Software as a service (SaaS)

It’s time for VARs to figure out the software services thing

Now that Microsoft’s made its hosted online services broadly available, it’s time for VARs to take stock of what this new software delivery vehicle means to them.

Google, Salesforce.com, other vendors have driven this Sofware as a Service train for some time, but Microsoft, unlike those SaaS powers, built its business with partners so those partners can no longer ignore the shift, even if they are so inclined. The smart ones will figure out how to parlay the delivery model for their own gain. The others risk a lot by letting it pass them by. Continued »

Google reseller program on the way?

A Google reseller program seems to be in the works, according to this video posted Friday on YouTube.

The 14-second video features Dave Girouard, Google Enterprise president, and 10 Google employees standing behind him. Girouard says, “On behalf of the Google Apps reseller team, I want to say thank you for taking the time to learn about this exciting new program.”

The employees then yell, “Go Apps resellers!”

Google Apps Education Edition, which offers email, word processing, instant messaging and other programs for college students and faculty, is already gaining some traction in the channel. But there’s also concern that Google’s focus on Web-based applications could take away on-premise sales opportunities for solutions providers. Maybe this “Google Apps reseller team” will help address those issues.

UPDATE (7:04 p.m. Eastern): The owner of the video has removed it from YouTube. 

Whose cloud is it anyway?

Raise your hand if you’ve heard enough about the proverbial cloud yet.

Understood. The hypefest has been enormous. And the payoff? Not there yet. Continued »

Virtualization predictions for 2009

With the end of the year approaching, virtualization pundits are coming out with their predictions for 2009. I won’t be coming out with any of my own — I had to sell my crystal ball to buy a few last-minute Christmas gifts — but here’s a roundup of what the experts say to expect in the next 12 months: Continued »

What ‘net new’ kemosabe?

The dirty little secret of software, is the tectonic shift of the whole business from selling new licenses to selling upgrades. There just aren’t that many green field opportunities left.

“Well, duh,” you might say. “What’s the big deal?” For resellers or for solution providers who sell software licenses as part of their overall practice, the big deal is that most software vendors pay partners margin on “net new” sales or the elusive “customer adds.” But when it comes to the lucrative upgrade- and maintenance contracts partners are out of luck. See ya. Nice knowing ya. Don’t let the door hit you …..

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Microsoft-hosted ERP: Still a mystery

Microsoft has been all over the map about whether it will offer self-hosted ERP.

Company CEO Steve Ballmer some years ago told solution provider partners that the vendor would offer self hosted ERP and CRM applications as needed. It was all about customer choice, he said.

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ERP swoon–Is it Microsoft specific?

Anecdotal evidence is that Microsoft ERP sales are in the tank this year, although it’s hard to tell how much of that is Microsoft-specific vs. the overall ERP category sucking wind of late.

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Microsoft fills in some cloudware bits with Azure

As expected, Microsoft started to talk up some details of its cloud computing strategy Monday at its Professional Developers Conference.

Amidst all the cloud talk, there were a few deliverables mentioned in Monday’s keynotes including activation codes for four new Azure Services outlined by Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie on Monday morning. Developers and VARs can use those codes to poke around and try out the hosted services.

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Salesforce.com crashes Microsoft’s party

After successfully pulling off a guerrilla marketing stunt at VMworld last month, Microsoft is now finding out what it’s like to be on the other end of such a campaign.

As the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference kicked off this morning in Los Angeles, bicycle riders outside the convention center distributed T-shirts and fliers promoting the Salesforce.com development platform, Force.com, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Microsoft Blog. They also gave out donuts.

Mmm, donuts.
 Windows Azure. Azure, formerly referred to as Windows Cloud, will also face competition from the Google App Engine and Amazon Web Services.

PDC priority: Proving Microsoft’s mojo

Has Microsoft lost its mojo?

There’s something different in the air. Microsoft is doing its best to drum up an uproar around next week’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC). The company’s code-name generator is in overdrive — nothing new there. But it’s become painfully obvious that the company’s ratio of code names to products completed on time, as promised, is dismal. Remember the infamous “pillars” of Longhorn? I rest my case.

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