Telstra T-Suite - blending local and global SaaS value

Telstra has launched its T-Suite SME SaaS platform with a modest, but prudent, nine services on offer. The launch cleverly offers a solution to SME angst regarding compliance with new industrial relations laws, as a direct local-market value-add to complement the more generic SaaS offerings.

T-Suite is a carefully measured step forward on SaaS

Telstra officially launched its T-Suite software-as-a-service (SaaS) retail platform today, following a period of online beta that started in mid-2008. T-Suite targets small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) offering easy web access, try before you buy, pay as you go etc. as well as single sign-on and aggregated billing.

The mix of services remains somewhat limited - but covers the essentials:

• "Manage my business processes": Workforce Guardian, an HR service to assist companies to comply with Australian employment laws. WORKetc, an integrated suite of tools for common business processes such as quoting, invoicing, tracking sales leads and reporting.
• "Manage my communications": Exchange Mail and Sharepoint from Microsoft and file sharing from Skoot.
• "Manage my customers": Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
• "Secure my business data": Data security and backup services from Iron Mountain, McAfee and Message Labs.

Telstra claims to be in discussions with a pipeline of 60-80 ISVs to select those with the 'right stuff' for T-Suite. New services currently in the pipeline include accounting, online marketing, supply-chain management and compliance, as well as vertical-specific applications - such as in the health, education and environment sectors.

Support is provided via online help and a dedicated Telstra service centre, with calls being passed back to the ISVs if required. Sales will be driven by Telstra's existing SME sales channels and channel partners, and the T-Suite launch coincides neatly with the opening of 67 new face-to-face business centres targeting the SME sector.

Google to Start Running Behavior Ads

Google is going to start turning all that information that it's gotten from people's search preferences into behavior-based ads under a program announced last week that's based on widgetry Google acquired when it bought DoubleClick last year for $3.2 billion. The program, which has privacy protectors appalled, will start in a few weeks on YouTube and other sites in Google's arsenal.

Google Opens Half-Way House for Code

Google has opened up a site called Google Code Labs, not to be mistaken for Google Code or Google Labs, where developers can now go to get involved with potential products in their early days, familiarize themselves with APIs still being formulated and presumably build off them while Google's own engineers "explore ideas" and figure out if the stuff's a keeper or not without embarrassing the company with a public beta.

Outside developers are supposed to be available for brain-picking.

In a blog, Tom Stocky, the director of Google Developer Products, explained that "Our hope, of course, is that all of our developer products grow up to be huge successes, but we realize that not every single one will reach that goal."

Stocky also announced the first set of 27 so-called Google Code Labs "graduates" including App Engine, Google Web Toolkit, AJAX Search API, Maps API, Earth API, Calendar Data API and YouTube APIs, widgetry to which Google is committed.

"For these graduates, we're increasing our commitment with published deprecation policies and other critical support services. The Visualization API terms, Contacts Data API terms and Picasa Web Albums Data API terms include good examples of transparent deprecation policies. They state that we'll support each version for at least three years from when it's deprecated or a newer version is introduced. We're working to get policies posted for the other graduates as well, though the time period may vary a bit from product to product. It will be three years for most, but it might be less for some. The AdWords API, for example, has a policy of supporting old versions for four months.

"Of course, even established products need a way to experiment with new features. With that in mind, some products will have features labeled 'experimental' that could change (or even be removed) at any time, while the rest of the API is covered by a deprecation policy with long-term support. [Think Gears, Feedburner, Finance Data and Social Graph.]

"There are additional hurdles for an API to graduate from Labs. They include requirements like having a dedicated, ongoing engineering team and comprehensive test suite. We also want to do things like the App Engine System Status Dashboard for more products."

He also said that Google was retiring its SOAP Search API on August 31, figuring that AJAX Search API is now more productive.

See http:// code.google.com/labs

Google Turns Big-Time VC

Google is going into the venture capital business with a $100 million fund to start, a year-one down payment apparently on millions more to come.

Google Ventures will be run by William Maris, founder of web hosting pioneer Burlee.com and an ex-portfolio manager for AB, and Rich Miner and will be managed for financial returns like Kleiner Perkins or Sequoia as opposed to the typical strategic corporate venture arm that often primes start-ups for future acquisition.

Miner, formerly an Orange VP and a principal in Orange Ventures, moves over from Google's mobile unit which picked him with its acquisition of Android.

Single investments could range from seed funds to the tens of millions. The scale could threaten some start-ups as much as help others, and of course will extend Google's already formidable influence.

 

Miner told the Financial Times that Google Ventures is even open to investments that ultimately prove disruptive to Google itself.

The operation, which stands ready to co-invest too, is shopping for early-stage and mezzanine opportunities in a range of industries including healthcare, hardware, bio-tech, consumer Internet, clean-tech and software, all with an innovative flair.

See http://www.google.com/ventures/index.html.