SaaS Blogs

We’re in an interesting transition within the software space. Specifically, we’re all in agreement that SaaS is changing the industry in a very positive way. More importantly, however, is the recent evolution of platform as a service (PaaS), which is where Apprenda lives. Recently, we’ve seen more and more noise around PaaS (both consumer and […]

A SaaSBlogs reader recently sent me a link to an article by Dharmesh Shah over at OnStartups. In a nutshell, the post articulated that building a highly scalable architecture when creating a new application is premature and creates a large resource tax on a startup’s already limited resources. This led to a vibrant thread of […]

I’ve written about many of the obvious advantages of a SaaS platform before: harnessing a platform to reduce implementation time, cost of implementation and/or transition (for you ISVs with existing product lines), reduction in operational costs, and the list goes on. But what about not so obvious advantages? After some fruitful discussion with individuals at […]

Marc Andreessen posted an excellent article breaking down Internet platforms into three “levels”. If you only have time for one article you would be better off to read his than mine but to summarize, the levels are described as:

Level 1: API driven, app lives outside of the “platform” (Think Flickr)
Level 2: Plugging an extension via an […]

Are today’s SaaS enablement technologies robust enough to support business to business SaaS?  It’s a question I ask myself everytime I am introduced to a new ‘mashup engine’ or ‘online SaaS IDE’.  Granted, there are some very impressive products out there right now, Bungee Labs’ BungeeConnect and CogHead for example.  But initial impressions aside - are […]

Although SaaS is in and of itself of a unique and powerful model of software delivery, there is much to learn from industry’s that have produced either perfect or imperfect parallels. When I say ‘perfect’ I mean one with a distribution concept that provides a metaphor for SaaS, while ‘imperfect’ is more akin to an […]

When formulating the architectural foundation for a SaaS application, ISVs will inevitably encounter the age old build vs. buy decision.  SaaS enablement is hot right now, giving vendors a plethora of options on the buy side. 
Nick Carr has an interesting argument in support of the buy scenario - specifically urging vendors to buy into a horizontally aligned […]

Hello from sunny Santa Clara.  We’re at SaaSCon 2007 at the Santa Clara Convention Center today and tomorrow.  From the looks of the exhibit floor and the sound of the early keynotes this morning  there is plenty of opinion and information floating around. An interesting keynote was the ”Evaluating SaaS Infrastructure” keynote which described the challenges of […]

I’ve been following a series of blog posts by Lars Fløe Nielsen, Michel Baladi and some other folks from Microsoft, Sitecore and other firms. The posts follow a proof-of-concept project established by the firms to investigate how a “SaaS Hosting Platform”, or SHP, ought to look like. I appreciate the effort that has gone into […]

We’ve written quite a bit here about Salesforce’s Apex… and, admittedly, we’ve taken a somewhat critical stance on it.  Questions of identity crisis and ambiguity have boiled down to “Is it a SaaS platform, or a CRM platform? Is there a difference, and does it really matter what they call it as long as it is […]