WaveMaker today announced general availability of the first open source cloud development platform. WaveMaker 6.0 is available under the Apache open source license, providing organizations with the features and benefits found in proprietary cloud development platforms - such as Force.com and Azure - at a fraction of the cost.

With an open source community of 15,000 active developers, WaveMaker has established itself as a leading rapid application development platform for cloud computing. WaveMaker's browser-based, drag and drop platform makes it easy for anyone to prototype, develop and customize great looking web applications.

Because WaveMaker 6.0 was built using open source standards, it is the only cloud development platform to support deployment to any cloud, running on any Java server and connecting to any database. WaveMaker's studio was even built using WaveMaker, demonstrating the power of WaveMaker technology.

After years of rising IT costs and influence by the Obama Administration, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to switch all departments to Google's cloud computing email services, which includes Google Docs.

The contract, worth $7.25 million, places 30,000 Los Angeles city employees in Google's cloud. 

The decision came after a year of lobbying from both Microsoft and Google. Parties on both sides theorize that smaller cities may see the recent decision in Los Angeles as an endorsement of Google's cloud-based Apps, and may soon follow. 

Insight Direct, the leading provider of software for companies that need a better way to manage service delivery, announced record third quarter business results highlighted by 263 new customers, record growth in the SaaS
business, and the addition of Jim Triandiflou and Dave O`Connor to the management team.

"The third-quarter was a great quarter for the business. We hit all of our critical customer and financial targets - customer retention, renewals, new customers acquired, revenue, profit, and cash.  And our VaZing SaaS business had a record month in September," said Jim Triandiflou, President and Chief Executive Officer at Insight Direct. "Perhaps more importantly, we saw field service providers interested in making an investment in their business. They realize they can`t do things the way they used too. They must find ways to reduce operational costs, increase the efficiency of their field technicians, and reduce waste. Our solutions help them run a better business.

As a services business, our success is based on customer satisfaction, said Dave Hahmann, President of Bay Area Pool Service, a new Insight Direct customer. Keeping customers happy is a lot of work, especially when it comes to scheduling technicians, mapping service routes, and dealing with cancelations across a base of 6300 customers and a field force of 32 technicians. ServiceCEO, with its integrated back office and mobile features, will eliminate the need for paper route books, minimize the costs associated with changes and cancellations, and allow us to be more responsive to our customers.

Aria Systems, Inc., the only provider of enterprise class Billing and Customer Management Software as a Service (SaaS), announces the opening of its new office in San Mateo, CA. The expansion is due to growing demand for Aria’s services and represents the latest in a series of milestones in 2009. Despite the economic downturn, Aria has grown and thrived in 2009. Aria consistently wins against on premise and on-demand competitors and is being selected as more companies expand and additional industries consider using Billing in the Cloud.

In addition to its core customer base in SaaS and Media, Aria has expanded its product to service new industries including renewable energy utilities, insurance companies and cloud service providers. Having grown 10X in the past year, Aria now serves up in excess of 10 million transactions around the globe each month.

Also, Aria Systems has announced several partners that have become proficient at deploying and integrating its Subscription Billing platform. The Aria professional services partners have enabled Aria to scale rapidly and deploy more customers globally.

NetSuite has announced that the U.S. Postal Service shipping is now integrated with NetSuite, providing the thousands of NetSuite customers with yet another strong and cost-effective shipping option.  This development enables companies to offer postal delivery to its customers while reducing time spent on manual processes such as printing labels and manifest forms. This in turn reduces shipping error risk and promotes greater customer satisfaction.

As the engine at the heart of the $1 trillion American mail industry, the U.S. Postal Service needs no introduction. Flexible and cost-effective, and the only delivery method with access to millions of Post Office Boxes, this development gives any NetSuite customer with an interest in reliable, universal delivery an important new option for managing order, shipping, tracking, and receivables processes.

NetSuite's USPS shipping integration capabilities were developed in partnership with Endicia, a leader in internet shipping and mailing software for small businesses, industrial and enterprise users and part of Newell Rubbermaid's DYMO Technology Global Business Unit. Because the USPS integration is part of the NetSuite SuiteCloud ecosystem, users are assured a stable, integrated, and seamless experience within the NetSuite application.

IDC's current analysis categorized and weighted scoring for ITPPM vendors in two ways -- for enterprise-level solutions and for innovative delivery models for SaaS and on-demand hosted offerings.  Analyst firm IDC has positioned Innotas as an industry leader within its IDC MarketScape SaaS/On Demand ITPPM Market View, noting that the company is helping drive SaaS adoption and innovation. The report, "IDC MarketScape: IT Project and Portfolio Management, 2009 Vendor Analysis(1)," was released on July 24 and is authored by Melinda-Carol Ballou, program director and Joseph C. Pucciarelli, program director.

IDC highlighted Innotas for several reasons. In addition to helping drive SaaS (software-as-a-service) adoption and innovation, the report cited Innotas as an intuitive product with an innovative delivery model that facilitates quick adoption and customer usage. "Overall, the companies [Innotas customers with which IDC spoke] found that Innotas was easy to implement and deliver, worked closely with them... and the companies received significant benefits for a relatively low investment cost," the report said.

Innotas has also executed well, the report continued, with its IT-focused approach, evolution of product functionality in appropriate directions, and commitment to targeted, consistent client relationships. IDC also recognized the benefits of its SaaS/on-demand delivery model, citing de-capitalization, access speed, less initial cost, flexibility and lower shelfware as principal drivers for user engagement.

Regardless of bucket, however, IDC recognized that companies of all sorts "have little leeway for poor IT project and portfolio decision making in the worst economy in recent history" and that "effective decision making for IT projects and programs is a matter of survival." In this context, IDC analysts evaluated Innotas and 14 other vendors on the following criteria:

--  Offering strategy and capabilities, including the functionality or
    offering road map and execution; delivery model appropriateness and
    execution; cost competitiveness and management; portfolio strategy and
    realization of benefits; and globalization and integration.
--  Go-to-market strategy and capabilities, including pricing model
    options and alignment; sales/distribution strategy; marketing strategy;
    customer service strategy and implementation; SaaS/on-demand offerings; and
    scope and scale (to address the breadth demanded for ITPPM execution).
--  Business strategy and capabilities, including demonstrated momentum
    and growth (as well as a growth strategy); innovation / R&D pace and
    productivity; employee strategy and management; addressing emerging market
    needs; and corporate use of product.