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About that Second “S” in SaaS – Awesome Service

pressharbor ”There is an app for that” – say the Apple commercials.  “There is a plugin for that” – was my conclusion, while lookin for the rigth tools to move the Enterprise Irregulars blog to WordPress a few months ago.  Seriously.  The WordPress ecosystem is simply amazing, things that a few years ago required messing with code are now a click away: – modern themes are no longer just pretty layouts, but perform quite a bit of processing, and whatever they don’t have – well, there is a plugin for that.:-)

Such is the power of Open Source and a thriving ecosystem. But all this openness and richness of choice comes with a price: it takes a lot of digging, testing, and even more luck to find the right ones that actually deliver what they claim without messing up your theme and other plugins.  And even if you find the right ones, they all come out with new releases from time to time, and every single update, be it WordPress itself, the theme, the plugins is a hidden trap. Things can stop mysteriously overnight – as they did over @ Enterprise Irregulars a week ago, when I was alerted that our feed was all blank. The EI blog is based on the powerful but rather complex Hybrid News Theme with 21 active plugins which work in concert to aggregate the writing of 40+ authors.  And sometimes one little wheel gets stuck – what happens next is what separates good hosts from poor ones.  Or should I say, separates simple hosts from service providers. Service, as the second S in SaaS. 🙂

Normally the choice is simple: you either use WordPress.com – free, powerful, great platform, with preset choices for themes, widgets..etc – or opt for self-hosting in the Open World – with all the power to install whatever you want, but also out in the wild alone in a complex world.  (Geez, where did I hear that last… ahh, the great  iPhone vs. Android debate, perhaps? 🙂 )   Now, back to hosts: I’ve been blessed with a smaller, but amazingly good host providing extraordinary, personalized service for five years now. Owner and jack-of-all-trades John Keegan helped my with the old (dying) Blogware platform, then through the migration of my personal blog to WordPress, and ever since – so moving EI to Pressharbor was a no-brainer.

So last Sunday (yes, a SUNDAY) I turned to John again… he dug into the problem, and soon found that a rogue plugin attached custom enclosure fields to some posts, with garbled content that Feedburner choked on, wiping out our RSS feed. John then got on Skype and held my hand step by step removing the erroneous fields, until the feed got cleared up.  Sounds easy enough… in hindsight.   It would have taken me hours / days of research and frustration to restore the lost functionality.   It’s not the first time and likely not the last I received support way beyond what can be expected of a regular web hosting company.  Help with security, performance, database tuning should be standard (is it?)  but detailed plugin-level help?  No way.  How about WordPress upgrades?  I don’t even  know what they are.  In fact I got upgraded to WP 3.0 while writing this post. Not amongst the first .. only after thorough testing did  Pressharbor upgrade all of us, centrally.  I’m lucky enough to have the best of both world – the power of Open Source and great, personalized support.  A big, capital S – the second S in Software as a Service.

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Launch Silicon Valley: 30 Startups Debut Tomorrow

Somewhat late notice, but there’s an exciting startup debut event in Mountain View tomorrow: Launch: Silicon Valley, co-presented by SVASE, Garage Technology Ventures and Microsoft, provides the next generation of emerging technology companies with the opportunity to pitch their products to, and network with, an audience of Silicon Valley’s top VCs, Angels, corporate business development executives, prospective customers and partners, bloggers and media.

The event is in it’s fifth year now (Happy Birthday!) and as usual, will feature 30 startups selected from hundreds of applicants in information technology, mobility, digital media, next generation internet, life sciences and clean energy.


Selected demonstrating companies for Launch: Silicon Valley 2010 include:

Company

Application

Web Site

Appbackr

App marketplace

www.appbackr.com

BCCThis

Sticky notes for email

www.bccthis.com

BioVantage Water reclamation www.biovantageresources.com
Breakthrough On line mental health counceling www.breakthrough.com

Jungle Cents

Auction

www.junglecents.com

Convergence CT

Healthcare data

www.@convergencect.com

Digital Sun

Water Management

www.digitalsun.com

Electradrive

Electric Drivetrain

www.electradrive.net

Evolver

3D characters

www.darwindimensions.com

GreenPlatform

Data center storage

www.greenplatformcorp.com

Highflex

Flexible photovoltaics

www.highflexsolar.com

jMango

build once, deploy all, app platform

www.jmango.net

Laster

Augmented reality glasses

www.laster.fr

Linqto Many to many collaberation www.linqto.com
Micello Indoor maps www.micello.com
NMBI Painless Injections
Optic Lanes Active traffic management www.opticlanes.com

Pilus Energy

bacteria energy cell

www.pilusenergy.com

RiverMuse

It management platform

www.rivermuse.com

ScanAvert

Food ingredient detection

www.scanavert.com

SDK BioTech

Cell platform

SocialAmp

see what friends are buying

www.socialamp.com

STI-Medical

medical imaging

www.sti-hawaii.com

Taggstr

Location tagging – Make your Mark

www.taggstr.com

TenCube

cell phone security

www.tencube.com

TrueDomain

Anti Phishing

www.truedomain.net

Vizibility

Presearch

www.vizibility.com

Youi Labs

Reduced cost phones

www.youilabs.com

Zikon

Electronic Ink

www.zikon.com


The event starts tomorrow morning at Microsoft’s Mountain View campus.  Here’s the Agenda and registration link.

There’s a pre-event party in Palo Alto tonight at 6pm – you’ll get details upon registration.

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Best Buy Smarter than the Apple Store

apple storeThere is an App for that” – is the mantra nowadays, and I really hoped for one,  to solve the major task of telling me where I can buy an iPad.  Anywhere, in any physical store along my long drive from San Francisco to Pleasanton. In the real-time, always-on age it should not be a big deal.  But it is.

Of the two potential sources Best Buy fares better: at least they have an online inventory locator, which tells you none of the stores have it 🙁

Apple stores (the best retail experience in any industry)?  Fuhhgedaboudit.  You can order online and wait two weeks for delivery, find retail stores, even make personal shopping appointments, but the online system can’t tell you availability in the individual stores.  But the Apple site certainly looks better than Best Buys.  Design without content. 🙁

So I am back to the Stone Age method: calling stores one by one.  At least my smartphone helps with that: Google Maps pulls up the stores in the area, and I can touch to call them one by one.   All Apple stores answer with this message:

Thank you for calling the Apple Store in …..  The magical and revolutionary iPad is now available…

Except it’s not. Available.  You have to get to a live salesperson, store by store, to get that information. The welcome message is a cheery lie.   Once again, Best Buy fares better:  the welcome message apologizes that they did not receive new shipments, and all their stores are out of iPad inventory.

So that leaves me with one choice: ordering the iPad online. Which I did.  And don’t get me started on how many things went wrong during the order process…

I know, I deserve it.  After all on the long ride from Google I/O @ Moscone to Pleasanton I had two gorgeous smartphones next to me, on the passenger seat.  Both Android. 🙂

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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NetSuite vs SAP … Round #n. A Game Changer?

elephant-flea In my recent Suites post I said there were exactly 1.5 (one and a half) integrated full business solutions (SaaS Suite, SaaS All-In-One, SaaS ERP, SaaS SMB ERP – take your pick or  create a new one) offered as a service.   The one in that equation was NetSuite, and the half is SAP’s Business ByDesign.

The half is getting close to becoming full, bringing the total number of solutions to two.   SAP’s ByD, originally launched in 2007 was a functionally rich solution already at launch – in fact I called it the most complete SaaS Suite not available customers. And therein lies the rub.  Functionally rich, but a phantom product that only a few selected early customers could get their hands on.  And it wasn’t simply a marketing / segmentation blunder as some analyst thought, it was all about architecture: SAP missed out on the economics of multi-tenancy, and realized they could not profitably operate and scale what they referred to as “mega-tenancy” – so they went back re-architecting ByDesign.

The lost 2 1/2 years were a gift to competitor NetSuite, and they milked it every possible way.  SAP announced entry to the SaaS SMB space validated their market, and their own delay was an open invitation to NetSuite. As CEO Zach Nelson said at their recent earnings conference:

I’d like to thank SAP for being our IBM.

NetSuite never shied away from aggressive marketing (I guess that’s the Oracle blood in their veins), starting from pranks like the SAP for the Rest of Us Party during SAPPHIRE 2006 to staging a shootout at the anti-SAP Conference or releasing edgy videos a’la Mac vs Windows.  But the biggest coup, one with definite gains was the Business ByNetsuite program which we covered here:

The aptly named Business ByNetsuite program guarantees at least 50% savings to current SAP R/3 customers relative to  – watch this! – the annual maintenance fees they are now paying to SAP.  Yes, it’s not a price-to-price comparison.  With the perpetual licence model customers pay upfront, but are still forced to pay annual maintenance fees – with SaaS there is only a subscription fee, and now NetSuite proves it can be half of only the maintenance component of traditional software’s TCO.

Yes, NetSuite took deals from SAP and of course amidst all the chest-thumping they did not particularly emphasize the fact that that these were often divisional deals:  smaller divisions of large companies, often replacing legacy systems as a result of an acquisition with the parent company running SAP.  NetSuite even developed  NetSuite-to-SAP connectors for enterprise reporting, fully recognizing they won’t be replacing SAP on the corporate level.

Now of course these were relatively easy wins when NetSuite was the only game in town – and that’s about to change, as SAP is getting ready for General Availability of a new Business ByDesign in July.  And SAP CEO Bill McDermott fired a few salvos over to NetSuite in his announcement, as quoted by Reuters:

McDermott said he believes Business by Design’s sales will be able to quickly surpass those of NetSuite, which last year posted $167 million in revenue.

“When Business by Design is coming at them like a 99-mile-an-hour fastball, let’s see how tough they are,” McDermott said of NetSuite.

Winning against SAP when they had no relevant SaaS offering was one thing, going up against a functionally strong product will be another.  NetSuite is changing tone, comparing the two offerings, as show by this slide I received from NetSuite:

NetSuite SAP

This must be the first time SAP finds themselves on the wrong side of the David vs. Goliath equation (or is it the elephant vs flea?  – but who is the elephant and who is the flea in the long run?).   I have an issue specifically re. the functional shootout, which was rigged at best.

As for the rest of the comparisons, a fair summary is that neither side is a newcomer.   SAP is the granddaddy of business processes with 30 years of experience, but they are new to operating / scaling a cloud environment – something NetSuite has a head start on them.

I have reasons to believe (more on that in another post) ByD will not be a failure this time around, and NetSuite will have to adopt to competing with a real product vs. a phantom.  It will be a healthy change, with customers now having a choice of (at least) two well integrated SaaS offerings.  In the end, customers win.

(Keep an eye open for the next post on ByD and beyond…)

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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The Care and Feeding of Industry Analysts – Take Two

toiletSome analysts (?) spammers just won’t learn.  I ridiculed this “research report” a few months ago (quoting old post below):

The Care and Feeding of Industry Analysts

The Top 10 Questions The Care and Feeding of Industry Analysts Will Answer For You Include:
1. What are the ten deadly sins NOT to commit when working with an industry analyst firm?
2. What are the typical characteristics of an industry analyst that will enable you to more effectively work with them?
3. As a vendor, when should you be humble and when should you position yourself as an expert?
4. Does subscribing to an analyst’s research improve coverage of your products or company?
5. How is a research briefs created and what impact can a vendor have on its content?
6. What are the three highest-level benefits you can enjoy from an effective analyst relations approach?
7. How can you best capitalize on industry analyst ‘rules of engagement?’
8. Precisely what homework must you do before you brief an analyst?
9. How do vision and ability to execute relate to how an analyst sees your company?
10. During a briefing, how do CEOs, VPs of sales, PR firms and VPs of marketing impact how an analyst sees your company?

The actual report (PDF) costs EUR 316.   Is it worth?  I leave it up to you … but I promised entertainment. Look at the other “research” this paper is associated with:

Customers who bought this item also bought
Chinese Markets for Baby Care Products
Toilet Care Products – United Kingdom
Surface Care – United Kingdom
Chinese Markets for Laundry Care Products
Hair Care in the US
Laundry Care – United States
Long-Term Care Market Review 2006
The Future Of Personal Care Occasions

Wow.. .I especially love the pairing of Toilet, Laundry and Analysts 🙂

I thought I had originally made it quite clear I wasn’t exactly a fan of this puff piece.  Apparently one person did not quite “get it” – today I received an email offer from the original sender to buy the same study, for the same price.

Fuhgeddaboudit.  And stop spamming me, Amy Cole.

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Dachis Acquisition Machine Reaches the 2.0 Adoption Council

20-adoption-council Emerging Enterprise 2.0 Consultancy the Dachis Group has just acquired The 2.0 Adoption Council.

I have mixed feelings about the deal. On one hand I am happy for Susan Scrupski, fellow Enterprise Irregular and E2.0 evangelist / thought leader.

On the other hand I would have preferred to see the Council remain independent – I’ve always thought this independent, peer-to-peer nature was part of the attraction for members, and that the formula worked especially well without a heavy-weight “owner” – Susan’s role, while trying to build a for-pofit business was more a facilitator in a self-driven peer-to-peer group.

But I guess business is business, and Susan likely had good financial reasons to join Dachis.  And for being “Social Business” experts I assume Dachis will have the smarts to find a formula that will allow Susan to enjoy more than usual autonomy, and the Council to remain independent – however difficult it may be.

The Enterprise Irregulars group is abuzz with talk of the deal – incidentally this is the third Dachis acquisition affecting one of our members.  Ramana Rao hit the nail on its head:

Just sayin’ in a 2nd beer sorta way, are we now Razorfishing Social Enterprise?

Spot on! I’ve always considered the Dachis Group  (and previously nGenera)  a classical roll-up business.  This is the third generation I’m witnessing, having seen firms emerge and hit $$$ big time in the 90’s ERP era, then the Internet era, and now it’s time for Social Enterprise.  (And I suppose some players have  learned the lesson of getting out earlier this time…)

Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just business – and in the meantime Dachis clearly has the best names now.

And now all eyes focus on Toronto 🙂

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Phaeton: Audi in a Volkswagen Skin

2011 volkswagen-phaeton-facelift-preview-rendering Half a decade ago I labeled the Volkswagen Phaeton a fiasco.  A great car coupled with a marketing disaster:

The car is perfect. In fact it’s a technological marvel full of luxuries.  It only has one problem:  the wrong badge. Volkswagen happens to mean “people’s car”, but that’s beyond the point. What matters is that VW’s are perceived as good middle-class cars, not more.  At $80K people buy luxury cars, not just in terms of performance, but image, too.  What were VW thinking ,when they have their own upscale brand, Audi?   This car is clearly an Audi, mistakenly branded Volkswagen.

There is a reason why Honda created Acura, Toyota created Lexus … but I guess VW slept through that class in Marketing.

The 2011 revamped version has just been revealed at the Beijing Auto Show. Hm… if you ask me, this looks more “plain Volkswagen” than the first, failed version.  The company hopes to sell more in China, where Volkswagen enjoys a more upscale reputation, and there is still talk of re-introducing it to the US Market.   It will be interesting to see this.  The Phaeton has lately become popular in Europe, but let’s remember that’s where people buy luxury Honda’s without the need to re-label them as Acura :-) 

Although the new Phaeton is rumored to sell at a lower price then the original (think $60K range vs. $80K+), I still think it will be a tough sell in the US.  Here the folks who want to spend that much on a car don’t want a Volks car – they are clearly in the Audi range.

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Woman in High Tech & The New York Times Out of the Loop

Image credit: The New York Times Out of the loop is the original title of a New York Times article discussing how difficult it is for women entrepreneurs to get funded, or generally to get into the management ranks in business.  A title that backfires … but you’ll have to wait to see why.

The first case discussed @ the NYT is Crimson Hexagon, a start-up founded by Candace Fleming, Harvard MBA, former HP Exec and small business President. Yet despite here credentials potential investors called her “Mom”, asked indiscreet questions and one invited her to his yacht by showing her his photo on the yacht – sans clothes.

“I didn’t know things like this still happened,” says Ms. Fleming, 37. “But I know that, especially in risky times like the last couple years, some investors kind of retreat to investing via a template.” A company owned by a woman, she adds, “is just not the standard template.”

Her solution was to find a fund that specifically focuses on investing in start-ups led by women: Golden Seeds.  They and other angels funded Crimson Hexagon to the  tune of $1.8M.

So while the bigger issue is still very much of a problem, at least all is well at Crimson Hexagon.  That is, until you click the link, where you see this headline:

4.5.2010 Crimson Hexagon Fills Out $2M Series A-2 Round; Names Scott Centurino New CEO

A bit more detail (emphasis mine):

Crimson Hexagon, the leading provider of real time market research, today announced that it has filled a $2M Series A-2 funding round. The round, led by Golden Seeds, was completed through a combination of new and existing investors…

In addition, the company announced that Scott Centurino has joined the company as the new CEO, replacing Candace Fleming who left for both personal and professional reasons.

Oops…  not exactly the outcome the NYT projected.  So now you see why the title backfired: just who is out of the loop this time?

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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The Citi Never Sleeps. (Really?)

citi

Dear …,

As the Citibank Branch Manager in Los Altos, I want to thank you for being a customer, and to let you know we are more committed than ever to improve our service for you…

 

Dear…,

Thanks for the "personal" attention.  I’ve also received voicemail messages from your branch. 
Too bad Citi has been unable to discover that I moved to Pleasanton a good 5 years ago – my Citi profile is updated, I personally dropped by the closest brunch in Dublin – what does it take for Citi to change my "home branch"?

Best regards,

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Edgy Marketing: Great Plains and SAP Guy vs. NetSuite Guy (Mac vs PC)

You’ve seen Great Plains and SAP, now in the Grand Finale they come together to match up against Mac .. I mean the NetSuite Guy:

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)