Hosted Business Applications and Cloud Computing

On-Premise solutions such as Business Class e-mail, Document  Management, Customer Relationship Management and other collaboration technologies are becoming increasing important as organizations need to increase productivity, and improve their interactions with colleagues or partners. At the same time, many organizations have been slow to adopt these emerging technologies do to a variety of inhibitors including cost and  lack of technical expertise.

Finally, nearly a decade after the first wave of online applications failed to meet user requirements for reduced cost, scalability, customizability and ease of use,  Small and Medium Businesses as well as Large Enterprises are adapting hosted applications to address critical business requirements.  Many key issues remain to be addressed in the industry, however as this new computing model begins to mature.  Key questions include:

• What are the new pricing models for SaaS (Software as a Service)? 
• How does an organization transition its sales model to address the SaaS model?
• What is the value proposition required for customers to upgrade from legacy solutions?
• Which customers are best suited to hosted vs. .on-premise or hybrid solutions?
• What kinds of partnerships are required to create, market and sell integrated solutions?
• What are the barriers to adoption and how can a vendor or service provider overcome these barriers through partnering or other business strategies.