There has been a lot of buzz about Apple's latest brainchild, the iCloud. The purpose of the iCloud is to bring your information together across all Apple devices. Download a song on your iPod and it is automatically synched with your Mac, iPad, iPhone, and whatever other Apple devices you might own.

One of the more intriguing features of iCloud is the ability to sync your documents across all devices as well. While the majority of the features seem to cater to the individual user, this one could easily be taken into the enterprise. But does Apple have enterprise ambitions? With their power plays across multiple industries, I don't doubt that Apple could invade this space if they wanted to. If the answer is yes, then there are a few things they will need to address. After all, Steve Jobs makes some awesome products, but nobody is perfect.

My full assessment of the iCloud can be found on my company site, but you can read the summary of the article below.

Fujitsu Limited and SAP AG today announced they are jointly developing a Japanese-language version of the recently launched SAP BusinessObjects(TM) BI OnDemand solution, which will be made available to the Japanese market using the cloud environment of Fujitsu.

SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) business intelligence (BI) solution addressing the previously unmet market need for a single product that equips users with a complete, integrated BI toolset. SAP started SaaS BI solution in 2006 and currently has more than 260,000 subscribers. With this solution, people can easily access all of their on-demand and on-premise data with little to no prior experience or training. Since SAP BusinessObjects Explorer software capabilities are included, users can quickly access and navigate business data from any source. A Japanese version of SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand, currently in development by Fujitsu and SAP, is scheduled to be released in the Japanese market in May 2010 using the cloud environment of Fujitsu.

The solution will enable customers to use on-demand offerings from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio without having to build their own systems, realizing comprehensive information usage quickly, at a low-scaling cost. Additionally, in combination with other SaaS services, new forms of information usage in the cloud will be made possible.

With many companies, even large ones, still using spreadsheets for budgeting, planning, and financial reporting, the growth potential for vendors of performance-management software is vast. After all, the software promises to handle the same tasks more efficiently than spreadsheets, while allowing greater collaboration among users.

The smaller the vendor, of course, the more room to grow — and the weightier the threats to its long-term viability. In a market dominated by SAP, IBM, and Oracle, one comparatively tiny supplier with large aspirations is Adaptive Planning, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) outfit that has scored $33 million in venture-capital funding but has not yet achieved positive cash flow six years after launching its first product.

That threshold will likely be crossed later this year, says Adaptive Planning CEO Bill Soward, though the company is sacrificing some top-line growth to get there. While its early focus was on gaining market share, now it is choosier in signing up customers, given a business climate where cash is king. "We went from grabbing every dollar we could get to saying, let's be cash-flow positive as quickly as possible so we're less reliant on the vagaries of the financial world," says Soward.

When: March 24, 2010   Where: Online

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eZCom Software, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of multi-enterprise business-to-business integration (B2Bi) solutions, announced that its hosted Lingo(TM) application is helping luxury vendors meet EDI requirements from their high-end retail partners. eZCom customers L'Amy America, Brioni USA and Rag & Bone are just a few of the companies that have deployed eZCom Lingo to meet retail EDI requirements on time and with little to no infrastructure investment.

eZCom Lingo is the first enterprise level SaaS B2Bi application that gives small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) the tools they need to successfully manage the EDI aspects of their supply chain process. Since Lingo is hosted, there are no expensive hardware or software investments necessary, allowing SMBs to get up and running quickly.

"eZCom helped us satisfy the EDI demands of our department store customers and ensure that our buyers' receiving departments can process our shipments efficiently and worry free," said Sean Y. Jeon, director of information technology for Rag & Bone, a lifestyle brand offering men's and women's footwear and accessory collections, which are available at high end boutiques and exclusive department stores worldwide. "eZCom Lingo's easy-to-access, web-based EDI system made it possible for our order and logistics teams to process documents with unmatched ease of use and efficiency." In today's tough economy, every supply chain participant wants to streamline operations and cut costs while continuing to increase efficiencies. This has led many retail chains and department stores to mandate that vendors adopt EDI communications as a pre-requisite to doing business. eZCom is well positioned to help vendors meet these requirements via strategic relationships with many national retail chains. Leveraging its SaaS model, eZCom Lingo can quickly establish trading connections with retail partners, accelerate testing and get vendors exchanging production EDI documents far quicker and less expensively than attempting to implement an in-house application.

For retailers, eZCom Lingo generates significant cost reductions via an increase in document accuracy caused by the automatic exchange of electronic documents. It also improves supply chain efficiency by increasing EDI participation from vendors of all sizes. For vendors, eZCom Lingo increases operational efficiency, validates retailer EDI requirements, which helps to eliminate EDI compliance charge backs, and removes any prior constraints to EDI participation so that winning new business with large retail chains becomes much easier.

"We implemented Lingo in Spring '09 when one of our large retail accounts called specifically to say they work with eZCom as a preferred EDI provider," said Seth Sanford, IT Coordinator of L'Amy America, a leading manufacturer and distributor of sunwear and ophthalmic frames that uses Lingo to manage EDI relationships with department stores in the U.S. and Canada. "We're always looking to save money, so we took a shot and called eZCom. Now that we see how easy EDI can be, we are ready to implement EDI with as many department stores as we can." "With its web-based software and dynamic, accessible and reliable customer service team, eZCom was the obvious EDI solution for Brioni," says Todd Barrato, EVP-COO of Brioni USA, the quintessential name in luxurious hand-crafted men's and women's apparel. "Unparalleled customer service is a pillar of the Brioni brand. Using eZCom's software made it apparent that EDI is both an efficient and cost effective solution. We are able to keep our productivity levels high and our business well ahead of the competition." About eZCom eZCom Software Inc. provides innovative Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Business-to-Business integration solutions for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in supply chains. eZCom capitalizes on the growing need for a simple and effective solution that empowers SMBs to effectively participate in these supply chains. eZCom's proprietary architecture supports multiple translation and communications protocols such as EDI X12, XML, and AS2, while reducing complexities associated with the technology and business processes. eZCom clients report up to 90% improvements in efficiency, and the company maintains less than 1% attrition due to competitive reasons.