The VAR Guy

The Google Apps Marketplace cat is out of the bag, and software developers seem to be tripping over themselves to get listed. A few software companies have been shouting the reasoning behind their marketplace moves from the rooftops, calling it the herald of the emerging software as a service (SaaS) market. Here’s a roundup of what some of these companies have to say for themselves.

We knew Google had been making nice with software developers – and now we know why. The Google Apps Marketplace has just launched, giving ISVs a way to integrate their products with Google Apps and sell them to a huge-and-growing customer base. Intrigued?

Account creation is such a pain. That’s why Zoho, the browser-based, enterprise-focused productivity suite that competes with Google Apps, today rolls out integration with Facebook Connect, turning the ubiquitous social network into a new market for their product. Here’s why resellers should care.

Grab a good seat while you can. The online office suite market is about to get a bit more crowded. Oracle, it appears, is working on Oracle Cloud Office — which will potentially compete with Google Apps, Microsoft Office Web, Zoho and a range of other SaaS productivity applications. Here’s some perspective.

You read that right: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into cloud computing, trying to figure out what the very real security and privacy concerns could mean for consumers and what they have to do about it. The real trouble is that if the FTC hasn’t made itself entirely clear on what “cloud computing” even is, and resellers could be in trouble if the government decides to legislate and regulate SaaS (software as a service) applications like Salesforce.com or Zoho under that umbrella. Here’s the scoop.

Google had a heck of a 2009, kicking off with the launch of their authorized reseller program and wrapping up with the announcement that the City of Los Angeles was going to Google Apps. Last year also marked the launch of several new technologies under the Google banner, including Voice, Chrome — the browser and the OS — and Wave. Later today, I’m speaking with Jeff Ragusa, the Google Apps channel manager to get some perspective on what these technologies meant for resellers in 2009, and what VARs can expect in the year ahead. Here’s some of what I want to know more about.

I’m hearing rumors that Apple is gearing up to announce SaaS (software as a service) versions of its iWork and iLife productivity suites in the cloud at Macworld 2010 2009, which opens its doors tomorrow. If the buzz turns out to be true, not only will the secretive Cupertino giant offer the usual document creation software, but also a cloud version of their renowned iMovie editing software. Here’s what it could mean for resellers.

When I recently wrote about Los Angeles’ move to Google Apps, I mentioned Zoho as an enterprise-grade SaaS suite competitor worth considering. Still, more options loom. A prime example: HyperOffice, which provides a hosted collaboration suite aimed to compete with Microsoft’s offerings in the SMB space. Here are the details.

Zoho, the SaaS provider and Google Apps competitor that offers online office suites and other business applications, has launched Zoho Recruit. The VAR Guy wonders: Will solutions providers use Recruit to fill their own vacancies?

MySQL, the open source database that Oracle may soon own, has made the leap into Amazon Web Services. Indeed, Amazon says MySQL has come to the cloud in the form of new Relational Database Service (RDS). Plus, Amazon is dropping cloud prices across the board and putting in new high-memory instance options on the Amazone Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platform. Here’s why VARs should care.

When I read The VAR Guy’s recent blog about Zoho’s growing SaaS partner program, it got me thinking: Do solutions providers whose livelihood is centered around developing and delivering business solutions to their customers, really believe that SaaS (software as a service) partner programs are good for their businesses?

The Google Apps Reseller program received plenty of buzz a few weeks ago. But software as a service (SaaS) rival Zoho is making noise with its Zoho Alliance Partner Program (ZAPP) — and attacking bigger brands like Microsoft and Salesforce.com along the way. Here’s the scoop from The VAR Guy.

When Google launched the Google Apps Reseller Program this week, the effort sounded strangely familiar to The VAR Guy. The reason: Zoho, a nimble Google Apps rival, has a similar effort called the Zoho Alliance & Partner Program. The VAR Guy reached out to Raju Vegesna, a Zoho evangelist, for some perspective. Here’s what Vegesna had to say about resellers promoting cloud-based applications.

Perhaps Zoho, the SaaS (software as a service) alternative to Google Apps, isn’t such a market underdog. Zoho now has 250 employees, expects to be profitable in 2009, and is embarking on an open source middleware strategy, The VAR Guy has learned. Our resident blogger spoke with Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho parent AdventNet, for more details.