Many subscribers use widgets to extend their desktop. There are thousands of good-looking free widgets to download, with many more to come.

Cross-platform support for Windows, Mac and Linux with tools such as Yahoo’s Widget Engine, Adobe’s Flash-based AIR and Microsoft’s Silverlight make building widgets easy. They run outside the browser; just park widgets where you can keep an eye on them.

You can easily tap into this widget wave. Give your SaaS subscribers a free dynamic widget to show the live status of your SaaS service. Your subscribers get a good looking graphic they can put where they want. It is easy for your subscribers to keep an eye on your service status. They do not have to visit your special dashboard site.

Start with a simple service status widget

You can make a good start with a simple widget which shows the live status of your SaaS service.

Your subscribers benefit from real-time status updates. They do not have to keep the browser open or visit a specific page.

Where you get the status data depends on what you have easy access to. This could be from your own dashboard, your status RSS feed, or even your 3rd party uptime monitor.

Expose key data and events

Your next step is to expose selected data and events to your subscribers with a custom widget. I am sure there are key events and data your SaaS subscribers would like to follow.

An example is the “Opportunity Knocks” widget from Appirio. This connects to your Salesforce.com account and gives real-time event updates, such as when a deal closes. Using this widget it is easy to see what is going on.

It is easy for you to make your live service status visible with a widget or gadget. It shows you have trust in your service levels. This is vital for building trust, and trust is the most critical part of SaaS. So, why not get someone working on a simple status widget today?

If you have a widget or gadget that shows your live SaaS service status then please let me know via the comments. I would also like to hear about other widgets from SaaS ISVs that expose data and events.

Your SaaS subscribers expect you to make your live service status easy to find. If you are not open and honest on this point, then you take the risk your subscribers will think you have something to hide.

Trust is critical to winning at SaaS. Adding your live status to your Web site home page is a quick and easy way to build trust. Why then do so few SaaS ISVs show their live service status? Do they have something to hide?

Searching for status

I wanted to see if SaaS ISVs have taken this simple step. Do they show their live service status on their Web site home page?

I expected to visit each home page and see the live service status in an obvious place on the page. Maybe a simple graphic with a “System OK” tick or traffic light. I also expected to find an obvious link to a detailed dashboard.

I only wanted to look at the home page and not dashboards at special URLs. For example, trust.salesforce.com and status.netsuite.com are good, but can subscribers easily find then from the home page?

The 10 SaaS ISVs

In my non-scientific survey I looked at these 10 SaaS ISVs:

• Cornerstone OnDemand — Talent and performance management
• Eloqua — Demand creation and marketing automation
• Ketera — Spend management and procurement
• Klir — IT analytics (now AlertWorks from Extreme Networks)
• NetSuite — Integrated system for business management
• Oco — Business intelligence
• Salesforce.com — Customer relationship management
• SuccessFactors — Employee performance management
• QL2 — Market intelligence
• QuickArrow — Professional services automation

I was surprised that none of them showed live service status on their home page! They also did not find link to their dashboard (assuming, that is, they have one).

Live status builds trust

Do not make the same mistake as these 10 SaaS ISVs.

Your current and future SaaS subscribers want you to be proud of your live status. You are wasting a great opportunity if you hide your live status in a deep link (or worse, behind a login dialog).

Your live service status is a valuable asset, so add it to your Web site home page. While you are at it, also add a clear link to your status dashboard. Your SaaS competitors are missing a trick here. It should not be hard to show your live status. It will help you build trust, which is the most critical part of SaaS.

I would like to hear from someone at the 10 SaaS ISVs I surveyed to hear their view on this. Why did you decide to not include your live status? Please let us know in the comments.

For the others: if you show your live status on your Web site home page then well done! Please share this with other readers and add a link to your Web site in the comments.

My last post was about learning from Friday’s Amazon S3 downtime. The main point is that you must keep your subscribers informed. A live service status dashboard shows the key data your subscribers need.

Amazon did not have this for S3. Subscribers were left to guess if there was a problem, and when it would be fixed. They have now said they will release a live service status dashboard soon.

Lets have a quick look at some live service dashboards. Look what others are doing to get ideas to improve your own dashboard.

DoubleClick

Image: The DART live counters is a live service status dashboard for the DoubleClick ad network.

DoubleClick has a live service status dashboard for their ad network. This is the DART dashboard for their campaign platform. We can see the number of ads, the number of ads displayed and ad serving speed.

The main customers of DART are ad agencies and media firms. This might explain the dashboard design. For many B2B ISVs this type of design could be see as too “marketing”. The focus must be on the status and not the graphic design of the dashboard.

Image: Gomez is a real-time monitor for the DoubleClick network from Gomez, Inc.

The second example shows real-time monitors for the DoubleClick network from Gomez, Inc. The user first sees a world map. This shows the areas serviced by DoubleClick. The user then clicks on an area (USA here). The user now sees the number of monitors running and the current response times for that area.

I am also not sure that Flash is a good idea for a live service status dashboard. I had problems accessing the site from Firefox. Worked OK from IE, Safari and Opera.

Intuit QuickBase

Image: The Quickbase service status from Intuit allows key data to be taken in at a glance.

QuickBase is a set of workgroup tools to manage projects, sales etc. The QuickBase live service status dashboard is much simpler than DoubleClick’s. The key data can be taken in at a glance.

A nice extra is to show planned downtime. The right side shows service status over the past 30 days. Each planned and unplanned event is explained.

If you do not yet have a live status dashboard then this is a good place to start. Do not forget to add an RSS feed, though.

Salesforce.com

Image: Salesforce.com was pressured into offering a real-time service status dashboard by user complaints following a major outage.

Salesforce.com added the Trust live service status dashboard in 2006. Much like Amazon S3 today, Trust was a response to major downtime at the end of 2005 and the start of 2006. The status of each instance is clearly shown, plus details of the past 30 days. Clicking on a non-green status icon pops up details of the problem and the fix.

This dashboard has more detail than QuickBase. Again, there is no RSS feed of service status changes.

OpenDNS

Image: The OpenDNS live service status dashboard shows what can be done, with a strong overview of current service status, a history of recent events and a clear legend for the status icons.

The final example in this quick roundup is from OpenDNS, a free DNS resolution service. Their live service status dashboard shows what can be done. Current status is shown at the top of the page. Details from the last 30 days are in the body of the page. The status icons are clearly explained.

Clicking a non-green status icon pops up details of the problem. The wording is friendlier than on Salesforce.com. They are even signed by a real person, giving a more honest and open feel. There is a graphic of service use in the top right.

If OpenDNS is down the dashboard might not be found. A bookmark of the IP address helps for this case. Plus points for the clear link to a RSS feed to get service status updates.

Improve your dashboard

There are a number of ways to design your dashboard. I do not suggest you follow the design used by DoubleClick. The very clear and clear page from OpenDNS is a better model in my view. It shows the key data the users need. The downtime text is clear. The RSS feed is a strong plus point.

Your live service status dashboard must give a honest view of your SaaS system. Resist not showing all problems or downtime. Salesforce.com customers have reported downtime which the firm denied. This does not look good in the press and on blogs. You must be 100% open and honest in your dashboard. OpenDNS sign their explanation pop-ups. This builds trust. Follow this good idea on your dashboard.

Please share

I hope you liked this first quick look at some live service status dashboards and found some ideas here to improve your own dashboard. Please share your ideas to improve this vital aspect of SaaS for all B2B ISVs. Add a link to your dashboard in the comments.

Early on Friday the Amazon S3 cloud storage service crashed in a big way. Lots of websites, some very well known, could not access their data.

Amazon quickly found and fixed the problem. It was not a hardware or network problem as many assumed. Amazon said that the issue was a web service at one of their 3 data centres. The service checks all user requests and SSL links. It was slowed by a sudden peak in SSL requests. Non-SSL requests were blocked. The whole of Amazon S3 stopped.

During and after the problem customers talked about the lack of feedback from Amazon. For the future Amazon will release a service health dashboard. This is a good step and is required; but how would you have responded in the same situation?

You can learn from Amazon’s mistake. Take a look at how this fault was covered by blogs and in the press. How would a problem like this affect your SaaS platform? What will you do when it occurs (and it will, sooner or later)?

Keeping your subscribers informed

Many ISVs now rely on Amazon S3 and EC2 for their SaaS platform. Not all of these ISVs were prepared for a failure in Amazon S3.

Friday’s fault showed how vital it is to inform your subscribers when things go wrong. Amazon did not do this and their customers were upset. In a chain reaction, subscribers to the ISVs sites were also very upset.

What process do you have for when a similar problem occurs on your SaaS platform?

• Do you have monitors to report a change in service status at your back-end suppliers?
• Do you use a DNS redirect to show your subscribers a status page when the system is down?
• Do you have a way to inform logged-in subscribers of the problem?
• Do you run your status and monitoring on a totally independent platform to your main SaaS platform?
• Do you provide status information in human and machine readable forms?
• Do you make it easy for your subscribers to bring your status information into their existing management and support systems?
• Do you have a way to tell your subscribers the system is up again?

Its your problem now

With on-premise software you did not need to worry about all this. These were issues for customers and their IT groups to manage. This all changes with SaaS. You are now offering a service and not just the software. This is now your problem, not theirs.

Do not wait until your SaaS platform crashes. Amazon did not get away with not talking to its customers. Neither can you. Now is the time to plan and prepare!

Were you affected by Friday’s Amazon S3 downtime? If so, how did you tell your subscribers? How did you keep them up to date? How did they react to the downtime?

In his recent blog post, Philippe Botteri from Bessemer Venture Partners lists the “10 Laws of SaaS” from their recent invite-only event for CxOs. I agree with 9 of the 10 laws, but disagree with law 6:

6. One Datacentre. Invest early in backup and diisaster recovery, but stick to one data centre, at least until well after IPO.

How many data centres you have does not matter. What matters is your SLA, and there is no mention ofervice level agreements in the “10 Laws of SaaS”.

I th think this focus on the number of data centres is wrong. Customers only want to know the terms of your SLA, and whether you meet those terms when a problem occurs.

Your SLA: What you do when things go wrong

ISVs must answer hard questions on uptime and security from new SaaS customers. B2C ISVs with Web 2.0 sites might be able to avoid these for a while. B2B ISVs cannot.

A tough and fair SLA is vital to your success as an SaaS ISV. You must focus on your SLA from day 1. You will ask customers to trust you, your software and your systems. If your SLA is not credible (or worse, does not even exist), you will not make any sales.

Your SLA is vital to your success in a way your support offer was not with on-premise sales. Any SaaS problem is seen by all your subscribers. You have to react, and you have to react now. You do not have time to stop and think, just act. You have to do your thinking when you write your SLA, not when a problem turns up.

CEOs: Spend less time on golf and more on your SLA

Did you handle the problem well? The answer is up to your subscribers, and not you. What they expect is in your SLA. You might do a great job of fire-fighting, but if you do not do what your subscribers expect then you have a big problem.

Do not spend your time worrying about keeping your hunters and your farmers separate. Instead, make your CEO your SLA champion!

Your SLA is at the heart of your SaaS business. Ignore it and you will not be going to many invite-only events at Golf and Country Clubs in Silicon Valley.