July 27, 2006 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- One of the nice things about the technology business is that the emerging markets tend to make themselves pretty obvious, as in the case of the booming business of on-demand software delivery, or software as a service.
Technology research company IDC projects the market for software as a service to grow 26 percent annually, from $2.1 billion in 2002 to $8.1 billion in 2008, while Gartner chose SaaS as one of the Top five technology trends for 2005.
In the past, however, software developers and service providers have faced a variety of barriers in the on-demand delivery of services, particularly technological obstacles. For service providers, integrating the solutions into their offerings has often been a complex task, and finding the services to support their delivery has been a stumbling block for ISVs.
Santa Clara, California based Jamcracker (jamcracker.com) is working to address the complexity in SaaS delivery, helping solution providers to lower those barriers to entry through its service delivery network.
The former application service provider recently launched Jamcracker Service Delivery Network 2.0, making it possible for solution providers at any stage of the on demand delivery supply chain to tap into functions that can help them increase revenue.
And Jamcracker believes that Web hosting companies have the right resources and customers to capitalize on the booming SaaS business.
"[Web hosting companies] are constantly offering new offers and bundles of services, but there's no reason why all or a good percentage of hosting companies should also be able to add more than just the basic ping power pipe to their offerings," says Brent Arslaner, VP of marketing and business development for Jamcracker. “The JDSN service is an easy way hosting companies can get into the business of offering value added services, be it if they're IT centric or potentially more business centric services."
The new features in JSDN 2.0 enable solution providers to offer services from the nearly 200 third-party on demand services in the JSDN Marketplace, where they can test drive services in their own customized "virtual playground."
Solution providers can reduce the time and effort it takes to select and add services to their own customer-facing catalog. And they can re-brand these services for direct sales or through channels, and bundle them create new and market-specific offerings.
On the administration end, JSDN 2.0 simplifies the process for solution providers by enabling them to automate and seamlessly manage the entire customer lifecycle, from order management to support, including provisioning, billing and account management.
JDSN offers enhanced reporting and auditing, as well as a complete billing solution. Jamcracker also offers additional business services for solution providers to customize their on-demand delivery processes, including customer support, collections and settlement.
"We believe hosting companies have a unique opportunity to play a more meaningful role with on demand providers," says Arslaner. "The enterprises are ready to consume these services, and now it's just a matter of collecting these services and going to market."
