I've been reading a lot about Software as a Service (SaaS) recently and find myself getting quite excited by the whole business model.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced 'sass') is a model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet. By eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer's own computer, SaaS alleviates the customer's burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support.

There is a bit more to it than this of course. The description above could be of application service provider models that failed to take off in the past or current more successful hosted solutions. SaaS has some is more than these. Multi tenancy is a key feature, it's not just the same software that you would install on your network but on a remote server. Ease of ownership, ease of use, rental model, no recurring software maintenance costs and only one vendor (everything is wrapped up in one monthly fee).

The idea is particularly attractive in these troubled economic times for many reasons;

• there are no hardware costs
• no ongoing internal IT support costs
• no set up costs (a true SaaS model has self sign up)
• try before you buy
• predictable recurring costs
• scalability (down as well as up)
• and on and on

We have had an offering based on the Pepperio platform (not quite SaaS yet but getting there) for some time but we've not really bought into the model from a sales perspective. We have been more focussed on our main client base.

These days, however, even the size of client we have been more used to dealing with should consider SaaS as a provision model for their WCM implementation. The functional capabilities of the SaaS WCM is no different to the on premise alternative, it is easier to scale, there are no upgrade projects to finance, no technical staff to recruit and retain, no web development company to try and contact whenever you want to do something simple and we can see great examples everywhere of SaaS success.

Jarrod Gingras at CMSWatch has written an article discussing the trend in SaaS WCM provision for 2009. In his article he talks about how the SaaS market for WCM has grown over the last year and predicts further growth next year. One point he makes interested me particularly. He talks about the vendors route to market - via partners. He points out that many of the potential partners are not geared up for the ongoing support element of the service which customers expect and that, therefore, buyers should be careful who they buy from and vendors who they partner with. It made me think (in a gloating, boastful kind of way) that Mimtech are ideal partners for such services as ongoing support is a core competence for us, it's what we have done since we started (and actually for a long time before that).

For the last year we have had such a partnership with Pepperio under the brand PepperSmoothie and so far so good. Now with Pepperio's future a little uncertain due to acquisition (this all sounds a bit familiar) we are in talks with other providers most notably with Wildfire Technology Ltd who will launch their very impressive SaaS WCM early next year. SaaS as a model is gaining enthusiasm all the time, particularly in the US and it's now the right time for many organisations to look at this lower (predicable) cost solution that puts the authors in real control of their web sites. Roll on 2009.

http://www.wildfire-it.com

We've always played on the fact the we are vendor agnostic and independent from the WCM companies we partner with. Sometimes it's not an easy space to occupy with some vendors being less than comfortable with the arrangement due to numerous perceived 'conflicts of interest' - mostly brought about by their paranoia and blind faith in their 'best of breed' product.

For us, becoming agnostic simply made good sound commercial sense. Afterall, when we started trading almost three years ago we were a 100% Obtree C4 house and what with its end of life in sight (there, someone finally said what everyone knows!) if we hadn't adapted, our own end of life would be fast approaching too.

Now we're actively supporting clients with WCM solutions and developments in Immediacy, Sitecore, EpiServer, Pepperio as well as RedDot and good old soon to be departed (oops, said it again) Livelink WCMPS/Obtree C4. 

Simon has blogged many times about our WCM to WCM Migration offering, MIM:Switch. It's very exciting for us that the MIM:Switch toolset is now being used in anger for the first time at a major UK organisation to assist in their move away from Livelink WCMPS/Obtree C4. Which solution are they moving to? They/we don't know yet but that's not important... we're vendor agnostic! 

The PEPPER smoothie website went live on Friday 16th May.

So what is PEPPER smoothie?...

Simply put, PEPPER smoothie is on demand web content management for business websites with zero upfront cost. Supplied via the Software-as-a-Service business model users simply pay a fixed monthly service fee to use our solution, built in Pepperio by Mediasurface (or should that be Alterian?), to manage their business website.

And what of the creative process talked about in previous posts?...

Let's just say that the website features juggling balls, spinning plates and a first for the sector (well, at least I've not seen one used elsewhere before), a Video MC - go take a look at http://www.peppersmoothie.com.

Today Mediasurface announced that their board has agreed to sell the entire stock to Alterian plc. A notification on the Mediasurface web site reads...

'Recommended Offer by Alterian plc for Mediasurface plc

The boards of Alterian and Mediasurface are today pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended offer by Alterian to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Mediasurface.'

The notification goes on to assure Mediasurface customers (which includes users of Morello, Immediacy and Pepperio) that their service will be unchanged.

Mimtech look forward to working with the new enterprise. 

I'm off on the next stage of the creative process that is the making of our PEPPER smoothie web site. Not Paris this time but New York, as I said before, "Don't you just love the creative process?"

Quick plug here for Continental Airlines... do yourself a favour if you're ever flying from Edinburgh to NYC like I did yesterday and fly direct, no more having to fly via London (who needs T5 anyway?), Amsterdam or Paris.

Checked into the hotel mid afternoon, just check out that view from the bedroom, had a quick swim in the 27th floor pool then headed down to Dubé Juggling on Broadway - great shop. Don't worry, it will all become obvious when the new website goes live shortly.

It's now Wednesday morning and I'm heading out to John's Diner for breakfast before the short stroll over to Grand Central to catch the train north to Tarrytown where I'm hooking up again with Carlo Pelligrini over the Hudson in Nyack where we're going to be shooting video on Thursday.

Enough for just now, I'm getting hungry and John's Diner is supposed to be one of THE places to have breakfast in Manhattan. I'll post my review later.

We have some very exciting plans for the PEPPER smoothie website including a video driven navigation engine - seeing is believing and so Web3.0...

the creative process has taken me to Paris - don't you just love the creative process? -  for a few days to hook up with Carlo Pelligrini from the Juggling Matrix. Carlo is one of the very best motivational speakers in the world using the art of juggling as a metaphore for business change. We spent the whole day yesterday storyboarding, scripting and shooting talkthrough videos for the website and even managed to find time for breakfast, lunch and dinner with lots of coffee and a few beers along the way - well, it was warm enough to sit outside so it seemed a shame to let Paris go to waste.

You don't often get the chance to see this process in action so - and just to prove to the guys back in Glasgow that I've been working -  here's a sneak peak at one candidate talkthrough for the home page - can't wait to see the professional shoot and the transparent implementation.

With SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) set to be the big thing in the coming months I can confirm that we will soon be launching PEPPER smoothie - our full feature WCM offering in partnership with Mediasurface.

As they say in the USA, "we've just got a couple more ducks to line up" including a quick trip to Paris (life sucks!) and things will be ready to go - watch this space for more.

Apparently it is fashionable for commentators to make predictions for the next year. So I thought I might try and predict what is in store for Mimtech.

1. In January we have new staff joining us (not a prediction, I have already hired them) so I expect there to be more going on in the office and having to make tea less often
2. We have some training lined up in different WCM platforms for most of the techie guys so I predict a lot more geek speak and jargon being bandied around
3. We will launch a new offering in January but I won't spoil the surprise just yet, we will be getting a lot of attention and new and exciting business in the New Year
4. I will be more tired (my wife is having our second child next week)
5. Obtree users will start to consider their investment a bit more carefully
6. Mimtech will land our first big implementation in New Zealand early next year, this is already at a fairly advanced stage in the sales process
7. Lots of new processes, as we grow this is inevitable if a bit dull
8. Less chatter about Web 2.0 and more real value add development work being done in general
9. More community activity in the WCM space we operate in
10. Software as a service replacing Web  2.0 as the buzz phrase of the moment
11. Uses have more control over the presentation layer
    
12. Celtic and Rangers striking a deal to become one club - Glasgow United. Or maybe an end to world poverty and conflict. Or Microsoft bringing out some bug free software. Or Apple releasing a product that doesn't start with i. Obese being the new size zero. I appear to have run out of sensible ideas.
    

I have been reading a lot about software as a service recently and find it an increasingly attractive proposition. The idea is simple. An organisation can get access to software in a way that meets their needs and budget without having the extra costs of buying the software. They get regular upgrades and can increase the functionality of their offering as they need. Costs are more predictable and manageable. Generally there are no hardware costs and training requirements are reduced. What's on offer is everything from office applications to content management systems.

I am particularly impressed by an offering from one of our partners, Mediasurface, which I was given a tour of this week. The product is a hosted wcm called Pepperio and we liked it so much that we bought the company as Victor Kyam used to say. Well we didn't actually buy the company but we have bought into the whole Pepperio offering and  plan to add it to our portfolio in a new and exciting way! Sorry, can't say any more at the moment but in a typical piece of Scottish planning, the lauch of our new offering will involve Hogmany and alcohol! In the meantime, check out Pepperio at http://www.pepperio.com/.