The Cloud's Silver Lining

More items of CRM interest...

2010-03-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

A busy time for Microsoft Dynamics CRM... There is a lot on which we thought we'd share.

Just got back from a great Sales presentation at Thames Valley Park. Some very interesting compete info vs Salesforce.com, too

On 9 March 7global will be speaking at the Caltech Forum in central Leeds. There will be demonstrations and exhibition stands as well as customer case studies, industry speakers and a great networking opportunity. We will be doing a slot exploding some of the myths associated with hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Not too late to book a place!

We have our on partner event on 13 May @ the UK Microsoft HQ in Reading aimed at existing and prospective partners wishing to sell hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM more effectively.

We have an inspirational keynote speaker, David Ednie (CEO of SalesChannel Europe) who is an authority on selling SaaS, overcoming the obstacles and reaping the many benefits. Microsoft will be doing a slot and there will be some great partner success stories. A well spent morning!

Dashing about

2010-02-10T03:47:00.001-08:00

In Edinburgh yesterday for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Roadshow. A packed agenda and a small but dedicated audience. We're there looking for value added resellers who want to give their clients a hosted option without the pain of building a scalable platform themselves.

We've got Manchester today which should be different. Either way I think attendees are going to be pleased with the level of detail they get. Microsoft is obviously very adept at presenting the value and flexibility of the product. Let's hope we get the hosted message across.
We have tomorrow in Reading so that will probably be the big one in terms of audience size. We'll let you know how it goes!

7global speaking at Microsoft road shows

2010-01-25T02:27:00.000-08:00

We'll be doing a slot at the forthcoming Microsoft Dynamics CRM road shows. These are taking place on 9 February (Edinburgh), 10 February (Manchester) and 11 February (Reading).

7global will be discussing our hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner Programme. We're very interested in talking to VAR partners who haven't yet engaged with hosting and to show how as a hosting partner we havedesigned and built some great solutions and to dispel some of the myths that hosting offers a somehow limited offering. There's a 20% discount onboarding offer for new partners so well worth coming along. Contact us if you're intertested.

Snow joke

2010-01-11T03:10:00.000-08:00

The recent freeze could cost the UK economy £14.5bn. Great advert for an effective remote working solution. It's times like these when I wonder how people get by without something decent in place.

More crystal ball gazing...

2010-01-04T04:12:00.000-08:00

So it's the start of another year. Indeed, it's the start of a new decade. One thing that we've been reflecting on is how much of the SaaS hype of the noughties has been...well, hype.

This article has some nice insights that steers clear of the "is it good? Short answer yes with an if, long answer no with a but" that some analysts provide at this time of the year.

Our experience is that people are consuming SaaS apps at a rate of knots. Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a prime example with sales consistently higher month on month and retention good as well.

IDC's list of Top 10 Tech Predictions for 2010

2009-12-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

Maturation of cloud computing tops IDC's list of Top 10 Tech Predictions for 2010: http://bit.ly/89QplD.

Some interesting observations here, and some that are already happening. Knowledge as a Service was a new one to me...

7global acquired

2009-12-01T01:11:00.000-08:00

There’s a lot of consolidation at the moment in the managed service and hosting world and we’re no exception. 7global has been acquired by 365iT and it’s hugely exciting. We’ll be operating as wholly owned subsidiary and so there won’t be any of the upheaval these kinds of events can inflict.

We’ll have the same expertise backed up with some real clout. This is going to be of great value to customers, partners and prospective clients alike. You can read the official press release here.

Softcat Hosting Day

2009-11-06T09:22:00.000-08:00

Had an interesting day at the Softcat Hosting Summit at the Barbican in London yesterday. Was great to catch up with familiar faces and some 7global alumni.

There were some first rate presentations from the likes of Microsoft, Citrix, VMware and others, principally on the subject of The Cloud and the many things that means.

Microsoft (predictably) got a right royal kicking over the recent slash in BPOS pricing. There was a storm of outrage, only partially assuaged by the assurance that Microsoft is 'listening' and will be 'looking at' corresponding SPLA pricing.

I actually think what they're doing is inevitable but they've communicated very badly with partners who feel extremely threatened by this (and I actually don't count 7global in this). The message is "move up the stack, as the vanilla stuff will be swallowed up. If not by Microsoft then someone else." Adapt or die is the message- true, but obviously there's more work to be done on how this is communicated.

The Azure messages from Microsoft are very woolly. You need to tighten that up, chaps.

I must say, despite persuasive presentations from VMware and Citrix, Microsoft's Dynamic Data Center piece was by far the most together and coherent. They've got the full story and they make it easy. They've got the pricing right on this. Pulled it out of the bag in the end guys.

Back from Convergence

2009-10-28T03:35:00.000-07:00

Had a great day at Microsoft Dynamics' Convergence event in London yesterday. Great to catch up with CRM partners and meet some interesting new people Some good presentations and case studies. Pleased to see an emphasis on customers and not the partners- ultimately it's them we're trying to reach out to.

I have to admit was all incredibly low key following a few years of attending big shows at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen. I guess they're using that place to save the world at the moment so they're forgiven!

Still, miss the razzmatazz of Copenhagen. Hope they glam up the event next year.

Microsoft Partner Network 2009

2009-10-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

Interesting day at Wembley for the Microsoft Partner Network 2009. Lots of repetition of messages heard at WPC in New Orleans. Well compared by George Alagyer. Couldn't help thinking it was a little 'loose' which is unusual for Microsoft. Still, good to see some familar faces and network (although there was every little time for that, ironically, for a network event!).

7global shortlisted in CRN Channel Awards

2009-09-07T07:03:00.001-07:00

Found out we've been shortlisted for the CRN Channel Awards. Huzzar! Pleased with that as it's based on the relationships with partners and clients that we've developed over the years. It's for the Reseller ‘Services Provider of the Year’ so it's right up our street.

A lot of our business, especially within the Dynamics space, is based on these strong business relationships so it's great from my perspective.

So, I'll cut to the chase and ask you to vote for us! All you need to do is click here, (briefly) register and then select the 'Reseller' category and the 'Services Provider of the Year’ sub category and give us your vote. Wow- I sound like a politician. Actually, scrub that (it's hardly a vote winner these days!).

And so the holiday season comes to an end.

2009-08-28T01:57:00.000-07:00

August is often a funy time of the year. Driving to work is easier. Half the people are away on holiday, the other half using the time to get things done they should have done ages ago or to contact those people who are actually on holiday. Blogs remain unwritten. A funny time indeed.

However, we've been using this time to undergo some great initiatives will be going live over the next few weeks and months. Watch this space for ongoing updates on new products and services, as well s enhancements to exisiting ones. It will be worth it- promise!

Swine Flu and alien invasions- how to keep productive.

2009-08-06T02:34:00.000-07:00

Everyone is talking about swine flu! Whilst I think there’s something of the hysteria of a 1950s Sci Fi B movie feel to it there’s something there. And even if there isn’t the effect is the same.

Having the right technologies in place to make sure that your staff can work from home, even if it isn’t the norm, seems to be a safe, cost effective strategy to ensure business continuity. Put simple, you never know what round the corner.

SSL-VPNs, hosted desktops, and on demand applications all help achieve this. Making sure you maximise value without compromising your ability to keep moving is very important. Hopefully, your supplier will help you navigate the right path.

So, if we are invaded by aliens from Mars and your staff can’t make it to the office don’t say you haven’t been warned!

Thoughts on the Micosoft Worldwide Partner Conference

2009-07-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

My view on WPC is that attendance is clearly the first chance Microsoft people have to articulate the plans that they have put in place for the next financial leave. So the timeline is: Set plans for next year, do WPC, put detail on plans.

This means that attending WPC allows partners to get in on what’s new, to remind Microsoft staff they are there and have great plans for Microsoft.

It’s clearly THE event to attend if you want to be part of the next year’s activity. In fact on two occasions it was commented that Partners that attend are seen as having the ‘right level of commitment’ so it was good to be there! My final point about attendance is who and how many, the event is vast and all the Microsoft staff are available to grab which maybe the only opportunity to do so and It presents great opportunities to find organisations that would be good to partner with.

I personally had 13 1:1 partner meetings, attended 3 extra partner events and several comms sector specific events.

Key information is as follows, I’ll bullet point it and expand on the more critical things:

They see the last 6-9 months as an economic reset

They will be looking to do more with less

The focus for this year is more market share not new sales growth. So the messages were all take share from competitors such as VMWare, SFDC, Google, Oracle, IBM etc

They intend to deepen the partner relationship

More sales opportunities will result from deeper relationships

To achieve the above they are revamping the Partner program now called Partner Network, qualification criteria will be much tougher and more levels will be added. They highest level for us will be Advanced Hosting Partner and we will be striving to become an Advanced Hosting partner

As you’d expect, there’s a strong emphasis given to partners who ‘use the latest technology’ which means for us Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V, System centre, Exchange 10, OCS and SQL 2008

Microsoft CRM Live will hit the streets in Europe 15th April 2010, pricing TBD

ffice 10 which is very impressive has a full function web version which looks great. It will be FREE to windows live subscribers; it will be FREE to enterprise licence customers. They are gunning for Google Apps!

Windows 7 is what Vista should have been, Microsoft is expecting massive sales and that it will spark a wave of system refreshes. Windows 7 was available for pre order for the first time last week and sold more in 8 hours than Vista did in 8 weeks

CRM has just hit 1,000,000 users worldwide and they expect strong growth this year

Unified Communications is going to be a big push and a new Hosted Exchange program is being launched to help partners make a business out of Exchange, OCS and UC. To qualify partners must already have 3000 Exchange seats

Azure will be released to paying customers November this year, Pricing has been announced although I haven’t seen it yet. Reselling Azure services may well be important to us

Met lots of other people and had the chance to catch up with our Dynamics partners. In short a busy but wholly worthwhile event!

Update on New Orleans to follow

2009-07-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

After 18 hour days, a punishing schedule and ultimately jetlag our man in New Orleans will give a summarised update on the WPC. It was such a whirl there simply wasn't time. Twitter may have been friendlier!

Bourbon Street makes Blackpool look like Tonbridge Wells

2009-07-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

I have to date not mentioned the famous Bourbon Street from which I am staying right around the corner.

And for anyone who knows of it has some reputation for partying all night and louche goings on (or so I’m told).

So I have of course purely for research purposes (and that fact that my colleague Paul mentioned it on an earlier blog post) visited a limited number of hostelries there, and I can say as a man from up north that it makes the drink fuelled stag party excesses of Blackpool look like a nuns night out to a beetle drive down the local village hall.

I’ll say no more at this point other than the unconscious bodies in the street even as early as 10pm kind of say’s it all for me! :-)

Registration

2009-07-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

The first and most significant thing about going to the Earnest Morial Conventions Centre and seeing inside is the bland look of the place. I know when I arrived at about 10AM Sunday it is early and there are only a few people about but the place feels drab. Also when talking to regular attendees it seems that there is a low key feel compared to previous years. I’m sure it will pick up Monday when the conference starts in earnest. Sorry about the pun!

Anyway I had a very constructive morning passing the time with the original CEO of 7global Karl Roe. Karl looks after SPLA for Microsoft in the Middle East and Africa which is no mean feat. And has possibly the most stamped passport I’ve ever seen.

Even though it’s early in proceedings I’m starting to meet more people including another ex 7global guy Nick Caw who works in the UC arena again for Microsoft in the UK. 7global currently has 3 ex employees who work for Microsoft the other being Martin Walker who mirrors Karl by looking after SPLA in the UK and is due in later today, good to see so many of our people in prominent positions in Microsoft, this probably reflects the fact that we’ve been in the business for a long time providing ASP services back in 2000 and now still out there with SaaS, Incubation Centre and S + S in 2009, ok advert over. I’m just about to have my first meeting of the week. If it goes well it will mean we have found a great addition to our Hosted Dynamics CRM service....

Well the meeting went well, and I hope to progress things when back from WPC. Now there is jazz band playing at maximum volume only a few yards away, great music, just a bit too LOUD. The ability to meet potential partners and add products to our portfolio is my prime objective for the week and although it’s difficult to mention product specifically you will be unsurprised to know that my focus on Mobility, UC, BI and collaboration.

After spending the day in and out of the conference I think that overall there seems to be a big push on Dynamics and the inevitable Windows 7 hype. I also think that there are going to be some big announcements that will have far reaching consequences to hosters like 7global; wave 14 and all that. Talked to some really great people in the 'meet and greet' sessions form places as far apart as Scotland, Mexico and the Middle East.

The most standout thing in that was we all had similar problems and experiences, it is a small world and this certainly is that case when I talk to people at that WW Hosting Summit. That's it for today it's 20:45 and high time I carried on networking, you know what I mean!

The day in between...

2009-07-12T01:21:00.000-07:00

Well because I travelled on Friday I have today to myself, not strictly myself in the way I spend my time for reasons that I’ll come on to but by myself in New Orleans.

This morning I woke after a fairly unsatisfactory sleep which is not surprising after the day’s travel and time difference. I feel ok though and I have a very important task before me which is the shopping lists emailed to me while in transit by my wife, son and daughter. So I’m off to Lakeside shopping mall and I’m going to use New Orleans finest public transport, wish me luck...

OK I’m back, only took 4 hours L 4 busses, lots of waiting at bus stops and 2 litres of water. So for those who may be mad enough to follow in my footsteps and are staying on one of the many hotels on Canal Street here goes; so you need to take the Canal Street streetcar to Cemetery and this is the first problem, since Katrina the Canal Street streetcars have been out of service, not that the hotel concierge who gave me the directions pointed that important fact out to me!

So here’s the first waiting bit... thankfully it doesn’t take long to work out that there doesn’t seem to be any streetcars or other people waiting for them. Off to the bus stop then, already drunk half a litre of water and don’t have a bus time table. Wait! Talking to some of the locals at the bus stop including a very nice lady who hails from Cuba and has a daughter who has just been to Bible school and is now doing pre med, who tells me that there are only two busses in this circular route and they seem to turn up whenever.

Second wait...here is the bus 10 minutes late, thinking that I must buy another bottle of water.
Second crucial bit of information, you need the exact change for the bus, the driver does not take money and you need dollar bills and change for the ticket machine.

Any single journey on this route $1.10. The next bit of the journey is changing at Cemetery to the Veterans bus service, called that because it follows a route that mainly covers Veterans Blvd! A wait for about 10 mins another $1.10 and I’m there. The mall looks very new and apparently comprises many stores that relocated from a mall near the Louisiana Super dome. I’m not surprised as there were many very sorry looking building on the way.

The trip back apart from more waiting and talking to more very friendly locals was good especially as the bus took a different route back into town past many very pretty traditional wooden houses all of which looked great and looked to be benefitting from some post Katrina renovation.

Now I’m back at the hotel I can freshen up then it’s off to the Mississippi, Riverside Walks Centre, Aquarium, the French Quarter, jazz, gumbo, Cajun chicken and some liquid refreshment. I'm tired now and will spare you the details least to say I managed to fit in all the above!

On my way to Microsoft WPC 2009 New Orleans

2009-07-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

So here we go 7global attending WPC 2009, yes the date does say the 10th and the conference only really starts on the 13th. Well it takes all day to get to New Orleans and I want to hit the sites and shops on Saturday.

Plus to be fair I do have quite a busy day Sunday with meetings from midday and a meet and greet with the UK Microsoft guy’s and gal’s early evening.

I would also say from previous experiences attending the MS WW Hosting summit in Seattle a few times getting in late the day before the start makes the first couple of days a bit of a blur. And as this is my first WPC I want to make the most of it.

Right now I’m in Philadelphia waiting for my connection and I might add already feeling a bit tired. I got up @5:50 to catch a train to Manchester @07:22 flew out of Manchester on US Air 735 @ 11:30 on a 7 hour flight and arrived here @ 13:30 US East coast time. So as I type this blog battling with the unusable Wi-Fi provided by ATT in terminal B Philly International my transfer to New Orleans leave at 19:30 local time and its only 14:45! Oh yes an hour to clear customs, the computers were slow today, apparently!

Anyway the bonus of the day so far was Gran Torino on the in flight movies, I missed this at the flicks and was very pleased to catch it today, Clint at his absolute best. Going to move and look for a better Wi-Fi connection now...

Oh and mobile calls cost 125ppm, 99ppm to receive, SMS 49p, 14.99 per day for 25Mb data on both NTT and T-Mobile. Daylight robbery!

16:30 had a look at the shops and food halls, quite a good choice, you can fill up on traditional Americana fair or sample any amount of pizza, pasta, Chinese and salads as you like all ranging from $8-15. Will try later...

Sat in the main shopping area on a wooden rocking chair in the middle of the walkway (there are others doing the same) next to a pillar that has a power socket. Ah yes power for my laptop, this means that I can watch a DVD of something I’ve downloaded from BBC iPlayer. I think I’ll go for Glastonbury highlights.

Flight to New Orleans left on time @19:30 just a 2:20 flight, managed to get a bit of sleep and felt quite good when we arrived. This was of course short lived when we had to hang around for what seem like ages at baggage claim.

22:10 Arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel, the weather is hot and sticky, a jazz band is playing on the corner and the streets are packed with people. The temptation is to get out there and sample the atmosphere the reality is I’m off to bed..zzzzZ

Going down to New Orleans

2009-07-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

So, the Worldwide Microsoft Partner Conference has come around and 7global will be represented by my colleague Mike Williams. As Worldwide Partner of the Year Finalists I have to admit we're looking forward more than usual to the Conference.

At the 2009 EMEA Hosting Roundtable. From left to right: Pascal Walschots (Microsoft), Mike Williams (7global), Paul Doherty i.e. me (7global).

Mike's no stranger to Microsoft events and he will be contributing to The Cloud's Silver Lining with updates on what's hot, what's not, who he's met and any titbits of news which you'll find useful. Whatever happens Mike will be ferreting out info which will benefit our customers and partners over the following week. We'll be paying particular attention to Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Azure, BPOS as well as the Software + Services marketplace and hosting in general

No doubt they'll be descriptions of Bourbon Street, jambalaya and red wine as well.

So- watch this space!

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Award Finalists Again.

2009-06-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

Now the press embargo, to which I have slavishly adhered, has been lifted I can now say 'whooohoo' without fear of being hunted down by the Microsoft PR leopards.

To be honest, it's really good to have got this one again, as after last year's success I thought it would be difficult to repeat.

I had some great help from partners and clients in putting the entry together which always helps and, focusing as I did on our Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM Platform I had a great story to tell.

Interesting Managed Hosting Report

2009-06-19T03:48:00.000-07:00

An interesting report on managed hosting from the analyst Quocirca. Describes 7global, as well as the competition (whom I would steer well clear of if I were you) and our different approaches to managed hosting. Definitely worth a read.

2009-06-12T03:37:00.001-07:00

A graphic illustration of the graft that goes into the EMEA Hosting Club. Takes me a week to recover.

Microsoft EMEA Hosting Club Feedback

2009-06-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Got back (eventually- I won't bore you with delayed flight stories) from Nice and the 10th EMEA Hosting Club Executive Roundtable. It was, as always, an extremely useful trip. My colleague, Mike Williams, and I managed to hook up with a number of old friends and industry peers and had a good catch up. Highlights were:

Intelecom. Nice Unified Comms solution. Shame the mike (microphone, rather than my colleague) kept falling off during the session
Genesis. Our competitors, but a good presentation which was pleasantly frank
Martha Béjar, Corporate Vice President, Communications Sector. Good to have some senior people telling us like it is
Workshops. I was in David Ednie's session. He's a clever guy, very knowledgeable and a great facilitator. Swears like a true aussie ;-)
Serge's attention to detail. Serge Khayat is the Senior Marketing Manager for the hosting team and has superb attention to detail
The violinists. Enough said.

A great event, nicely put together.

We're off to Nice

2009-05-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Off to Nice next week for the 10th Microsoft EMEA Hosting Club Executive Roundtable. Looks like a good lineup and some interesting content. Just have to dodge my collegues' ire about being in the south of France. If I hear one more 'holiday' gag. They're hard work!

Events, dear boy, events (caidence)

2009-05-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Just come back from the last of our events with Qgate, held in Microsoft's Cardinal Place London offices. Another great presentation from Jason Nash (as usual) and some blinding ones from the Qgate boys. Very good indeed. A good audience, some bloody hard questions, and some excellent conversations. A day well spent.

Been very busy so some slack blogging I know. Will get my mojo back when I get my breath back. :-)

CRM Event

2009-04-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

Have just done our CRM event with QGate at Thames Valley Park. A ood intimate conversation although I'm sure it could be polished a lot more, and sure it will be by the 15th. Always tough these events, but I think we got the message across. We'll see!

We're hiring!

2009-04-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

7global is looking for new business sales people. Good package, good company to work for, good atmosphere and a great team. What's not to like!

If you'd like to know more just drop me a line (pdoherty@7global.com).

Worldwide Partner Awards

2009-04-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

Just finished 7global's entry for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards. Strewth these are hard work. They are like writing a small thesis!

We were Finalists last year which was just brilliant. Not sure we're going to do as well this year though. The competition is just so tough. We do have a fantastic story to tell which gives me some hope. I'm entering our Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM HMC Platform. I've managed to get some great testimonials (thanks everyone) and describe some of the things we've been doing with our partners who rock.

Still, there are a lot of guys out there doing fantastic stuff so I'm less confident than last year. Still, fingers crossed.

Events, dear boy, events.

2009-03-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Really looking forward to a couple of events we've got planned with Qgate. Keep your diaries free for:

23 April: Microsoft HQ, Thames Valley Park, Reading
15 May: Microsoft offices, Victoria, London

The theme is that in tough times hosted CRM enables market-leading business process management, customer retention and business growth.

Our partner QGate is a leading consultancy that time and again has helped businesses of all types discover prove that strategically adopted CRM practices yield meaningful, tangible results. At a time when most businesses need to stay profitable and hold onto customers on demand CRM is a great way of helping organisations to win and hold onto customers.

The agenda is going to be (subject to lightening bolts):

Agenda
09.30 - 10.00: Registration, coffee and networking
10.00 - 10.15: Introduction and welcome - Rowland Dexter, MD QGate
10.15 - 11.00: The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Proposition - Jason Nash, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft
11.00 - 11.20: Demo - Mike Shaw, Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultant, QGate
11.20 - 11.40: Coffee and Networking
11.40 - 12.00: Microsoft Dynamics CRM - A Hosted Solution; Paul Doherty, Sales & Marketing Manager 7global
12.00 - 12.45: QGate's Integrated Solution - Mike Shaw, Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultant, QGate
12.45 - 13.00: Summary, Q&A
13.00 - Close & Networking Lunch

Email me (pdoherty@7global.com) if you'd like to come)

Genesis acquires Increase...and then there were two.

2009-03-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Interesting to read about Genesis's acquisition of Increase CRM earlier this month. The acquisition creates a very large organisation actively promoting hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This has got me thinking and crystallising what I think of the state of play in the UK marketplace.

One trigger to my thought process was pulled when I was asked recently by a partner what I thought about the deal. Was I pleased that there was one less piranha in the tank? Or was a nervous that there was an even bigger shark in the tank that had just eaten the piranha and was now devouring everything in the tank with the ferocity of a starving megaladon? Ok, he didn't phrase it quite like that but briefly that's what it sounded like.

My feelings are that this is a Good Thing. There's no doubt that having a large telco (Genesis), which has acquired what was in all but name a Microsoft Dynamics CRM boutique with a 100% dedication to the hosted market (Increase) has created a powerful competitor.

However, I think 7global's partner network really offers a strong alternative. 7global's partners are large and small, cover the whole of the UK (and a lot of Europe), have specialisms in most verticals, with staff specially trained to deal with those industries.

By acquiring Increase Genesis has definitively moved from a 'wholesale' approach to a full service approach, which will certainly compete with other Dynamics Partners which should heat up the marketplace a little more. As a telco they had a telco approach to CRM, just as 7global has a hosting provider approach. Now they have a Dynamics Partner approach. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.

One advantage of our approach is we can marry our hosting expertise to partners Dynamics CRM expertise which I think creates the more compelling solution. However, if Genesis draws attention to the value of a hosted solution I will be there applauding.

Webinar

2009-02-25T08:52:00.000-08:00

We're doing a webinar with Microsoft and Mural entitled 'Coming Of Age with Software-plus-Services' on Thursday 11 March. The dry run is tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how that goes. It should be interesting for ISVs. There's a lot of good stuff coming out of Mural regarding the S +S Incubation Centre Program at the moment. I'm genuinely impressed.

Also, the SaaS/S + S marketplace is so different nowadays to what it was say 3 years ago. Then, it was very difficult to talk about the business benefits as you were too bogged down in the concept. These days the awareness is so much more and you don't have to argue the corner quite so vociferously as you once had to.

I think the main thing is everyone's living on the web now. They're twittering and Facebooking, buying online and booking online. Business applications such as hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM, or our ISV partners SaaS apps are a logical conclusion.

You can always take me to task on the 11th if you disagree. Or blog it, or twitter it, or send me an email from your hosted mail account...

There's snow business like the hosting business

2009-02-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

Ok- so I just had to get that in! Can’t believe the weather. It’s like a winter from the seventies. All we need now is an economic crisis…oh.

I haven’t had time to get chilly though. It’s been a busy few weeks since my last post. We managed to get a nice case study out which we did with Microsoft on the UK Home Offfice and our ISV partner Matrix Decisions.

It’s on aspirahub, a rather cool application Matrix has rolled out to a number of clients using the S + S model. It automates data collection, analysis, and aggregation processes for corporate reporting, including health and safety and environmental reports. A great argument for security (it’s good to see a client really utilise and rely on all the security we roll out at our Liverpool DC).

Incubating ideas in the City of Light

I was also in Paris last week for the (deep breath) Microsoft S + S Incubation Center Program Business Design Session Update meeting. In short, this was a refresh of some of the materials we’ve been using to help ISVs bring deliver their software using a pay as you go, S + S model.

One thing I noticed was the value Business Design Session actually add to the business. Having been at the receiving end of one (and subsequently run them ourselves) I was bowled over at how looking at your own organisation from the outside can make you think differently. It can be a little discomforting about what you’re getting wrong, but you are really energised to go and fix it and there’s loads of good that comes out of them.

We do these sessions for £1,500 for a day (we throw in 3 months hosting on a Standard Managed Server On Demand Server) but looking at the work that goes into the materials and the value of the day I was genuinely reminded of the value. That said, they’re not for the weak or fain to heart. They’re pretty gruelling affairs- but then getting things right can be exhausting.

You say SaaS, I say S + S, let’s call the whole thing On Demand

One other thing that came out is the confusion over the nomenclature for SaaS or S + S. I’m suffering from verbal schizophrenia because just as people are getting their heads round SaaS, Microsoft comes up with software-plus-services just to be awkward.

I want to keep calling it SaaS, because that’s what people are getting to know it as, but then as a Microsoft Gold partner we need to rap like the dudes in Seattle to keep the messages joined up.

There's an element of arguing about how many angels can dance on a pin head, but there's more to it than that. It's about making a great proposition understandable. I think this one will rumble on.

I think I’ll bottle it and call it On Demand. That’s that sorted.

Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM

We’re currently looking at really going at vertical with this at the moment. Got some exciting things in the pipeline so watch this space.

New Year, New Hangover, New Challenges

2009-01-05T02:34:00.000-08:00

So, 2008’s gone and 2009 is here. 2008 is already being clumsily auto archived by my brain so it now seems like a year ago as opposed to a few days. However, addled by Christmas and New Year festivities though my poor brain is, I think it is on to something. 2009 certainly will be throwing up brand new challenges in the marketplace and as firms seem to be going bust everyday, knowing who will be here and who will not is a scary consideration.

That said, from 7global’s perspective the message we can bring to businesses is, if anything, even stronger. Essentially, organisations still need cutting edge IT solutions to compete. I would say that is even more important as margins are cut and marketplace is squeezed. Rather than employing new staff or redirecting existing employees I think we have an extremely powerful ‘spend money with us to save money’ message.

Take hosted applications, like Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Exchange. Why spend money building and maintaining an infrastructure, 24 x 7 management, buying hardware and training staff unless absolutely necessary (I concede there will be times when on premise is the only solution)?

Take bespoke managed hosting. Why go through the very real pain of providing a top tier hosting environment when you can plumb in your solution to an existing infrastructure (preferably ours!) which manages all the pain for you? Or hire consultants to specify solutions when we can do that for you as well as deploy it?

Take outsourced network services. With 7global managing firewall, SSL-VPNs and other on premise devices it can take the hassle and cost out of using new or existing staff on doing something on which we can bring our engineering and support teams, not to mention special relations with vendors such as SonicWALL and Cisco, to bear.

Something to ponder over your Alka-Seltzer, perhaps…

Christmas is coming, the inbox is getting fat

2008-12-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas. It has come around with alarming, terrifying speed. It seems like what has already been a manically busy year is getting more manic, like some kind of crazed Greek dance.

Anyway, there's plenty of time for mince pies. What I really want to talk about is the mad, bad and dangerous world of product development. Not what necessarily springs to mind when one thinks of untrammelled anarchy but it can be unless you're disciplined. Having done this a thousand times, and I'm currently doing it again, this focuses the mind.

We're currently reviewing 7global's hosted services, and working on an addition to come out in the New Year. It's one of these products we've been doing in a 'soft' way for years. Now we're re-engineering it for public consumption so I'm eating and sleeping R & D at the moment.

I've found unsuccessful (or at least overlong, underwhelming products and services) are 100% always the result of lack of process. The best ideas, the most original concepts, the most fecund potential markets mean nothing when execution is poor. The result can resemble a bar room brawl in a Western:

*Smash* the CTO shatters a whisky bottle over the Marketing Director's head.
*Crash* the Support Manager hurls the Sales Director onto the ubiquitous poker game table.
*Thunk* the FD floors the Presales Lead before being thrown into the piano player, bringing the rendition of Camp Town Lady to an abrupt halt.

To avoid these unseemly scenes I think there are 5 key steps to take to get this right, forged over the years on the anvil of failure and success. Like so many sensible steps they look simple but are harder to stick to. Worth re-iterating, though.

1. Getting started.

This needs to be the loosest stage. Brainstorming, looking at the competition, establishing clear ambitions for the product. Make sure people are relaxed- some of the best ideas can follow on from the worst at this stage. And vice versa.

2. Planning

You need to look hard at the intended scope. What can it do? What benefits will it deliver? What do people want? Too many times, people focus on the technology without thinking about the customer.

Product Team: "Oooh- look what it can do!"
Customer: "So?"
Product Team: "But look! It does that!"
Customer: "So?"

Strategy and scope are essential. Timelines, costs, resources must all be finalised to make sure everyone is on the same page.

3. Delivery

Making sure everyone is communicating is one of the most important aspects. Working in splendid isolation usually means things don't fit together when you sit down to review. "Oh, I see. You wanted it to do that."

Making sure there's strong project management is essential, too. If you've not done your bit there better be a pretty bloody good explanation.

4. Control

It's essential to keep revisiting the plan. If it's a good one, then it will adapt. The course of technology product development rarely runs smooth. On the plus side, new angles, features and benefits always emerge to enhance your product too. Be careful to manage these new developments (positive and negative) and keep to the objectives and strategy.

5. Launch

Launching a product is often the hardest thing of all. There you need to pull in all the elements of your organisation to understand, market, sell, deliver and support your new clients. Kicking it off in style is also imperative. Never miss an opportunity to sing and dance about the work you've done!

As I say, these are almost truisms. However, I read other people's truisms feeling slightly sheepish that despite their innate truth, I don't follow them myself. So now it's my turn.

Right, time for a bourbon and a game of cards...

SaaS Microsite

2008-12-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

We've launched our SaaS microsite. It's essentially a forum to promote some of the fantastic applications on demand our ISV partners are delivering to hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. It's essentially something I've been planning for a while and it was a case of seizing the day to get it underway.

As time goes on we'll be looking to expand the site and integrate it with some third part tools to make it a real portal. As a hosting provider committed to SaaS delivery we want to use as many angles as possible to ensure success for our partner. After all, this reflects on us too!

We've got some great partners so having the likes of large ISVs such as C3, KCS, LexisNexis Visualfiles, KCS and Northgate alongside new, smaller ISVs such as Matrix, PureNet, MS2M and Solarvista is a great advert for SaaS.

Any feedback is welcome on the site, as well comments on how we can build on it and improve.

Musings on the channel

2008-12-03T02:38:00.001-08:00

Living in the business development world like I do I'm always looking closely at (obsessing over?) where we succeed and where we fail. It's essential to understand both (although I much prefer looking at the former rather than the latter for obvious reasons). It's also hard to get to the real truth as it can often be a case of success having many parents and failure being an orphan.

We have built a very successful, vibrant channel for Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a very short period of time (less than a year) despite a very real initial scepticism about the hosted model and in the face of some very stiff and very slick competition.

One thing has been our resolute and complete insistence on a channel model. We do not sell direct. We do not offer consultancy, training, development or any of that good stuff our partners do. On one level this has been hard. There's a lot of good money in adding these services. On the other hand it was a 'no brainer' and I'll tell you why.

We're a hosting company! We're not a CRM house. Our people, skill sets, expertise, business acumen, infrastructure, ongoing investments, [deep breath] internal mechanisms, ideology, partnerships and approach have been forged on the anvil of hosted services, not Microsoft Dynamics consultancy. By not trying to fix what ain't broken I think we've been able to provide something that the Dynamics Partner community, largely, really wants. A specialist Microsoft-based hosting provider which is really rather good at delivering applications on demand. As opposed to a really rather rubbish Dynamics Partner that happens to do hosting, which was the alternative.

By grasping this nettle I think we've carved a good niche for ourselves. We're not a telco-doing-hosting-as-well nor are we a Dynamics-Partner-doing-hosting-as-well. We're a hoster doing hosting. Makes sense really.

Please ignore the fact that this post has sidestepped what we do badly- I will go into this, probably on a Monday morning when I'm feeling hacked off. :-)

Partners- a conduit to the real world.

2008-12-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about our model is we work with a large number of partners day in, day out. These are typically ISVs who are using us to manage their infrastructure and have a number of individual mini platforms (I say mini. Some are pretty bloody huge but you know what I mean). We get a real insight into the sectors of the economy in which they work which we would never have if we were working in a vertical niche ourselves.

The same is true (more so?) of our Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners. We’ve created a network of some really first class and really rather interesting MS CRM partners over the last year or so. One of the things I always find illuminating is what their drivers are and how they tackle the marketplace. Like our ISVs it varies, sometimes fundamentally, from partner to partner and indeed geography to geography.

Take the financial crisis. Not the best place to go looking for new business- or so you’d think. Some of our partners who are targeting this sector (Mayfair, admittedly, rather than the City) are getting a lot of traction with the hosted message. The opex versus capex attraction weaving its magic. Because, ultimately, people need software- it’s just paying for it, and the infrastructure to deliver it, that becomes a bit tricky. One to watch I think.

7global- the wanderers return

2008-11-28T04:14:00.000-08:00

I've just come back from some European events. Sounds very glamorous but actually pretty intense, and extremely worthwhile.

Last week (18-20 November) saw two 7global representatives (Paul Doherty and Mike Williams) in wonderful Copenhagen for Convergence 2008, the annual Microsoft European conference on all things Dynamics. for those unfamiliar with 7global we are a leading provider of hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM and so it was great to run into some of our partners, make some new friends and talk about what we've been doing in the year (lifetime?) since last year's event.

One of the things we were particularly interested in was QGate's CRMMigrate product. CRMMigrate allows the (allegedly) legions of disgruntled Salesforce.com users who are hacked off with the usability of the SFDC system but like the hosted model to migrate over to Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM. We're offering users free 30 day trials with their own live data to see how simple it is. You can find out more here.

Copenhagen is a lovely place but it was a very busy 48 hours so we didn't get to see much of it. A highlight was Microsoft Corporate Vice President Kirill Tatarinov singing karaoke, a regular fixture which never fails to...entertain. Took lots of Tuborg to drown out the memory.

Sunday, 7global (this time Chris Bithell and Paul Doherty) were in Athens for the EMEA Hosting Club (24-25 November). Great to see all our industry colleagues and Microsoft guys who have been helping us over the months and years. Lots of exciting stuff happening- very invigorating, very exciting. Back in the office now to start building on some of the inspiration.

7global launches blog

2008-11-28T03:54:00.000-08:00

Ok- so we've launched our blog. Late I know, but it's been a fantastically busy period for us. So that's our excuse! I was finally set along the path of righteousness by David Ednie President & CEO, SalesChannel Europe at the recent Microsoft EMEA Hosting Club in Athens.

David did a great presentation there on the subject of ‘Competing for Customers – Connecting with people’ and I was lucky enough to sit on the same table at dinner. We had an opportunity to talk about 7global and what we were doing and, after expressing shock and incredulity that had shirked our blogging duties, he made me promise to make some time from my schedule to get the blog I knew we should be writing off the ground. And so, here we are. Thanks David for spurring us on.