MSPmentor

So much for immunity from the recession. Software as a Service (SaaS) stocks are now down nearly 30 percent in 2008. During the past week alone, MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index fell 13.92 percent, closing at 716.13 on Friday, October 3. Read More >

Microsoft is gearing up to launch its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), a family of software as a service (SaaS) applications that will debut in the next few weeks. The launch strategy includes hands-on workshops and discounted training opportunities across the US. Read More >

It was only a matter of time. Amazon.com’s Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) will soon support both Windows Server and SQL Server, according to this blurb on the Amazon.com Web site.

Faced with the reality that Red Hat Enterprise Linux and JBoss middleware were already available in the Amazon EC2 cloud, Microsoft pushed hard to ink the agreement with Amazon, according to one source close to the online retailer.

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Chances are, you know about the iPhone App Store — a wildly popular online destination where iPhone users can easily find and download applications. Now, the App Store trend is shifting to the software as a service (SaaS) industry, where companies like Zoho and SAVVIS are launching online application marketplaces.

Zoho, which competes with Google Apps and Salesforce.com, has had my attention for quite some time. But I learned about SAVVIS by reading Jeff Kaplan’s blog. Here’s a bit more about each company’s application marketplace, and the implications for managed service providers.

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The market for hosted Exchange Server services is getting pretty darn crowded. The latest entrant is Tech Data Corp., which has signed a partnership with USA.NET to offer hosted Exchange Server, SharePoint and BlackBerry services to VARs and solutions providers.

Tech Data follows rival distributor Ingram Micro — and a growing list of managed service providers — into the hosted Microsoft applications market. Plus, Microsoft itself is expected to launch its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) within the next few weeks.

Here’s how the competitive landscape for hosted Microsoft applications is shaping up.

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Assuming Congress really does approve a Wall Street bailout in the next few hours, Software as a Service stocks (and other stocks) could get a lift when US markets open on September 29. However, there’s no denying that SaaS stocks have had a miserable year so far.

For the week ended Sept. 26, MSPmentor’s SaaS 20 Stock Index fell 4.53 percent. And for the year, our index is now down nearly 17 percent. Read More >

D-day is nearly here. Microsoft is expected to launch a range of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications — known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) — in October. The BPOS offering could wind up competing head-on against some managed service providers. Here’s why. Read More >

Intermedia, which specializes in software as a service (SaaS) and collaboration solutions, has launched a managed service provider (MSP) partner program. The program was announced at the MSPAlliance’s Managed Services Summit in Chicago, hosted by organization president Charles Weaver (pictured).

Intermedia is among a growing list of companies that are hosting Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint for managed service providers. And attendees who are at the Managed Services Summit say SaaS is a big theme at the event. But there are some unique twists to Intermedia’s strategy. Read More >