, handling about $93 billion worth of transactions annually. It has annual revenues in the $300 million range and about 1,600 employees. Thus, deciding to rework its flagship solutions for helping corporations manage their corporate spending, a category known as spend management, was not an easy or quick decision. But, once decided, there was no turning back, says Rick Collison, Ariba's director of spend management solutions. Ariba implemented the first wave of its SaaS offerings in November 2005, and has been solution complete on SaaS for about nine months. As with most companies' transition to SaaS, it's been a bumpy road, but worth the wear and tear. "We're walking, not running," Collison asserts. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) Declude Rolls Out Low-Cost Hosted E-mail Service In step with the brisk market for messaging gateway products, e-mail security and antispam vendor Declude on Monday launched a hosted version of its offerings. Called Mailprotector, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering enables solution providers to resell Declude's antispam, antivirus and messaging gateway protection tools without having to install the vendor's appliance-based software on-site, said Kristina O'Connell, vice president of marketing at Declude, Newburyport, Mass. Targeted at small and midsize businesses, Mailprotector can deliver comprehensive e-mail management and antivirus protection for an average price of just over a dollar per mailbox per month, according to O'Connell. Its low price makes Mailprotector a high-margin proposition, with resellers able to mark up the service by as much as 80 percent, she said. Declude has flown somewhat under the radar for a while as far as brand recognition in the market for e-mail management goes, said David McCarty, marketing director at Intelek Technologies, a VAR and Declude partner in Norman, Okla. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 22, 2006NetSuite Announces Keynote Speakers for NetSuite Revolution 2006 Partner Conference NetSuite, Inc., the leader in on-demand business software suites,A announced last Thursday, the 19th, the keynote speakers for NetSuite Revolution 2006, NetSuite's partner conference to be held October 25-27 at the Argent Hotel in San Francisco. NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson will kick off the conference with an opening keynote speech entitled "The New SaS -- Service as Software." NetSuite Founder and CTO Evan Goldberg will give an overview of the future directions of the NetSuite application in his keynote. Additionally, NetSuite cherry picked industry luminaries as guest keynote speakers including Bob Anderson from the Gartner Group, Heather Clancy from CRN (Computer Reseller News), Rieva Lesonsky from Entrepreneur Magazine and Paul Greenberg from The 56 Group. For more information about the conference or to register CLICK HERE. The keynote speeches will span a spectrum of insightful industry views including: -- "The Next Generation Services Model" -- Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite.A A The on-demand revolution is here, and Software as a Service (SaaS) isA creating challenges and opportunities for organizations that want to build a professional services business to support the new web-basedA paradigm.A Zach Nelson will give the audience his visionary view of howA SaaS innovation enables solution providers to deliver process expertiseA A A A A A A and industry best practices to their clients encapsulated in softwareA delivered as a service.A Posted by ebizQ in Events • Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 21, 2006BizEd signs SaaS deal with Hostworks Australian outsourced provider of learning and development services BizEd Services has signed a three-year Software as a Service (SaaS) agreement for Hostworks to deliver Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Office applications to its staff throughout Australia and New Zealand. The Hostworks Software as a Service solution gives BizEd employees access to hosted versions of software applications including Microsoft Exchange, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project and Visio. These applications are purchased on a per-user, per-month basis, with the ability to vary the number of users as the business grows and changes. BizEd Services IT Manager, Craig Horton, said the company faced a number of challenges to support staff working across multiple offices. a The Hostworks solution means that wherever we travel in the world, we have a managed Exchange Server and file servers from one location,a he said. Since its 2003 purchase of Dimension Data Central, Hostworks has made a major investment in deploying second generation SaaS technology. More here...A
Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 18, 2006QuickArrow's 12th Consecutive Quarter of Revenue Acceleration Marks 42% Annual Growth QuickArrow, Inc., the Software as a Service (SaaS) leader in Professional Services Automation (PSA), announced today that third quarter revenue for 2006 was 42% greater than the same period in 2005, marking 12 consecutive quarters of revenue growth. QuickArrow, Inc., the Software as a Service (SaaS) leader in Professional Services Automation (PSA), announced today that third quarter revenue for 2006 was 42% greater than the same period in 2005, marking 12 consecutive quarters of revenue growth. The company also added more than 1900 new users in the third quarter to achieve a 56% year-over-year increase in the QuickArrow user base. QuickArrow added several key clients in the third quarter, including Progress Software, Spotfire Inc., Skywire Software, and Xenos. In September, the company hosted more than 70 companies at their annual SharedVision Users Conference in Austin, Texas. They also continued their educational client webinar series, SharedSuccess, with two new installments on Project Management and Advanced Analytics, their custom analytics and reporting tool. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) SpringCM to Deliver Document Management Applications for WebEx Connect Solution Lets Customers Manage the Entire Content Lifecycle as Part of the New WebEx Business Application 'Mashup' Platform. A SpringCM and WebEx, the leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications for collaborative business on the web, today announced that the SpringCM complete solution for Enterprise Content Management will be available via the new WebEx Connect application grid. This will provide seamless enterprise document access from anywhere, The combined offering will allow customers, from anywhere in the world, to maintain a scalable and secure document repository for any file type, complete with full enterprise search and embedded optical character recognition (OCR), to collaboratively create, edit, update and publish documents. SpringCM will integrate with the WebEx offerings, and will allow customers to manage a greater part of the document lifecycle within WebEx.A A Press Release...A A
A Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 17, 2006Autotask Stays Relevant with Monthly SAAS Updates Autotask, makers of a business management platform for IT service providers, keeps users engaged with its product and on the edge of their seats by pushing out monthly updates of its software, according to users.A In April the company introduced support for live reports for managed services accounts. In May, it rolled out support for recurring contracts. Autotask Extend, which connected ASPs to a catalog of applications, debuted in June. And so on.A The monthly releases enable the software maker to bring immediate and useable business value to users as they need it and will become the dominant delivery model for software as SAAS (software as a service) becomes the standard, replacing annual updates, said Bob Godgart, founder and CEO of the Rensselaer, N.Y., company. "We're trying to get technology out as fast as [users] need it," Godgart said. "The market moves fast and their businesses move fast. They don't want to wait six months for a CD release to respond to it a | It increases the importance of the product in helping them do their job better, and that drives adoption." Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 11, 2006OKERE Joins Informatica Service Provider Partner Program OKERE, a management and technology consulting firm for on-demand business applications, today announced it has joined Informaticaa s (NASDAQ: INFA) Service Provider Partner Program. With the alliance, OKERE is investing in the expansion of its software-as-a-service (SaaS) consulting practice to offer complete data management capabilities for this exploding market. Together OKERE and Informatica, a leader in data integration, will help enterprise companies realize the broader value of SaaS applications with fully integrated solutions. As the leading systems integrator focused on deploying SaaS business solutions, OKERE has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies to integrate data between enterprise applications, such as those from salesforce.com, SAP and Siebel. As part of the alliance with Informatica, OKERE consultants will be trained and certified to implement Informaticaa s PowerCenter Connect for salesforce.com, which allows companies to easily migrate, cleanse, replicate and synchronize data between Salesforce and on-premise systems. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) VueCentric Targets Loan Officers with Attractive Offer A complete online lending solution is now available at a very competitive price. Vuecentric Inc., developer of MortgageDashboard, the industrya s leading mortgage loan origination system provided under the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, has launched a new campaign targeted at individual loan officers who need a complete technology solution for online mortgage lending. The company has launched its ONE-derful (Originate Now, Electronically) promotion to provide the MortgageDashboard LOS, a lead generating website, a loan search and pricing engine and online status update all in a single package for only $499 for the first year. This offer is only available until December 31, 2006. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 10, 2006Celequest Advances BI for the Masses With New Software-as-a-Service Offering 'LAVA On Demand' First On-Demand BI Offering Available as Both Hosted and Managed Service, Reducing Cost and Complexity of BI... Celequest, the leading provider of operational business intelligence (BI), today announced LAVA(TM) On Demand, the first "Software-as-a-Service" (SaaS) offering for BI available as both a hosted and managed service. "LAVA, the industry's first BI appliance, was designed to bring critical BI information to thousands of users without the complexity or cost associated with traditional BI offerings," said Diaz Nesamoney, chief executive officer of Celequest. "LAVA On Demand now enables customers to truly deliver BI to end users as a service, with zero administration and maintenance headaches and on a subscription basis. This offering also makes Celequest accessible and affordable for small to medium-sized businesses, dramatically extending the reach of our technology." Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Salesforce strives for the on demand Apex Salesforce.com is taking another step in its quest to become a dominant platform for enterprise applications with the announcement of Apex, which opens up its multi-tenant, on demand infrastructure and an enhanced programming language to any developer. The announcement took place at the company's Dreamforce conference, with live testimonials from Michael Dell, Maynard Web (CTO eBay), Bob Suh (CTO of Accenture), and other industry executives.A A a We have a vision for millions of applications on demand,a said Kendall Collins, senior vice president of product marketing at salesforce.com. a Apex will give people unburdened freedom to develop an entire universe of applications never seen before. We are popping the top off of our platform, and with the advanced logic and the capability of our programming language, developers can write inventory management, ERP and transactional applications like ecommerce.a Application developers can also sell their wares via salesforce.coma s AppExchange marketplace. Posted by ebizQ in Events • Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 06, 2006NaviSite Offers SaaS Sandbox Service The software as a service application delivery model has seen significant interest within the Web hosting industry lately, as service providers hustle to build their solutions around the SaaS model. Web hosting provider NaviSite (navisite.com) says its new ISV Sandbox solution, a joint offering with software giant Microsoft (microsoft.com), makes it easier for companies to develop and adopt a cost-effective SaaS offerings. NaviSite says the ISV Sandbox provides ISVs, and anyone else who has applications that would reach more customers over the Net, with a secure environment for developing and testing the delivery of software applications to end-users over the Internet. For ISVs, assessing the viability of the SaaS model can be expensive, both in terms of cost and time, but the ISV Sandbox offers a ready-made platform for evaluating SaaS and testing SaaS-enabled software. The new version of the ISV Sandbox, for developers on the Microsoft platform, is built using the Microsoft Solution for Windows-based Hosting for Applications, which is specifically designed to help ISVs shorten their time-to-market for SaaS offerings and to enable service providers to host and manage applications for ISVs. Mike Mazur, the VP of channel sales and alliances at NaviSite says the ISV Sandbox solution enables partners who are interested in taking themselves, or their customers, into a SaaS environment to do so with a lower cost, which is often a big barrier to entry. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) October 05, 2006Open source CRM meets SaaS CRM Open source and on-demand CRM are experiencing a convergence of sorts, brought together by online application exchanges. Mirroring Salesforce.com's AppExchange platform, Cupertino, Calif.-based SugarCRM today launched its own marketplace for business applications based on its open source CRM tool. Entitled SugarExchange, the project provides a place for developers to capitalize on SugarCRM's commercial open source model, according to Clint Oram, general manager of SugarOnline. Under SugarCRM's commercial open source strategy, customers can get one version of its CRM application with a free download and free access to the source code or pay for a proprietary professional edition that comes with additional functionality and support. CRM analysts and experts have predicted big things for open source CRM this year.
More here... Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) October 03, 2006IBM Alphaworks says ADIEU to SaaS IBMA launchedA alphaWorks Services, a new on-demand addition to IBM's research and development website, launched to coincide with alphaWork's tenth birthday (picture courtesy of the alphaWorks website). Two of the three services available at launch are targeted at enabling end users to build their own applications: Ad Hoc Development and Integration tool for End Users (ADIEU) and Web Relational Blocks (WebRB). AlphaWorks is noted for tapping into technology waves very early into their development; but isn't it a bit late to catch the SaaS wave? Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 27, 2006Salesforce.com's Swensrud: Startup Rules Are Changing "The fact that we situated ourselves between Salesforce and Google was interesting, but ... we didn't use that to go get $20 million in venture capital. We used it to provide a product that delivers real benefit to real customers ... as opposed to just exploiting the hype." For anyone who doesn't play close attention to developments in the SaaS (Software as a Service) space, the story of San Francisco startup Kieden might sound like a replay of one of those "spin straw into gold" tales from the height of the dot-com bubble. However, Salesforce.com's (NYSE: CRM)A A August announcement that it had acquired six-month-old Kieden and its technology for tracking Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)A AdWord campaigns was no act of drunken optimism. Kieden's success, like that of Salesforce, is evidence of a new and powerful wave that's just starting to break in the IT sector, as SaaS vendors create an environment in which countless smaller companies can quickly and effortlessly be born, grow and thrive.Kieden founder Kraig Swensrud, now senior director of product marketing at Salesforce.com, spoke with InfoWorld Senior Editor Paul F. Roberts about SaaS, Web 2.0, agile development and how the rules are changing for startups of all stripes.Q: You were self-funded and didn't take in any venture capital. Had Salesforce.com not come along as it did, would that have continued indefinitely? A: I believe it is possible for a small company to get up and running and reach a level of revenue generation where venture capital is not necessarily needed. The benefit to startup companies like Kieden these days is that there are so many services on the Web that can be subscribed to for a monthly fee as opposed to shelling out up-front cash to acquire a bunch of systems to run a small business. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 26, 2006"SaaS seems more prevalent in the mid-market" With more and more Business Intelligence (BI) vendors going on-demand and offering their applications via either ASP or the SaaS channel, the stakes are getting higher for these vendors to tap into the all important mid-market segment. John Schwarz, CEO, Business Objects discusses his company's outlook and plans with Rajendra Chaudhary. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Klir Software Shares IT Mgmt. Advice Inspired by the communal wisdom generated on sites like Wikipedia.com, Klir Technologies launched an IT management product Monday intended for system administrators at small and medium businesses. Klir Analytics 3.0 beta allows IT users to publish and share their own favorite fixes, using a software-as-a-service (SAAS) business model. Over time, the most successful software will garner the best ratings, just as the most popular photographs get top billing at Flickr.com, said James Maiocco, Klira s chief executive officer. Klir, of Seattle, hopes to gain the most users at companies that are too small for the Fortune 2000 list, where large corporations get their IT services from long-term contracts with BMC Software, CA, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, he said. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 24, 2006End of Software Known better for pushing the traditional software sales model out of business, Salesforce.com plans incubation centres in India for software-as-a-service companies, says Harsimran Singh. If you ever happen to bump into any top employee of San Francisco-based CRM software major Salesforce.com, there's one thing that's sure to strike you a a round red badge on each of their coat collars. Strangely enough, the red no-smoking badge shows 'software' ingrained on it instead of a cigarette. Ask the companya s Asia Pacific president and CEO, Steve Russell, and he tells you the reason. "Its a badge called 'End of Software'. Each employee at Salesforce.com wears this badge. It reinforces our strong belief that old model of software a the on premise model a is near its nemesis. Instead, it will give way to the software-as-a-service (SAAS) model, on which our company is based," he says. Founded in 1999 by ex-Oracle executive Marc Benioff (the current CEO) along with Parker Harris (the current CTO), Salesforce.com is becoming a leader of sorts. Benioff is now regarded as the leader of what he has termed "The End of Software. A belief that on-demand applications can democratise technology by delivering immediate benefits to companies of all sizes, at reduced risks and costs. And the belief seems to be paying off. Last year, Salesforce.com revenues grew 64% to $309.8 million. This year, analysts believe the company's revenues to grow 55%. Juster himself believes that Salesforce.com will cross half a billion dollar in revenues this year. If compared to competitors, SAP and Oracle, Salesforce.comA is still puny at $396.56 million (for 12 months trailing). While SAP earned annual revenues ofA $11.4 billion last fiscal, Oracle earned $14.3 billion in revenues. The obvious question that comes to mind is that with giants like Oracle and SAP in the market, does Salesforce.com's SaaS model stand any chance? "It does," says Juster confidently. "If you compare our growth with our competitors you'll find the answer." And he seems right. Oracle and SAP revenues grew 22% and 18%, respectively last year against Salesforce.com's 64%. Recent IDC data also shows Salesforce.com holding the leading position with 49.5% market share of the on-demand CRM applications market. Rivals such as RightNow Technologies occupy second place with a market share of 13.5% followed by Oracle's Siebel Systems. Other rivals include NetSuite, SugarCRM and Microsoft, which has a relatively small presence. Bill Gates himself has recently been propounding how Web-based services, such as those provided by Google for consumers and Salesforce.com for businesses, will dramatically change the nature and cost of software solutions. Though only Asia Pacific (including India) accounts for only 7% of Salesforce.com globalA revenues, it is still upbeat about India. "Salesforce.com, is developing plans for initiating in India next year an incubation program for software-as-a-service companies. We operate the only applications platform on the Business Web a which we call the AppExchange. This incubation program would assist Indian entrepreneurs and developers in creating software-as-a-service businesses," adds Jester. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 23, 2006Qualys CEO to Present at SaaScon in San Francisco Qualys(R), Inc., the leading provider of on demand vulnerability management and policy compliance, will be presenting at the upcoming SaaScon(TM), the premier business to business event for the software as a service (SaaS) industry. The event takes place September 25-26, 2006 at the San Francisco Marriott. On Monday, September 25, Philippe Courtot, chairman and chief executive officer of Qualys, will present a session titled "SaaS: Bringing Security and Compliance Together Effectively." With the vast amounts of time and money spent on security and compliance initiatives, companies can still find themselves secure but not compliant and vice-versa. Courtot will discuss how SaaS changes the way companies manage both security and compliance programs. Attendees will learn how SaaS can bring these programs together to collect data once, show different views to different constituencies and distribute the right data to the appropriate people, eliminating the complexity and redundancy associated with these tasks and simplifying the analysis of data, ultimately increasing the effectiveness while drastically reducing associated costs. Posted by ebizQ in Events • Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Governance, Risk and Compliance Leaders Converge at Axentis Engage! 2006 User Conference; Third Annual Conference Features Leading Global 2000 Organizations and Thought Leaders--Identifies Key Strategies for Effective and Sustainable GRC Management Axentis, the leading provider of on-demand governance, risk and compliance (GRC) management solutions, today announced the success of Engage! 2006, its annual conference designed to give customers, partners and Axentis executives a forum to discuss and share views on critical trends and practical approaches to successfully managing GRC applications. The conference, which took place September 12 - 14 in Newport, RI, also highlighted the new Axentis Privacy Management Suite and previewed upcoming Axentis Enterprise and Axentis SOX Suite product enhancements. "Customer success is the ultimate validation of the Axentis Enterprise solution, the industry's only offering that leverages the SaaS model to empower organizations to effectively address the complete spectrum of compliance concerns," said Roger Bottum, vice president, marketing at Axentis. "By bringing together partners such as IBM and The Ponemon Institute, our customers and our own people, we were able to create a forum that delivered on our objective of having participants return to their companies with new ideas for enhancing their GRC programs and their use of Axentis Enterprise." Posted by ebizQ in Events • Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 22, 2006Packet Island Inc. takes In VC Funding to Fuel Its Growth
Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) Staffing Software BrightMove 2.3 Adds Job Distribution Engine BrightMove releases version 2.3 of its web-based applicant tracking software for the staffing industry. Version 2.3 adds the capability to distribute your job postings to Internet job boards from within your BrightMove dashboard. The BrightMove solution is a 100% web-based "SaaS" designed specifically for staffing, recruiting and HR (human resources) professionals. BrightMove Applicant Tracking Systema s enhanced functionality will help recruiters, sales managers, HR and Staffing Professionals. The BrightMove development staff has been working hard in conjunction with their current clients to makeA their applicant tracking software even better with this newest release. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 16, 20063Tera to Enable Utility Computing for Web Applications; Innovator Executes Upon Vision; Opens New Market Opportunities for Hosting Providers, Web 2.0 and SaaS Companies 3Tera, Inc., the innovator of grid and utility computing solutions for online services, today announces the company's vision to enable utility computing for Web applications. Comprised of seasoned industry innovators with a history of developing breakthrough technologies, 3Tera leverages grid architecture to free online applications from the hardware infrastructure required to deliver them. For the first time, Web-based applications become completely portable, easily scalable, and can be managed remotely on grids of commodity servers using only a browser. This breakthrough makes true utility computing a reality, and opens enormous market opportunities for hosting providers, as well as Web 2.0 and SaaS companies. Posted by ebizQ in Vendors • news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) September 15, 2006OpSource Adds Two Leading Vendors to its Expanding Roster of Customers Leve | ||||
