SaaS

Overheard - Web self-service

“More and more organizations are finding that, while a dedicated customer service staff is still an integral part of any company, customers can do a fine job answering questions and service issues for themselves and for one another.” Barney Beal, SaaS CRM vendors get serious about Web self-service features

Today’s WhatIs.com Word of the Day is Web self-service.

Overheard - Frank Gillett’s cloud computing reality check

Forrester’s Frank Gillett talks with Beet.tv about “cloudwashing.”  He does a nice job breaking down where the future might lie for cloud computing and unlike a lot of other pundits, Frank seems to have his feet on the ground (and not in the clouds).  Don’t miss this one.

Thanks go to Dennis Shiao for recommending this video clip. My takeaway?  I need to keep an eye on three things: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and virtual infrastructure as a service (usually shortened to just IaaS).

Overheard: Symantec and SaaS

I don’t believe Symantec have their head around SaaS. Up their own SaaS maybe, the pricing shows that. Mark Twomey, SwapDrive. It’ll cost you!

Thank you Storage Anarchist (Barry A. Burke) for sending me this quote.  Barry, if you will recall,  coined the popular phrase ”Hitachi math.”

Overheard: Say goodbye to middleware as a standalone offering

The notion of middleware as a standalone offering is disappearing. Aneel Bhusri as quoted in SaaS Start-Up Workday Acquires Cape Clear

Workday acquired Cape Clear Software, one of the last remaining independent providers of an enterprise service bus, the middleware technology for service-oriented architecture. The SaaS startup, also known as the PeopleSoft alumni association, has positioned itself as an on-demand alternative to ERP.

Mary Hayes Weier writes “It’s a critical technology and talent acquisition for Workday, since IT managers often cite concerns about integrating their legacy apps with on-demand apps as the biggest barrier to SaaS adoption.”

At least one-third of business application software spending will be SaaS

With software as service (SaaS), the user organisation pays for software services in proportion to use. This is fundamentally different from the fixed-price perpetual license of the traditional on-premises technology. Endorsed and promoted by all leading business applications vendors (Oracle, SAP, Microsoft) and many Web technology leaders (Google, Amazon), the SaaS model of deployment and distribution of software services will enjoy steady growth in mainstream use during the next five years.

Gartner Highlights Key Predictions for IT Organisations and Users in 2008 and Beyond

Overheard: EMC enters the cloud

Going with “SaaS”, as it’s called, is a major switch if you’re a hardware company, since it entails hosting your proprietary applications and/or your customers’ data on your own machines, providing access via the broadband Web, and charging for a subscription to the service, rather than for big iron. Wade Roush, EMC Gets Serious About Software-as-a-Service

The company announced today that it has created a new business unit, EMC Software as a Service, with “MozyEnterprise” as the first product offering.

MozyEnterprise is a version of the existing Mozy Pro service that’s been hardened for major organizations based on Mozy’s experience working with 10,000 existing business customers—including General Electric, which turned to Mozy to back up all 350,000 of its desktops and laptops.

The new software installs itself on company-owned desktops, laptops, and remote Windows servers, then copies encrypted versions of each machine’s files to servers at EMC data centers over broadband connections. IT managers can oversee the backup process using a Web-based administrative console.

Overheard: Adobe Buzzword gets SaaS-y thumbs up

“Middle-aged men are supposed to blow money on cars and alimony, not rebuilding a relic application from the glory days of PC software.” Michael Fitzgerald, Buzzword Brings Beauty, Flash to Word Processing for Adobe

Lots of chatter this week about Adobe Buzzword. The general consensus seems to be that Buzzword is the first Web-based contender to pose a serious threat to Microsoft Word. You can try it out for yourself here.