News.com blogger Dan Farber posted an article about cloud computing, as told by Sun Microsystems CTO Greg Papadopolous. In it he talks about the transition to software-as-a-service applications and advocates a “free market in which all interfaces and formats are based on open standards…”

As a developer of SaaS applications that focuses on giving end-users better control, visibility, and access to their data – one of the major challenges is getting access to customers data.  I’m all for the concept of open standards that would allow a product like ours to quickly and easily pull data from multiple applications and integrate it into one unified view.  Open data providers like Amazon DB are going to make it easier for products like ours (Widgenie) to plug into a robust, secure framework that allow people to share and manipulate their information.

That said, when we shift to business applications such as accounting or ERP systems – we still have many problems (ignoring the fact that much of this data still sits behind the firewall and is relatively inaccessible)  Yes, having an exposed interface into the data is a necessary first step – but understanding both the structure of the information and how it is used is much more complicated.

First, even within a specific industry and a specific function, applications organize and store their information in different ways. One accounting package may handle credits and returns in a completely different way than another.  Second, there are business rules that dictate how that software is used – do we track orders by ship date, order date, or transaction date?  Are commissions paid in one way on discounted sales and another on full price sales?  These challenges require a solid understanding of both the application and the business..

Filed under: Logi OnDemand

Well it’s been a busy month for everyone here at LogiOnDemand.  Not only did we launch our first site, Widgenie, earlier this month, but we’ve also completed the acquisition of OnDemandIQ, a SaaS provider of analytic sales solutions based on LogiXML technology!

We’ve added a new video introducing the company and all of our new properties, you can view that video here.

We’ve also been in the news a lot this month.  Check out our mention at
Internet News and also at InfoWorld.

At Widgenie, we’ve added some great new multimedia content and case studies. Be sure to take a look at our tutorials page for all of the latest.