Cloud Email Project in LA

LA government moves to outsourced cloud-based email solution (Google's Gmail) and will demonstrate the effectiveness of the cloud in supporting an enterprise solution, while delivering tangible savings to the city. ...

... "Los Angeles is now slowly marching toward a full implementation of Gmail for the city work force. If successful, the project could open the floodgates for other governments that are awaiting a successful test case ... " ...

Via Government Technology: Cloud-Based E-Mail

SaaS Integration Projects Likely

As SaaS implementations increase, integration projects are emerging to enable end-to-end business processes. Data synchronization becomes an increasing challenge as the organization embraces solutions, such as CRM via SaaS. ...

... "In particular, large organizations are doing an about-face and starting to adopt SaaS as a primary strategy. The two things that were concerns were security and integration. " ...

Via Search CRM: SaaS CRM integration

Lean IT Enabler

Trying to make sense out of software as a service and how to augment your existing enterprise architecture. CA extends their management tool(s) to support Amazon's flavor of SaaS. ...

... "CA also plans to extend the capabilities of several Systems Management solutions to support Amazon EC2. The power and flexibility to manage applications in the Amazon EC2 environment as an extension of their enterprise helps customers achieve Lean IT. " ...

Via Computer Associates: Support for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud

SaaS Projects Alternative

If capital investment is being curtailed at your enterprise, SaaS-enabled IT projects may be a model to keep some investments moving forward. SaaS tools can be funded through operating expenses, in a buy-by-the-drink model. This changes the profile of the project financials. ...

... "Software as a service is generally treated as a operating expense. CFOs don't need to go hat-in-hand to their banker and beg for money. " ...

Via Computerworld: Financing IT

Cloud Computing Forecast

Cloud computing strategy is debated, with startups likely to leverage the foundation and existing enterprises easing their way along the adoption curve. Will the need for increased operational efficiency in the near term speed up migration to the cloud? Stay tuned. ...

... "In one way it will look much like the old software world. There will be a few big platforms, akin to today’s operating systems, and most applications will be written to one of these platforms. " ...

Via InformationWeek: Cloud Computing

Store Info in the Cloud

New business models for managing enterprise storage offer small and medium size businesses an opportunity to save on information technology costs and/or to shift the infrastructure operating expense savings to value-added IT investments. ...

... "Mr. Dolan calculates that a company with $100 million in annual revenue, for example, spends about $7 million a year on information technology. We can reduce that cost by 25 percent, he said ... " ...

Via New York Times: Profiting from Information Storage Services

Microsoft Cloud Computing Predictions

In order to seecure a foothold into the future of computing beyond desktops and servers, Microsoft appears poised to make eye-popping investments in a cloud-computing infrastructure that rivals peer companies in the space. ...

... "Microsoft has the resources and, it appears, the will to invest many billions in the physical infrastructure necessary to secure a place ... " ...

Via Nicholas Carr Blog: Microsoft data-center investment likely

Portfolio Management Software Offered in SaaS Model

HP moves to offer PPM software in a SaaS model, like salesforce dot com. If the pricing is competitive, this is a nice way to buy by the drink and show value of project portfolio management before expanding to a large enterprise deployment. ...

... "Project and Portfolio Management Center – Standardizes, manages and captures the execution of project and operational activities, and provides critical information to assist real-time decision making. " ...

Via HP: HP Strategy to Expand Its Software-as-a-Service Offering

SaaS Empowers Business Use of IT

SaaS could revive business interest in IT as the threshold for projects is lowered through a pay-by-the-drink approach to systems implementation. ...

... "With SaaS, line-of-business heads, ranging from the vice president of sales to the director of human resources (HR), can single-handedly own the purchase decision by taking advantage of free trial offers on Web sites to evaluate solutions and paying a monthly or quarterly rate low enough to stay off the corporate radar screen for requiring approvals. " ...

Via Supply and Demand Chain Executive: SaaS