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Conference Sessions
 SaaS: Best Practices and PitfallsTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm Software-as-a-Service applications are often cheaper, more reliable and better performing than their in-house alternatives. Many SaaS firms started as Application Service Providers relegated to niche applications like payroll, and sold to small businesses unable to run their own infrastructure. Today big business depends on heavyweights like Salesforce.com, ADP, Taleo, RightNow and Netsuite for mission-critical parts of their business. But embracing SaaS can be a challenge. IT managers are giving up control and visibility. There may be privacy and regulatory issues. Reporting and enforcing service levels is difficult and different. Using real-world examples from some of the largest SaaS firms in operation today this session looks at the best practices - and common pitfalls- of moving significant business processes to a SaaS model."
Compliance, Regulation, and On-Demand ApplicationsTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm Modern business is heavily regulated, from hiring and staffing guidelines to compliance to financial tracking. An emerging benefit of SaaS models is that the SaaS provider has already passed the audit. This session looks at compliance and regulation in the context of on-demand applications, revealing some of the benefits - and risks - of outsourcing business processes to a SaaS provider.
SMB SaaS: Levelling the Playing FieldTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm SaaS puts small startups on the same footing as their larger competitors. At first, so-called ""small business" SaaS firms found that enterprise teams were their early adopters. But a new wave of simple, easy-to-use SaaS tools tied into the way smaller companies do business is changing this. This panel looks at the next generation of SaaS for SMB and how it's undermining the IT advantage of larger firms." Moderator - Alistair Croll, Principal Analyst, BitCurrent Alistair is a senior analyst at research firm Bitcurrent, covering emerging web technologies, networking, and online applications. Prior to Bitcurrent, Alistair co-founded Coradiant, a leader in online user monitoring, as well as research firm Networkshop. He has held product management positions with 3Com Corporation, Primary Access, and Eicon Technology. Alistair contributes to industry events such as Interop and Web2Expo, and writes for a variety of online publications including GigaOm. He is the author of numerous articles on Internet performance and security, and co-author of Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Applications from Prentice-Hall.
Speaker - Bill Lucchini, VP and GM , Intuit Quickbase
Speaker - Mike McDerment, CEO, Fresbooks
SaaS Chaos: Managing the IslandsTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm Even small organizations have dozens of SaaS relationships. With new portals and tools being launched every day, and more and more employees using them, the SaaS explosion is a recipe for disaster. This session looks at the challenges of running multiple SaaS portals across an organization, from reporting and management to single-sign-on and administration." Moderator - Alistair Croll, Principal Analyst, BitCurrent Alistair is a senior analyst at research firm Bitcurrent, covering emerging web technologies, networking, and online applications. Prior to Bitcurrent, Alistair co-founded Coradiant, a leader in online user monitoring, as well as research firm Networkshop. He has held product management positions with 3Com Corporation, Primary Access, and Eicon Technology. Alistair contributes to industry events such as Interop and Web2Expo, and writes for a variety of online publications including GigaOm. He is the author of numerous articles on Internet performance and security, and co-author of Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Applications from Prentice-Hall.
Using SaaS to Make Good Products GreatTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm On-demand applications can make a good product great. By tying an online software component to a real-world product, innovative companies are giving themselves an edge in the marketplace. This panel looks at the opportunities that SaaS offers makers of traditional products, what works, and what doesn't. Moderator - Alistair Croll, Principal Analyst, BitCurrent Alistair is a senior analyst at research firm Bitcurrent, covering emerging web technologies, networking, and online applications. Prior to Bitcurrent, Alistair co-founded Coradiant, a leader in online user monitoring, as well as research firm Networkshop. He has held product management positions with 3Com Corporation, Primary Access, and Eicon Technology. Alistair contributes to industry events such as Interop and Web2Expo, and writes for a variety of online publications including GigaOm. He is the author of numerous articles on Internet performance and security, and co-author of Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Applications from Prentice-Hall.
Platform-as-a-Service: Building Business Processes in the CloudTuesday, November 30 - 4:00 pm–4:00 pm Cloud computing is often referred to as hardware-as-a-service, with the openness and complexity that implies. At the other end of the spectrum, SaaS doesn't offer much room for customization. But there's a middle ground, where providers offer an on-demand platform, often with its own coding and conventions. This class looks at how companies can build custom applications that run in the cloud, letting the platform provider worry about operations and data integration. |
