On the Mark: SaaS vs. S+S

Computerworld - REDMOND, Wash. — Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer, complains about the hype around software as a service (SaaS), likening it to other trends that target IT but fizzle. "We've seen that movie before," he grumbles.

But that's SaaS. S+S is a different story. During a day-long briefing at Microsoft headquarters here on "software + services" (the local parlance for SaaS), Tim O'Brien, senior director of platform strategy, acknowledged that "this business is huge." And even Turner says, "We're going to lead in this area."

So, is Microsoft just trying to exchange an established acronym for a new one? No, say the execs; it wants to radically alter the way IT acquires, deploys and manages software.

Naturally, Microsoft expects you to license software and run it on premises until the end of time (with regular upgrades, of course). But the company also wants you to subscribe to applications, even ones you already license, to meet staffing and deployment needs. O'Brien says you'll be able to subscribe directly through Microsoft or maybe one of its many partners. Partners might host the applications themselves, or maybe Microsoft will do the hosting while the partner holds your hand.

This mish-mash could cause problems if the on-premises and subscription versions aren't identical. The S+S approach also has to be managed efficiently, with no finger-pointing. The first time Microsoft or a partner tries to shrug off responsibility for a problem between on-premises and service software, S+S crashes and burns.

Whether Microsoft will become a dominant player in this market remains to be seen. Certainly, by choosing Exchange as a leading candidate for S+S, Microsoft is playing to its strengths. And O'Brien points to the company's multibillion- dollar investment in sprawling data centers around the globe as proof of Microsoft's commitment. Few companies are capable of competing at that level, he says.

One company that can compete at that level, Google, has been cranking out data centers at least as fast as Microsoft. O'Brien acknowledges Google's high-profile position in the SaaS market. But he also notes something else: "Google is quietly pushing software down to the client."

Perhaps Google, like Microsoft, doesn't see a SaaS future for IT, but an S+S one.

The Colors of Ethernet

The bright history of Ethernet gets even more colorful this week when Matisse Networks Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., unveils its vMetro PX and SX optical network switches as part of its EtherBurst product line. Timon Sloane, vice president of marketing, says the new systems turn standard Ethernet Layer 2 packets into bursts of light. The PX units act like a virtual backplane for up to a 200-kilometer ring network where SX units are distributed. Each SX switch adds 20Gbit/sec. bandwidth to the network, and up to 32 SXs can be supported, for an aggregate Ethernet bandwidth of 640Gbit/sec.

Matisse Networks' vMetro SX sends and controls Ethernet packets at light speed.

As the data-enriched light flies around the ring, SX units detect the color assigned to them from the spectrum. Sloane says having SXs ignore colors other than their own helps the network achieve a high level of performance. The system comes with its own management console, mQoS, which can report to other management frameworks, like Tivoli and OpenView. Sloane claims that the EtherBurst products are about one-third the cost of current optical networks for corporate metropolitan or campus networks. Available now, a PX unit starts at $60,000, and an SX at $120,000.

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