Jamcracker and the SaaS revolution

One of the companies that made a big splash at this year?s HostingCon was Jamcracker. Jamcracker is a SaaS service solution provider. A one stop shop for SaaS products.

What is SaaS?

Short for Software as a Service, SaaS (also called hosted applications) is a software delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely as a Web-based service. SaaS applications give organizations access to software functionality without paying large upfront license and setup fees. Depending on the customer and the software service provided, SaaS can also cut the costs of additional hardware, daily upkeep, and maintenance costs.

The category has been getting broader as time and technology marches on. Instead of just software we are seeing services such as security and watchdog services, CRM, ERP, etc. Since SaaS has grown to incorporate more than software it has been named several things such as On Demand services, Hosted Services, etc.

What is Jamcracker?

Jamcracker essentially is a SaaS mall. One Web site that houses hundreds of different SaaS solutions, Jamcracker allows a user to purchase multiple services from multiple venders, package them separately or in service bundles, and integrate them into their own service plans.

For instance a Host who needs business services to pass to their customers could go to Jamcracker, pick up SEO service software, collaboration software, calendar software, and enterprise mail software. They can then bundle the software together and integrate it with their business plans.

Jamcracker truly shines when it comes to the rapid deployment of SaaS products and their clients are very much impressed by the results. Jamcracker does not solely provide service to Web Hosts other clients include schools, ISPs, telecoms, and more.

Why Should You Care?

Now you may say, ?SaaS, On-Demand Services, whatever you want to call it sounds fascinating, but I am an expert. I have been doing this for years and I know what my clients want and these services simply are not it, so why should I care??

The services and needs of the Web Host industry have been an ever evolving industry. Five years ago would we have dreamed that the average small to midsized business (SMB) wanted collaboration software? Ten years ago, how many knew the problems e-commerce businesses would face such as order processing, inventory handling, and customer care via the Internet?

Today e-Commerce packages include merchant accounts, multiple payment transaction support, the ability to keep track of inventories in multiple warehouses, and a lot more. We?ve seen a company makes tons of money simply by being an easy way for transactions to take place on the Internet, i.e. Paypal.

The Next Big Thing

For all we know the next thing to revolutionize the Web Host industry could be around the corner. Those Hosts who take advantage of the new technology will be in a commanding lead of the late adopters. The difference between the early and late adopters is how quickly the early adopters spot the trend and capitalize on it. As On-Demand Services grows we will see a large influx of new ideas with services built around them for the benefit of the end-user.

Rapid Deployment

Jamcracker allows for the rapid deployment of services. On the service provider side they can get their services interfaced into the Jamcracker model quickly. On the Host side, purchased services can be bundled or put in one by one. Services can be trial run or can be bought outright. Both of these can be passed down the chain from Host to reseller and from resellers to their resellers, if any. The fact that these service can be passed along so fast is a boon for Hosts for speed and ease of use and is excellent for Service Providers allowing maximum penetration of services through the chains.

Capitalizing on Your Position

As a Web Host you are in the position of being able to offer new features to your clients. If there is a good client to Host rapport, then they will trust your decisions in adding these new features. The ability to transfer trial periods from On-Demand Services to your clients gives them an opportunity to see what the latest things you have coming down the pipe and gives you the ability to gauge the usability of the new features. If your customers like the new feature you can add it as an add-on or include it a part of your hosting solutions bundle.

If it?s the former you can grow revenues, with little work on your side. If it?s the latter you are increasing the value of your solutions, something your clients will appreciate.

Hurdles for Adapting the Jamcracker Model to Web Hosting

Every great idea has its obstacles it needs to over come in order to be successful. Jamcracker has three major hurdles it needs to get past before it can truly become successful.

3rd Party Support Problems

Say you went to Jamcracker and purchased a package of four software services. Each of these services is being run by a different manufacturer. If your clients have a question or require support on one of the products you can send them to that company?s customer support group. But what if your clients have questions about multiple packages? You would have to give them a stack of email addresses for them to get in contact with in order to address their problem.

For most Hosts this is very much unacceptable. Sure the Host will learn how to support the packages they are selling, but sometimes you need support from the ones who programmed the code itself. And in times like these having one stop for support needs is a lot better than going to 3 or 4 or 5 different companies. Because of this, Jamcracker will be in competition with those companies who provide all-in-one bundles with support. Sure, the Host won?t have as diverse selection with an all-in-one bundle as they would with Jamcracker, but they would have only one third party company to go through for support of the product.

Possible ways of addressing this include, Jamcracker building a support system in which, Hosts can send their customers to and from their the customer can contact the 3rd party?s customer support team. If this process was made seamless, than the customer would not even know that they were talking to the support teams from separate companies. The other way to solve the problem would be to bundle a complete support package with each service.

Reliability of Service

Quality control is another area that needs addressing. This is to protect Jamcracker as much as it is to protect the Host. What assurances do Hosts have that the software is stable, well written, compatible with other packages, and is a quality product over all? Currently there are very few tangible assurances.

Some sort of standardization, quality assurance system, or basic guarantees need to be put in place before mass adoption is achieved. Quality Hosts want to make sure the services they are getting for their customers meet their standards.

Not that Jamcracker has nothing in place to address this problem. The try before you buy feature goes a long way as far as finding out the compatibility of the software and general stability. However, unless you and your customers are proactively testing the software, you most likely won?t have a thorough account. Also the service side of the product, uptime of the service provider, customer and technical support, etc will most likely remain untested by the end of the test period.

Controls Put in Place for Downtime

One of the greatest fears a Host has is downtime for their customers. With SaaS programs running off of a third party server a Host has very little control of the downtime of the product. If the product?s server crashes the service will not be available and may present a large problem for the Host.

If a service is hosted on the Host?s servers they have total control over the system. Server crashes, the Host can quickly get the server up and running and the only one they have to blame is themselves. Bad connection somewhere; the Host can replace the cables and any hardware along the chain in case of failure.

A service that is hosted outside of the Host?s control adds a lot of variables. If their server drops, the Host?s clients drop and the Host can do nothing about it save wait for the service provider to correct the problem. If the connection between the Host and the Service Provider drops the Host has to wait on the ISPs to fix the line in order to bring the service back online. During this time the only thing a Host can do to keep their customers online is to turn off the service. If the service is say a shopping cart countless customers will become affected by it. Their Web site may not be down, but the essential part of their site will be shutdown and instead of completing transactions the customer will have to sit patiently watching a number of potential buys go out the door. When it comes to the life blood of their livelihood customers are rarely patient and will begin to flood the support channels with complaints on the lack of service, complaints that the Host cannot fix.

A service is small; it is but one feature of many. Therefore having this small add-on possibly cause great problems is reason for concern. Due to this quite a few Hosts are not ready to take the plunge into integrating SaaS products.

If Jamcracker can find a means of addressing these concerns, they will solidify a large market share in the Web Host community. Essentially, Jamcracker needs to be able to guarantee extremely high uptime, 99.999% or more, for their services. Also there needs to be controls in place for when a service provider can upgrade their servers and reduce downtime.

Once these things are achieved, more Hosts will be willing to jump on the Jamcracker SaaS bandwagon. On Demand Services are already here and are here to stay. How and when you decide to tap into these services could mean the difference between riding the wave on innovation or spending time playing catch up.