http://www.upsideresearch.com/ Providing Perspective on Enterprise Technology en Copyright 2008 Wed, 28 May 2008 16:29:25 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Endeavors Technologies believes it is one of the best-kept secrets in application virtualization and streaming. From its roots as a research project at University of CA Irvine more than ten years ago, the company has grown and developed three new versions of a commercial product, Application Jukebox, aimed at providing on-demand application delivery through a portable application virtualization and streaming architecture. Perhaps most interesting is Application Jukebox SaaS Edition, which extends the flexibility of on-demand virtualization and streaming beyond the enterprise to deliver applications to users when and where they need them. The applications of Application Jukebox are numerous, from enterprise IT application distribution and license enforcement and version control to consumer gaming through a web portal. Currently, 500,000 users are utilizing Application Jukebox (or one of its previous versions). If rumors regarding an upcoming pilot program from Microsoft that will allow service providers to stream Microsoft Office through a SaaS model prove true, Endeavors will be poised to make an even more significant impact on the SaaS market. Company Strategy - Today, offer three different versions of Application Jukebox to appeal to enterprise IT departments, individual developers, and consumer-focused ISVs. - Deliver fully configurable virtualization by enabling administrators to choose between sandboxed and integrated virtualization, or any combination of the two. - Partner with Service Providers and ISV’s to enable them to offer a variety of application virtualization and streaming options to their customers. - Extend channel development in enterprise market through channel partnerships that define the benefits of Application Jukebox Enterprise Edition. Implementation Strategy Application Jukebox includes three primary components to enable application virtualization and streaming. The Application Jukebox Player is the client installed on end-user machines that creates the virtual environment for the application to execute in. The Application Jukebox Server is based on an Apache server, and provides the interface for the SaaS environment as well as the administration component to oversee license enforcement and a database to manage users and provide reporting capabilities. Application Jukebox Studio is used to create streamable and virtualized application sets from an original installer. As a SaaS implementation, Application Jukebox enables applications to be streamed to the user desktop with zero footprint – once the user is finished using the application, it is removed. This is a significant advantage of the solution from an implementation perspective because it doesn’t consume any bandwidth on the desktop and also provides protection from piracy as the application is never installed on the client. The server can be installed by following the install wizard and documentation. Installation typically takes several hours for someone who understands the prerequisites: Windows Server, SQL Server, IIS (optional for a SaaS Edition), Apache Tomcat/Java KRE and Active Directors (optional service for Enterprise Edition). Critical Success Factors - Successfully build out channel relationships to extend reach of Application Jukebox into target vertical markets. - Educate market about advantages of application virtualization and streaming for the enterprise. - Leverage recent market momentum of SaaS to extend reach to undeveloped channels. - Communicate specific benefits of Application Jukebox in relation to competitors and illustrate how Application Jukebox is being used by each category of users (IT, service and content providers, consumer, etc.) Upside Analysis SaaS is an approach to enterprise software that is gaining steam across corporate IT departments. Its benefits are numerous – the ability to better control and manage application licenses, upgrades, and usage while delivering exactly the application services that users need, when they need them and where they need them. Endeavors Technologies has been working to bring the benefits of application virtualization and streaming in a SaaS model for quite some time, and Application Jukebox is the culmination of its decade-plus efforts. Among the benefits of Endeavors’ solution are its light footprint, standards-based foundation, portability, flexibility of applications, and rapid deployment. The fact that Application Jukebox enables the administrator to control whether an application is launched in a “sandbox” or integrated virtualization environment, or any combination of the two, is a key differentiator from the competition. When Endeavors Technologies calls itself one of the “best-kept” secrets, it wasn’t far off the mark. Upside Research believes that the technology that Endeavors has developed has a wide range of applications, and the company is pursuing several of them currently. The consumer application of streaming games is an intriguing one and has been very successful to date. However, we believe that the enterprise capabilities of this technology are equally, if not more, valuable, and we encourage Endeavors Technologies to further develop these channels with specific enterprise-focused applications and success stories. The ability to optimally control application distribution, licensing, and updates will deliver significant benefits to overworked IT departments. The biggest challenge that Endeavors Technologies faces is having the bandwidth to develop all of the potential that Application Jukebox presents. ]]> http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/endeavors_application_jukebox.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/endeavors_application_jukebox.php Product briefs Wed, 28 May 2008 16:29:25 -0500 listed here, there are a number of other options that can help software and service companies articulate their business and techincal value to prospective clients and customers, including: o A “First Looks” report is usually a short paper that provides a first look or sneak peak at a new technology or product release. These reports can also include screen shots and examples of how the product is used. These reports are particularly good for helping customers to visualize and understand how new products or technologies can be used and why they’re relevant. o Technical or business articles are written under the name of a company executive and provide perspective on a particular technology, application of a technology, value proposition or perspective on an industry or business trend. These pieces are helpful for establishing thought leadership and visibility. o Case studies provide either brief or longer examples of how organizations are being successful with a company’s products. Case studies can call out key recommendations, important lessons learned and business benefits. o Newsletters provide a way to build and extend customer relationships while providing value and education to prospects. For information on how Upside Research can help your company create a winning white paper, contact us at info@upsideresearch.com ]]> http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/alternatives_to_white_papers.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/alternatives_to_white_papers.php Upside updates Thu, 22 May 2008 13:02:27 -0500 1. Thought Leadership. When it’s important to establish a thought leadership position, white papers are a particularly good approach. Thought leadership white papers can be used to establish credibility, to steer purchase decisions, and to set the agenda. 2. Business Benefits. Many white papers are aimed at business executives to help them understand why their organization needs a specific product or technology. Business benefit-oriented white papers help put technology into a business context. 3. Technical Education. White papers can provide an in-depth discussion of technical issues and help educate key technical decision-makers on new technologies or alternative solutions. 4. ROI Analysis. ROI-oriented white papers provide a framework for understanding the value and benefits that can be derived from a software investment. 5. Setting the Sales Context. White papers can also help set the sales context by providing prospects with an understanding of the financial and technical components of a solution. They can also be used to specify the decision criteria that organizations should use when selecting products. These papers provide a framework for a salesperson to walk through the sale. 6. Competitive Positioning Papers. Competitive positioning papers articulate how a product, company or service should be compared to alternatives. 7. Position Papers. Position papers articulate a company’s position on a technology or business matter, such as a technical standard. For information on how Upside Research can help your company create a winning white paper, contact us at info@upsideresearch.com ]]> http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/top_seven_white_paper_approach.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/top_seven_white_paper_approach.php Upside updates Thu, 22 May 2008 12:57:48 -0500 I really like the idea of software-as-a-service. But I'm not ready yet to give up my own applications. They’re too powerful, too handy, and too hard to live without. But maybe that’s about to change. For me—and for many other people—that’s what software-as-a-service has been about. Web-based solutions designed to be used by people connected to the Internet. Of course, another approach to software has a service has been technologies like Java or browser plug-ins, which enable people to selectively and dynamically download and use software programs. But there's another angle to software-as-a-service. It doesn't just have to be about using Web interfaces and browsers to access hosted software, or downloading plug-ins. It can also be about streaming full-blown Windows applications from a centralized location (hosted environment, corporate servers, etc.) down to local computers (laptops or desktops). Most users have plenty of raw processing power available. What's been missing is a way to easily package applications, stream them efficiently, install them correctly, and manage any licensing requirements on an on-going basis. That’s were companies like Endeavors Technologies comes in. While Endeavors (based in Irvine, California, www.endeavors.com) has been around for a dozen years or so and has had successful application streaming products available for years, their new Application Jukebox SaaS Edition directly addresses the issues of packaging and managing the delivery of desktop applications, upgrades and patches to customers in a software-as-a-service model. I believe that there's a big opportunity for both software companies and organizations when it comes to the “virtualization” of traditional desktop software programs and software-as-a-service, and that the market is going to see a significant expansion of their use over the next years. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/software_as_a_servicethe_next.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/05/software_as_a_servicethe_next.php Upside updates Mon, 12 May 2008 13:25:44 -0500 There are some things that I don't want to end - a great book, an exciting movie, a nice bottle of wine. But there are other things that I would prefer that never came up-dental emergencies, gutter cleaning and answering telemarketing calls. Neither of those lists is exhaustive, and I'm sure you have your own personal favorites. However, I'd guess that for many business and IT managers, risk management would be something they'd want to add to that second category. Unless you enjoy ruminating on disasters, spending large amounts of time or resources planning for events which may never happen, or just have dark and pessimistic side, risk management isn't fun. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/04/doing_risk_management_right.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/04/doing_risk_management_right.php EbizQ Partner publications Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:17:19 -0500 The more some things change, the more they stay the same. Let's take the example of IT and business challenges. Over the years, we've seen a wide variety of changes in both IT and business. In IT, we've seen organizations undergo an evolution from mainframes to minicomputers to PCs to the Internet and beyond. At the same time, organizations have undergone a wide range of business changes and challenges-from economic evolution to globalization. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/04/is_governance_the_silver_bulle.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/04/is_governance_the_silver_bulle.php EbizQ Partner publications Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:14:59 -0500 While there are a number of ways to look at governance, let’s look at some of the different levels (or types) of governance that are happening (or should be happening) in an organization: - Service level governance. Service level governance typically has to do with the definition, the modeling, the provisioning, etc. of services that are part of an SOA solution. - SOA governance. SOA related governance deals with how to manage the lifecycle of services and processes within an organization. As noted above, SOA governance should include processes that handle the entire SOA lifecycle, from service requirements through service design, development and deployment, and all the way to on-going maintenance, upgrades, re-use and even service retirement. - IT governance. IT governance has a much broader perspective than simply the governance of services. Instead, IT governance deals with business and IT alignment and managing IT initiatives so they’re consistent and supportive of business needs. IT governance basically includes the structures, processes and accountability aspects for ensuring that an organization’s IT department is supporting business needs. - Corporate governance. Corporate governance is the biggie. Corporate governance has to do with the overall polices and processes within the greater corporate organization and ensuring that an organization follows consistent practices and supports and meets regulatory and business requirements. Understanding the different levels of governance is important when trying to build a business case for SOA and trying to ensure that your organization is taking the appropriate steps to reduce risk and align business and IT. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/04/understanding_the_levels_of_go.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/04/understanding_the_levels_of_go.php Upside updates Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:28:51 -0500 Although the hype has been around for a while, we’re really still just at the start of Web 2.0—especially when it comes to enterprise applications and enterprise infrastructure components. I believe that over the next few years we’re going to see some significant changes in how both enterprise applications and enterprise infrastructure components are designed and deployed. A key driver for these changes will continue to be the evolution of mobile platforms, the need for greater user interaction and control, and on-going changes in user interface approaches. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/03/web_20_coming_soon_to_an_enter.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/03/web_20_coming_soon_to_an_enter.php EbizQ Partner publications Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:20:08 -0500 COMPANY STRATEGY • Encourage the creation of “customer engagement” applications that are web-based processes to help simplify and automate process that cross organizational boundaries and improve communication with external constituents. • Provide a unified, standards-based platform that supports SOA and web services to create processes that extend back-office systems outside the corporate walls. • Build on momentum of Reader and Flash products as de facto clients for engaging users to execute human-centric processes. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY The latest version of LiveCycle ES has been designed to enable collaborative development. With a standards-based J2EE foundation and an Eclipse-based integrated development environment, LiveCycle ES runs on a wide variety of platforms. The solution utilizes SOA to connect with back-office interfaces. LiveCycle ES offers an inclusive development environment with development and production repositories that can be shared among different types of users. The solution is available in a turnkey configuration with JBoss, WebLogic, WebSphere, and runs on Windows, Solaris, Linux and AIX operating systems. Adobe finds that its customers are typically using three different methods for implementation. Some have contracted directly with Adobe for professional services, while others choose to use one of Adobe’s many regional systems integrators for assistance. Finally, some of the customers choose to implement the solution themselves. Average implementation time varies, but typically runs six months. However, with the latest release of LiveCycle ES, there have been a number of implementations that have been completed in the three-month timeframe. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS • Build strong use cases in vertical markets to expand reach of solution across targeted verticals. • Strengthen partnerships in target vertical markets to deliver stronger offering to customers. • Increase packaged solutions offerings, including forms, templates, solution accelerators to enable customers to more quickly implement the product. • Clearly define how LiveCycle works with existing traditional integration and business process management solutions that customers may have. UPSIDE ANALYSIS Adobe LiveCycle ES is an intelligent and powerful extension of several desktop client applications that have become indispensable in everyday business. Leveraging the ubiquity of Adobe Reader and Flash, LiveCycle ES enables organizations to create human-centric business processes that engage the end user in a format they are already familiar with, an important component of the ultimate success of BPM. The latest version of LiveCycle ES solves some of the challenges of earlier releases by replacing more than 12 separate servers with one unified J2EE server platform and an integrated development environment that promotes collaborative development by all stakeholders. This product shines in human-centric processes that require approvals or exceptions tied to forms but do not require heavy back-office integration and transaction processing. Upside Research believes that Adobe has a compelling solution for extending the use of interactive forms routing and online rich internet applications that seek to engage customers. While the product is not intended to do some of the heavy system-to-system process integration or back-office transaction processing that other BPM solutions provide it fills an important need in the market for a process solution that can be rolled out via user centric interfaces to a variety of constituents. Extending some of the pre-packaged component of LiveCycle ES will further enhance the product’s differentiation in the market as well as its ability to be implemented more quickly. ]]> http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/03/adobe_livecycle_es.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/03/adobe_livecycle_es.php Product briefs Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:12:25 -0500 About Upside Research, Inc. Launched in 2003, Upside Research is a research, consulting, and content development firm focused on helping enterprises manage technology adoption, solution development, deployment, and management from a business perspective by putting application development, business process management (BPM), integration, and enterprise infrastructure challenges in perspective. About Management Insight Technologies Management Insight Technologies is a market research consulting firm dedicated to helping technology companies find answers and insights that lead to superior business performance. Unlike many research firms, the Management Insight team is composed of seasoned technology executives. Having worked in high-tech themselves, they can offer deeper analysis, perspective, and insight so that research is both understandable and actionable. ### Media Contact: David A. Kelly Upside Research, Inc. dkelly@upsideresearch.com +1 617 969 6886 Carey Azzara Management Insight carey@mgtinsight.com +1 508 400 6837]]> http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/03/upside_research_introduces_ent.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/03/upside_research_introduces_ent.php News Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:51:54 -0500 It's always been hard to escape risk. Almost everything an individual (or company) does involves some level of risk--often times multiple types of risk. Of course, over the years, the types of risk that we face (both as individuals and as corporations) has changed. That's where risk management comes in. For large companies, IT risks have to be managed on a global scale. To do this, organizations need to ensure that there's a common set of minimal controls that are observed across the company or globe. Then, individual departments or geographies add to extend these controls and risk management strategies by defining ones that are appropriate for their situation. It's important to make sure that there's flexibility built into your approach for risk management, since having a one size fits all approach is generally not a true reflection of the enterprise and is typically not realistic or achievable. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/managing_it_risk_effectively.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/managing_it_risk_effectively.php EbizQ Partner publications Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:26:17 -0500 A significant portion of organizations are considering SOA to help enable greater reuse from both new and existing assets. In many cases this takes the form of breaking down legacy applications into usable components for reuse across projects and teams. When designed correctly services can be used in new projects without customization. A move to SOA can also help integrate IT assets, making it easier for IT organizations to react more quickly to business demands as business needs change, especially if applications are broken down into reusable components modeled along the lines of an organization’s business processes. By creating these types of “business services” organizations are creating assets that can be leveraged by the business. From the business case perspective, managers should focus on the hard benefits such as decreases in project time, reductions in time or risk, and increases in efficiency from using SOA interfaces and business services. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/soa_and_flexibility.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/soa_and_flexibility.php Upside updates Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:30:31 -0500 Storage area networks have been - and still - are big thing in business. Over the past few years organizations have had to find ways to add more and more storage to their IT environments as new applications come on-line and as new data sources such as Web storefronts have added massive amounts of potentially valuable data to be analyzed. As a results, organizations have invested in more and more storage capability-from larger servers to storage area networks that can connect different types of storage into a unified data network for use by a wide variety of corporate applications or users. Because of the continuing need for greater, faster, more efficient and manageable storage options, business storage solutions are going to continue to be a big area of investment for organizations over the next five years. But it's important to recognize that we're not just going to see this type of focus and growth in the business sector. We're also going to see it in our homes and personal lives. Over the next few years, the variety and types of significant storage devices we use in our personal lives will increase dramatically-from multiple, different portable storage devices, to ones for use in our cars, to ones connected to our TV and digital media centers, most households will have a variety of new storage devices with new features. And, okay, so we may not exactly see the same thing-storage area homes-happening in the home that we've seen happen in business-storage area networks-but we will see a similar growth in the use of different data storage options to serve and ever-widening array of personal (and home-office) storage needs. In fact, storage in the home and small office is a incredibly fast-growing area. Some research estimates say that there's now as much storage in the home as there is in business. Since 2003 the growth in home storage has actually outpaced the growth in business storage. Those are two very interesting statistics that show potential of the role of home storage and digital content management as consumers dramatically increase their storage capacities. First, they indicate a massive opportunity for hardware vendors to design, build and market a variety of personal and small business storage devices for more individual or family use. Secondly, just like google and other consumer-oriented technologies that have changed business user expectations, I believe that this upcoming massive shift in consumer storage devices will also alter business user expectations on storage. Consumers are essentially gobbling up storage faster than businesses are. When you stop to think about it, it's not surprising, given the huge growth in digital cameras, the move to DVRs and digital videos, digital music (from MP3s to downloadable iTunes movies, TV shows and music), and more. We can see the impact of the direction of this trend in some of the recent announcements by companies like Seagate and Maxtor, at January's consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. For example, Seagate announced the introduction of its Maxtor® BlackArmour™ storage solution, a 2.5-inch consumer-friendly, portable AES government-grade encrypting external storage device that makes it simple for consumers (or business users) to securely and easily take their data with them. With hardware-level encryption, the device is designed to keep content locked even if it's lost or stolen. Although these types of technologies have been around for years, what's amazing is that you'll get 160GB of portable, secure storage for a retail price of $149.99, all from your local Staples or electronics store. Another interesting part of their announcement was the introduction of Maxtor Central Axis software, a software solution that enables users to remotely connect, access, upload, and share content on a Maxtor Shared Storage II drive, networked on your local home network-without breaching network firewalls. In effect, consumers and home office workers now have an easy way to share and access files remotely while maintaining a high level of security. I believe that over the next few years we'll see a huge change in the types and volume of storage devices that standard consumers are using in their homes. We're going to see both a diversity of applications-from hard drives designed to move movies or music to automobile playback systems to home office storage, backup and remote access. In any case, a great many of these changes in the consumer storage technology landscape will undoubtedly filter back up to the enterprise, affecting the design, deployment and use of future business storage technologies for years to come. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/storage_area_networks.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/storage_area_networks.php EbizQ Partner publications Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:28:12 -0500 Consumers are essentially gobbling up storage faster than businesses are. When you stop to think about it, it’s not surprising, given the huge growth in digital cameras, the move to DVRs and digital videos, digital music (from MP3s to downloadable iTunes movies, TV shows and music), and more. We can see the impact of the direction of this trend in some of the recent announcements by companies like Seagate and Maxtor, at January’s consumer electronics show in Las Vegas. For example, Seagate announced the introduction of its Maxtor® BlackArmour™ storage solution, a 2.5-inch consumer-friendly, portable AES government-grade encrypting external storage device that makes it simple for consumers (or business users) to securely and easily take their data with them. With hardware-level encryption, the device is designed to keep content locked even if it’s lost or stolen. Although these types of technologies have been around for years, what’s amazing is that you’ll get 160GB of portable, secure storage for a retail price of $149.99, all from your local Staples or electronics store. Another interesting part of their announcement was the introduction of Maxtor Central Axis software, a software solution that enables users to remotely connect, access, upload, and share content on a Maxtor Shared Storage II drive, networked on your local home network—without breaching network firewalls. In effect, consumers and home office workers now have an easy way to share and access files remotely while maintaining a high level of security. I believe that over the next few years we’ll see a huge change in the types and volume of storage devices that standard consumers are using in their homes. We’re going to see both a diversity of applications—from hard drives designed to move movies or music to automobile playback systems to home office storage, backup and remote access. In any case, a great many of these changes in the consumer storage technology landscape will undoubtedly filter back up to the enterprise, affecting the design, deployment and use of future business storage technologies for years to come. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/new_storage_technologies_for_c.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/new_storage_technologies_for_c.php Upside updates Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:27:16 -0500 These days, everywhere you look there's more and more information bombarding us. Our email inboxes are flooding over, blogs, websites and RSS feeds provide a constant stream of updates, and new social networking sites such as twitter.com even allow your friends and family to track every movement you make - from running out to Starbucks to kicking back and watching the latest thriller on DVD. No matter how you slice it, the general public is exposed to a whole lot more information today than they were ten or twenty years ago. Of course, it's the same for businesses - only it's worse. As I've explored in previous columns, today's businesses are consuming, generating and repurposing huge amounts of data these days. And it's not just coming from traditional order entry-type applications or individual users. Today, organizations have to deal with a wide range of data sources that are constantly delivering new information. The range is almost endless-it could be financial market data, network events, application data, RFID or sensor events, Web/click events or just about anything else. The effect is the same-many organizations need a proactive way to analyze, process, and act upon this ever-expanding volume of information flowing through the company from a myriad of (potentially time-critical) sources. http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/simplifying_the_complex.php http://www.upsideresearch.com/2008/02/simplifying_the_complex.php EbizQ Partner publications Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:30:05 -0500