IBM Collaborates With eFuture to Deliver China's First Software-as-a-Service Solution for Retail Distribution Industry.

IBM and e-future Information Technology Inc have launched the first SaaS solution for the retail distribution industry in China today. The two companies have successfully deployed the solution at selected Beijing Wangfujing Department Store Group ("Wangfujing Group") stores in Beijing, one of the largest retail groups in China. "The ability to manage an efficient supply chain is a prerequisite for success in the retail industry," said Mr. Changxin Liu, Director of IT Department/President Assistance, Wangfujing Group.

Launch of Knowledgeworker SAAS Solution.

Datum International Ltd has announced the launch of Knowledgeworker Enterprise Content Management (ECM) SaaS offering. The offering can be accessed on a low cost rental basis, enabling rapid return on investment. This model allows SMBs and individuals to enjoy a global access to their data without having to built an expensive IT infrastructure.

Contactual Available on NEC 's SaaS Application Store.

Contactual, the provider of On-demand contact center solutions has announced the availability of its solution for NEC’s ApplicationsNet. The latter is an integrated SaaS application store and will help meet the needs of its customers via single portal. “The rise in popularity and implementation of SaaS-based offerings is a clear indication that SMBs are truly embracing an innovation that enables cost savings, while ensuring a high performance alternative to traditional in-house technologies,” said Mansour Salame, CEO and Chairman of Contactual.

EDA Soon to Launch e-DMC, a Free Web-Based DMC Service for Meeting and Event Planners.

E-DestinAccess (EDA) has launched e-DMC, free web based DMC service for meeting and event planners. It is based on the SaaS model and directly connects planners and suppliers while providing the tools, resources to facilitate the event planning business. By cutting cost on the administrative side, the spending power can be shifted to other activities such as entertainment, spa services, food and beverages.

OEMs big focus for NetSuite in 2009.

NetSuite, the SaaS provider recently announced that it would be targeting OEMs to build its Australian channel strategy. The company will also be focusing on small business space and will be looking for distribution and training partners. “The other big focus for us is around OEMs, that’s where I can see partners really adding value. That is a big, big focus globally for our company – finding OEM partners who have IP they want to put in NetSuite, and then taking that out to their customer base and branding it the way they need to,” said Johnny Jones, NetSuite vice-president of international sales.

Hall Announces Exclusive Search Software Partnership with Global Soundings, LLC.

According to the recent partnership that has taken place between Hall Web Services and Global Soundings LLC, Hall will be an exclusive partner for Global Soundings, an enterprise level search-marketing tool, for up to 12 months. "We are very pleased about the time and efficiency we'll gain through the use of Global Soundings," said Tom Hall, President and CEO of Hall, "Global Soundings allows analysis of search ranking data to an extent never before available, allowing us to provide a better level of service to our clients and spot search engine trends as they happen."

NOW Solutions to Provide All HRMS Needs for the Federation des Caisses Populaires Acadiennes in New Brunswick Canada.

NOW Solutions Inc has announced that the largest financial institution in the Canadian province of New Brunswick has selected emPath to meet the HR needs of all its credit unions. "NOW Solutions is very excited to bring its powerful software to the Caisses populaires acadiennes," states Rob Sterpin, Vice President of Sales for Now Solutions, "and to continue in its quest to help more and more organizations discover the benefits of greater operational efficiency and more responsive service to their employees."

Zuora Introduces the Business Cloud With Launch of the Z-Commerce Platform.

Zuora Inc. has announced the launch of Z-Commerce Platform which is the first development platform dedicated to enabling monetization for cloud computing services. “2009 is the Year of the Cloud – and developers are clearly shifting to building services on cloud platforms. With the Z-Commerce Platform, we’ve now given developers a powerful way to monetize services built on these platforms,” said Tien Tzuo, CEO, Zuora. “This is the most important product announcement we’ve made thus far – with the introduction of the Z-Commerce Platform, we’ve taken a big step towards our vision of being the de-facto commerce engine for the cloud.”

OpenLogic Exchange Expands to Encompass 130,000+ Projects.

OpenLogic has announced several enhancements for OpenLogic Exchange (OLEX) that features an expanded open-source library for over 130,000 active open-source projects. "OLEX helps medium sized and large enterprises adopt, procure and manage their open source software safely," said Kim Weins, senior vice president of marketing at OpenLogic. "We have had several of our Fortune 500 clients ask us to expand beyond our certified library to include a broad range of active open source software that has not yet been certified by OpenLogic.”