THINK IT Services

THINKstrategies announced today that PaySimple 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.

PaySimple creates platforms that simplify and empower the lives of small business owners.  The company provides an on-demand, SaaS platform that enables small businesses to bill, collect, and manage their customer payments under one user-friendly system.

Click here to read a customer success story which illustrates the measurable business benefits which PaySimple’s SaaS solution delivers that earned the company THINKstrategies’ latest BoSS Award.

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.

Video recordings of the Cloud Channel Summit sessions, as well as hardcopies of the keynote presentations, are now posted on the Agenda page of the Summit website.  

You can also click here to view a series of thirty-four (34) one-on-one interviews with each of the Summit speakers, produced by DreamSimplicity. 

We are also pleased to have a series of video and written testimonials posted here from a cross-section of speakers, sponsors and attendees who found the Summit valuable. 

I hope you find these videos and presentations interesting.

Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from the Summit attendees, speakers, sponsors and partners, we are planning to host another Cloud Channel Summit in 2012. We are also planning a second conference focused on an important Cloud market segment of particular interest to organizations of all sizes across nearly every industry.

I’ll let you know our 2012 plans soon. Let me know if you’d like to discuss sponsorship and speaking opportunities at these events.

THINKstrategies, Inc. announced today that CloudPointe 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.

CloudPointe is a Cloud middleware company that offers a SaaS-based platform to create secure, embeddable collaborative workspaces to share documents and media files using existing SharePoint, Google Docs, Amazon S3 and other cloud and enterprise storage. CloudPointe offers free and developer accounts that connect to FTP and Google Docs storage.

Click here to read about the measurable business benefits which CloudPointe has delivered to its customers which have earned the company a BoSS Award.

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.

Our first Cloud Channel Summit was a terrific success yesterday. We had 190 attendees, lots of energy and insights about the opportunities and challenges associated with building successful channel relationships and other partnerships in the Cloud.

Bringing together senior executives focused on this common objective created a positive networking environment which produced immediate business opportunities for a number of the attendees who I talked to at the end of the Summit.

This peer-to-peer professional event also gave the attendees a unique opportunity to compare notes and trade perspectives about what is working and what is not when it comes to partnering in the Cloud. The bottom-line was that there is plenty to be learned and gained by trading these industry best practices, and business cards at an event like the Cloud Channel Summit.

Here is some of the coverage generated by the event,

Google Channel Chief To VARs: ‘We Need You’ 

Cloud Blurs The Definition Of A Partner 

Do VARS Really Need to Go Vertical?

6 Tips for Cloud Sales Using Channels

Here are the first testimonials that we’ve collected from the attendee satisfaction survey today,

“Great event! The content and the attendee quality made this a very helpful event. The energy was strong from beginning to end, challenges were tackled as a group and many new relationships were formed. Anyone looking to do business or accelerate their growth in the cloud should make this a must attend event.” David Roth, CEO, AppFirst, Inc.

“Congratulates on an incredible conference! The discussion around the Cloud and Channel was relevant, timely, and sparked clear trends in the industry. We look forward to participating again next year!” Daniel Saks, CEO, AppDirect

We will be posting the slides from the keynote presentations and videos of all of the 11 sessions during the Summit soon.

Based on the success of the Summit, we are planning to do it again in 2012 and exploring another conference idea which we think can generate even greater attention and more attendees. We’ll keep you informed of our plans.

Due to the distractions associated with the planning of the Cloud Channel Summit, I haven’t had time to post my views regarding various industry announcements and trends here as often as I would like. But, I have been writing for other publications about the channel implications of the Cloud movement in anticipation of the Summit. Here are links to those commentaries in case you haven’t seen them already:

ChannelPro Magazine: Finding New Channel Opportunities in the Cloud, 10/26/11 

Channel Tech Network: Channels Ascend From Disintermediation to Cloud Industry Darlings, 10/25/11 

Datamation: Cloud Computing Vendors: New Channel Alliances Are Critical, 10/21/11 

E-Commerce Times: Reinventing Channels in the Cloud, 10/14/11 

Executives from some of the most important companies in the Cloud industry will discuss the changing role of the channel in the Cloud and how Cloud companies should partner for success at the Summit on November 7. Hope you can join us.

The Cloud Channel Summit will be this Monday, November 7 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, hosted by THINKstrategies, the Cloud Computing Showplace and Rising Tide Media. 

Here are the numbers for Monday’s executive forum:

• >175 registered attendees
• 31 speakers
• 19 partners
• 17 sponsors
• 11 sessions
• 9 hours of valuable insights
• 1 full day of practical perspectives and interesting people

Registered attendees for Monday’s Cloud Channel Summit now include business development and channel management executives from Adobe, AT&T, BMC Software, Cisco Systems, Comcast, Hitachi Global Technologies, Intel Corporation, McAfee, Microsoft, Oracle, Pitney-Bowes Software, SAP, Savvis, Symantec, VMware, and Zenith Infotech, among others.  Click here to register now and join them!

The keynote presentations during the Cloud Channel Summit will be:  

• “Making Rain in the Channel: New Opportunities in Cloud Computing” presented by Stephen Cho, director of channels and business development at Google Enterprise.
• “5 Steps to Building a Successful Channel Program in the Cloud” presented by Ron Huddleston, senior vice president of ISV alliances at Salesforce.com.
• “The Cloud Era of Channel Success: Is Your Organization Partner-Ready?” presented by Rick Nucci, CTO, and Diane Ruth, executive director of business development, at Dell Boomi.
• “Channel Opportunities to Build Your Own Cloud Solutions”, Amy Anderson, Cloud Computing Partner Program-ISV and Developer Relations at IBM

In addition, the Cloud Channel Summit will include more than 25 Cloud industry leaders who will participate in a series of executive roundtable panel sessions, focused on the following topics:

• “Real-World Cloud Success Stories”
•  ”Building Effective Cloud Channels: What’s Working and What’s Not?”
•  ”Selling and Supporting Cloud Services Together”
•  ”Leveraging Cloud Alternatives to Meet Unique Customer Needs”
•  ”Using a Cloud Ecosystem to Create New Customer Value”
•  ”New Market Opportunities for Cloud Channels

The panelists include senior executives from Amazon Web Services, Agilis Solutions, AppFirst, AppDirect, Aryaka Networks, Avnet Technologies, Birst, CloudLock, Corent Technologies, Geminare, GoodData, Informatica, OpSource, Progress Software, RightScale, rPath, Safenet, Scribe Software, SoftServe, Stone Cobra, SugarCRM and Virtela, as well as CompTIA and the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA). 

The Summit is also being supported by an ecosystem of leading industry organizations dedicated to building strong channels and promoting the Cloud, including publications such as ChannelPro, Channel Tech Network, Cloudbook, Sandhill.com, Datamation, E-Commerce Times and Softletter; conference groups including Under the Radar, the World Research Group and Keynote World Media; industry associations such as the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), CompTIA, and the ASCII Group; and other companies, such as DreamSimplicity, a virtual community and marketplace directory for business applications and the industry professionals that deliver them, and Mikael Blaisdell & Associates, Inc. (MBAI), which assists a wide spectrum of clients to increase their customer retention rates and enhance per-customer profitability.

Online registration discounts end today, so click here to register now. Full-price conference registration will also be available Monday at the Computer History Museum.

Stay tuned for more information about the event via Twitter #cloudchannel11.