Friday 10 September 2010
Sage CRM Solutions, part of The Sage Group plc which provides business management software and services to more than 5.8 million small and midsize businesses worldwide, today announced it is piloting a cloud computing edition of the Sage SalesLogix CRM suite for commercial availability in early 2010. Sage is also demonstrating Sage SalesLogix in the cloud this week at the Gartner CRM Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“While first generation Software-as-a-Service generated a lot of interest, people will look back on this era as a period of big-iron, centralized operations that restrict the ability to customize the solutions,” explained Joe Bergera, executive vice president and general manager, Sage CRM Solutions. “The next wave of Cloud Computing will benefit customers by providing a highly distributed and flexible deployment model that shifts control of the service to their favor, rather than SaaS vendors, so they can better tailor their CRM experience in a way that optimally suits their business.”
A full-featured, single-tenant cloud edition of Sage SalesLogix using Amazon’s EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) will offer businesses:
– Data Ownership: Businesses retain ownership of all their data and
processes — with full reuse and compatibility on-premises — a benefit not
provided by most current multi-tenant SaaS CRM alternatives.
– Upgrade Control: Businesses can choose when to trigger an upgrade to
the latest cloud computing edition of Sage SalesLogix, rather than have an
alternative SaaS vendor’s upgrade schedule and any unwanted features forced
upon them.
– Deployment Flexibility: Businesses receive the benefits of a hosted,
on-demand solution with the flexibility to migrate to an on-premise
deployment should their needs change. Likewise, on-premises Sage SalesLogix
customers can transition to the cloud edition.
– Customization Flexibility: Businesses can adapt CRM to their own
unique sales, marketing and support processes, without the common
customization restrictions of multi-tenant SaaS offerings; or use industry-
specific versions built by Sage business partners.
– Buying Flexibility: Businesses can select a subscription purchasing
option, in addition to the existing perpetual license option for Sage
SalesLogix, and benefit from the flexibility to purchase CRM in the manner
that best suits their business model and financial goals.
Gartner estimates the current market for cloud services at $46.4 billion, and forecasts $150.1 billion by 2013, representing a 26.5% compound annual growth rate. (Gartner, “Forecast: Sizing the Cloud; Understanding the Opportunities in Cloud Services” March 2009)
“The flexibility of Sage SalesLogix in the cloud will greatly benefit organizations seeking an on-demand CRM solution,” said Yacov Wrocherinsky, Founder & CEO, Infinity Info Systems. “The marriage of best-of-breed application and platform deployment options creates unique benefits that to-date have simply not been available in the on-demand CRM market.”
Infinity Info Systems, a leading global Sage CRM Solutions partner for over 12 years, and the Sage Business Partner of the Year for CRM the past 6 years, is demonstrating its Investor Relationship Management system, powered by a cloud computing version of Sage SalesLogix, at Sage’s booth #4 during the Gartner CRM Summit this week.
Sage CRM Solutions is a portfolio of market-leading applications consisting of ACT! by Sage, Sage CRM, and Sage SalesLogix. Over 63,500 organizations and 3.1 million users worldwide rely on Sage CRM Solutions to develop profitable, long-term business relationships. Sage CRM Solutions are part of a broad portfolio of Sage business management applications and services, including accounting, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, human resource management, and specialized solutions for construction and real estate, healthcare, distribution, manufacturing, and nonprofit organizations. For more information visit www.sagecrmsolutions.com or http://community.sagesaleslogix.com.
About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs more than 4,100 people and supports nearly 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 14,500 people and supports 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com.
Cloud Computing Report
Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report related to the IT Services industry is available in its catalogue.
More information regarding this report:Can Cloud Computing Help Enterprises Weather the Economic Storm?
Introduction
The rapid pace of proliferation of the term “cloud computing” is nothing short of astonishing. However, many doubts remain regarding the exact scope and definition of the term or the long-term impact of the business model it denotes.
Scope
*Defines cloud computing, describes its model of operation and provides a classification of cloud computing services.
*Considers drivers and inhibitors of cloud computing adoption in the context of the current global recession.
*Outlines the emerging competitive landscape for cloud computing services and related technologies.
*Recommends the stance that enterprises, technology vendors and service providers should adopt regarding cloud computing.
Highlights
In merely 18 months the neologism “cloud computing” has gone from obscurity to pervasiveness. Although elusive to define, the emerging paradigm is clearly capturing the imagination of the IT market. Datamonitor believes that the level of interest in the alternative models of IT consumption is driven by the ongoing commoditization of IT technology.
Datamonitor defines cloud computing as an IT consumption pattern that relies on abstracted resources delivered as utility services. Such approach to IT generation, delivery and deployment allows for a more efficient way to carry out IT tasks due to the inherent benefits of services over products.
While the current global recession will accelerate take-up of cloud computing, the nature of computing resources and a slew of migration challenges mean that the adoption will not be universal. Nevertheless, it remains clear to Datamonitor that the cloud computing model will play an increasingly important role in the future.
Reasons to Purchase
*Gain a clear, detailed and comprehensive understanding of the emerging cloud computing paradigm.
*Identify dominant market trends in order to evaluate opportunities created by the shift to cloud computing.
*Optimise your cloud computing strategy to capitalize on the short, medium and long-term opportunities cloud computing will create.
Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Table of Contents 2
Table of figures 2
Table of tables 2
Introduction to Cloud Computing 3
The term cloud computing is quickly becoming ubiquitous 4
Cloud computing is a new pattern of IT consumption but it is proving elusive to define 5
Cloud computing overlaps with many adjacent categories, rendering the definition difficult 5
Cloud computing: an IT consumption pattern based on the delivery of commoditized resources as a service 6
IT commoditization has occurred through the history of computing 6
Cloud computing may resemble the mainframe era, but it is a fundamentally different phenomenon 7
Cloud computing marks the culmination of the commoditization process 7
Outsourcing, hosting and ASP services persist with the management of identifiable resources 8
Electricity provides the most powerful analogy with cloud computing 8
Both electricity and IT are enabling technologies that went from strategic to commodity assets 8
Unlike electricity, computing is a far more complex phenomenon and far less fungible resource 8
The cloud computing taxonomy 9
Software-Platform-Infrastructure (SPI) model offers the basic cloud computing classification 9
Further refinement of the SPI model should not rely on the proliferation of ‘as a Service’ neologisms 10
Detailed taxonomy schemas focus on segmenting the infrastructure layer 10
The fabric/instance spectrum captures variations in the granularity of computing services provision 11
Do private clouds exist? 12
Ownership should not be the central tenet of cloud computing 12
Technologies enabling local or hybrid cloud infrastructures are readily available 12
Economies of scale dictates that the public/private gap will matter, but bridging the divide will be possible 13
Benefits of cloud computing 14
The benefits of cloud computing are the benefits of services over products 14
Cloud computing allows enterprises to focus on their core business processes 14
Cloud computing closes the gap between IT capacity and IT demand 15
Elasticity is not built into the cloud computing model but ease of provisioning mitigates this effect 16
Variable costs and usage-based models are the principal benefits of cloud computing pricing 17
Capex/opex accounting strategies do not describe the full range of cloud computing pricing models 17
Cloud computing is associated with a broad range of pricing models based on variable cost 17
Cloud computing could act as a deflationary force in the enterprise technology IT market 18
The combination of elasticity and utility pricing engenders IT new economics 18
Inhibitors to cloud computing adoption 19
Trust and migration to an unfamiliar model are the primary inhibitors to cloud computing 19
The substitution of products with external services renders the issue of trust extremely acute 19
The question of trust in cloud service providers also relates to the emotional issue of lock-in 19
Until legal implications are better understood trust issues will continue to be raised 19
Each cloud service model is associated with a specific set of trust challenges 20
Cloud service adoption and management challenges are currently potent inhibitors 21
Matching workloads with the optimal mode of IT delivery may be difficult 21
The business case for cloud computing is often compelling, but may be hard to formulate with precision 21
Enterprises’ procurement and spend management practices will have to evolve to accommodate the cloud 21
The migration of business processes to the cloud is not frictionless 22
Cloud services need to remain dynamic without disrupting existing enterprise IT architectures 22
Conclusion: benefits and inhibitors of the cloud computing model 22
Competitive Landscape 23
The roll-out of cloud infrastructures is an opportunity for commodity hardware vendors 23
Migration into the cloud will boost thin clients, netbooks and handhelds 24
Cloud infrastructure services 24
Online retailer Amazon.com has emerged as the early leader in infrastructure provision 24
GoGrid leads the wave of hosting providers offering instance-based cloud computing infrastructure 25
Others could offer cloud infrastructure services, but may prefer to compete in software or platform layers 25
Infrastructure management platforms have emerged as the critical part of the cloud infrastructure stack 25
Cloud platform competitive landscape is particularly vibrant 26
Proprietary development platforms backed by SaaS vendors are proving popular with ISVs and users 26
Platforms supporting generic development frameworks may lend more control to developers 27
A long tail of standalone platforms relies on intuitive proprietary development and execution environments 27
SaaS vendors now feature in virtually every segment of the enterprise application market 28
Datamonitor Opinion 30
Those that manage to harness the cloud computing model stand to benefit 30
Cloud computing is here to stay, albeit not as the sole model of IT consumption 30
The Global Recession will accelerate the adoption of cloud computing 31
An elastic model that relies on flexible, usage-based pricing will be particularly attractive in the downturn 31
Unchecked proliferation and inadequate management of cloud computing services can fuel the backlash 32
Successful vendors will capitalize on short-term opportunities and prepare for long-term implications 32
Vendors may not have to venture into cloud services, but strategic adjustments will be necessary 32
Recommendations 33
Action points for enterprise technology vendors 33
Action points for enterprise IT decision makers 34
APPENDIX 36
Definitions 36
Methodology 36
Further reading 36
Ask the analyst 37
Datamonitor consulting 37
Disclaimer 37
List of Tables
Table 1: A selection of SaaS vendors by solution area, presented in alphabetical order 28
List of Figures
Figure 1: Only one in three CIOs are comfortable with their department’s maintenance workload 3
Figure 2: Cloud computing appeared in the market in 2007 and has risen quickly to universal prominence 4
Figure 3: Cloud computing overlaps with a range of related terms 5
Figure 4: Cloud computing as an IT consumption model 6
Figure 5: Cloud computing can be contextualized as the ongoing service-based commoditization of IT 7
Figure 6: Software-Platform-Infrastructure (SPI): the basic cloud computing taxonomy model 10
Figure 7: A reference cloud computing taxonomy combining the SPI and Youseff-Butrico-DaSilva models 11
Figure 8: Cloud computing services are floating along the fabric/instance provision spectrum 11
Figure 9: A private cloud is analogous to an intranet; public clouds are approximate the scale of the internet 13
Figure 10: Adopting a service-based IT consumption strategy allows greater focus on strategic issues 14
Figure 11: Gap between IT capacity and demand creates inefficiencies 15
Figure 12: Non-concurrent peaks in demand increase the utilization rate of cloud infrastructures 16
Figure 13: The balance of the principal elements of service provider trust shifts with the mode of provision 20
Figure 14: Outline of the cloud computing competitive landscape segmented by the SPI model 23
Figure 15: Enterprises are likely to blend locally managed resources with public clouds 31
IT is typically conservative about business risk and likes to retain control over sensitive data and applications. Security SaaS vendors may be better served by allowing IT to start by hosting its own private cloud service, integrated with existing data repositories and administrative systems and then provide a path to the full cloud application environment.
Security SaaS vendors placing services in the cloud have had to overcome the barriers posed by conservative IT practices. Qualys Inc., one of the earlier vendors offering a vulnerability scanning service, overcame risk management objections to having corporate vulnerability details accessible off-site in the cloud. IT does embrace the concept once they become comfortable with the security, operational savings and pay-as-you-go cost structure. A quick survey of young privately-held security SaaS vendors shows progress in segments, such as identity management and access control, log management, secure document handling and virtual desktop distribution.
