Software as a Service Stocks Selling At Half-Price

4 comments

1. HurdyGurdy November 15, 2008 @ 11:02 pm

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   I think the VARs out there are waiting to hear what incentives they have to recommend this technology. Until the SaaS crowd explains to the small VAR how they can get rich on recommending such a technology, I don’t see it getting much traction. I am happy right now selling boxed product and Open License-type software, and have no clue how my profit is going to increase selling SaaS. This is their biggest problem, and if they are trying to take marketshare away from the small reseller they have a very, very tough road to travel. We assume this is the case unless advised otherwise…

2. The VAR Guy November 16, 2008 @ 3:10 pm

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   HurdyGurdy: Here’s one example of where things are heading … In the open source world, many of SugarCRM’s VARs are hosting the software and competing with SugarCRM’s own hosting offering.

   Now, contrast that with trying to either sell or re-sell Microsoft Exchange. The VAR Guy thinks hosted email already is a commodity…

3. HurdyGurdy November 16, 2008 @ 4:04 pm

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   When you read the fine print on Microsoft’s hosted Exchange solution, you need to pay some complicated schedule to MSFT for offering these services to your customers – You just can’t buy the server license and CALs and run it in your own datacenter. We wanted to do this but will not allow any hosting company to know the name of my customers, as there is no reason to let them know my customer’s name. Hence we purchased IPSwitch IMail and are now hosting 1,200 POP accounts. We will not give up account control as this leads to giving up profits. We asked a presenter of Websense if it was possible to sign up a customer, without Websense knowing the name, address, and email address of the enduser. Boy oh Boy the guy looked like a deer caught in the headlights, as he didn’t understand the question. There is no reason to give away your customer database, so don’t do it..

4. The VAR Guy November 16, 2008 @ 4:13 pm

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   HurdyGurdy: You’ve caught The VAR Guy’s attention on a Sunday, which isn’t easy to do when NFL football is about to kick off.

   You bring up a HUGE issue: Most SaaS vendors are going to want to control VARs’ customer lists. Read the fine print, as HurdyGurdy points out.