Unified Communications as SaaS: What Service Providers Need to Consider to Be Effective.

In recent white paper published by CommuniGate Systems, they’ve identified seven important criteria that service providers should keep in mind when making their decisions about investments in a Unified Communication SaaS delivery platform. 1) Modular class of services. 2) Flexible Web 2.0-delivery client support. 3) Most up-to-date technology etc. "The largest un-tapped market for UC is the SMB sector, and SaaS makes the most economic sense for these customers; a huge opportunity for any service provider." said Jon R. Doyle, VP Business Development, CommuniGate Systems.

VCSonline Announces Microsoft Project Integration with their VPMi Professional SaaS Resource and Project Management Software.

VCSonline, creator of online project management software recently announced the availability of a .Net web-service that allows Microsoft Project 2003/2007 users to synchronize with its VPMi Professional SaaS project management software. "The more we studied the administrative costs associated with managing projects, the more we realized the need for a familiar, off-line, and ubiquitous project scheduling capability to compliment our web-based PPM service. Obviously, with nearly 90% of the desktop scheduling market, that meant Microsoft Project integration.”said VCSonline co-founder Nick Matteucci.

Xero-ing in on Christmas.

In recent news, Xero has announced that it will release the global version of their award winning online accounting product on 22nd Dec., 2008. Xero is running successfully in Britain and Australia. The global version will feature configurable sales tax engine, allowing it to adapt to virtually every small business in the world. “We were looking at an early 2009 release, so we’re actually ahead of schedule,” said Lucy Hempseed, Xero communications advisor.

Zero-Day Web Malware Blocks Surpass Yearly Average.

ScanSafe, the pioneer and leading provider of SaaS web security has reported that the rate of zero-day malware blocks increased in November to 26% as compared to October’s 16%. "Throughout November, attackers were more intent than ever on ensuring the malware they used would bypass traditional security measures," said Mary Landesman, senior security researcher at ScanSafe. "Given the dynamic and costly nature of today's Web threats, real-time scanning of Web traffic before it reaches the enterprise is more essential than ever."

Strategic Planning Powerhouse, DemographicsNow.com, Introduces First Tactical Offering of Software as a Service.

The leading provider of geographic business intelligence technology, SRC LLC recently announced the ability to generate direct marketing business contacts lists using its popular DemographicsNow.com. This new feature will help business planners and marketing managers in various sectors including media advertising, retail, restaurants etc.

Compleat Launches Channel Programme to target E-Procurement Mid-Market.

In recent news, Compleat Software Ltd, a provider of purchase to pay (P2P) e-procurement and expense solutions has announced the launch of UK channel programme to help IT resellers target the mid-market with P2P e-procurement software. The company plans to release its SaaS version in early 2009. “E-procurement software can be seen as an extension to accounting solutions and offers itself as a spend control lifeline for accounting customers as the recession worsens.” said Neil Robertson, Compleat CEO.

Infusionsoft Adds $7.9 Million in Series B Financing to Fuel Continued Growth.

Infusionsoft, the provider of marketing automation software for SMBs announced the completion of its Series B Funding round, cashing in $7.9 Million. The round was led by vSpring, Utah. The Infusionsoft Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model allows Infusionsoft users to enjoy quick implementation, increased security, increased productivity and price stability as well as regular updates without requiring any external maintenance.

nCircle Signs New PCI Partnerships.

nCircle, the automated security and compliance auditing solutions announced four new PCI partnerships; Datassurant of Reston, Virginia, Sacramento Technology Group LLC of Folsom, California, American Technology Corporation (ATC) of St Louis, Missouri and RavenEye of Tampa, Florida. "Our business is built on the quality of solutions we have provided to our customers in the retail and convenience store markets," said Shekar Swamy, President of ATC. "Retailers must be PCI compliant and we chose the nCircle PCI service to address this need as a critical component of our Omega family of compliance solutions."

Fortent Expands IBM Relationship by Joining its Software as a Service Specialty.

Fortent Expands IBM Relationship by Joining its Software as a Service SpecialtyIt was announced that Fortent has joined the IBM SaaS Speciality to deliver new anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and fraud systems as cloud services to leading large-and mid-sized financial institutions around the world. "Fortent's commitment to SaaS can provide its customers with a powerful way to reduce implementation costs while rapidly deploying their compliance solutions." said Dave Mitchell, director of strategy, IBM ISV & Developer Relations.

Intermedia Announces Business Productivity Suite, Only Hosted Bundled Productivity Offering to Include Outlook and OCS 2007.

Intermedia, the provider of email, collaboration and productivity SaaS solutions announced the launch of its Business Productivity Suite (BPS). This is the first hosted solution including from Microsoft Exchange 2007, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 (OCS) and Microsoft Outlook 2007 as a bundled offering. "Hosted OCS from Intermedia has really helped us communicate and collaborate more efficiently," said Diana Umarova of MGN Capital, a New York-based financial services consulting firm and an Intermedia client. "Its tight integration with hosted Exchange to provide real-time presence information within Outlook makes our hosted Exchange service far more powerful effective than Exchange on its own."

Plantronics Deploys Salesforce CRM for Better Communication and Collaboration.

The enterprise cloud computing giant, Salesforce.com has announced that Plantronics Inc is rolling out Salesforce CRM to its distribution partners around the globe to foster greater communication and collaboration for increased partner success. "Our contact management system needed an upgrade. We were looking for a way not only to better manage our contacts, but also to improve our relationship with partners and our sales, service and marketing operations," said Ed Romson, director, Global Customer Care at Plantronics.

ProspX Secures $6.5 Million in Series A Funding.

Prospx Inc has announced that it has secured $6.5 Million in Series A funding. Adams Capital Management led the round. Prospx is a developer of collaboration and automation applications for the commercial insurance industry.  'Our goal is to improve many of the inefficiencies that exist in today's commercial insurance industry,' said Todd Young, CEO of ProspX. 'With the support of Adams Capital Management and our talented team, we can execute on our vision of enabling insurance entities to grow and profit from the opportunities automation can provide to this expanding market.'