In the best-informed blog on software-as-a-service and on-demand business applications, Phil Wainewright cuts through the vendor spin, analyzes the trends to watch and adds his thought-provoking insights.
Since 1998, Phil Wainewright has been a thought leader in cloud computing as a blogger, analyst and consultant.
At least Microsoft has finally admitted that software has to be completely rearchitected before it can be offered as a service. But even if CRM Online, released today, has the right architecture, Microsoft's on-demand business model remains seriously flawed.
Microsoft should offer enterprises a way to provision and manage accounts on its Hotmail service as part of an Exchange implementation. It doesn't, but Rackspace-owned business email specialist Mailtrust today launches its own Exchange-plus-webmail option.
Amazon is moving aggressively to make its cloud computing services palatable for enterprise users. Today it fixed big shortcomings, introducing two enterprise-class paid support options and a Service Health Dashboard.
Business decision-makers in today's highly connected world feel a pressing need to have access to accurate, real-time data, especially if they operate internationally. NetSuite is launching One World today because it senses a big opportunity in answering that need.
AppEngine flies the Google coop, Rackspace gets SaaS billing, and Amazon puts storage volumes into EC2. Yesterday was quite a day for cloud computing, ending with a warning that SaaS providers must adapt or be swept aside.
The long-awaited integration of Salesforce.com's CRM applications with Google Apps has arrived today. I've had advance notice of this move, which in my view is game-changing for Office 2.0, PaaS, and enterprise take-up of on-demand applications.
Google App Engine product manager Pete Koomen has told me quite categorically that App Engine is targeting consumer-focused applications, and not the business market.
Should Facebook's F8 platform be considered a contender in the platform-as-a-service wars? Google App Engine is bound to steal some of Facebook's developer appeal, but what really counts is the ability to succeed in the business market.
It's all too clear why Symantec is acquiring Appstream. But just imagine for a moment the company had a wider vision that could really challenge Microsoft's desktop dominance ...
With last night's announcement of Google App Engine, the PaaS sector, which I categorized into five layers last month, has all stepped up a notch. The big guns have arrived.