Recent Articles & Opinions on Software as a Service

Read articles and opinions on the SaaS and on-demand world. Click on the link to read the entire article. If you would like to add you article, please send it to . Thank you.

Cloud Hogwash
By Treb Ryan, CEO, OpSource
David's argument that these applications will run like exisiting applications behind the firewall and on servers bought and managed by IT is short sighted. Instead, I think Cloud Infrastructures will evolve with the applications that they serve. And with that evolution, IT will find a way to exert the kind of data control and security necessary to run Enterprise critical applications.

When Will the SaaS Acquisition Games Begin? (A Primer on Cloud Computing Market Segments)
By Bob Warfield, SmoothSpan Blog
The space isn't very far along, and is still very young. And yet there are machinations going on as various players try to position themselves for the coming battles.

Hard to Stay Mad at Google
By Treb Ryan at OpSource
As many who know me, know that I have not been a big fan of Google. I love the desktop search (or I did until I got a Mac with Spotlight) but am not a big fan of their corporate culture.

SaaS Success
By Treb Ryan, OpSource
In the past few years, software as a service (SaaS) has grown from a speck on the horizon to a thriving industry. A significant increase in demand for SaaS has led a large number of companies to enter the market, including start-ups and legacy providers of on-premise software. Our company has worked with dozens of these new market entrants, and we've noticed some commonalities among the companies that have thrived.

Open Source vs. SaaS
By Treb Ryan, OpSource
Let me be the last to post about "Open Source vs. SaaS". Two excellent posts have been put up recently (O.K. not so recently.) Anshu Sharma's and Dave Rosenberg's. Both are very well written, and I agree with Anshu's arguments. That said, they both are essentially missing one essential point: all applications will be Web applications.

SaaS - The Evolution is Now
By Lonnie Wills, Astadia
A new twist or an old paradigm renamed... Software as a Service, once known as Application Service Providers or ASP's has revolutionized distributed computing.

Integration - The SaaS Industry's Achilles Heel
By Bob Moul, Boomi
As the SaaS industry matures, we are essentially solving many classic IT issues all over again - security, performance, customization, reporting, analytics/intelligence, and of course the age old challenge of integration. I'd like to offer my thoughts in three areas for your consideration as you think about your approach to this critical issue.

Web Services - Terminal Services
By Treb Ryan, OpSource
When we first started getting into SaaS back in 2004, there were a lot of companies still looking for shortcuts into the space. Virtualization and terminal services were seen as a way to take your current app and "viola", turn it in to a SaaS offering.

The SaaS Channel Opportunity
eWeek Channel Insider
The line of demarcation between managed services and software as a service is blurring, as organizations of all sizes seek better ways of deploying and managing hardware and software. One of the biggest questions regarding the SAAS market is whether there is a viable channel opportunity for solution providers that have made a living customizing, deploying and maintaining legacy applications.

Is SaaS the quick way to open source revenue?
ZDNet - USA
SaaS hosts like OpSource are looking for the same partnership with an open source vendor as they would with a proprietary one. They can support your sales effort, get you started in new accounts with just a few seats, and bring you new business models.

SaaS and High Availability
Bit of a buzz in July about how NetSuite was IPOing even thought it didn't have a back-up datacenter. This came as a surprise to many in the press, analyst and investor world, but it shouldn't have.
Blog by Treb Ryan

On-Demand Software to Grow 21 Percent
Hosted software services provided on-demand will grow 21 percent to $5bn (£2.5bn) next year, according to analyst Gartner. Sales of Software as a Service (SaaS) in the enterprise market will continue to grow to $11.5bn (£5.7bn) by 2011.
Source: Gartner Research

Finding SaaS Success at the Enterprise Level
Most Software as a Service (SaaS) application vendors have traditionally concentrated on the small and medium-sized business (SMB) sector. As a result, many SaaS platforms lack some important capabilities needed to successfully deliver core business applications to large enterprises.
Source: ASPnews.com

Web 2.0
Make way for On Demand software, the next wave of technology accessed on the internet that has become the Holy Grail for businesses of all sizes.
Read Treb Ryan's advertorial interview..

Fantasy Football and Web Applications
I think the biggest mistake people make when looking at Web Applications and SaaS is thinking that's about just moving users over from siloed enterprise applications. This just scratches the surface.
Blog by Treb Ryan

What Do You Mean I Can't 'Click-to-Buy' Your Software?
Not having a "click-to-buy" feature tells your users that they are going to need your help to get going and make their software work. That sounds a lot like bad old Enterprise Software.
Blog by Treb Ryan

Where Will Software Come From?
By Steve Andriole, ASPnews.com
It seems to me that we have a pretty good read on where hardware and services will come from over the next ten years or so, but there are a lot of alternatives and possibilities when it comes to software.

Quietly But Surely, Microsoft Mimics The Salesforce.com Way
By J. Nicholas Hoover, InformationWeek
Microsoft is expanding into the hosted software market--the forte of Salesforce.com and RightNow Technologies--and it's doing so without all the usual fanfare.

Software as a Service Needs Foundation of Strong Security
By Jon Oltsik, CNET News Blog
Just as security slowed down the Web services train, it appears to be putting the old kibosh on SaaS deals.