Haut Tech Conversations

It is my pleasure this week to introduce Christopher Poelker of FalconStor Software to our listeners. Chris Poelker is the author of Storage Area Networks for Dummies, and has over 30 years of experience architecting storage, backup and disaster recovery solutions. Chris specializes in storage virtualization and data protection, and is currently the vice president of Enterprise Solutions at FalconStor Software.I had a conversation with Chris before the show, and I have to admit, it took me a little time to see where we might take the interview. But consider this – one of the basic tenets of developing a SaaS product is “don’t build what you don’t need to.” If the feature doesn’t add to core value or if it is available already in the marketplace, leverage what exists whenever possible. The software that FalconStor provides is a case study to this point. In many business-to-business applications the storage, retention and control of customer data is not only critical it is regulated. How do you deliver a servi

Jim Geisman of Software Pricing Partners joins Mike Dunham of Scio Consulting to discuss the choices vendors have in developing and operating a SaaS business - And the importance of their upcoming workshop in San Francisco for deciding on their product roadmap. You can find more information about the workshop at http://bit.ly/exec-pricing.

People say that marketing for "cloud services" are really over the top right now - selling a lot more promise than can be delivered. If that's true, social media is somewhere out in the stratosphere of hype - pushed into orbit by leaders like Twitter and Facebook - I've heard many people say if they were trying to avoid reading yet another article on the wonders of connecting to "communities" on the web.I'm looking forward to this conversation because social media is still a widely misunderstood subject among SaaS and Cloud Service providers. Many see everything social as an unnecessary and noisy "distraction" that is a waste of resources and time. I understand their point of view because if they come from traditional software marketing, support, and sales environment, they are part of a legacy that rarely focused on end-users or tried to foster communications among them. And if you've ever tried to sip from the Twitter fire hose, you can probably understand their discomfort with jumping on the band wagon.If

if you are a SaaS or cloud services provider and you think marketing in the on-demand world is just the software business as usual - you have a few surprises coming. Agile methodologies are often (and I believe should be) used in SaaS development. The practices and the irregular drip of new features and enhancements go well together in the on-demand world. But for marketing, if you're not prepared for it - it can become a constant din of new features you suddenly have to consider in your marketing you might not be prepared for. How do you manage the delicate interaction between product development, the user community and marketing? To address that question we are speaking to Peter Cohen of SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors. Peter is the founder and managing partner of SaaS Marketing Strategy Advisors. His firm provides expert guidance to help companies effectively market and sell software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to enterprises.The firm’s clients includes several large, well-established clients, looking t

Pricing services - how do you do it? Is there a rational process? Can you tie it to value? Cost? Developing a price is one of trickiest parts putting a new service online. Prospective customers have to believe the value can be realized and existing customers must find the value exceeds the subscription. A monthly subscription is easier for prospects to swallow but a yearly provides a bigger hit for cash flow and maybe higher retention. Which is better in the long run?These are just some of the issues facing services vendors in the growing SaaS and cloud services market. In our September 8th podcast on Haut Tech Conversations, we’ll address those questions with our guest, Jim Geisman of Software Pricing Partners. Jim spoke at the first SaaS Summit. His firm has focused on software pricing since 1987 and has consulted internationally on issues of software pricing and deal structuring. He has written extensively on software pricing and is a frequent speaker.Joining Jim on our panel will be two of our Haut Tech I

This month, we explore the real meaning of "Service" in SaaS and on-demand business with our guest, Steve Plunkett, CTO of Servitizer. Our panel this week will include Luis Aburto, CEO of Scio, Mikael Blaisdell of The HotLine Magazine, and Lincoln Murphy of 16 Ventures.For an overview of our topic – check the Haut Tech Blog article: http://blog.sciodev.com/2009/08/11/saas-cloud-service-beyond-the-hype-cycle/Please join us live so you can call in and ask your questions of our guest and panelists. Our show is done in a simple, conversational style – and you are always welcome to be a part of the conversation.