Highlights from Softletter's 2010 SaaS Report
 

March 25th:  Time is 12:00PM to 1:00PM, EDT/EST
 

Presenter: Rick Chapman, Softletter Publisher and Managing Editor
 

On March 25th, from 12 to 1PM, Softletter managing editor Rick Chapman will discuss key highlights and special excerpts from the soon to be released 2010 edition of the industry standard Softletter SaaS Report. Now in its fourth year, the Report is the benchmark by which SaaS firms compare and analyze their performance metrics and best practices against their peers.

The Report is based on Softletter articles on SaaS and the Softletter SaaS/Cloud survey. This year, 140 senior SaaS executives answered over 100 detailed questions analyzing every aspect of SaaS business operations and metrics. The information presented at this videocast is available only from Softletter.

Key datapoints that will be analyzed during this one hour presentation include:

• Revenue growth and profitablility of SaaS firms
• Primary and international markets
• Most widely used pricing and subscription models
• Percentage of SaaS companies allowing customers to install their products behind the customer's firewall (hybrid models)
• Key SaaS business metrics, including % of revenue spent on R&D, sales and marketing, and resubscription rates
• Multi tenancy adoption and trends
• Outsourcing trends and sources
• Cloud and SaaS infrastructure choices and costs
• SaaS channels
• SaaS customer service practices and metrics
• The impact of SaaS on product and community management

And much more.

This session will be information packed and the datapoints discussed completely up-todate.

If you're a SaaS company, or planning a transition to SaaS, the information that will be discussed during this presentation provides critical insights and information you need to have. Questions from the audience will be accepted and answered during the presentation.

Again, further key results and highlights from this report will be analyzed at Softletter's SaaS University conference in Washington, DC. More information at the link below:

SaaS University in Washington, DC

Highlights from Softletter's Free Use (Freemium) and Trial Access Survey

February 16th: Time: 12:00PM to 1:00PM, EDT/EST

Presenter: Rick Chapman, Softletter Publisher and Managing Editor
 

This videocast will analyze the results from just the upcoming release of the Softletter Free Use (Freemium) and Trial Acceess Report.  The Report covers free and trail access metrics and conversion to sales numbers for SaaS (Software as a Service) companies.  The report provides extensive benchmarks and metrics that  enables you to  measure your company's performance and achievements against your peers (and competition). The reports breaks results down by size and development stage of company.

This session will look at benchmarks and metrics from the report focusing on:

• Monthly Subscription Revenue 
• Use of Free vs. Trail Access
• Methodology and Business Practices of Free vs. Trial Access
• Product upgrade structures and special offers
• Results from use of Free and Trial Access programs
• Conversion results (percentage and time)
• Follow up marketing programs used and success rates
• Marketing programs used to promote Free and Trial Access
• Account deactivation practices

Rick Chapman, Publisher and Managing Editor, will be giving this informative, information-packed session. VPs and Directors of Marketing and Sales should find the session very interesting and timely as companies try to maximize the effectiveness of their marketing budget.

Silly Fog: How to Prevent Cloud Hype from Damaging Your SaaS Sales and Marketing Programs

October 29th, 2009; Time: 12:00PM to 1:00PM, EDT/EST

Presenters: Softletter Vice President of Research Randy Hujar and Managing Editor Rick Chapman

Over the last several months as Cloud hype has reached unprecedented heights, many companies and conferences have begun to confuse SaaS and the Cloud.  The result is growing confusion as potental SaaS customers begin to wonder what the "Cloud" is, the nature of its relationship with SaaS, and whether a SaaS product must be "Cloudy." And a confused customer is a non buying customer!

This session will examine current trends in SaaS infrastructure, analyze the relationship between the Cloud, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and SaaS. Effective ways to discuss the Cloud and SaaS so as to not confuse customers and freeze wallets will be discussed and analyzed. Selected highlights from Softletter's 2009 SaaS Report will help attendees understand current Cloud and platform trends and optimize their sales and marketing operations so as to preserve sales growth and avoid market uncertainty. Best (and worst) examples of how to use interest in the Cloud to help drive sales will be examined and dissected for their potental impact on your business.

If you want to understand how to use the Cloud to drive sales and not get rained on, this session is a must attend.