Actually talking to people makes a nice change from written correspondence. A month or so ago I took part in a really fun live radio show with a bunch of SaaS accounting vendors – following on from that show (and totally due to the good things the participants had to say rather than anything I did), I’ve been asked to run another one.
I’m not big on writing about myself so I thought I’d copy the least “Ben-centric” parts of the release announcing the show. I’m really looking forward to it – Rackspace are obviously hosters of choice of a number of SaaS companies. Intuit are doing really interesting things with the Intuit Partner Platform (more on that in the weeks ahead), Apprenda are helping software companies actually make the transition to SaaS while Singer Lewak are actually at the coal-face helping their clients move from desktop software to SaaS. All-in-all it looks like it’s going to be a real interesting show.
New York, May 20th, 2009 – Based on the volume of listener response to its first panel on SaaS (Software as a Service) for small businesses – including much Twitter discussion at #Follow Friday, #journchat and more — VoiceAmerica Talk Radio Network’s “Superstars of PR” show (www.voiceamerica.com) has asked ‘Cloud Evangelist’ Ben Kepes to moderate a second show on the subject. Titled ‘Kepes in the Clouds,’ the program will air live Thursday, May 28, 2009, at 10 a.m. ET.
Confirmed guests include Alex Chriss, business leader, Intuit partner platform, Robert Green, partner at accounting firm Singer Lewak; Sinclair Schuller, CEO of SaaS platform developer Apprenda; Pat Matthews from Rackspace and Cindy Rakowitz, VoiceAmerica broadcasting veteran and spokesperson for SaaS bookkeeping tool IAC-EZ.
Global SaaS revenues are expected to soar 22% this year, from $6.6 billion in 2008 to $8 billion in 2009, according to a recent study by research giant Gartner, Inc., and to double to $16 billion by 2013.
Amongst home-based small businesses alone, SaaS use doubled in 2008 –growing 92% to 2.3 million — reported another research firm Access Markets International. AMI said that business productivity tools – including accounting software – represent one of three key category segments contributing to SaaS growth.
Indeed, Forbes.com columnist Sramana Mitra has dubbed the SaaS business as “recession-proof” due to its popularity with small businesses.
The SaaS revolution has entered the forefront of the small business marketplace due to the need for low-cost solutions through which businesses could obtain rights to use software as needed (versus the costly alternative of licensing all devices with all applications). The marketing and branding efforts collectively put into this category have turned SaaS products into household names, Kepes noted. “Today’s small business owners might not be familiar with the term SaaS, but are likely to recognize products like FreshBooks, IAC-EZ, Zoomerang and Shoeboxed”, Kepes said. “SaaS users will also appreciate that many of these brands “integrate” with each other. offering the convenience of multiple business services in one place, as well as discounted monthly package rates.”
SaaS products offer many advantages to small business owners: the ability to integrate with others, access from multiple locations, upgrade without a new purchase, and online storage for data protection. They really are one of the best things for small businesses.
I look forward to hearing the next show!
Congrats Ben!
I doubt I’ll still be burning the midnight oil during the live stream (2 am NZDT?) but hope to catch it later on in the day.
All the best.