What is Software as a Service : Definition. Realizing SaaS. From the Provider Perspective. The New Era Of Software As A Service MGB 2003

Transcription

1 The New Era Of Software As A Service What is Software as a Service : Definition Simply put: Software deployed as a hosted service and accessed over the Internet. Francesco Albano Technical Evangelism Manager Developer & Platform Evangelism Microsoft as opposed to: on premise 2 categories of SaaS applications are getting the most attention: (a) Enterprise LOB SaaS (e.g. Salesforce.com) (b) Web 2.0 Consumer SaaS (e.g. FlickR) This said, not all SaaS are equal: Degree of customization per user Scalability of the service Enterprise / Consumer Monetization model Sales model (direct / indirect) Realizing SaaS Application Architecture Business Model Software Services Operational Structure From the Buyer Perspective From the Provider Perspective Subscription (monthly, e.g. Salesforce.com) Transaction based pricing (success- based, e.g. PayPal) Usage based pricing (Cell phone limited all-you you-can- eat) Ad-based revenue (success-based, Pay per click, e.g. AdCenter) 2 recurring questions (no clear answers yet): How do I compensate my sales people? How does SaaS impact Contracts, Liabilities and SLAs?

2 products that have a low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers - if the distribution channel is large enough (paraphrased from wikipedia) SaaS and The Long Tail Dozens of markets of millions or millions of markets of dozens? $ / Customer Your Large Customers What if you lower the costs of consumption (i.e. lower barrier to entry) and you also lower cost of operations Your Typical Customers New (Currently) addressable Your non market addressable >> current Customers market # of Customers Selling enterprise software like ring tones As a provider Must leverage economy of scale Shared infrastructure From Evaluation... Reduce human intervention No Direct Sales (but referrals and breadth marketing) Self Provisioning Self Customization Delegate Administration Automatic billing To Try before you buy... From Customization...

3 To Configuration... From reliance on internal IT... To SLAs... Contract

4 Monetisation User Experience counts MTV.COM (1996) business opportunity CSS FLASH 4.0 AJAX HTML 3.2 DHTML SSL 3.0 FLASH 1.0 REAL AUDIO HTML 1.0 MTV.COM (2005) Monetization Scheme matters Minimize human intervention For the Enterprise No upfront perpetual license cost Finance people like predictable recurring cost For the ISV Subscription model provides better predicability of revenue streams self provisioning self-customisation referrals & breadth marketing automatic billing delegated administration

5 SaaS Vendors Enterprise Purchase Long eval process Try before you buy Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) Try before you buy economies of scale Deploy Customisation Configuration No-code config Monetization Manage Reliance on internal IT SLAs SLA infrastructure Minimal intervention Microsoft SaaS On-Ramp Program Target Audience Early stage ISVs hosting applications for SaaS. Offer Lower Price SKU available to ISVs for a maximum of 1 year. Maximum Allowable SKUs Windows Server Standard Edition Licenses for up to 8 CPUs Microsoft SQL Server Standard Edition Licenses for up to 2 CPUs - When ISV hosted configuration grows larger than above configuration, ISV has to move to regular SPLA pricing After 1 year from sign - up or the program ends, whichever comes earlier, ISV has to move to regular SPLA pricing Price 20% of SPLA List Price US: November Period April EMEA: November April APJ and LA : February 2007 April 2008 Requirement ISVs providing or plan to provide SaaS applications hosting services for software as a service (SaaS), and own the Intellectual Property (IP) of the hosted application Sign up the SPLA agreement Registered the Microsoft Partner Program, if not registered ISVs solution must fit the defined configuration No more than 8 CPU licenses of any edition of Microsoft Windows Server No more than 2 CPU licenses of any edition of Microsoft SQL Server How ISVs to apply for the SaaS On-Ramp Program? Submit the application form at saasonramp (site available from November 6). Once ISV submits the application, Microsoft will validate eligibility and will send contract information once validated.

6 It s s not a hype it s s very real SaaS concepts have been there for a while it s s the Internet effect that gives that huge boost SaaS Same business drivers, new architecture Microsoft Platform is very capable of being a SaaS Delivery Platform Microsoft is publishing architectural guidance for the key SaaS challenges For buyers, ISVs and hosters For customers SaaS potentially changes the way you acquire software For vendors SaaS opens new opportunities for monetising the long tail But only if you can control costs Multi-tenant tenant architectures are key 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date e of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.