If you want to see how Microsoft and Google are competing in the software as a service (SaaS) market, head back to college. As I’ve written here a few times, Hofstra University, the University of Phoenix and several other large colleges have embraced Google Apps to manage student email, alumni email and collaboration. Now, Microsoft is taking steps to more actively promote its rival offering: Live@edu hosted applications.
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Microsoft SaaS vs. Google Apps on College Campuses
Posted May 27th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Rise of the “Software Plus Service” Model?
Posted May 22nd, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
I’m a firm believer that managed service providers (MSPs) must offer “feet on the street” and face-to-face interaction with customers, otherwise you risk losing close, long-term relationships. Even if you offer software as a service (SaaS), you need to force yourself to visit customers regularly (once a month to once a quarter). That’s where the “software plus service” or “hybrid” business model comes into focus.
Blackboard Reveals SaaS Financial Trends
Posted May 8th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Evidence is mounting that the software as a service (SaaS) industry is doing well — but not quite as well as financial analysts had expected. The latest anecdote comes from Blackboard Inc., a company that offers hosted applications to colleges and universities.
Update: RightNow Makes SaaS Progress
Posted May 1st, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
RightNow, a CRM (customer relationship management) developer, gave skeptics reasons to believe companies can successfully leap from traditional software to newer software as a service (SaaS) business models.
Managed Microsoft SharePoint Services Continue to Proliferate
Posted April 30th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Anecdotal evidence suggests that managed service providers are pushing deeper into the Microsoft applications market. Most of the Microsoft-centric initiatives seem to involve hosted Exchange Server, Dynamics CRM and /or SharePoint applications.
RightNow: Will SaaS Sales Shine Today?
Posted April 30th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
RightNow, a CRM provider that has been shifting to a software as a service (SaaS) business model, is scheduled to release financial results after US markets close today.
Dell Misses Mark On MessageOne Announcement
Posted April 25th, 2008 by The VAR Guy
When it comes to Dell’s partner communications, subtle statements — and non-statements — count for a lot. On the one hand, Dell has worked overtime to tell VARs and managed service providers how to participate in the company’s growing partner program. Kudos. But on the other hand, Dell is potentially sabotaging its own partner program with some of its software as a service (SaaS) press materials.
Salesforce.com Shares Hit An All-time High
Posted April 23rd, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Software as a service (SaaS) remains a hot topic on Wall Street, especially as Salesforce.com shares hit an all-time high. The company recently announced a partnership with Google, and there’s speculation on TechCrunch.com that the search giant and the on-demand software company may get even cozier together.
Sun Launches Software as a Service Blitz
Posted April 23rd, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
Sun made a major software as a service (SaaS) announcement today involving the Solaris operating system. But I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. There’s a high probability, I believe, that Sun will rapidly expand its SaaS efforts to include the MySQL database (near term) and potentially Ubuntu Linux (long term). Here’s why managed service providers should care.
Climbing From Managed Services to SaaS Clouds
Posted April 9th, 2008 by Joe Panettieri
The move from managed service provider to software as a service (SaaS) can seem intimidating, but the barriers to market entry continue to fall. Each week, yet another company introduces a SaaS framework that you can plug your managed services business into.
