Those podcasts have tended to focus specifically on the Semantic Web, but we’re keen to broaden that scope a bit to tackle a wider set of the issues facing those seeking to run data-powered businesses out on the Web. SaaS, PaaS, Cloud Computing and the rest are clearly vital pieces in that particular jigsaw.

So watch out for a broader set of topics in those podcasts, and thanks to Duane for his time in getting things kicked off yesterday. Do have a listen, and let us know what you think…

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Sage is a titan of the UK software scene but has struggled recently, both with expansion beyond Europe and (like others) with shifting their business toward a hosted capability.

According to Duane Jackson of competitor KashFlow (also picked up by Dennis Howlett and Ben Kepes at CloudAve), Sage are only weeks away from rolling out SageLive;

“On a laptop tucked away in a quite corner I spied a program running in a web browser with the title “SageLive Beta”. I got chatting to the guy demonstrating it (without saying who I am). He confirmed it’s their newest product, in development for 18 months and due for release in January. Until now they’ve tried to keep it under wraps. I commented that it seemed to be a new approach for Sage to develop a product from scratch rather than acquire an existing company. They were obviously very proud of what they’d achieved and rightly so.”

This is interesting, but I’m intrigued to understand more about why Sage were showing this ‘in a quiet corner’ at a big trade show? Is the product still ‘under wraps’? If it is, why on earth was it there for the competition to oggle? And if it’s not, why aren’t they talking about it? Maybe Duncan Hawes, Development Manager for the product, would like to set the record straight?

Duane suggests that SageLive is ‘posting to a Sage 50 database in the backend,’ which (if I understand correctly) means they’re limiting the reach of the new offering to just the UK because of the data structures used in that particular product line. If true, this would seem something of a missed opportunity for alignment of the company’s confused product mish-mash.

It would also be interesting to have a lot more information about the target audience for this product; small businesses, medium businesses, big corporations? And is it an alternative for existing customers, part of a drive to acquire competitors’ customers, or an attempt to address pockets of non-consumption?

Come on Duncan; tell us what you’re building up there in Newcastle. I drove past your building on Sunday, too. If only I’d known this then, I could have popped in for a chat!

Update 3/12/2008 – The Financial Times reports on Sage’s results…

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Tarry Singh draws my attention to National Cloud Computing Day, which comes to the UK on Friday 12 December.

The creation of UK-based KashFlow, National Cloud Computing Day

“is being organised… to encourage UK small businesses to evaluate online applications and speed up the migration from traditional word processing, spreadsheet, accounting, email and contact management systems installed on computers to their web-based counterparts.”

KashFlow managing director Duane Jackson is quoted as saying,

“Throughout the world businesses are discovering web-based software and it’s important that UK small businesses don’t get left behind.  They are already enjoying the benefits of a wide range of online services which are virtually indistinguishable – and often superior – from there [sic] installed counterparts.

The Cloud Computing Day challenge is simple – for small businesses to exclusively use online software in their day to day business on December 12th. This is a fun challenge with a serious message.  And we hope National Cloud Computing Day will help to raise awareness of a more efficient, economic and flexible way of working.”

This is in large part, of course, an attempt by KashFlow to gain free publicity for themselves and their award winning online accounting software. As they’re not attempting to disingenuously disguise their involvement, I have no problem with that, as it may well attract some attention to the wider issues around moving applications and data to the Cloud. The Financial Times, for one, has a tradition of seeing how technology might change business on the ground, and the paper is clearly looking closely at the Cloud.

I do wonder, though, if the emphasis on ‘online applications’ is misguided? Looking at my own behaviour, the biggest shift has actually been to move my data to the Cloud rather than the UI through which I choose to interact with it most of the time.

A quick skim of the applications currently running on my machine shows that every single one of them is tightly enmeshed with the Cloud, and every single one of them has (more or less) a Web-based interface that I am consciously choosing not to use whilst sat at my desk watching snow fall across East Yorkshire.

NetNewsWire, Twhirl, Mail, ecto, iCal, Adium, Skype, OmniFocus. And Firefox of course, but that’s different. All are running locally on this Mac, but all are working with data that I can access at will from my iPhone, and all (except OmniFocus?) are also available to me by various means on any net-connected computer with a half-decent browser.

There are plenty of sound business reasons to move toward Cloud-based software, SaaS and the rest. For the end user, though, the biggest challenge must surely be demonstrating the value, security and flexibility of moving data to the Cloud. Leave the decision about whether they actually read their Gmail via google.com or download it into Mail to the individual; they have reasons for their decision, and those reasons work for them.

Right, back to watching the snow. I look forward to seeing whether Duane’s initiative gets any traction next Friday.

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