Six big trends to watch in 2011

Contrasting cross-currents are going to make 2011 a fascinating and turbulent year, in which SaaS enters the tornado and mobile enters the bowling alley at the very same time as cloud trips over the chasm.

I’ve long been a fan of Geoffrey Moore’s classic business books about the evolutionary path taken by emerging technologies and the companies that champion them. Especially now that several of the key emerging technologies I follow are at such different stages of their evolutions. These contrasting cross-currents are going to make 2011 a fascinating and turbulent year, one in which SaaS enters the tornado and mobile enters the bowling alley at the very same time as cloud trips over the chasm. I’ve decided to highlight six trends in enterprise computing for the coming year, but here’s a seventh prediction: middle-of-the-road analysts and pundits will find it even harder than ever to make any sense of everything that’s going on right now.

1. Mainstream means mobile

For many years, mobile has been a peripheral afterthought when developing enterprise applications. Even when running in a browser, the laptop or desktop PC has been the primary user platform, and a mobile client was always an option at best. In 2011, there’s going to be seismic shift. Significant numbers of enterprise software vendors will upend their development priorities and develop for mobile first, desktop second.

2. Fake cloud #fails the crowd

It should be no surprise to find me predicting that so-called ‘private cloud’ will disappoint. Cloud computing has ridden to the peak of the Gartner hype cycle, and fake cloud is now leading the way into the trough of disillusionment. Vendors and enterprises seeking to capture the benefits of cloud computing without understanding the core principles will come a cropper, and cloud’s reputation will suffer accordingly, even if undeservedly.

3. IT management gets wired to the cloud

The days when cloud computing came in an unaccountable black box are drawing to an end. Enterprise buyers rightly demand oversight and governance of their computing, even if hosted by a provider. Instead of take-it-or-leave it service levels, there’s a new trend towards visibility and accountability. Examples include RightNow’s Cloud Services Portal or the detailed reporting and governance built into managed cloud offerings from the likes of OpSource and Rackspace. 2011 will see instrumentation bringing new depth and detail to cloud and SaaS offerings.

4. Data just wants to be mined

The volume of data being accumulated every day is exploding, and it’s yielding huge new value for those who know how to mine and refine it. This emerging new value equation is changing the relationship between data and security, as Wikileaks has shown. Governments and corporations today (not to mention consumers) are sitting on rich seams of data whose value they have barely realized. Others are mining that wealth, whether openly or surreptitiously. I can’t put it better than I wrote back in 2006: “Value comes from the views that you create to filter, join and represent data — whether it’s your data or someone else’s (more often the latter).”

5. Social technologies remake enterprise apps

The ability to collaborate in real time, to instantly initiate conversations or to develop a thread across follow-the-sun timezones — all these capabilities are bringing people together in new ways that cut across the old business processes of industrial-era enterprise applications. The old way was to put the organization and its process automation first. Now applications are being remade to put people at the center of process and have automation serve their needs. The outcome will break down the old silos of resource-centric process management, to replace them with new, people-centric automation stacks.

6. Business transformation becomes the big story

The tech industry is obsessed with its pursuit of the new, new thing. In 2011 the new, new thing is not a technology at all, but a new way of doing business that’s enabled by all of the above. The new year’s most telling innovations will not be in mobile, cloud or social technologies but in how smart, entrepreneurial business people adapt to the potential that blossoms from those technologies.

Pulled from/Sourced: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/six-big-trends-to-watch-in-2011/1232 By Phil Wainewright | December 28, 2010

Tags: cloud computing advancements, fake cloud, gartner, It Management, mobile, saas news, social technologies, wikileaks

Innotas Appointed Leader in IDC MarketScape Report

Leading Cloud Solutions Provider Named a Leader in IT PPM SaaS

San Francisco, CA (SaaS Newswire) December 16, 2010 — Innotas, the leading provider of Cloud solutions for IT Management, has announced today that the IDC MarketScape Report released in November scored Innotas as a Leader in the IT PPM SaaS segment for the second year in a row.

The IDC MarketScape Report indicated that Innotas executed well with its IT-focused approach and commitment to targeted, consistent client relationships. Innotas’ product updates have evolved product functionality in appropriate directions and deepened the company’s IT PPM focus. Innotas’ recent Product Release included a new task workbench with an interactive interface to help simplify definition of project plans, enhancements to reporting tools and more robust API support.

According to the IDC MarketScape Report, many Innotas clients specifically chose the company as a result of its Cloud approach, and SaaS delivery model. A major credit union customer of Innotas went from more than 75% projects being late and over budget in 2007 to 2009/10, by which time they brought that down to averaged where more than 60% of projects finished on time and under budget. Business critical projects have shown that the investment has paid off resulting in better visibility on a majority of high priority projects that were almost universally a failure in 2008.

“We are delighted to continue to be recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape Report,” said Kevin Kern, Innotas CEO. “We focused our resources in 2010 to developing more sophisticated IT management reporting tools, and the ability to track time, people and money against all the requests through delivery by IT. Innotas is pleased to be validated by IDC and our valuable customers.”

About IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

About Innotas

Innotas Cloud solutions for IT Management is a seamless way to manage Resources, Applications and Projects across all IT. With a strong foundation in Project Portfolio Management and Application Portfolio Management, Innotas provides CIOs and IT Management with Cloud-based 360° visibility across both strategic initiatives and sustaining operations for improved decision making across the entire IT portfolio. Innotas customers include Forbes, Tiffany & Co., Crocs, State of Montana, Crayola, Hamilton Beach, Burlington Coat Factory, The Northwest Company and World Vision. For more information please visit www.innotas.com or contact us at 866-692-7362.

SOURCE Innotas.com

Tags: cloud solutions, idc marketscapereport, innotas, It Management, it ppm saas, saas news

Citrix Systems To Acquire Web Conferencing Services Provider Netviewer AG

(SaaS Newswire) Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS), a software-as-service provider based in Florida, announced on Friday that it has agreed to acquire its privately-held European counterpart Netviewer AG. The financial terms of the transaction were undisclosed.

Netviewer, based in Germany, is a provider of online web conferencing services in Europe. The firm has about 18,000 customers, including businesses of varying sizes.

The deal will accelerate the growth of Citrix Online, Citrix System’s online services division, in Europe the company said. Citrix Online provides online web conferencing tools and remote computer access services.

“SaaS-based collaboration and IT Services have been key to our growth story. We believe there is even more opportunity ahead as the global market matures and customers look for a strong, experienced partner,” said Brett Caine, Senior Vice President of Online Services Division at Citrix Systems.

After the deal closes, Netviewer will be integrated into Citrix Online. Robert Gratzl, Netviewer’s Chief Financial Officer, will become the division’s Vice President and General Manager in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The deal, subject to certain closing conditions, is expected to close in early 2011.

Citrix Systems’ shares have edged up 1.2% to trade at $69.98 as of 11:39 am EST.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (Citrix) designs, develops and markets technology solutions that enable information technology (IT) services to be delivered through its virtual computing infrastructure on demand, independent of location, device or network.

Pulled from/Sourced: http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/10966/citrix-systems-to-acquire-web-conferencing-services-provider-netviewer-ag–10966.html

Tags: Citrix, citrix systems, netviewer ag, saas news, software as a service, web conferencing services

Avectra Adds New Integrations and Features to Industry’s Fastest Growing REALTOR® Association Management Software

Additional NRDS integrations, MLS and Lockbox Support and Education Credit Tracking make it easier for REALTOR® Association staff to manage data and service members

MCLEAN, VA (SaaS Newswire) December 13, 2010 – Avectra, the industry’s leading web-based association management software (AMS) provider, announced today a suite of new integrations and enhancements for netFORUM Pro for Real Estate Associations – the company’s, proven solution designed for the unique needs of REALTOR® associations and boards.

With more than 50 organizations using Avectra’s game-changing association management software, netFORUM Pro for Real Estate Associations is the fastest growing AMS in the industry. Now, with these new features and integrations available free of charge to all current and future customers, REALTOR® associations can focus on customer service rather than tracking credits and other data in third party databases.

The new features improve data integration and staff efficiency and include:

• Individual Lookup & Transfer – Giving staff members an efficient tool to verify a REALTOR’s status and NAR ID before adding them to the AMS
• MLS and Lockbox Data Extraction Tools – MLS and Lockbox data fields can be extracted from netFORUM using new options for easy transfer to MLS and Lockbox vendors. This enables staff to manage MLS and Lockbox access from one database – ensuring not only accurate data but also delivering greater staff efficiency.
• Education Credits and Realtor Designation Transfers – netFORUM now supports Education Credit and REALTOR® designation transfers with NRDS. Data can be pulled in from NRDS or pushed out from netFORUM for individual REALTORS®. In addition, designations will be pulled in from NRDS to netFORUM.

“Avectra’s innovation and understanding of the unique needs of REALTOR® associations is the key to our continued growth and success among REALTOR® associations and boards,” said Patrick Dorsey, vice president of marketing for Avectra. “With this update, we now have even more integrations and connections with third-party REALTOR® applications and vendors as well as NRDS – ensuring that REALTOR® board staff can focus on the business of running their organization instead of managing data and operating multiple databases. The result is a strong ROI driven by a established system already hard at work for a number of successful organizations.”

“Since we switched to Avectra’s AMS for REALTOR associations, our member satisfaction has skyrocketed thanks to online payments and member self-service,” said Michael Barr, CAE, e-PRO, chief executive officer for the Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association.

Introduced just over a year ago, netFORUM Pro for Real Estate Associations – Avectra’s 100% web-based REALTOR® association software – has become a dominant industry force. Avectra’s impressive customer roster includes state and local REALTOR® associations and boards who recognize Avectra’s ability to successfully deliver a proven, web-based association management system that allows them to meets the distinct needs of REALTOR® associations as well as tap into aspects of traditional association management — e-Marketing, meeting management and registrations, online individual profiles, e-Commerce and more — all within one solution.

“netFORUM Pro for Real Estate Associations has streamlined our reporting and management,” said Dana Holben RCE, chief executive officer for the Dearborn Area Board of REALTORS®. “We have also been very successful with the events module which has made registration data readily available to our staff and vendors – saving time and enabling better service at events.”

netFORUM Pro for Real Estate Associations is powerful web-based association software designed for the unique needs of REALTOR® associations. It features not only NRDS integration for data transfer but also the ability to use the National Association of REALTORS® e-Commerce site as the payment processor, REALTOR® specific data fields, dues collection and automatic distribution among several real estate associations and bank accounts, and REALTOR® association specific reports.

Avectra is participating in the 2010 ASAE Technology Conference and Exposition on December 14 and 15 in Washington, D.C. Visit booth #215 for information regarding netFORUM Pro for Real Estate Associations and all Avectra solutions.

For more information about Avectra’s membership management software designed for the unique needs of REALTOR® associations or to sign up for a free online demonstration, visit www.avectra.com/livedemo.

Media Contact:

Patrick Dorsey
Avectra
703-506-7037

Tags: netforum realtor pro, nrds integration, real estate database management, realtor association management, saas news

HDFC Bank Wins top CSI honor for IT Excellence

Sanovi partnered with HDFC Bank to ensure recover readiness of the bank’s critical IT applications

December 15, 2010 (SaaS Newswire) – At the 45^th Annual IT Convention, Computer Society of India (CSI) presented the CSI 2010 awards for Excellence in IT to HDFC Bank in the BFSI category. The CSI Awards for Excellence are given to technological projects and innovation in various sectors like BFSI, Product Manufacturing, Service Sector, Non-profit organizations and Quality Assurance.

Out of the 143 nominations received, 43 were in BFSI segment and top honor was accorded to HDFC Bank in the BFSI segment for adoption of an effective DR plan.

The six CSI criteria for selecting the winners of IT Excellence Awards were criticality of IT usage, improvement of customer service, innovation, return on investment, quality of management, and impact of the project (on organization/society/industry). The evaluation process included two rounds of scrutiny and elimination, followed by presentations by 10 finalists before the jury.

HDFC bank has been an early adopter of disaster recovery (DR) management planning in India. HDFC Bank is among the country’s largest financial institutions, with a network of 1412 branches and 2890 ATMs in 528 Indian cities. HDFC Bank may cause systemic risks in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system if there is a business continuity failure as almost 40 % of RTGS transactions are routed through it. Hence DR management is of extreme importance for HDFC Bank.

Out of its 350 applications, HDFC Bank selected eight core applications critical for the bank’s customer service continuity in the first phase of DR implementation.

As part of the DR management project, HDFC Bank partnered with Sanovi Technologies to implement a DR management solution which tracks and monitors RTOs as well as RPOs. Thus HDFC Bank gradually evolved to the Gartner model, which details how to organize DR management structurally in a bank (called the Chief Risk Officer model).

“Sanovi has partnered with HDFC Bank in to ensure that HDFC bank’s IT has a disaster recovery plan that works and meets business needs. The goal was to ensure recovery within set time objectives and provide seamless transition of application services to 25,000 of the banks end users”, says Lakshman Narayanaswamy, Co-founder and VP Products, Sanovi Technologies Limited.

Deployment of Sanovi DRM Suits ensured that the Productivity increased as:

1. Over 85% reduction in application fail over time

2. 100% increase in frequency of DR drills

3. Over 75% reduction in the time required for DR drill preparation & validation

The Operational efficiency also increased at HDFC Bank:

1. Real-time alerts on RPO, RTO deviations of critical applications

2. Five time increase in number of DR solution deployed with no increase in staff

Sanovi helps organizations across the globe proactively manage disaster recovery (DR) environments and ensure business managers that applications can be recovered in compliance with service level agreements. Sanovi DR Management™ Suite, is a comprehensive family of enterprise-class DR management software solutions for validating, monitoring, testing and automating recovery. For more information visit www.sanovi.com.

Sunil Kumar Singh
Sr.Consultant
finese PR – the communication & people consultancy
181, Anand Vihar, Pitampura
Delhi 110034, INDIA
Tele: +91 11 43056200 (30 Lines) Fax: +91 11 43056202
Direct :+91 11 43056211
Handphone: +91 9818363518
email: sunil@finesepr.com
url: www.finesepr.com

Tags: hdfc bank, saas news india, sanovi drm, top csi honor

SkillSoft Expands Books24×7 with Addition of Thomas Nelson Titles

Adds Dozens of Best-Selling Books to SkillSoft’s BusinessPro Collection; Spanish titles also included

NASHUA, N.H. & NASHVILLE, Tenn.–(SaaS Newswire)–SkillSoft, a leading SaaS provider of e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses, today announced the addition of over 90 new business titles from Thomas Nelson, a leading trade business book publisher, to its Books24×7® digital books library. Available within SkillSoft’s BusinessPro™ collection, a key business resource for on-demand training, the Thomas Nelson titles provide SkillSoft clients with a wide range of leadership, personal and professional development resources to enhance their employees’ skills and careers. Featured Thomas Nelson business authors include John C. Maxwell, Tim Irwin, Zig Ziglar, and many more.

“We want our products—books and conferences—to affect people and provide the sought-after practical guidance that inspire real change,” said Daisy Hutton, vice president of licensing, Thomas Nelson. “SkillSoft’s Books24×7 library offers one of the largest on-demand e-reference services for professional learning and is a great vehicle for Thomas Nelson to reach new audiences with its inspirational business content.”

SkillSoft’s Books24×7 helps bridge the gap between what employees know and need to know in hundreds of leading organizations. The expansive online collection of books within the business disciplines accelerates the acquisition of business knowledge, sharpens management acumen and inspires professional development. Thomas Nelson joins a long list of well-known publishers that contribute their latest and best selling titles, as well as their classics to Books24×7. With new books added almost every day, SkillSoft ensures the currency and comprehensiveness of its online business skills reference materials.

“From senior executives to individual contributors, employees across the enterprise rely on the Books24×7 collections for reliable, authoritative information to stay current and informed,” said John Ambrose, SkillSoft’s senior vice president of strategy, corporate development and emerging business. “We are pleased to expand our collection of best-selling business books with the addition of Thomas Nelson titles in BusinessPro.”

Through the Books24×7 On Demand platform, BusinessPro offers access to thousands of business titles from the most reputable publishers and authors in the industry. The scope of the collection is both broad and deep, addressing a range of issues critical to today’s business professionals — from fostering employee engagement to the latest trends on leadership, from Lean Six Sigma to project management, and from innovation to social networking. Books24×7 users can expect to see the following Thomas Nelson titles added:

• “Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership,” Tim Irwin
• “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently,” John C. Maxwell
• “Talent Is Never Enough: Discover the Choices That Will Take You Beyond Your Talent,” John C. Maxwell
• “Find your strongest life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently,” Marcus Buckingham
• “Ziglar On Selling,” Zig Ziglar
• And many more

Covering titles in both English and Spanish languages, the partnership with Thomas Nelson also significantly expands the Books24×7 en Español collection, a specialty offering of books published in the Spanish language covering desktop skills, management, IT and other technical disciplines.

About Thomas Nelson

Thomas Nelson is a leading provider of Bibles, products, and live events emphasizing Christian, inspirational and family value themes. For more information, visit our website www.thomasnelson.com.

About SkillSoft

SkillSoft is a leading SaaS provider of on-demand e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses. SkillSoft enables business organizations to maximize business performance through a combination of comprehensive e- learning content, online information resources, flexible learning technologies and support services. SkillSoft is on the web at www.skillsoft.com.

Content offerings include business, IT, desktop, compliance and consumer/SMB courseware collections, as well as complementary content assets such as Leadership Development Channel video products, KnowledgeCenter(TM) portals, virtual instructor-led training services and online mentoring services. SkillSoft’s Books24×7(R) product offering includes access to more than 25,000 digitized IT and business books, as well as book summaries and executive reports. Technology offerings include the SkillPort(R) learning management system, Search-and-Learn(R), SkillSoft(R) Dialogue(TM), inGenius® and virtual classroom.

SkillSoft courseware content described herein is for information purposes only and is subject to change without notice. SkillSoft has no obligation or commitment to develop or deliver any future release, upgrade, feature, enhancement or function described in this press release except as specifically set forth in a written agreement.

SkillSoft, the SkillSoft logo, SkillPort, Search-and-Learn, SkillChoice, Books24×7, ITPro, BusinessPro, OfficeEssentials, GovEssentials, EngineeringPro, FinancePro, AnalystPerspectives, ExecSummaries, ExecBlueprints, Express Guide, Dialogue and inGenius are trademarks or registered trademarks of SkillSoft Ireland Limited in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, countries.

Contacts

SkillSoft
Donna Ayer, 603-821-3211
Donna_Ayer@SkillSoft.com
or
Lois Paul & Partners
Lauren Whittenberg, 512-638-5322
lauren_whittenberg@lpp.com

Pulled from/Sourced: Skillsoft.com

Tags: businesspro collection, digital books, e-learning, on-demand training, skillsoft

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Avectra’s Recent Release Exemplifies Customer-Driven Innovation and Makes Association Management Software Even Easier to Use

More than 1,400 Associations Receive Automatic Update to Their Critical Business Software

McLean, VA (SaaS Newswire) December 9, 2010

Avectra, the industry innovator for association management software (AMS), has announced the fourth significant release of netFORUM Team and netFORUM Pro for 2010. The upgraded software delivers more than 100 new features and product enhancements that improve data collection capabilities and make it easier for association staff to leverage the software to meet them operational and membership goals.

“Imagine an AMS so useable, you’ll actually use it. This simple premise drives our product development strategy. Our releases are truly customer-driven innovation—over 1,400 customers sharing daily best practices to help drive an improved member experience and staff efficiency,” said Patrick Dorsey, vice president of marketing for Avectra. “Unlike others, we encourage our customers to share their feedback and user experience. Avectra’s commitment to product development and customer success continues to raise the bar in the membership management software market.”

The release has been made available automatically and at no cost to Avectra’s more than 1,400 Team and Pro customers. Enhancements to the company’s 100% web-based membership management software include:

• Integrated Support – An integrated announcement tool keeps users informed about product developments and issues without checking email or leaving the system. Users also have direct access to Avectra’s Online User Group from within the netFORUM software.
• Configurable User Settings – Administrators can configure access to critical functionality including the ability to show or hide features such as email templates and access to mailing lists, thus making netFORUM more flexible for all users.
• Improved Data Collection – Additional demographic fields and improved processes for registering association website visitors help associations capture targeted data about association members and customers.
• Accounting Enhancements – New cancellation fee and payment profile updates make it easier to reconcile bank transactions–reducing manual processes and saving time and money.

Avectra has also enhanced the speed and processing power of the netFORUM on demand association software with additional upgraded, industry leading 64-bit servers. netFORUM Team and Pro run on Microsoft’s .NET Framework 4.0, 64-bit SQL 2008 databases, 2008 SQL Reporting Services with Dundas software for enhanced graphical reporting and back-end servers running on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise edition.

“Avectra’s industry leading investments continue to deliver high performance for our clients who rely on us to provide their most critical tools,” said Dorsey. “It is part of our commitment to help our customers solve their problems by offering peace of mind about their systems. This means that they can focus on their members and revenue generating programs instead of the headaches of back-end technology.”

Avectra is participating in the 2010 ASAE Technology Conference on December 14 and 15 in Washington, D.C. Visit booth #215 for information regarding netFORUM and Avectra.

For more information about Avectra’s membership management software or to sign up for a free online demonstration, visit http://www.avectra.com/livedemo.

About netFORUM Team & Pro

netFORUM Team & Pro are Avectra’s 100% Web-based association management software solutions. With complete association management functionality, both products are designed and configured to meet association needs without the cost or complexity of customization. Avectra Social Community provides netFORUM Team and Pro customers with social networking tools designed to improve the organization’s business, recruitment efforts, member communications, and results by inspiring conversations with and between members, building long-term loyalty, and forging deeper relationships with their members.

About netFORUM Enterprise

netFORUM Enterprise is Avectra’s hosted, enterprise level association management that delivers advanced association management tools and the ability to be customized to meet the most complex business needs – all while remaining on the upgrade path.

With more than 30 modules designed for complete association management and Avectra’s on demand SaaS (software-as-a-service) model, netFORUM Enterprise is accessible at any time, from anywhere. And customers can rest assured knowing that their data is safe, as all Avectra solutions run in a secure, world-class hosting facility with complete system redundancy, fail-safe power systems and full database backup.

In addition to Avectra’s internal development and implementation resources, the company also boasts a network of implementation and industry solution partners who work with the company’s customers to implement netFORUM Enterprise or extend the system’s functionality.

About Avectra

For the last 16 years, Avectra has been translating our customers’ needs into market-leading association management software – whether our customers serve members by the hundreds or hundreds of thousands. Our 100% Web-based technology integrates data with business processes and then automates it, so our customers can engage members, provide access to all of their resources and get more done. Each of our solutions is continually refined by the user community, ensuring that we have the features our customers need to run their businesses and lead their industries. With ongoing, automatic upgrades that won’t disrupt service or incur additional costs, we keep our customers current with the latest technology. Avectra is headquartered in McLean, Va., with a regional office in Chicago.

To explore the netFORUM family of products, please visit http://www.avectra.com, or call 800-858-8272.

Media Contact:
Patrick Dorsey
(703) 506-7037
pdorsey(at)avectra(dot)com

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Tags: association management software, avectra, netFORUM, netforum team & pro, web-based membership management software

Numbers Crunch Themselves with Wave Accounting Saving Time for Small Businesses

New Free and Easy Way to Manage Business and Personal Finances

TORONTO (SaaS Newswire) – Wave Accounting today launched an online

accounting application that frees small business owners from the time-consuming steps of bookkeeping and accounting. Wave Accounting is the first integrated online application to track users’ business and personal finances, an essential feature for the many small businesses that manage business and personal finances out of the same bank account and credit card. And it’s free, unlike traditional accounting software.

Other free applications offer limited options, restrict access to features or put a cap on usage. Wave Accounting is the only full-featured online accounting program that is 100 percent free for small businesses.

Many small business owners do not possess a clear picture of what’s happening with their money. Or they spend hours logging payments into spreadsheets and hand-writing invoices. Wave Accounting does the work for them.

Wave Accounting connects with users’ banking and credit card institutions, automatically importing and categorizing transactions to provide a real-time view of the business’ financial health.

“The reality is that two-thirds of small business owners still stuff their receipts in shoeboxes, log expenses in spreadsheets and hand-write invoices,” said Kirk Simpson, chief executive officer, Wave Accounting. “It’s hard to find a market as large as this – and growing with the recession – with a pain point that still needs to be addressed. We took stock of the process that any small business owner goes through to stay on top of finances. Anywhere we could cut time, we did.”

With Wave, paper receipts become digital records. Even the application’s language is simplified, stripped of accounting terminology and replaced with plain English. Instead of “debits and credits,” users see “money owed to me and money I owe.”

Unlike traditional accounting software, Wave Accounting resides online. As a result, users can access their financial information from any device with a browser. Data is stored securely and backed up hourly to allow users to stay in business in the event of a system crash or hardware theft. No software downloads are required.

Product Feature Highlights

• Automatically imports transactions from your business and personal bank and credit card accounts
• Automatically categorizes transactions
• Drag and drop income and expenses into appropriate categories
• View a real-time dashboard featuring graphs of your income against expenses, due dates and bookkeeping actions
• Log, generate and send invoices from within the application or download a PDF copy
• Collaborate with business partners and accountants by extending edit or view only access to balance sheets, income statements and other reports

Availability

For more information or to sign up for a free account now visit http://waveaccounting.com/.

Supporting Resources

• View video overview
• View 5 Things to Love About Wave Accounting for Small Business
• Read: The New Wave for Small Businesses
• Read: Business vs. Personal: No more fighting
• View photo gallery
• Check out the market and application fact sheet

About Wave Accounting

Wave Accounting liberates small business owners from the time consuming parts of bookkeeping and accounting. And it’s free. By using smarter tools, Wave Accounting gives small business owners control over their financial information. The result: No more sleepless nights worrying about the accounting you’ve avoided. For more information on how your small business can benefit from Wave Accounting, visit us on the Web at http://waveaccounting.com/.

Follow us on Twitter at @WaveAccounting.

Press Contact:

Juliet Niczewicz

The Hoffman Agency

(408) 975-3091

jniczewicz@hoffman.com

Source:

Rob Maurin
Director of Product & CommunityWave Accounting
rob@waveaccounting.com
http://www.WaveAccounting.com

Tags: accounting software, free small biz accounting software, saas accounting software, wave accounting software, wave accounting\

Ben Martin joins the NFi Studios team as Product & Community Manager

Orlando, FL (December 3, 2010) – NFi Studios is pleased to announce that Ben Martin, CAE, association industry thought leader and blogger, has joined the NFi Studios team as the Product & Community Manager.

Ben has spent the past ten years working in the association industry gaining experience working through many different positions, all the way up to the VP level. His most recent position was the VP of Marketing & Communications at the Virginia Association of REALTORS® (VAR), an NFi Studios customer using the MemberFuse community platform. Ben has been recognized by ASAE & The Center as the “Five to Watch” in 2007, by Inman News as one of the “50 Most Influential Online”, and has received the National Association of REALTORS® Technology Innovator Award in November 2010.

“I was a big fan of NFi Studios even before VAR officially became a client. Now, after a year as a customer, I’m more than a fan, I’m a true believer. Joining the team at NFi Studios is exciting for me because I’ll get to work full time on something I’m so passionate about: Helping associations deliver on their missions by bringing the full power of the web to their member engagement strategies, just as VAR and NFi’s other clients have.” – Ben Martin, CAE, Product & Community Manager of NFi Studios.

“It’s an honor to have Ben Martin join the leadership team at NFi Studios. His passion for association strategy and focus on innovation will help accelerate the value of our product and customer success. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Virginia Association of REALTORS®, and to seeing Ben serve the association industry in his new role on our team.” – Sterling Raphael, President/CEO of NFi Studios.

About NFi Studios: NFi Studios is the leading provider of engaging web technologies connecting member and industry communities. By delivering social technologies to associations to marketplace matching solutions for tradeshows, NFi Studios takes a creative approach to delivering powerful interactive solutions for our clients.
Contact:

Elizabeth Baranik, VP, Marketing & Public Relations

elizabeth@nfistudios.com

NFiStudios.com

1-877-NFi-Studios (877-425-7883)
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Tags: association technology, avectra, ben martin, nfi studios, product and community manager, saas news, social community technology, sterling raphael

Assembla Releases Real-Time Team Room with multi-way video chat

(SaaS Newswire) December 3, 2010 – Assembla (www.assembla.com), a leading provider of project management and team collaboration software, announced the availability of its Real-Time Team Room, featuring an innovative new multi-way group video chat tool, that is specifically d esigned for distributed teams that want to communicate and collaborate in real-time.

For the first time, distributed teams can communicate and collaborate as instantaneously as teams working in the same location or even in the same room. Unlike other video chat tools that support only one-to-one video conversations, Assembla’s multi-way video chat capability lets everyone on a team communicate and collaborate simultaneously.

“Assembla lets you have face-to-face conversations with everyone on your team, making it a perfect way to focus on a specific task, deadline or project”, said Andy Singleton, CEO of Assembla. “We designed the Real-Time Team Room for teams that need to keep track of project activity in real-time, which is especially important for distributed teams.”

“Assembla has taken the activity stream to the next level by incorporating it directly into real-time video chat,” said Andy. “Real-ime project activity is displayed directly in the chat stream, so you see what’s happening as you chat with your teammates. This type of activity stream is very important for keeping members of a team working together.”

Assembla’s multi-way video chat capability is powered by OpenTok, a group video communication platform provided by TokBox, a leading web video communications provider, that enables websites to weave live, group video communication into their online experience. “We are excit ed to work with Assembla as our first partner in workplace collaboration,” said Ian Small, CEO of TokBox. “By using the OpenTok video chat platform to enable face-to-face interactions, Assembla is bringing rich human interaction to distributed teams and fundamentally changing how teams can collaborate.”

Assembla’s Real-Time Team Room is available immediately. Pricing is based on team size and free options are available for open source and public projects.

About Assembla

Assembla is a leading provider of Project Management and collaboration workspaces for distributed teams. Assembla workspaces feature a complete set of collaboration and project management tools, including bug and issue tracking, agile planning and management, project wiki and team messaging, and hosted Git and Subversion repositories.

For more information, visit www.assembla.com

Source: Assembla

nadia@assembla.cc

Tags: assembla, multi way video chat, project management software, real-time team room

LogiXML Announces Major New Release of Ad Hoc Reporting Solution

LogiXML Announces Major New Release of Ad Hoc Reporting Solution

McLean, VA (SaaS Newswire) July 15, 2010 – LogiXML, the web-based business intelligence (BI) pioneer, announced today a new release of the company’s web-based ad hoc reporting solution, Logi Ad Hoc Version 10. Logi Ad Hoc is a self-service business intelligence application that empowers business users to create sophisticated dashboards and reports without IT involvement.

Logi Ad Hoc is designed for organizations with limited IT resources and a growing demand for reporting from business users. The application is designed to be highly intuitive without sacrificing sophisticated reporting features.

Logi Ad Hoc Version 10 includes a completely redesigned user interface that makes dashboard and report creation easier and more intuitive. Additionally, new rapid deployment wizards and a simpler administration console reduce deployment time and effort. For example, it can discover and automatically build metadata in a matter of minutes so there is no need to design and build complex data cubes or data marts. Logi Ad Hoc offers broad platform support including 32-bit and 64-bit versions for Java and .NET and is “cloud ready.”
“Based on feedback from customers, Logi Ad Hoc is arguably the most functionally rich ad hoc reporting solution on the market. It is the gold standard,” commented Matt Hoffman, LogiXML Product Marketing Manager. “With Version 10, we made it even easier to use for the typical business user.”

“Logi Ad Hoc Version 10 brings a whole new level of ease of use and manageability to our clients. We can now deliver a true self-service business intelligence reporting application, integrated into our existing systems,” according to Bruce Prentice, Sr. Software Engineer, Green Mountain Consulting.
For more information about Logi Ad Hoc, including a free test drive, visit www.logixml.com

About LogiXML, Inc. (www.logixml.com)

LogiXML is the smart choice for Business Intelligence, giving customers more power with less effort and cost. It’s simple to start creating web-based dashboards in hours, reports in minutes and analysis on demand, without complex pricing schemes or user fees. Easy to connect, quick to build and intuitive to use, LogiXML empowers everyone to get the most value from their data, no matter where it resides. Founded in 2000, LogiXML is privately held and based in McLean, Virginia. For more information, please visit www.logixml.com.

For more information about LogiXML, please contact:

Heather Bell
Director of Marketing
703.752.9700 X134
heather.bell@logixml.com

Source: LogiXML.com

Tags: ad hoc reporting, ad hoc reporting solution, BI software, logixml, web based intelligence

Naviance Acquires College Recommendation Engine MyFit

Washington, DC (SaaS Newswire) October 5, 2010 — Educational software leader Naviance has announced its recent acquisition of MyFit, an innovative web-based college recommendation engine that uses advanced data modeling to help students identify colleges that match them academically and socially.

Capabilities from MyFit will be integrated into Naviance Succeed, the premier college and career-readiness platform for schools and districts, which today reaches 6 million high school students, their families, counselors, teachers, and administrators. With the technology provided by MyFit, Naviance Succeed will be able to offer even richer insights into the factors that most impact students’ academic and career success and that affect which colleges are likely to be each student’s best fit. MyFit was founded in 2009 and backed by leading venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA).

“We are thrilled to bring on board one of Silicon Valley’s gems: MyFit is one of most innovative teams in education analysis and college admissions,” said Shaun Fanning, Executive Vice-President and co-founder of Naviance, “The technology and product vision that MyFit has built will keep Naviance the leader in our space as we continue to evolve and sharpen our offerings.”

MyFit co-founder Jason Mueller will report to Fanning and continue to manage the MyFit product team.

“Our greatest aspiration for this product was to put it in the hands of millions of high school students across the country and the world,” said Mueller. ”Naviance is the clear market leader in the college admissions and analytics space, and we are incredibly excited to enhance the incredible platform and brand they have built. We want to give millions of students the right tools to better plan and improve their academic and professional futures.”

Naviance was founded in 2001 and became the K-12 division of Hobsons and a unit of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc (LSE:DMGT) in 2007. Naviance Succeed is a SaaS offering currently used in more than 4,300 middle and high schools located in 72 countries worldwide. For more information please visit www.naviance.com or call 866.337.0080.

SOURCE Naviance

866.337.0080

1850 K Street NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20006

Tags: educational software, myfit, naviance, naviance succeed, new enterprise associates