The VAR Guy

Even Google knows that people are impatient when it comes to search — and that goes double if you’re looking for just the right SaaS application to meet your needs. That’s where Rackspace AppMatcher comes in: a channel-focused offering designed to hook SaaS vendors up with their ideal subscriber and vice versa. Here’s the story.

The VAR Guy mentioned AppMatcher, currently in beta, in passing, but a closer look shows that Rackspace is claiming 1,000 apps to 100,000 signed-up businesses. On both the developer and customer ends, you choose industry, title, budget, and number of seats, and matches get put in your “Rackspace Locker,” a collaboration platform giving visibility into the app review process.

It’s not hard to see how this is a wild departure from the Force.com platform, the Google Apps Marketplace, or even models like the Apple iTunes App Store. Rather than browse an ever-growing list, Rackspace does the heavy lifting and matches. It sounds a little like eHarmony.com in the cloud, you’re likely not far off.

There’s no doubt that AppMatcher is an intriguing play from Rackspace, a major hosting industry player. The real question is whether or not customers are willing to trade the freedom to browse for the convenience of having the cream of the crop ready for you.

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