News
Observations on the 5th SaaS and Cloud Computing Convention
For the 5th consecutive year, EuroCloud France organized the only French event dedicated exclusively to the Cloud Computing market and its key players. EuroCloud’s ambition for 2010 and this Convention is to enhance exposure to both indirect distribution and SaaS.
EuroCloud France’s Convention was held on Tuesday, April 20 at the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The proceedings placed emphasis on distribution aspects within SaaS mode, as such aspects have become essential for subsequent Cloud development. EuroCloud has engaged in extensive efforts to move the retail sector towards indirect distribution. “Distribution channels are a major topic behind Cloud development, and we have undertaken several initiatives this year along these lines“, explained Pierre-José Billotte, President of EuroCloud France.
The shift towards computing on demand over the network as well as the gradual adoption of new models via Cloud Computing (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS) indicate a break with past trends that should significantly transform practices in the areas of software and computing services.
According to the Markess International study conducted in 2009, less than 10% of businesses have actually made use of Cloud Computing services for hosting their infrastructure and computing applications. By 2011, somewhere between one-third and one-half of all companies will have integrated Cloud Computing.
Several series of topics were proposed for this daylong assembly, providing participants the opportunity to express their opinions and learn about the most pressing issues, with roundtable discussions led by some of the industry’s leading actors: “What role is played by software and service wholesalers? What new distribution policies are being conceived by software publishers? How will purchasers and users behave within this new ecosystem?”
“What reality is depicted by Cloud Computing? Who are the present and future drivers of this SaaS extension? Is this simply a new fad or a prominent trend? Which market expectations is this model really addressing?”
Close-up on the session entitled: “What is the reality of Cloud Computing?“…
Hosted by Kareen Frascaria (CloudNews journalist), this roundtable session featured some of the biggest names in the field and early champions of SaaS and Cloud Computing, including Jean-Louis Baffier (Manager of Pre-Purchase Services with Salesforce.com), Cyril Grira (Large Accounts Manager for Google Enterprise), Alexandre Rigaldo (Director of Cloud Computing Programs with the provider Orange), Stéphane Claret (CEO of PageOnDemand.com), Stéphane Duproz (Managing Director of TelecityGroup) and Guillaume Plouin (Head of Cloud Computing Octo Technology).
Arriving on the scene several years ago, Cloud Computing has revolutionized the entire corporate information system. Capable of reducing investment costs while streamlining working methods, this concept has the power to modify high-level corporate strategy.
As 2010 unfolds, service providers are by and large confident in the demand among professionals for Cloud Computing, particularly on the part of large companies and small and medium-sized firms. The services now available are well structured and clearly defined; moreover, their maturation has led to improved model understanding.
The actors present reiterated the potential obstacles preventing companies from taking the first step towards Cloud Computing solutions: data security and confidentiality. Cloud Computing users actually feel that they’re losing control over their applications and data handling. These fears and hesitations are natural human reactions and can be overcome by Information Services Directors (ISDs) “preaching the gospel”.
The ISDs of major groups have shifted their positions however and are now poised as the most likely Cloud Computing consumers, as opposed to smaller and medium-sized firms, which as of very recently were still considered as having the best suited user profiles. Since the ISDs of large corporate structures are involved to a greater extent in implementing cost-cutting strategies, they have become more aware of their teams’ need to assume the role of project manager with respect to end users, whereas the Information Managers of smaller organizations still view Cloud Computing as a means for replacing their IT teams.
… and a subsequent Focus session on: “How will Cloud Computing change corporate computing?“
Hosted by Matthieu Hug (Co-founder of RunMyProcess), this roundtable comprised Eric Rousseau (CEO of VeePee), Miguel Membrado (CEO of Kimind Consulting), Stéphane Duproz (Managing Director of TelecityGroup), Stéphane Claret (CEO of PageOnDemand.com), Philippe Kalousdian (Associate with IS Lean Consulting) and Christophe Routhieau (Product Vice President of BlueKiwi).
Cloud Computing has today become a real revolution and offers solid opportunities for companies, especially the smallest of structures. All aspects of their operating system are outsourced, implying tremendous budget savings. It is critical however for IaaS suppliers (Telecity and VeePee) to announce their service level agreements (SLA) in order to showcase their robustness, along with their 100% secure service, as a means of building trust and responding to detractors. On the other hand, SaaS suppliers (Salesforce.com and PageOnDemand.com) might be inclined not to propose SLA, preferring instead to rely on a transparent view of their quality of service track record.
Cloud Computing provides:
- Extensibility and adaptability, doing away with the need to forecast resource allocations; Cloud Computing relieves companies of all tasks related to logistics, maintenance and updates while offering significant data storage capacity;
- Virtualization and mobility; no matter the physical locale, a simple Web browser and Internet connection are all that’s required to continue with one’s session and retrieve one’s documents;
- Cost sharing and reduction; consumption is managed via a sharing formula, thus eliminating the need for sizable investments in skilled personnel or in hardware with a very short life cycle.
Here lies the real opportunity for a small organization. This concept fits perfectly into the strategy of company development, competitiveness and durability. The servers become virtual, with companies only being billed for their actual use. It would be an oversimplification to limit the merits of Cloud Computing to a more attractive return on investment. The corporate information system is in essence boundless and can be accessed everywhere. Real-time collaboration of shared documents will be possible from any site in any country at any time. This technological revolution will provide companies with the means to compete with bigger players, whether in terms of investment, human resources, equipment, communication strategies or even interoperability capacity.
Could this market be a driving force behind European innovation?
The EuroCloud 2010 Convention closed with the award of several prizes. The list of prize winners attests to the growing prominence of vertical SaaS products and services.
The impetus here was all about recognizing new, original and practical solutions, which in SaaS mode serve as effective corporate management tools as well.
Maferme won the SaaS trophy, for a comprehensive solution applicable to supervising production and service-related activities intended for agricultural sector operators and farmers.
The jury’s special commendation was awarded to Faascape, a brokerage platform set up between consumers and producers of software functionalities. This project enables developers to offer Web services under a free licensing arrangement (Apache V2). The services created are then hosted within Cloud Computing-type infrastructure.
Lastly, the jury’s prize acknowledging the finest success of an SaaS solution went to Kyriba, leader in the area of SaaS cash flow management applications and a firm with an increasing international profile: a tribute to France’s SaaS achievements!
Hearty congratulations also go to the three other solutions nominated from among the 49 submissions:
Adelya, a customer loyalty and relations platform dedicated to brand names and based on the NFC (Near Field Communication) family of mobile and virtual technologies;
Qualys: Go Secure, capable of analyzing Websites using 4 different security tests. Once a site has successfully passed this scrutiny, a Qualys Secure seal is generated to reassure the clientele of e-commerce sites;
“We are the cloud“: Business Intelligence Solution”, Bime is able to connect a maximum number of data sources, whether installed in-house or from online services, with the possibility of mixing and matching. Bime provides users with immediate responses to any question regarding their activities.
Thanks are extended to Bime for its feedback on this daylong SaaS and Cloud Computing assembly, which can be downloaded here.
The full set of Convention presentations are available by clicking here.
