Forrester : Microsoft Azure: Low Immediate Impact But Watch This Space

Forrester shares teir perspective on Microsoft Windows Azure …

Microsoft finally took the wraps off its hosted platform at the end of October 2008. The platform is actually a portfolio that includes existing hosted services including SQL Services as well as a new operating system called Windows Azure. Application development managers should view Azure as a brand new platform rather than an evolution of today's platforms — and they should not view the Azure Services Platform as an alternative for rehosting existing .NET applications. Azure is early in its development (and available only in prebeta form) and so is appropriate only for skills development and experimentation during the next year. Teams with immediate needs for "platform-as-a-service" (PaaS) offerings will find more pragmatic options for Windows applications from Amazon Web Services LLC and other hosting providers as well from as non-Windows providers such as salesforce.com.

Source: Microsoft Azure: Low Immediate Impact But Watch This Space

Gartner : Microsoft Collaboration Offering Ushers in New Era for SaaS

Gartner speaks highly of Microsoft Online Services …

Microsoft's multitenant software-as-a-service offering for Exchange, SharePoint and Office Communication Server provides a substantial new option for buying and consuming collaboration software.

Source : Gartner.com (subscription may be required)

Gartner: SaaS to grow in 90% of organizations

Gartner surveyed 258 IT managers in US and Europe and did find a strong demand for SaaS based solutions. Also some differences in SaaS investments in US compared to Europe :

Nine out of ten companies plan to grow their use of software-as-a-service (SaaS) in the next year, according to a survey by Gartner.

More than one third of respondents (37%) plan to replace on-premises software with SaaS to drive down total cost of ownership (TCO), Gartner found.

Those surveyed cited cost-effectiveness and ease of deployment as primary reasons for adoption. Other major drivers included replacing on-premises solutions that had not met performance expectation, or changes in sourcing strategy.

The survey involved eight major countries worldwide and 258 IT executives that make purchasing decisions of enterprise software. Most respondents were either currently using SaaS, or planned to use it within the next 12 months.

European firms trailed behind North American companies when it came to plans to increase investments in SaaS or subscription model products. But 49 percent of European respondents said that they expect new investments to increase slightly and 15 percent expect significant increases in investments. This compares to 62 percent and 15 percent respectively in North America. The US has been an early adopter of SaaS, with more than 20 percent of respondents indicating use for five years or longer and 60 percent having adopted it in the last three years.

Source : ITWorld

Ferris Research : Summary of Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint Online

Ferris Research gives a comprehensive summary of Microsoft’s recent release of Online Services …

…On November 17, 2008, Microsoft launched cloud-based (Software as a Service) versions of Exchange and SharePoint — Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online. …

…

• Microsoft has put a lot of effort into designing a system that is easy to subscribe to and easy to support. At first sight, the design seems first class.
• Microsoft is encouraging third-party system integrators to participate in support, either by providing mainstream IT applications support, or by building services on top of Microsoft’s cloud-based offerings.
• A lot of work has gone into allowing the coexistence of hosted Exchange and on-premises Exchange, primarily through AD federation.
• Microsoft envisages the common development of applications that span on-premises and cloud-based systems. This is an interesting idea that merits further contemplation.

Additional observations will follow over the short term. …

… David Ferris and Nick Shelness

Source and full article on: Summary of Microso…ft Exchange and SharePoint Online

Forrester: There Are Two Types Of Compute Clouds

So now you know it … according to Forrester there are 2 types of Compute Clouds. I would say Cloud Type 1 is plain old Server / Business App hosting ..

Cloud computing is a confusing topic for vendor strategists. One reason? Most of us confuse two fundamentally different types of compute clouds as one. Server clouds support the needs of traditional business apps while scale-out clouds are designed for massive, many-machine workloads such as Web sites or grid compute applications. Scale-out clouds differ from server clouds in five key ways: 1) much larger workloads; 2) loosely coupled software architecture; 3) fault tolerance in software, not hardware; 4) simple state management; and 5) server virtualization is for provisioning flexibility — not machine sharing. Strategists must update their server virtualization plans to embrace the evolution to server cloud, while developing a separate strategy to compete in the arena for scale-out clouds.

Source: There Are Two Types Of Compute Clouds

Will Microsoft Online Services Cannibalize On-Premises Exchange, SharePoint?

Related to Microsoft launch of Online Services last Monday, eWeek published an article disussing the focus Microsoft has with the Online offering vs the current on-premise installed base. The message : competition and new ground and software + Services …

… Microsoft executive Chris Capossela denies that Microsoft Online Services such as Exchange Online and SharePoint Online will eat into the market share of Microsoft's traditional on-premises messaging and collaboration software suites. If this is true, it's good news for Microsoft as it moves deeper into cloud computing and SAAS to take on Google in Web services. …

The Analysts seem to be in agremeent on Microsoft’s focus:

… eWEEK asked analysts who follow the space closely whether Microsoft would eat up some of its own Exchange and SharePoint CAL and SA share.

Josh Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting said Capossela may have not mentioned Google because he knows Google is already taking share from Microsoft's classic on-premises business. He applauded Microsoft's Online Services move:

In a certain sense, this is a smart strategy for Microsoft to recapture some potential lost revenue and keep it in-house. It has the potential to be less remunerative in the short run but it's better than losing seats to the competition.

Sara Radicati, of the Radicati Group, had a different take. She noted that while Google Apps' pricing is attractive, there is a segment of the customer base looking for the same Exchange and SharePoint functionality they have today but at a lower cost of operation.

At $2 to $15 per user, per month for Exchange and/or SharePoint, Radicati said she believes Microsoft's Online Services are attractive. She added:

I don't think Microsoft is so much "cannibalizing" sales of its own on-premises software, rather I think the hosted option is essential for them to hold on to SMB [small and midsize business] customers that would be migrating to a hosted (or non-hosted) lower-cost option anyway. Basically these are customers they would have lost anyway from their on-premises software offerings, so this way they have a way of retaining them. ….

Software + Services is the focus. Where the early ‘incumbants’ of SaaS still want to make us all belive the browser and the cloud are the holy grail:

.. Finally, Capossela clung to what has been Microsoft's mantra the last few years: software plus services. More choice, he said, is the winning proposition.

Everyone knows the future lies in leveraging best of cloud and on-premises software. The vast majority of customers will live in a hybrid world, where they will mix and match, software plus services. What we have is very different from Google or anybody else in the market.

Take that, Google.

Source: Will Microsoft Online Services Cannibalize On-Premises Exchange, SharePoint?

Forrester: How Big Is SaaS In IT Management Software?

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is disrupting the IT management software market. Incumbent software vendors are setting up new business units and adding SaaS offerings to existing portfolios; managed service providers are repositioning their offerings to leverage the trend; and new pure-play SaaS operators are extending their success by taking advantage of product churn in various established vendors' service and asset management customer bases. Forrester has developed a market forecast model for IT management SaaS that shows that SaaS will grow from making up just over 1% of the $18 billion IT management software market in 2008 to 10% by 2013, by which time many of the brand SaaS providers could be well established. Strategy professionals at IT management software vendors should therefore be planning now to compete in this segment in the medium term. Long term, the more general trend toward SaaS will reduce the total IT management software market by cutting the number of enterprise environments to be managed.

Source: How Big Is SaaS In IT Management Software?

Good timing by Forrester … Microsoft yesterday announced new services on the Roadmap for Microsoft Online Services :

In addition to Office Communications Online, Microsoft is planning to offer a Microsoft Online Services solution that will provide IT management and security capabilities for businesses, enabling IT managers to secure and manage desktops using a Web-based subscription service. These online services will be based on components from existing systems management, identity and security offerings, and will complement Microsoft’s on-premise solutions, as customers begin to adopt cloud-based computing to address specific needs.

Source: Microsoft PressPass

Michael Sampson : Seamless Teamwork is available NOW!

Michael Sampson (a.k.a. Mr Team Collaboration””) has great insights about the world of collaboration. I’ve been following his blog and view on the market for many years and this means that I’ll buy the book straightaway. I do hope he’s mild on Microsoft’s solutions in this space :-)

Those two words ... "In Stock" ... are new. They weren't there yesterday ... so I think this means that Seamless Teamwork in now available for immediate purchase. Wow, and gulp!

If you a buy a copy, please send me your feedback.

For me this is a great day ... I have wanted to have a book published for 5 years. And now it's done. That's a great feeling. Thank you to all who made this possible.

Source : I think this means ... Seamless Teamwork is available NOW!

Gartner: Magic Quadrant for Social Software

Microsoft certainly sticks out in this Gartner Analysis.

As one my main focus area these days is on Software + Services I really am pleased with the quote on Google :

The SaaS-only model will limit the appeal for some organizations.

It confirms that although SaaS is an attractive business model with huge potential there are advantages in having multiple delivery options such as on-premise and hosting …

Microsoft: Strengths

• With SharePoint, Microsoft offers a broad set of capabilities that combine structured collaboration with core social computing capabilities, including blogs, wikis, podcasting, persistent group chat, discussion groups, "people search" that uses social network analysis, and related rich content, portal and workflow capabilities on a platform that offers consistent management and administration.
• Microsoft has continued to see exceptional market penetration, momentum, sizable internal and external deployments, and satisfaction with Windows SharePoint Services (a component included in Windows server at no extra charge) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) during 2008.
• It offers integration with desktop office applications and related offerings such as Microsoft's productivity tools, leading e-mail server, unified communications suite, Web-based meetings and Live Services.
• It has a very strong technology partner network ready to exploit SharePoint's presence in business environments while adding value and filling functionality gaps.
• The possibility now exists for better support for social analytics (sentiment and intent analysis) through integration with the recently acquired Fast Search & Transfer.
• Microsoft's market presence as a dependable global vendor enables it to handle enterprise requirements.

Microsoft : Cautions

• Given its breadth, MOSS may deter those who are looking to take advantage only of the collaboration and social networking capabilities, and those not fully committed to Microsoft infrastructure services.
• There are functional gaps including social tagging and bookmarking, social search and an improved wiki (although some of these are offered by Microsoft as open-source components through its Codeplex community).
• This strong partner network is a "double edged sword" as SharePoint may require a multivendor ecosystem to fulfill the needs of an organization with sophisticated social software needs.
• SharePoint's rich functionality can be hard to pull together into user-friendly environments without some technical assistance.
• More flexible deployment options are offered through the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) SaaS program, but its credibility will take time to establish.

As one my main focus area these days is on Software + Services I really am pleased with the quote on Google :

The SaaS-only model will limit the appeal for some organizations.

It confirms that although SaaS is an attractive business model with huge potential there are advantages in having multiple delivery options such as on-premise and hosting …

Source: Gartner Group

This report and many others are available on Microsoft’s Analyst Relations page.

IDC: “Microsoft’s Azure - We Told You So…”

Last week IDC gave a strong and positive opinion on Windows Azure :

… Yesterday, as we had predicted, Microsoft finally announced its intent to become a major player in the rapidly-expanding cloud services market.  Here’s a clip from IDC Directions last March, predicting the “big boots” (including Microsoft’s) that would be jumping into the Cloud Computing world this year. …

We’ve written for several years about the unique opportunity Microsoft has to play a market-maker role in industry’s shift to the Cloud, particularly by helping its thousands of application solution and channel partners migrate to the Software-as-a-Service delivery model.  SMBs (including in emerging markets) offer the under-penetrated opportunity that will economically fuel the industry’s transition to the cloud, and Microsoft (with its partners) is, by far, the strongest SMB player. …

…. We’ll be commenting more on the Microsoft announcement, here as well as on idc.com.  But my main reactions are:  1) This is good news for Microsoft, its partners and cloud services market growth, and 2) It’s about time - now, Microsoft, keep the pace up. …

Source: Microsoft’s Azure - We Told You So…