Ribbit Announces Channel Partner Program, Launches 2.0 Release of Ribbit for Salesforce CRM.

Silicon Valley’s first phone company, Ribbit, announced the release of Ribbit for Salesforce CRM and its channel partner program. The 2.0 release will offer integration of mobile voice communications with Salesforce CRM. "We're thrilled to launch the new version of Ribbit for Salesforce and to partner with a group of leading companies in the salesforce.com ecosystem which share our goal of maximizing customer productivity," said Greg Goldfarb, GM of Enterprise Applications for Ribbit.

Oracle buys IP from Tacit to boost Beehive platform.

To expand on the capabilities of the recently launched Beehive collaboration platform by Oracle, the company announced the purchasing of the intellectual property of Tacit Software and hired all of its software engineers. The system doesn't require users to maintain profiles; instead, a plug-in that is installed locally tracks their activity and builds a "dynamic, highly accurate profile of their expertise," according to the illumio Web site.

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Selects CollabNet for Open Software Development Framework.

At the DoD Open Technology Conference, CollabNet announced that the Defence Information Systems Agency (DISA) has chosen its SourceForge Enterprise and CollabNet CUBit that will serve as a foundation for DISA Forge. DISA is a combat support agency for the Department of Defence.

Telstra dives into SaaS.

Telstra, the media and communications company launched the first phase of the new SaaS product called T-Suite today. The product will help businesses access sales and marketing, security and backup software online under a subscription based model. The pricing will vary from $4 - $ 20 per user/month.

Navatar Group Launches SaasCase Initiative to Help On-Premise Software Companies Move to the SaaS Model Using the Force.com Platform.

A global SaaS consulting firm, Navatar Group, announced its SaaSCase initiative which is a proof-of concept service to help ISVs understand the demand, benefits, cost and effort required before building a SaaS version of their product on the Force.com platform. "Salesforce.com, with the Force.com platform, has made it easy for ISVs to get the benefits of SaaS without investing in infrastructure," said Alok Misra, Principal, Navatar Group.

McKinsey-Sandhill Report Confirms SaaS Rise.

According to a recent survey of more than 850 software customers by Mckinsy and Sandhill, “the companies SaaS adoption is on the rise.” According to the McKinsey and Sandhill report, “another bright spot for the industry is the accelerated adoption of subscription and on-demand purchasing models by enterprises over the past year.”

Adeptia Unveils Next-Generation SaaS Integration Solution.

According to an announced made in the DreamForce 2008 Conference, Adaptia Inc launched its next generation SaaS Integration Accelerator. The company is a provider of Business Process Integration Technologies. “The Data Integration market has changed. Customers have realized that just taking an integration-centric approach has not worked because it does not address the overall business problem that they are trying to solve. They have now moved beyond integration-based approach to looking at the overall business process,” said Lou Ennuso, CEO of Adeptia.

Microsoft Launches SaaS Platform.

Microsoft along with Jiangsu based Fengyun Network Services launched “Fengyun Online” SaaS platform in Suzhou. In addition to this, Microsoft will use its own channels for promotion of the service to its clients.

HearMe Now Available on the Force.com AppExchange from Salesforce.com.

A known provider of web based, desktop video conferencing and online collaboration solutions, HearMe announced availability on Salesforce.com’s Force.com AppExchange. "HearMe's solution has a feature set that allows businesses to connect in real-time to employees and customers alike, while offering a low cost, flexible collaboration solution." said Hannah Rothman, Senior Marketing Director for HearMe.

Paymetric Adds Cenzic Web Application Security Solution to Enhance Security of Web Apps.

Paymetric Inc, a provider of innovative payment card solutions has added Cenzic ClickToSecure, which is a SaaS model provided by Cenzic Inc, to its software development life cylcle (SDLC). "After reviewing three of the leading Web application security products, we determined that Cenzic was the most comprehensive solution over the other SaaS and software models that we reviewed. The fact that Cenzic has both a software and a SaaS model also allows for flexibility in the future," said Genady Vishnevetsky, director of IT operations and security at Paymetric.

Astadia Integrates McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge Project Data With Salesforce.com Platform.

One of Salesforce.com’s largest deployment partners, McGraw-Hill Construction’s along with Astadia Inc have announced the solution that streamlines the acquisition and processing of project information for the construction industry. "By automating the insert/update of projects from the Dodge Data set, clients can quickly identify relevant projects, all of the companies involved -- including architects, general contractors and sub-contractor bidders -- and track sales activities with each of these companies by project, account and contact." says Brent Mellow, CMO of Astadia.

PivotLink Launches Revolutionary On-Demand Business Intelligence Application for Salesforce.com to Enhance Reporting and Analytics.

PivotLink has announced the general availability of PivotLink BI for the users of the popular on-demand Salesforce CRM application.  "PivotLink has revolutionized the way we use our internal data to measure business performance and make faster, better informed decisions," states Joseph Arascunaga, from JunkmyCar.com.

Cisco Completes Acquisition of Jabber.

Cisco announced that it has completed its purchase of Jabber Inc. This will enable Cisco to embed presence and messaging services “in the network” and provide rich aggregation capabilities through on-premise and on-demand solutions to its users.

SilkRoad technology Acquires Enterprise Learning Management Company.

SilkRoad Technology Inc has acquired VTN Technologies Inc. The announcement was made by Andrew J. "Flip" Filipowski, Chairman, President and CEO of SilkRoad technology. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Apisphere Brings Location Awareness to Microsoft Outlook(R).

Apisphere has announced the availability of Apisphere for OutLook, a location aware plugin for Microsoft’s Outlook messaging and collaboration client. Apisphere for Outlook hopes to change the way people use their calendars and how they communicate with business associates, friends and family.

Vircom unveils the latest chapter in email security - modus(TM) 4.6 - Latest version of modus adapts to evolving spam and malware threats.

The award winning email-messaging security Software Company, Vircom, launched a new version of modusGate software, modusGate appliance and modusMail. The products will be available with better features and newer technology. "modus combines deterministic, predictive and reputation based approaches to provide optimal levels of security while allowing free communication. Also, our deep integration with the Windows platform and network elements allow greater manageability, security integration and a better fit within their disaster recovery planning and general operations.” said Sylvain Durocher, President & CEO of Vircom.

eTrigue Debuts Intelligent Demand Generation Application at Dreamforce '08.

eTrigue Corp made its debut appearnce at DreamForce conference ’08 where it presented for the first time its Intelligent Demand Generation SaaS called eTrigue 3.0. "eTrigue has spent three years working closely with a solid base of loyal customers -- from start-ups to Fortune 500 organizations like Cisco Systems -- to develop the features that allow companies to drive sales faster and with greater consistency," said Jim Meyer, vice president and general manager at eTrigue Corporation.

New SME Accounting Software e-conomic Identified As Market Leader In Online Accounting.

World leader's in IT market analysis, IDC has identified e-conomic (www.e-conomic.co.uk) as a leading European provider of SaaS based accounting application. e-conomic achieved this reputation in just six months of its launch. “e-conomic has emerged as one of the leading European providers of SaaS-based accounting applications for smaller organisations. With annual growth rates in excess of 50%, e-conomic clearly resonates with its target audience and warranted a closer examination.” said Bo Lykkegaard, European analyst for IDC.