IT Strategic Consulting Services

The colors of the leaves in New England are changing as Fall arrives. The face of the tech industry is also changing as it undergoes a shift from a product-centric to a services-driven model personified by the rapid growth of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing and Managed Services.

A decade ago, everyone was debating the viability of Application Service Providers (ASPs) and Utility Computing. Today, the debate continues with regards to SaaS and Cloud Computing. Yet, organizations of all sizes across nearly every industry are adopting a widening array of these on-demand solutions to meet their escalating corporate challenges.

THINKstrategies has been predicting and tracking the path of this transformation process since 2001. More importantly, we have been helping our clients better understand the business implications of the migration of the technology industry from a product-centric to a service-driven model, so they can capitalize on the new market opportunities being created.

For instance, we believe the market is entering a new stage in which SaaS solutions aimed at specific industries and business processes are becoming more prevalent. We are also seeing the value of Cloud Computing services shifting from a focus on their pure cost-saving capabilities to a greater emphasis on their value-added functional benefits.

In other words, companies are increasingly enlisting THINKstrategies to help them adopt SaaS and Cloud Computing to gain a competitive advantage.

I have had the privilege to consult with hundreds of buyers and sellers of these new on-demand services to help them achieve their business objectives.

These client engagements have given me unique insights which have become the basis of my ongoing commentaries and presentations. You' find my latest summarized below, or you can go to THINKstrategies' website to find a full listing.

You can also click here to listen and watch many of my recent presentations, or view the online industry overview presentations produced by Brainshark, an easy-to-use, online authoring and distribution tool.

You can also find my upcoming speaking engagements listed below.

THINKstrategies' SaaS Showplace and Managed Services Showplace sites also continue to grow and remain the top-ranked, vendor-indepedent, online directories and best practice resource centers in their respective markets, according to Google.

We continue to add more companies and material to our Showplace sites, and new subscribers to this newsletter with the total now nearly 13,000 IT and business decision-makers, IT solution providers, technology investors, and business and industry press!

I want to thank AppFirst, CDNetworks, OpSource, Neustar Webmetrics Services, and Rackspace for their current support as the latest sponsors of the SaaS Showplace.

We are also continuing to promote the business benefits of cloud computing and SaaS via our Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Award and Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Award programs. You can read more about these programs and our most recent award winners below.

Please contact me if you'd like to learn more about THINKstrategies' consulting, strategic marketing and education services. You can also watch my overview of THINKstrategies' services to hear about the ways we help our clients achieve their business objectives.

Thanks for your continued support!

Jeff Kaplan

Managing Director

THINKstrategies

How Do You Measure the Value of the Cloud?

Today's SaaS and Cloud Computing market leaders have gained success selling the dramatic cost-savings which can be gained from their on-demand services.

The next generation of market leaders will gain prominence by promoting a broader set of business benefits that can be attained from their solutions to help the users innovate and gain a competitive advantage.

Click here to read my recent commentary in Datamation about how SaaS and Cloud Computing are transforming corporate business processes.

Click here to read THINKstrategies' views regarding the business implications of the rapidly evolving value of SaaS and Cloud Computing on Sandhill.com.

You can also see and hear me present my views on the Economics of Cloud Computing in Focus Research Interactive Summit entitled, "Breaking Through Cloud Computing", at noon ET on Tuesday, October 12. Click here for more information or to register for this event.

Contact me if you'd like to discuss how these trends might impact your business, or if you would like to have me present THINKstrategies' perspectives to your management team, staff, customers or partners.

Industry Primers and On-Demand Presentations

In addition to contributing THINKstrategies' perspectives to a growing assortment of online publications and presenting at various industry and corporate events, I've produced a series of online presentations which examine the forces fueling the growth of SaaS, managed services and Cloud Computing. Click here to access our latest online presentations.

THINKstrategies has also published two primers to help CIOs and independent software vendor (ISV) executives better understand the real benefits and challenges associated with SaaS.

The SaaS primer for CIOs helps them better understand these on-demand service alterantives to on-premise applications.
The SaaS Primer for ISVs help these companies better understand these operational requirements. The Primer includes THINKstrategies' fifteen point scorecard which have been developed as a part of our SaaS Readiness Assessment Services program.

Contact me if you'd like to learn more about benefits and pitfalls of SaaS, or would like more information about how you can leverage our consulting and educational services to achieve your business objectives.

THINKstrategies' SaaS and Cloud Computing Award Programs

THINKstrategies continues to recognize SaaS and Cloud Computing companies which are delivering measurable business benefits to their customers.

The Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program has issued over fifty (50) BoSS Awards worldwide, across a wide array of SaaS areas. Click here to find the most recent BoSS Award announcements.

The success of the BoSS Awards has led THINKstrategies to launch a new award program in January to promote the business benefits of the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) segments of the cloud computing market -- the Cloud Computing Business Value (CCBV) Awards.

Click here to read more about the Cloud Computing Business Value Award program or to apply for an award, or click here to read about the BoSS Award nomination process.

Upcoming Events

As mentioned earlier, I will be presenting THINKstrategies' views regarding the Economics of Cloud Computing in Focus Research Interactive Summit entitled, "Breaking Through Cloud Computing", at noon ET on Tuesday, October 12. Click here for more information or to register for this event.

I will also be talking about "Winning Business Strategies with SaaS" at the SoftServe Innovations 2010 Conference on Thursday, October 14 in Bonita Springs, Florida.

I will be giving an annual "Update and Forecast on Cloud Computing" at Babson College's Center of Information Management Studies on Thursday, October 21, 7:30am ET in Wellesley, MA.

I will also be leading a workshop entitled, Coping with SaaS - A Support Perspective, at the Voice of the Customer Conference hosted by the First Wednesday Group, October 25-27, Bolton, MA. You can save $50 on the first registration to the main conference by using the discount courtesy code EW3.

November 9-11, I will be giving a keynote presentation and moderating a panel at SoftLetter's SaaS University in Dedham, MA. Friends of THINKstrategies can save $100 on $795 Early Bird Registration until October 21 by using discount code, THINKSTRATEGIES100.

Contact us if you'd like to learn how you can include THINKstrategies' perspective at your upcoming industry or corporate event.

THINKstrategies' Managed Services & SaaS Readiness Assessment Services

Despite growing customer demand for Managed Services and SaaS, THINKstrategies has found many aspiring providers of these on-demand services are still struggling to win a share of the market because of a variety of operational challenges.

In response, THINKstrategies was the first consulting firm to offer a set of Readiness Assessment Services aimed at helping aspiring SaaS vendors and Managed Service Provider (MSPs) fine-tune their go-to-strategies, service delivery capabilities, and sales processes. We also work with IT/business decision-makers who need help evaluating their SaaS needs and selecting the SaaS suppliers to satisfy their requirements.

These services are based on THINKstrategies' extensive experience in the managed services business.

Click here to learn more about our Readiness Assessment Services, or contact us to explore how THINKstrategies' services can help you achieve your business objectives.

About THINKstrategies

THINKstrategies is a strategic consulting services company formed specifically to address the unprecedented business challenges facing IT managers, solutions providers and investors today as the technology industry shifts from a product-centric to a services-driven orientation.

THINKstrategies' mission is to educate and help organizations capitalize on these trends to achieve their business objectives. We help enterprise decision-makers with their sourcing strategies, IT solutions providers with their marketing strategies, and VCs with their investment strategies.

THINKstrategies is also the founder of the Software-as-a-Service and Managed Services Showplaces, the largest vendor-independent, online directory and information resource centers.

Contact us for more information about our services or Showplace sponsorship opportunities.

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