New trends in IT are opening new markets and adding new customers. The introduction of IT virtualisation in the x86 market segment has given rise to new opportunities for sales and the distribution of software and services. Key words such as SaaS (Software as a Service) or CloudComputing exemplify this development. CloudComputing is an umbrella term which stands for the virtually unlimited ability to distribute applications using the internet as a sales and distribution channel.

Market and Method

This promising basic idea does not, however, shed light on the hidden complexity of customer requirements.

The small ones

It is essential to determine the location and the make up/structure of the cloud today. The two prominent features on offer are the clouds for B2C on the one and B2B on the other hand. As there are no standards for what is on offer, manufacturer driven clouds chiefly develop in the B2C area, providing software packages from mainly big manufacturers in form of a service (see Microsoft, IBM, Google, etc.). These models, however, merely address fragments of general customer requirements and deliver only a small share of their actual software requirements, given the limited nature of the provided services. For private customers, this offer presents a viable solution, making it a scalable business for the provider. For the business client, however, this is not a solution, as industry-specific requirements cannot be fulfilled by the B2C cloud.

The big ones

The label B2B cloud could give the impression that this may represent the solution to make up for the lacking flexibility in the B2C cloud. This is true, but only when the cloud is run within the actual company and the applications are adapted or migrated to operating in the cloud. This is reserved for very large companies (corporations) with several thousand or several tens of thousands of employees (Deutsche Telekom, Henkel, etc.) which run their own DP centres from where they provide their employees with the required services. Even in this small market segment, using the cloud can only be successful if the company structure is not overly heterogeneous and therefore resembles that of medium sized economies. As more than 70% of companies do not fit into this category, it is seemingly impossible to provide software in form of a service within a cloud for the majority of companies.

How about the others? (SME)

This insight has led Autowork to develop an infrastructure-driven cloud (iCloud), allowing the focus to be placed on modelling individual software requirements, and allowing the customer to take advantage of CloudComputing on the infrastructure side (IaaS -- Infrastructure as a Service). The result is that virtual environments have become scalable, enabling the fulfilment of virtually all individual customer requirements. An important component for the provision of applications and operating systems is desktop virtualisation (ThinCloud). This does not only provide an application from the cloud, but also an entire desktop environment which, depending on its usage, may either be highly standardised or may also enable any desired level of flexibility. This service providing method allows both providers and customers alike to take advantage of all applications, enabling the above mentioned 70% of companies to participate in CloudComputing.

By specialising on environments instead of individual applications, customers are now able to access and select from hundreds of thousands of existing software solutions provided from one central structure.

Software drives the use of IT.

IT is not an end in itself – it is there to amplify the core competencies of each individual company, department or even person. The prerequisite is the ability to process information electronically and to use the results in line with industry specific requirements in order to benefit company processes and the provision of information. The information is usually processed and provided using software from industry specialists and/or application-specific software. Such tools are characterized by their level of professionalism.

Current Technology Status

Applications have, however, rarely been developed to cater for CloudComputing or SaaS strategies. Moreover, many applications have been developed for client/server architectures which guarantee ease of use to the user by employing Fat or Rich Client concepts. To forsake these advantages with the advent of CloudComputing would be to "throw out the baby with the bathwater." Moreover, the clients of software developers (ISV - Independent Software Vendor) rarely wish to sacrifice established and familiar operating and convenience features, for each software adaptation entails great changes to processes, interfaces and incurs follow-up investments. Familiar applications such as the ever popular Microsoft Office 2003, where the later Office 2007 version had already been available for 3 years without the expected success, illustrate that the road is long and difficult as clients are either reluctant to change – or do not change at all.

License Revenues

Besides, many software companies are not international corporations, but SMEs. The introduction of SaaS will effectively change the ISVs payments flow, affecting revenues. This will pose a great challenge to many companies. In the case of CloudComputing, license revenues usually flowing to the ISV at the beginning of a contract, must be stretched over the period of usage. This leads to a shift in incoming revenues and liquidity, lasting more than one product cycle – and such a cycle usually lasts several years. A shift in revenues poses an economic challenge to the ISV, bearing many dangers. In times of tension between companies and banks, this shift from the one-time license revenue to a steady payment flow is very difficult for the ISV. The client, however, would prefer to pay in instalments and would be urged by his banks to do so. The lack of knowledge on behalf of the banks and their employees as regards IT in general, and the requirements of their clients in particular, increases the gap between expectations regarding the feasible.

Paradox

Applications are not enabled/ready for CloudComputing

Clients do not want to forego their client-server architecture

It is difficult for Independent Software Vendors to change their licensing models

Clients prefer "pay as you use" or "pay as you grow"

Solution

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Autowork's iCloud is the solution for ISVs, clients and cloud providers. It offers a solution to the seemingly irreconcilable requirements, using desktop virtualisation on the one hand, and financing the ISV's license revenues on the other. In this model, Autowork provides the platform on which the ISV can offer individualised applications to their customers. The customers, in turn, use the Autowork platform to consolidate and increase the security of their existing IT environment and are supplied with their own IT structure from the Autowork iCloud in form of desktop virtualisation.



User; Infrastructure supplier; Software supplier


Existing service and maintenance services remain in the hands of the ISVs. The ISV provides the services on the iCloud. Customers can continue to implement their IT tasks by themselves as before. Services and applications from different suppliers can be run simultaneously as with conventional IT. Customers are able to scale the environment and change it according to their respective requirements. The cloud environment represents a 1:1 model of the existing environment. There is no need to carry out any changes to processes or applications. After the system has been transferred, system users continue working with the same level of individualization as before.

The ISVs receive their full license fees from Autowork on the date the contract is signed with the customer. The customer pays Autowork according to the agreed payment terms, either in form of "pay as you use" or in monthly instalments per client. The customer also pays Autowork for the costs incurred by the provided infrastructure. The customer's total costs (TCO) are reduced, because the infrastructure costs per client are less than conventional concepts as far as services for security, redundancy, backup and recovery, and reduced energy consumption are concerned.

The way into the iCloud (IaaS) by Autowork GmbH & Co. KG / Autowork Datacenter GmbH

• Requirements Analysis

• ISV Software Integration

• Transferring Client Data (P2V)

• System Monitoring and Service