OpSource launches SaaS incubator program

05.12.2005
In what some are calling a significant sign of the times in the software industry, OpSource, a SaaS (software as a service) infrastructure provider, will announce this week the Incubator Program, one of the first such initiatives to help startups deliver their applications using the SaaS model.

The OpSource Incubator Program for future service providers will include a fully functioning SaaS infrastructure guaranteed with 100 percent uptime, system monitoring and access to around-the-clock technical support for six months at no charge.

According to Treb Ryan, CEO at OpSource, the process of creating applications that use the SaaS model is a challenge to many developers who are used to the traditional development cycle that ends with putting the application on a disk and shipping it out.

"New software companies struggle almost as much with SaaS as they do with creating packaged applications," Ryan said.

On the business side, one of the key issues of a SaaS delivery model for those that provide it is the cost of the infrastructure.

Although SaaS requires costly hardware and software that scales to the enterprise level, the business model will pay back the investment in low monthly fees based on a per user, per month basis, which means that payback comes in years rather than in months of the conclusion of a deal.