Data storage is very reliable, but still has unexpected and catastrophic failures. That is why you backup your data. You must plan for when things go wrong. It will almost certainly not go wrong in the way you expected, but it will go wrong—sooner or later.

I have seen my fair share of data disasters over the years so I use a variety of media and archive cycles for local backups. For offsite backups I use Jungle Disk. Jungle Disk is a remote storage solution built on the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) for data storage and the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for block-level file updates and other services.

As a “production” user of Amazon Web Services, I follow with interest the increasing acceptance in using Amazon’s S3/EC2 as a SaaS platform. It now seems to be the default assumption that Web 2.0 startups will use Amazon’s platform from day 1 to save a lot of money. Of course, they are also happy to leverage Amazon’s reputation: “If it’s good enough for amazon.com then it is good enough for our users...”

This is all well and good—until the SaaS platform fails—and it will—and then it’s your fault!

…continue reading article “ISVs will always take the blame for SaaS platform downtime”

in 2008 your customers will more and more expect you to offer your business applications via SaaS—whether you are ready to or not.

A long time ago (or so it seems) a similar tale unfolded as customers forced ISVs to shift applications from character mode to GUIs.

The pressure for change did not come from the ISVs. I am sure you also had managers who thought GUIs were a backward step in productivity for business applications. Product managers often claimed “our users do not want a mouse.”

As customers became used to GUIs on their home PCs, they expected the business software they used in the office must also have a GUI—whether it really needs it or not.

The exact same process is being repeated today with the shift from installed software to SaaS.

…continue reading article “Customers using Web 2.0 applications are driving expectations for SaaS ISVs”

For day-to-day task planning and management I use a light version of David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) method.

Earlier this year I saw a reference on the ZDNet Office Evolution blog to a new SaaS GTD tool called Nozbe from apivision.com. I was reminded of it when lifehack.org included Nozbe in their 11 Top New Web Apps of 2007.

Over the holidays I thought I would give Nozbe a try and see if it could replace my current Microsoft Outlook solution. My initial impression of the site was positive, until I clicked on the Terms of Service link at the bottom of the Nozbe home page.

…continue reading article “Nozbe: SaaS GTD solution fails to build trust relationship with terms of service”

If you are trapped underwater the Rule of Threes says you can survive 3 minutes without air. Your top priority is clear and simple: find air to breathe, and quickly.

What should your top priority be when rebuilding your ISV to survive and profit from the shift to SaaS?

Reading press and analyst reports on SaaS you might think your top priority should be building a scalable back-end platform. Or, maybe your priority should be to select the right rich-client development tool.

These are certainly important issues, but they are not your top priority. Your top priority in rebuilding your ISV is to create your SaaS Trust Architecture. It really is as clear and simple as that.

…continue reading article “Why ISVs need a SaaS trust architecture to survive the shift to SaaS”

You know the shift to SaaS is life-threatening for your future as an ISV—you are doing something about it and reading ISV Survival! Still, you will need to convince colleagues who have not understood the risk your ISV is facing from Software as a Service.

A good place to start is Rick Chapman’s presentation: The SaaS Tsunami: An Analysis of why and how Software as a Service is changing the market.

…continue reading survival tip “3 Lies people tell themselves about why “SaaS does not matter””

Trapped underwater and no air to breathe? Lost in the mountains and no shelter for protection? Stranded in the desert and no water to drink? Stuck in a wasteland and no food to eat?

What should you do if you are in one of these life-threatening situations?

First thing: understand your situation and set priorities. This might seem obvious; sadly, the news regularly reminds us otherwise. People often set the wrong priority and the price they pay is their life.

…continue reading article “What connects ISVs, SaaS and survival?”

The ISV Survival blog will contain survival tips posted on a regular basis. These are shorter items that link to other websites, blog posts, news articles etc.

…continue reading survival tip “Hello world! The first survival tip on ISV Survival”

The ISV Survival blog will contain articles posted on a regular basis. These are longer original content items that cover specific topics related to SaaS and ISVs.

…continue reading article “Hello world! The first article on ISV Survival”