SAN MATEO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–newScale^® Inc., pioneers of the self-service IT storefront for the enterprise, today announced that newScale 9, the latest version of the company’s market-leading FrontOffice^™ Suite, has been named the Gold Winner in the “Private Cloud Computing” category of the Best of VMworld 2010 awards. Announced today, the Best of VMworld 2010 awards winners are selected by an independent team of experts and editors from TechTarget’s SearchServerVirtualization.com based on innovation, value, performance, reliability and ease of use.

As noted on SearchServerVirtualization.com, the judges for the VMworld 2010 Award cited newScale because it “brings the iPhone experience to the enterprise.” The judges selected newScale for its innovative “app store for the enterprise,” highlighting the software’s “user-friendly interface that lets you order, receive and deploy applications in your private cloud infrastructure.”

All products considered for a Best of VMworld 2010 Award are from companies exhibiting at the VMworld 2010 conference, held in San Francisco this week. SearchServerVirtualization.com received over 200 nominees for the nine categories in the contest, which is in its fourth year. The “Private Cloud Computing” category was new this year and recognizes on-premise cloud products.

“We are honored to be selected as the first Gold winner in this important new category for the Best of VMworld awards,” said Scott Hammond, newScale president and CEO. “This award is great recognition of newScale’s innovation and success with customers deploying private or hybrid clouds. Cloud computing for the enterprise requires a simple e-commerce ‘shopping’ experience for the IT consumer, together with the policy-based controls, governance, lifecycle management, and orchestration we provide. We look forward to helping drive the market for enterprise cloud computing.”

While newScale earned the Gold award in the Best of VMworld 2010 Private Cloud Computing category, rPath’s rBuilder was selected as the finalist. In separate news last week, newScale and rPath announced their collaboration together with Eucalyptus Systems and MomentumSI to deliver an integrated technology platform – providing an on-ramp to private and hybrid cloud computing in the enterprise.

Earlier this week, newScale announced that newScale supports the new VMware vCloud™ Director software for building and operating secure clouds. Enterprises and service providers can complement the power of VMware vCloud Director with newScale’s consumer-like e-commerce IT storefront, policy-based governance, and lifecycle orchestration for all data center services, including storage, network, security, and applications.

The newScale FrontOffice Suite provides a unified e-commerce IT storefront portal for data center services, managing virtual, cloud and physical environments. With newScale, enterprise IT teams and service providers can define standard offerings, enable self-service, automate the service request workflow, manage the end-to-end service lifecycle, and track IT costs. Users have easy, yet controlled, access to the IT resources they need on-demand – instead of waiting days or weeks. A free trial is available at: www.newscale.com/rcdtrial.

About newScale, Inc.

newScale is the leading provider of self-service, service catalog, and lifecycle management software for enterprise IT and private/hybrid cloud computing. With more than two million users worldwide, newScale helps IT organizations and service providers offer a self-service storefront for both desktop and data center services-across physical, virtual and cloud environments. newScale customers – including 20 percent of the Fortune 50 – benefit from greater IT agility, increased user satisfaction, and tens of millions of dollars in savings. For more information, visit www.newscale.com.

About SearchServerVirtualization.com

SearchServer Virtualization is an enterprise virtualization-focused website providing IT professionals and the community with the latest server virtualizations news, articles, tips and expert advice. Other virtualization information includes webcasts and industry white papers covering all areas of server virtualization, such as virtualization platforms, server hardware, managing virtual environments, virtualization architecture and strategies, application issues, and more. Its sister site SearchVMware.com is dedicated to helping IT organizations evaluate products, services and business strategies that can lead them to successfully implementations of virtualization technologies in VMware environments. And sister site SearchVirtualDesktop.com is the premier source for information on desktop virtualization application virtualization, and virtual desktop infrastructure.

Editor’s Note: All newScale brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of newScale Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: BusinessWire

(Reuters) -With sales of web-based business software soaring, companies that focus on cloud computing are slipping into a sweet spot as technology giants look to bolster their presence in this fast-growing segment.

Cloud computing, or software as a service, allows businesses to cut back on hardware and space by having their software hosted in remote datacenters they access over the Web.

Deep-pocketed technology firms like IBM (IBM.N) or Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) might be looking to snag deals in this area to complement their own traditional, mostly on-premise services.

Human resource management software makers SuccessFactors Inc (SFSF.O) and Taleo Corp (TLEO.O) and retail-focused software firm DemandTec Inc (DMAN.O) could be the early targets, according to analysts.

“The themes of cloud computing and software as service (SaaS) are so real, and it’s still so early, that I think there should be lot of activity,” said Raymond James analyst Terry Tillman.

Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Sasa Zorovic believes companies like NetSuite Inc (N.N), Rightnow Inc (RNOW.O), Kenexa Corp (KNXA.O) and Constant Contact (CTCT.O) could all be attractive takeover targets.

Most big players delayed entering the cloud space and now want the scalable platforms provided by these SaaS companies to build efficient applications.

“With the growth of software as a service, companies have an increasing need to integrate data and business processes across on-premise and cloud systems,” IBM said in a recent statement.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software provider Salesforce.com Inc (CRM.N), which helped pioneer software as a service and is one of the fastest-growing software stocks, might also be considered as a takeout target. However, its size and rich valuation might not make for an easily digestible deal.

Since these companies deliver their software products over the Internet, it saves clients the cost of buying licenses in advance and running programs on their own computers.

The adoption of software as a service is expected to far outpace market growth through 2013, a Gartner report shows.

Currently, Salesforce.com accounts for about half of overall web-based CRM software sales, according to the report.

NICHE SELLS

However, firms with niche products like SuccessFactors and Taleo are also seeing explosive growth, as smaller companies queue up to vie for a share of the pie.

“SuccessFactors is adding a lot of potential total addressable market to the mix with all the stuff they are getting into,” said Tillman.

The company, which makes software that helps firms manage staff performance, posted a 37 percent jump in 2009 revenue. Revenue for 2010 is expected to grow 18 percent to 19 percent.

The company trades at a whopping multiple of 1,138 times forward earnings — 25 times the sector average. Its shares have risen more than two and a half times in the last one year.

In contrast, Oracle trades at 14 times forward earnings and SAP at 17.

DemanTec, another possible target, provides pricing and merchandise optimization for retailers. Its largest customer is Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N).

“For DemandTec, it was initially about fitting large global retailers like Target Corp (TGT.N) or Walmart to buy the best buy, but then they started selling software to their suppliers,” Tillman said.

The company’s products manage the same stores sales environment and help improve gross margins, he said, which could make it a valuable addition to large systems integrators that these retailers rely on, or even large enterprise companies.

Shares of the company have, however, dropped about 40 percent in the last one year.

RECENT CONSOLIDATION

The software sector has recently seen a flurry of activity with SAP AG’s (SAPG.DE) offer to buy Sybase Inc (SY.N) and IBM’s move to acquire AT&T Inc’s (T.N) business-to-business software unit.

Analysts believe these buyouts could accelerate the pace of consolidation in the tech industry in the next 12 months to 18 months.

“Just the fact that a large application vendor like SAP could become more aggressive increases the urgency of what other players like Oracle, IBM, Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ.N) or Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) feel about M&A,” said Tom Roderick, analyst at Thomas Weisel.

Roderick’s pick in the SaaS space is Salesforce.com, but he said the company did not look like an immediate target.

“It is the property that has the most strategic value. It is the market leader in SaaS by a long shot and CRM technology is certainly one, if not the hottest, application sectors in the marketplace right now,” he said.

The company’s revenue grew 21 percent in fiscal 2010, compared with fiscal 2009 and is expected to grow 18 percent to 19 percent in fiscal 2011 to between $1.55 billion and $1.56 billion.

The company trades at 75 times forward earnings and its shares have more than doubled in value in the last 12 months.

BMC Software is planning to offer more versions of its software in the SaaS (software as a service) model in the next 12 months, as it is seeing growing customer demand for these services, an executive of the company said on Friday.

In January, BMC said that its Remedy IT Service Management (ITSM) Suite would be available to customers in a SaaS form. The company also tied up in November last year with enterprise cloud computing company, Salesforce.com to host and offer BMC Service Desk Express, a service desk application. Salesforce.com is offering the software from its Force.com cloud computing platform.

Some of the new SaaS services will be offered through Salesforce.com, while others will be offered directly by the company, said Paul Avenant , senior vice president of products and strategy for Enterprise Service Management at BMC.

The tie-up with Salesforce.com has given BMC access to a larger number of new customers, Avenant said.

Avenant did not disclose which other products would be offered by the company on a SaaS model.

A sub-set of new customers and its current customer base want to buy their software in a SaaS model, and BMC wants to be ready for this opportunity, he said.

A number of BMC’s service-provider partners already deliver SaaS services around its software, Avenant said. While some of them will continue to offer their services, others have decided to resell BMC’s own SaaS offerings and wrap other services around these offerings, he added.

BMC also sees a business opportunity from telecommunications service providers who are moving fast to offer SaaS services to increase their revenues. “They are trying to set up a new business to drive new revenue, and they are trying to get there first”, Avenant said.

Source: www.pcworld.com

Zendesk, a SaaS help desk solution, has reached a milestone: the company now has more than 5,000 customers using its platform. Launched in 2008, Zendesk offers a web-based, SaaS-delivered help desk / support ticketing solution that gives companies a simple, cost-effective way to manage incoming support requests from end customers.

Over the past two years, the startup has managed to gain an impressive client list, including Groupon, Twitter, Yammer, Sony Music, TriptIt, Lonely Planet, Foursquare and MSNBC. And Zendesk is adding around 20 new customers per day, says CEO Mikkel Svane. In total, Zendesk’s customers have dealt with over 10 million end users.

Zendesk is also rolling out new and improved community support and knowledge base features that will make it easier for users to create online communities where their customers can chime in with feedback, suggestions, and helpful information about the company or product. Zendesk’s price ranges from $9 to $59 per support agent per month, after a one-month free trial.

The company just raised $6 million in series B funding from Benchmark Capital and Charles River Ventures.

Source

The article below looks at several aspects that should be considered when doing a cloud or SaaS software or services evaluation. These principles are best practices and are part of the overall selection methodology.

Analyst Insight:

SaaS and new enterprise software offerings have created a new dynamic for enterprise software selection as opposed to traditional software selection. The cloud evaluation process for software and services must consist of different and a more focused approach including such factors as; importance of methodology, model differentiation, industry specific expertise and total cost of ownership.

Importance of a methodology

A key technique to reduce risk, achieve roi, reduce risk of implementation failure and aligning business needs with organizational requirements is to have a software selection methodology in place. All of these benefits can be realized by how effective your evaluation was, if not executed properly spells disaster. A method that provides consistent results enables you to assess differentiation between vendors early in the evaluation process.

Model Differentiation

SaaS has spawned several new models of software billing. It is imperative that organizations know the different types of models they are evaluating and the nuances they contain. Organizations must realize the difference between SaaS, hybrid, hosted and in-house and any combinations thereof. The main differentiators are data, who owns it, how it is administered, stored and security of private, public, semi-private clouds and understanding the implementation implications that each factors will cause.

Industry Specific Expertise

Now more than ever this has become more important to organizations for cloud evaluation. Strategic size, fit, vertical industry expertise and similarities to existing clients should become areas of focus within the selection. Vendor specific infrastructure, architecture and support will help predict reliability if they will offer a good cloud product. Look for software that can adapt to changing business models rapidly and the vendor’s past history in delivery of the solution.

Total Cost of Ownership

To compare an in-house application to a SaaS model requires measurable metrics that can be ascertained from the system. Issues such as variables of time for the solution, current licenses, future licensing costs, data administration, storage costs, network management, integration costs to existing systems, support costs per year and consequent years and sometimes buyback should be heavily scrutinized.

The Outlook

These four areas have changed the way software is purchased and sold. Once too costly applications were a barrier of entry for smaller companies to compete, now SaaS can assist in profitability and enable rapid growth. The differences between an in-house and SaaS evaluations are subtle but yet enough to disrupt your business if the incorrect selection is made – so pay close attention.

Eval-Source has recently released a cloud evaluation and benchmarking processes using our Tru-Eval and Tru-Benchmark methods. As experts in software evaluation we are truly geared to help your organization find the right fit for your organization. Feel free to give us a call if you are doing any type of software evaluation or even to augment an on-premises system with cloud software or services.

Source

Uncapped broadband is a first step into the clouds – Frost & Sullivan

Last week Mweb announced that it will be offering uncapped broadband packages in South Africa. The very next day, Vox Telecom’s subsidiary @lantic.net responded by undercutting Mweb’s offering with one of its own. Frost & Sullivan welcomes these initiatives as a sign that the competitive landscape in the local broadband market is undergoing rapid transformation, opening up a range of new opportunities for businesses.

“Competitive pricing, enhanced service offerings and value added services will start to increase competition, which is what South Africa requires in reaching international standards,” notes Frost & Sullivan ICT analyst Craig Johnston. “This creates the opportunity for South Africa to become a stronger player in the international market.”

The speed of the uncapped broadband will not immediately increase. The current South African speeds that are offered are 384 Kbps, 512 Kbps and 4 Mbps. However, Frost & Sullivan predicts that once there is sufficient demand for uncapped broadband, the speed and quality of the broadband will start to improve considerably.

“Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa will benefit, as uncapped broadband provides expansion opportunities through access to unlimited information, applications and the ability to explore alternative forms of data storage,” Johnston says. “In particular, it provides a platform for smaller enterprises to make use of cloud computing for storage and archiving.”

Cloud computing is an internet-based model that requires access to fast, reliable and affordable broadband in order to achieve its maximum functions. Uncapped broadband is needed for cloud computing to work as SMEs that would like to store information on the cloud need to transfer large amounts of data. The speed of the broadband is also an important, as enterprises do not want to take days or even weeks to transfer terabytes of information due to a slow connection.

Cloud computing provides numerous benefits, including cost savings as enterprises only pay for what they use. This is enormously beneficial as they will not have to monitor, maintain and control personal information, but instead hand information over to a reliable third-party that provides a guaranteed service.

“Cloud computing affords enterprises the opportunity of flexibility in decision making,” Johnston adds. “This is achieved through customers being able to decide what information they would like to store and use on the cloud, and which information they would prefer to keep in-house due to certain requirements.”

Ubiquity is a feature of the cloud that allows enterprises and clients to have access to data and files at any time and at any location, provided there is access to an internet connection. The days of not having a document for an important meeting are over, as the cloud provides the opportunity to gain access to documents via the internet.  Source

Google launched an application marketplace today comprised of services from third-party providers that integrate with the Google Apps ecosystem.

The news has been anticipated for some time. In particular, it shows how much Google is embracing open-standards and leveraging its search and Google Apps platform to attract third-party developers.

The growing popularity of applications such as Software as a Service (SaaS) will support greater growth in the financial technology industry during 2010, a new report has claimed.
A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that vendors working within the financial technology sector can expect to benefit from greater levels of compliance, regulation and increased demand for risk management solutions.

Organisations will expand their IT systems during the year as part of a wider plan to improve efficiency across their businesses, the report forecast.

Andy Morgan, PwC partner, said: “Carve-outs from financial institutions and smaller infill deals are expected to prevail within the FinTech sector over the next 12 months but Merger & Acquisition (M&A) activity will require creativity in terms of deal structures to achieve results.

“The real hotspot in the world of applications is software-as-a-service (SaaS) as organisations see the benefits of moving large-scale software expenses from their capital budget to their operating budget, which will certainly drive increased M&A activity.”

Further findings from the report suggested that heads of businesses now view the “digital transformation” of their organisation to be a priority.

Previous research from PwC showed that the number of deals in the global financial technology marketplace fell by more 60 per cent during 2009 when compared with figures from last year.

Full Source

Commentary – Ten years ago, corporate finance departments’ quest to identify solutions that could automate and streamline operations – and maximize cash flow – was an expensive and arduous one. Not only did finance managers need to navigate the overwhelming array of then-unproven solution options, they also needed to overcome growing resistance from internal IT departments that were intent on standardizing on a single ERP vendor.

On the one hand, who could blame IT for being reluctant to adopt best-of-breed software? The typical enterprise software installation involved lengthy rollouts of 18 to 24-months, cost millions of dollars in hardware and required countless hours of IT resources to deploy and maintain onsite. So, limiting deployment of non-ERP systems seems a logical way to standardize and limit burdens on already scarce IT resources.

Unfortunately, as increasingly frustrated finance directors learned first-hand, IT’s unwavering stance on system consolidation often failed to support the needs and business objectives of finance or any other functional department. As a result, finance’s productivity and performance was often hindered – not helped – by the company’s overarching IT strategy.

Software as a Service (SaaS) has changed all this. By delivering application functionality as a globally accessible, web-based service, SaaS – or On Demand – has bridged the gap between business and IT – enabling finance directors and other business line executives to access the functionality required to meet and exceed their goals while still toeing the line on corporate IT strategy.

Full Source

When we think about software-as-a-service (SaaS), we tend to envision large-scale services such as Salesforce.com. After all, the conventional wisdom is that for providers to make money, they need scale. But much of that conventional wisdom will be turned on its head in 2010.

More targeted SaaS application environments will evolve with the availability of ready-made platforms such as Force.com from Salesforce.com, Azure from Microsoft and SaaSGrid from Apprenda.
The least known of the three, but perhaps with the most impact, is Apprenda, which not only provides a platform for hosting the applications but also the software to manage a SaaS business. That means lots of potential vendors that previously lacked the capital to set up a SaaS business could leverage Apprenda. And more importantly, company CEO Sinclair Schuller says he expects his service to especially appeal to startup software companies that want to target vertical industries. The result of all this expansion should be a much richer SaaS ecosystem.

Read Full Source