Welcome to the July issue of THINKstrategies' Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Showplace Update.
Summer has finally arrived in the Boston area, and the SaaS movement is also heating up despite the economy and typical summer-time duldroms.
The clearest indication of the escalating activity in the SaaS arena is the latest round of announcements from Google and Microsoft. While many have categorized these as 'cloud computing' initiatives, they are fueled by the continuing success of SaaS.
Last month, Siemens AG selected SuccessFactors' SaaS-based on-demand performance and talent management solutions to support its worldwide operations of approximately 420,000 users across 80 countries in 20 different languages even though SAP has historically supported much of Siemens' back office operations.
Earlier this month, Sunoco's CIO, Peter Whatnell, also advocated on behalf of shifting corporate operations to SaaS and cloud computing alternatives to address today's unprecedented corporate challenges during his keynote address at NetworkWorld's IT Roadmap conference which made its latest stop in Philadelphia, PA.
In addition to speaking extensively about this topic at industry events like the IT Roadmap, I continue to consult with a widening array of vendors, users and investors seeking to leverage the growing power of these 'on-demand' services.
Traditional research firms are still raising questions about the viability of SaaS and cloud computing. You can read my views about their efforts to derail the SaaS movement below.
THINKstrategies has been a leading advocate on behalf of SaaS for the past eight years, and is increasingly being recognized as a vocal proponent of the broader cloud computing market opportunity as well.
The most recent example is the alliance which THINKstrategies has established with Cloudbook, a rapidly growing online resource center regarding the latest trends, ideas and events in the cloud computing arena. We are very pleased to be supporting this new site and providing our perspective to its visitors.
I'm also chairing next month's CloudWorld conference in San Francisco next month and moderating a keynote panel entitled,
"Assessing the Real Market Opportunities and Obstacles for Making Cloud Computing Mainstream."Today, the SaaS Showplace is the largest and highest ranked online directory of SaaS solutions and best practices with over 1100 companies are divided into 80 application, industry and enabling technology catagories!
That is why Under the Radar named the SaaS Showplace "The Web's Best Directory of All Things SaaS!", and said THINKstrategies has,
"Created the most comprehensive directory of SaaS providers. If you're on the hunt for SaaS solutions - or even doing competitive research for your own needs, check it out."
Last month, we teamed with Renovatix Solutions to add a new SaaS marketplace to the SaaS Showplace.
In addition, our Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Award program continues to recognize more SaaS vendors that are delivering measurable business benefits to their users.
Over 11,600 IT and business decision-makers, IT solution providers, press, investors and others subscribe to this newsletter, a jump of over 200 in the last month alone!
I hope you find this update valuable.
Contact me if you'd like to learn more about how you can capitalize on SaaS and cloud computing solutions, the SaaS Showplace, or THINKstrategies' consulting services to achieve your business objectives.
I hope you'll also support my Pan Mass Challenge (PMC) ride to to combat cancer on August 1-2. Click here to learn more about why I'm participating in this important fundraising event and how you can contribute to this great cause.
Thanks for your interest and continued support of our efforts,
Jeff Kaplan
Managing Director
THINKstrategies