THINK IT Services

THINKstrategies announced today that Bronto Software has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards is an ongoing program of THINKstrategies’ new Cloud Computing Showplace which recognizes SaaS companies that are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits can include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations and greater profitability.

Bronto Software is a SaaS-based email marketing service provider based in Durham, North Carolina, which offers an email marketing platform which includes detailed analytics and a robust feature set to enable online retailers to drive greater transactions online.

Click here to read more about the measurable business benefits which Bronto Software’s customers have achieved which earned the company the latest BoSS Award.

Click here to learn more about the BoSS Award program and to apply for an Award.

Based on the success of the BoSS Awards program which focuses on SaaS solutions, THINKstrategies has launched the Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards program to recognize companies which are delivering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions producing measurable business benefits for their customers. For more information regarding the CCBV Awards, see http://www.cloudshowplace.com/awardprograms/ccbv.php.

Verizon’s acquisition of Terremark, announced last night, clearly indicates that the company is committed to becoming a major player in the rapidly evolving and expanding Cloud Computing marketplace. It will also trigger a new round of similar acquisitions in the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) segment of the Cloud Computing arena.

Verizon’s decision to acquire Terremark was a “classic make/buy” choice, according to the company’s executives during their telebriefing this morning. The acquisition accelerates Verizon’s move to the Cloud by leveraging Terremark’s proven capabilities. Terremark offers enterprise-class IaaS solutions which fit well into Verizon’s portfolio and target market. Terremark also has excess hosting capacity in its Miami and Culpepper facilities, and now has the additional financial resources and channels to market to fuel more rapid growth.

Verizon will allow Terremark to retain its brand and independent operations. In fact, Verizon executives suggested that they may move many of its own data centers under to the Terremark team over time to accelerate their conversion into more efficient Cloud environments.

You can bet that boardrooms throughout the telco and other segments of the tech industry are abuzz this morning with more urgent discussions about how they should cement their positions in the Cloud Computing marketplace to respond to Verizon’s move. And, I’m sure the phones at Rackspace, Opsource, Savvis, Joyent and other prominent IaaS players are also ringing with calls from M&A folks representing AT&T, IBM, HP, Dell, etc. seeking to keep pace with the intensifying activity in the IaaS market.

THINKstrategies  announced today that myGengo has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

Pureprofile is an online marketing services company which has seen an increase in monthly registrations from 8,000 to over 50,000, with 90% of these registrations coming from non-English speaking countries since launch the myGengo service in July, 2010. The myGengo translation service helped Pureprofile translate the text on its site and achieve the international penetration of its online marketing service. In the six months since launching its new site using myGengo in July 2010, Pureprofile has generated over 300,000 new registrations worldwide. Pureprofile’s new multi-lingual capabilities has also enabled the company to compete for international projects ten times the size that it previously pursued.
 

“We are very pleased to receive this industry recognition from THINKstrategies’ SaaS Showplace which is shared by so many other great companies,” said Ray Solnik, U.S. General Manager of myGengo. “myGengo is leading the way for the future of the language services industry.  The company makes human translation services available through a web standards application programming interface (API) and makes translation available ondemand at a very affordable cost due to the company’s crowdsourcing business model and technology platform.”

“Globalization has made it imperative for companies to localize their solutions to satisfy the multinational needs of their target customers,” stated Jeffrey M. Kaplan, the founder of the SaaS Showplace which now a part of the new Cloud Computing Showplace and Managing Director of THINKstrategies, the strategic consulting firm which conceived and administers the Showplace. “myGengo’s SaaS-based human translation services is cost-effectively addressing this escalating requirement.”

For more information about the rules for applying for a BoSS Award or to find a list of previous winners of the BoSS Awards, go to http://www.cloudshowplace.com/awardprograms/boss.html.

Based on the success of the BoSS Awards program which focuses on SaaS solutions, THINKstrategies has launched the Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards program to recognize companies which are delivering Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions producing measurable business benefits for their customers. For more information regarding the CCBV Awards, see http://www.cloudshowplace.com/awardprograms/ccbv.php .

THINKstrategies unveiled today a new Cloud Computing Showplace containing an online directory of over 1600 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) providers, and a best practice resource center with the latest information and insight regarding the rapidly evolving Cloud Computing industry.

The Cloud Computing Showplace represents the merging of two previous online directories and best practice resource centers created by THINKstrategies in 2006 — the SaaS and Managed Services Showplaces. The new Cloud Computing Showplace builds on the original mission of the previous Showplace sites and expands their scope.

The purpose of the Cloud Computing Showplace is to help:

• IT/business decision-makers find the right Cloud Computing solutions to meet their changing corporate requirements;
• Cloud Computing solution providers promote their offerings and succeed in this highly competitive marketplace;
• Others better understand the realities of the rapidly evolving Cloud Computing industry.

“Information and Insight Without the Clutter”

Like the previous SaaS and Managed Services Showplace sites, the new Cloud Computing Showplace has been designed to be easy to navigate so users can find the right information to meet their needs.

The new Cloud Computing Showplace includes the largest number of Cloud Computing solutions in a single online directory, divided into over ninety (90) Service, Industry and Enabling Technology categories across three primary areas — SaaS Showplace, PaaS Showplace and IaaS Showplace, including Managed Services. 

The Showplace also now includes a real-time count of the total number of provider listings in the online directory, along with a list of the ten companies which most recently added their names and corporate information to the online directory clearly identified on the Showplace homepage.

The Showplace also continues to offer a direct link to an online marketplace of SaaS applications aimed at businesses of all sizes, powered by Renovatix Solutions. The Showplace also continues to provide links to a continuously growing array of whitepapers, primers and research, podcasts, webinars, industry events and perspectives.

The new Cloud Computing Showplace will also continue to promote THINKstrategies’ ongoing Awards programs that recognize SaaS and other Cloud Computing solutions which deliver measurable business benefits — the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards and Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards.  

IT and business decision-makers within organizations which need help assessing their needs or evaluating Cloud Computing providers can contact THINKstrategies at info@thinkstrategies.com.

Cloud Computing providers seeking to increase their visibility in the market can learn about Showplace sponsorship opportunities at http://cloudshowplace.com/sponsorshipopportunities.html or contact THINKstrategies at info@thinkstrategies.com.

The redesign and deployment of the Cloud Computing Showplace was performed by Trigent, Inc.

I’ve published two commentaries recently in leading industry publications which describe how the next wave of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions will target ineffecient business processes.

The first was in Sandhill.com discussing how the line of demarcation between software, business and information services is blurring.

The second was in E-Commerce Times examining how Cloud services are going vertical to address industry-specific requirements.

I hope you find these perspectives helpful and worthwhile.

There is no question that cloud computing was the top enterprise tech topic in 2010. Microsoft even succeeded in popularizing the term in its “Into the Cloud” ad campaign at the end of the year. Yet, most of the discussion and debate surrounding cloud computing in 2010 was focused on defining the term and its potential value.

Fortunately this debate didn’t prevent a diverse set of early adopters from capitalizing on the rapidly expanding assortment of cloud computing solutions being offered by a potpourri of emerging and established players. The growing number of cloud users are producing a compelling set of customer success stories and clear ‘use cases’ for employing cloud computing alternatives to legacy systems and on-premise applications.

THINKstrategies has been chronicling many of these success stories in our ongoing Awards programs — the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) and Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards. These awards were created to bring attention to the measurable business benefits being delivered by today’s SaaS and cloud computing solutions.

While there is still some lingering debate about how cloud computing should be defined and why it is worth considering, the growing number of success stories which THINKstrategies and others have highlighted clearly proves that IT and business decision-makers should be focusing their attention in 2011 on where and how to best employ today’s best cloud computing solutions to fully leverage its functional and financial benefits.

There are still plenty of risks associated with cloud computing, as there are with any technology or third-party service. But, the business benefits are quickly outpacing the real pitfalls.

Cloud computing is not only helping organizations save money and be more agile, these ’on-demand’ solutions are also enabling organization to better support their employees, serve their customers and gain a competitive advantage.

As a result, adopting cloud computing alternatives is no longer an option…it is now an imperative.

In 2011, this new reality should impel every corporate decision-maker to carefully reassess their immediate and long-term requirements IT and business needs in light of the rapidly evolving cloud computing alternatives. They should evaluate how these SaaS and Cloud alternatives can address existing issues, and be employed to pursue new business opportunities.