MSPmentor

A few weeks ago I noted that Salesforce.com plans to make a major announcement on April 14. I wasn’t sure what the news was, but there are growing indications that it includes Salesforce.com gaining closer hooks to Google Apps. If true, this could be a defining moment for the software as a service industry. Read More >

If you’re still skeptical about managed services and software as a service (SaaS), spend a day at Long Island’s Hofstra University. Roughly 13,000 Hofstra students have access to Google Apps Education Edition to collaborate online, according to Robert W. Juckiewicz, Hofstra’s VP of IT.

The university’s ongoing experience with SaaS — and Hofstra’s future goals — provide some clear hints about how the corporate software market may evolve.

Nobody is predicting the death of Microsoft Office, but it’s clear from case studies like Hofstra that Google Apps and Microsoft’s desktop productivity suite are on a long-term collision course.

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How do you get readers hooked on free services, and then transform them into paying customers? Plenty of Web companies have tried — and failed — to do exactly that. But Google has made two interesting moves in the managed services market that could attract dollars from consumers and small businesses. Read More >

During a mid-2007 phone chat with Autotask CEO Bob Godgart, I asked him which managed services-oriented companies he watches most closely. His immediate reply: Google. Fast forward to the present, and it’s clear why Godgart and the rest of the managed services industry keeps close tabs on the search engine giant.

Indeed, Google has quietly launched a managed email security service for businesses, schools and non-profit organizations. For managed service providers, Google’s growing interest in software as a service is both a challenge and an opportunity. Read More >