Comments on: The ‘Cloud’ and Windows Azure http://deanfreelance.com/cloud-windows-azure/ A freelance writer for all your editing, blogging, reviewing, copywriting and subbing needs Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:46:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=5112 hourly 1 By: Kelly Brown http://deanfreelance.com/cloud-windows-azure/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Kelly Brown Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:01:00 +0000 http://deanfreelance.com/?p=553#comment-58 Hi, gr8 post thanks for posting. Information is useful! Hi, gr8 post thanks for posting. Information is useful!

]]> By: Mader http://deanfreelance.com/cloud-windows-azure/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Mader Tue, 26 May 2009 22:47:55 +0000 http://deanfreelance.com/?p=553#comment-50 As a provider of a SaaS service, I agree with many of the points listed above. One of the reasons Microsoft may not be in imminent danger of losing their multi-billion dollar Office revenue stream is that so many companies and individuals operate in a mixed mode - installed software in conjunction with and online services. I'm not referencing MSFT's software plus services vision but rather solutions from multiple providers. Here's one popular example of mixed mode use within our customer base: a sales team manages a shared pipeline/forecast sheet within Smartsheet. It tracks opportunity name, value, sales stage, sales rep, region, etc (that's the online piece). What can users attach to those opportunities? Quote docs, PPT presentations, ROI models built in Excel, etc. (the traditional software piece) While there are some who have made the decision to go 100% SaaS, it seems as though many more are choosing to combine what they already know and use with online tools for sharing and collaboration. It's one of the reasons I sometimes chuckle when I hear journalists ask how many people have left Microsoft for Google Apps or other SaaS solutions. Maybe those journalists should focus less on who is behind left in the cold and more on how business are making choices to blend the old with the new. Also - one minor correction re: the platform on which Smartsheet runs. Smartsheet does utilize S3, Mechnical Turk, and Cloudfront for elements of its service, but our primary application and database servers are housed and managed at Rackspace. As a provider of a SaaS service, I agree with many of the points listed above. One of the reasons Microsoft may not be in imminent danger of losing their multi-billion dollar Office revenue stream is that so many companies and individuals operate in a mixed mode – installed software in conjunction with and online services. I’m not referencing MSFT’s software plus services vision but rather solutions from multiple providers.

Here’s one popular example of mixed mode use within our customer base: a sales team manages a shared pipeline/forecast sheet within Smartsheet. It tracks opportunity name, value, sales stage, sales rep, region, etc (that’s the online piece). What can users attach to those opportunities? Quote docs, PPT presentations, ROI models built in Excel, etc. (the traditional software piece)

While there are some who have made the decision to go 100% SaaS, it seems as though many more are choosing to combine what they already know and use with online tools for sharing and collaboration.

It’s one of the reasons I sometimes chuckle when I hear journalists ask how many people have left Microsoft for Google Apps or other SaaS solutions. Maybe those journalists should focus less on who is behind left in the cold and more on how business are making choices to blend the old with the new.

Also – one minor correction re: the platform on which Smartsheet runs. Smartsheet does utilize S3, Mechnical Turk, and Cloudfront for elements of its service, but our primary application and database servers are housed and managed at Rackspace.

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