Cloud broker or cloud provider: Who says you can't be both?

TechTarget

...Appirio, a cloud service broker, offers its customers both a pure advisory service and a technology focus, with integration capabilities among its public cloud provider partners -- Google, Amazon, Salesforce and Workday -- said Glenn Weinstein, Appirio's chief technology officer. "Regardless of what we are helping our clients with, we always bring to bear our own Cloud Enablement Suite (CES) -- Appirio's offering that organizes the entire integration project, everything from implementation to monitoring of their cloud platforms," he said.

In addition to CES, Appirio has three Software-as-a-Service offerings for its clients that work with Google, Salesforce and Workday platforms. Appirio's Cloud Factor ties together Google Apps with Gmail, and the broker's Cloud Sync and Cloud Storage offerings link Salesforce, Google Apps and Amazon Web Services to extend the capabilities of each platform for customers, Weinstein said. "Appirio is filling two big spaces for customers by offering both the product-ized integration across cloud systems, and also a customized service for managing cloud platforms," he said...

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PSA software market: Key capabilities, vendor differentiation

SearchITChannel (TechTarget)

...Appirio Inc., a San Francisco-based cloud services provider, has managed its business using PSA since its 2006 launch. The company, which helps clients navigate Salesforce.com andGoogle Apps implementations, built its own PSA system using Salesforce.com's Force.com platform, noted Glenn Weinstein, Appirio's chief information officer.

Weinstein said Appirio decided to create a home-grown system to track its Salesforce and Google consulting activities. Eventually, Appirio commercialized its PSA, listing it on theSalesforce AppExchange. The company then migrated from the home-built PSA to the commercial version.

Appirio sold its PSA offering to FinancialForce.com in 2011. Weinstein said the product business, which grew beyond the company's expectations, proved too much of a diversion from Appirio's cloud services core. The company continues to use the PSA software, which is now called FinancialForce PSA.

"Other than email, it is our most mission-critical system," Weinstein said.

...Appirio's Weinstein said PSA solutions, over time, have pushed forward into sales and marketing while becoming more tightly integrated into back-end financial systems. At Appirio, FinancialForce PSA ties into not only Salesforce.com, but also Workday Inc.'s financial management application...

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Top cloud computing startups: Appirio

TechTarget.com
Appirio is another startup with astounding rates of growth -- in the triple digits since 2008 with no signs of slowing. It also has an impressive badge collection of more than 180 customers, including Avon Cosmetics and BMC Software. Appirio is a classic middleman, this time for cloud, that enterprises can use to stitch together on-premise and outside Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, as well as its own professional services automation (PSA) platform.

Developing in the cloud with Force.com PaaS (Podcast)

SearchSOA.com
When it comes to development on the Force.com Platform as a Service (PaaS), few are more knowledgeable than Jason Ouellette, author of the new book, Development with the Force.com Platform: Building Business Applications in the Cloud.

Salesforce.com Offers Apex-only Edition for Customers Who Don't Need CRM

SearchSystemsChannel (TechTarget)
What does salesforce.com's platform release mean for the market? Appirio describes how CRC Health Group benefits from salesforce.com as a platform.