PaaS Trend Study by Crisp Research: Cloud causes tectonic disturbances amongst German software vendors

Kassel/Cologne, 22 July 2014 - The rapidly increasing demand of users for more modern and flexible software usage over the internet poses a real threat for established providers of traditional software solutions. The majority of German software vendors and ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) have so far failed to adjust their own strategy to the coming cloud era. These were the findings of the new empirical study "Platform-as-a-Service - Future of the German Software Industry?" which the market analyst Crisp Research conducted on behalf of Pironet NDH and which is available free of charge to interested companies at www.business-cloud.de.

According to this study, the German software industry is about to undergo a major upheaval. "The cloud is currently like a centrifugal force which makes for winners and losers in the German software environment," says Steve Janata, Senior Analyst at Crisp Research and the author of the study. "For software vendors the trick lies in establishing cloud computing and the necessary resources step by step parallel to the existing offering so that in the long-term they can ensure the coexistence of classical software business and their own cloud department." According to the study, more than half the ISVs expect cloud software to account for 60 per cent of new business in the coming years.

German software vendors avoid US development environments
The analysts state that the technologies required to set up a cloud application environment have existed for a few years. However, German software vendors and ISVs have only used these PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) solutions from public cloud environments very rarely. The reasons for this are primarily concerns regarding data privacy as most environments are operated in the data centres of US cloud providers. "Since technologies such as OpenShift and Microsoft Azure Pack can be used in the hosted model of a provider in Germany, German ISVs have now also become interested in them," adds Mr Janata.

Support in entering the cloud
"The latest market developments show clearly that software vendors who cling to their traditional software licence business and ignore the paradigm shift to using applications from the cloud are not fit for the future," states Khaled Chaar, Managing Director Business Strategy and Cloud Enabling at Pironet NDH. "Consequently we are currently experiencing a very high demand for PaaS solutions from our German data centres. Software providers also require a great deal of consulting and support to move their business model towards the cloud."

In addition to its PaaS development platform for web-based applications which supports all standard programming languages and development environments, the cloud provider therefore also implements a Go-to-Market Program for ISVs. This supports software vendors in developing their business activities for the cloud, and extends from joint development of business plans, Service Level Agreements and customer agreements through to accessing turnkey marketing strategies. In addition, with "Pay as you grow" Pironet NDH offers a model which ensures software providers a profitable business concept for their cloud activities from the outset.

Study examines opportunities and risks of the cloud for German ISVs
The Crisp Research study initially determines the current status quo of the software provider sector in Germany in the transition to developing and providing usage-dependent and web-centred application environments. To do this the analysts questioned software vendors of all sizes who develop applications for the widest range of application areas.

The entire study is freely available at www.business-cloud.de. Detailed information graphics on the principal results of the study and a video interview with Steve Janata of Crisp Research are also available here.

About Crisp Research
Crisp Research is a European IT research and consulting firm. With its team of experienced analysts, consultants and software developers, Crisp Research assesses current and upcoming technologies and market trends. Crisp Research supports IT providers with respect to strategy, content marketing and sales.

Cloud computing and Digital Business Transformation are the topics on which Crisp Research focuses. In our Crisp Labs we have an internal software developer team and test current cloud services and products under live conditions. More information is available at: http://www.crisp-research.com/

About Pironet NDH
Pironet NDH is one of the leading German providers of cloud computing. The company, which is listed on the stock exchange, has its headquarters in Cologne and was founded in 1995. As of 2014 Pironet NDH is part of the affiliated group CANCOM SE in Munich. Its focus ranges from providing corporate software over the internet right through to complete desktop solutions and business-critical applications from SAP and Microsoft.

With its Hosted Business Cloud®, Pironet NDH provides virtual IT resources and standard business applications as turnkey cloud services with flexible costs (Software as a Service) from its highly secure German data centres. The Business Cloud® is based on the AHP Private Cloud Platform developed and tested by CANCOM, as well as service components and network and infrastructure services.

The service offering, the IT infrastructure and also the internal organisation are all certified according to strict, internationally recognised guidelines, including, among others, DIN ISO/IEC 27001. For customers this certification ensures the operative excellence of Pironet NDH in all processes, as well as compliance with stringent standards with respect to both technical and security aspects.

Customers include numerous medium-sized companies as well as international corporations. More information is available at: http://www.pironet-ndh.com

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