Google: The future of software delivery and you will see a broad spectrum of opinions out there.
- Beyond SaaS
- DevOps and Continuous Delivery
- Microsoft Click-to-Run
- LXC, Docker..
I was surprised not to find virtual appliance among the buzzwords that top the search results of on Google .
According to Wikipedia:
A virtual appliance is a pre-configured virtual machine image, ready to run on a hypervisor; virtual appliances are a subset of the broader class of software appliances. Installation of a software appliance on a virtual machine and packaging that into an image creates a virtual appliance. Like software appliances, virtual appliances are intended to eliminate the installation, configuration and maintenance costs associated with running complex stacks of software.
According to Business Insights, the on-premise model of delivering software has many hidden disadvantages over providing an on-demand hosted SaaS version.
They make valid points if you're refering to traditional Enterprise software installations. Gargantuan ERP system can take months if not years to install and configure, not to mention they cost millions of dollars in software licensing, professional services, consulting hours, and fulltime IT staff to maintain.
HuBoard's virtual application eliminates all of the disadvantages of the on-premise model by taking a wildly different approach to selling and delivering enterprise software.
Hidden cost myth: Installation
Installation of HuBoard is quick and easy, simply import our OVA file into your virtualization platform (VirtualBox or VMWare). Wait for it to boot up and visit the installation page with your browser. Paste in a couple of configuration values and it's up and running.
Hidden cost myth: Maintenance
Maintaining HuBoard is just as easy. Download the latest update from https://enterprise.huboard.com, upload the new package to the virtual appliance, click the upgrade button and you're done.
Hidden cost myth: Security
HuBoard is installed behind your corporate firewall and all internal databases and service use the internal loopback IP address which significantly lowers the possible attack vectors making it easy to secure.
Hidden cost myth: Backups
Backing up HuBoard is as simple as taking a snapshot of the VM from your virutalization console, or leaning on your existing data protection or replication strategy for VMs (i.e. VMware vStorage API for Data Protection, etc.). Although HuBoard is obviously an incredibly powerful application for developers, it appears to a systems administrator as just another VM, which is absolute goodness as far as tucking into your enterprise’s existing backup strategy and not rocking the boat.
Hidden cost myth: Testing and development
Since HuBoard is a SaaS product as well as on-premise we have the benefit of developing and testing new features across a wide spectrum of users and businesses before deploying it as an on-premise offering via HuBoard Enterprise. Also, we fully believe that a virtual appliance is much more predictable and less risky for an enterprise, as all the code and interactions within the VM have been tested by users in combination with each other. In contrast, a traditional enterprise software implementation can involve virtually an infinite combination of elements (depending on the installer and many other factors), which significantly raises the risk of failure.
So if virtual appliances enable enterprises to eliminate almost all the pains of traditional on- premise software deployment, why isn’t more enterprise software deployed this way? This very question is something that we’ve found ourselves asking each other quite often, and something that we’re committed to help change in the industry for the sake of users everywhere. After all, if our developers can get HuBoard Enterprise up quickly and securely (and without internal strife), why can’t all enterprise users have the same experience?
This winds up being a bit overtly salesy instead of focusing on the problems, solutions, and promise.
You jump from myth to correction without acknowledging one major fact: The reason most people don't do this is that it's a pain in the ass to develop.
To me, a better flow for each challenge would be:
1: Challenge of on-premise
2: How you overcame it, with some specifics
3: The result (What the customer sees). This is like "for example, what we did was..."
The net result is that your team, through sweat and focus, created a solution that is a departure from enterprise sales in the past. People that get on board with this are going to profit, and those that don't are going to get passed up.
Then you can say that what you've done is trade a pain in the ass for hundreds of IT pros to a handful of developers building the virtual appliances, but that actually creates a space and need for tooling and automation for developers, who are generally pretty good at that stuff.
The structure is good, but a few specifics would make it seem like you're talking about virtual appliances as a critical strategy rather than selling me huboard enterprise.