Back in 2005 Video Ezy implemented a Microsoft solution for its in-store systems, across their 560 stores here in Oz. So impressed are Microsoft with their efforts (they in fact designed it), they featured it as a case study on their own site to promote MS Solutions over Open Source. You can read the case study here. Last week Linux evangelist David Williams (of ITWire) decided to pull apart this case study and debunk the anti-linux rhetoric the case study presented. You can read that here.

At APPLEBOX for our server we use an Open Source J2EE stack sitting on a Linux box, and love it. It powers along and hasn’t missed a beat, with the only downtime being a rather hasty server relocation. But at the end of the day, it’s the product that matters, not the technology used. This is what stunned me about the Video Ezy rollout. Only 4 years ago they had the opportunity to redesign their in-house systems, across the whole franchise group. With such enormous successes from SaaS (Software as a Service) initiatives, spearheaded by the phenomenal growth of Salesforce.com (servicing 41,000 customers without any remote-site deployments to be seen), Microsoft wanted Video Ezy to roll out a small business server to each of their stores. That’s 560 remote server deployments all needing maintenance and support. 560 servers to patch, backup and trouble shoot. Hmmm.

If I was the Video Ezy CIO, I’d want a new system to centralise inventory and membership systems, to allow members to rent from one store and return to another, and definitely not need remote server deployment. I’m not convinced this is what they ended up with. My tip: don’t let technology vendors build you a solution. Their consultants will follow their head office mandate .. and for Microsoft that’s deployments - both desktops and servers.

I’m absolutely sold on SaaS deployments. The web today (and 4 years ago) is the platform, it’s scaleability and reach puts that beyond doubt. And I’m happy to report APPLEBOX is SaaS personified.