Singapore-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company AKSAAS ( www.aksaas.com ) has launched one of the first SaaS incubation centres in Asia to promote and accelerate the adoption of SaaS in the region. The AxSaaS Incubation Centre (AiC, www.axsaas.com ) will offer consultancy and technical services to aspiring SaaS providers (independent software vendors or ISVs seeking to move from an upfront licensing model to a SaaS model) in Singapore and subsequently extend its services to other countries across the Asia Pacific.

SaaS is an emerging model for the delivery of software in which an application is hosted as a service and provided to customers on a utility pricing model across the Internet. By eliminating the need to install and run the application on the end-user's computer, SaaS reduces the total cost of ownership for the user by transferring the burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support to the service provider.

AiC will provide a staging platform for testing and commercialisation by new SaaS providers, helping them in technology augmentation and in the implementation of proof of concepts for industry consortia. The facility will also provide a demonstration area for end-user customers.

Mr Lye: AiC will go beyond the common definition of SaaS to provide a more integrated, community-oriented platform service.

Mr Alan Lye, Managing Director of AKSAAS said the incubation centre will bring about a radical change in the SaaS operating model and lead to the creation of new business ecosystems. "AiC will go far beyond the common definition of SaaS as provisioning of mere IT infrastructure and application services to a more integrated, community-oriented platform service," he said.

The incubation centre aims to bring about the creation of more complex and diverse applications leveraging on newer technologies such as business rule engines and the latest infrastructure software. These will enable AiC to provide ISVs with an elastic cost model that can scale in tandem with their own subscription-based revenue model.

AKSAAS has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with strategic partners like Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Exploit Technologies ( www.exploit-tech.com ), HP ( www.hp.com ), Microsoft ( www.microsoft.com ), SingTel ( www.singtel.com ), SCS ( www.scs.com.sg ), Haley ( www.haley.com ) and Gigaspaces ( www.gigaspaces.com ) to provide a trusted and branded production environment for its incubatees.

RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, IDA, said, "Singapore envisions a Grid market hub by 2013 where businesses can share, buy, and sell infocomm resources, on-demand and on a pay-as-you-use basis. To realise this vision, nurturing a SaaS ecosystem that allows ISVs to commercialise pay-per-use services is essential. The AiC is in line with this vision where businesses will be able to deliver new services based on innovative business models that Grid Computing promises."

Exploit Technologies, the strategic marketing and commercialisation arm of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), will identify a pipeline of A*STAR's market-ready technologies for joint development with AiC, under the Commercialisation of Technology programme. Exploit, which incubated AKSAAS for close to 20 months after the start-up began operations in January 2006, has also committed S$50,000 to seed this effort, and help grow the aspiring local SaaS providers.

Microsoft will make its technology platforms and developer tools readily accessible to ISVs who partner with AiC, and provide business direction and technology support through its Local Software Economy and Software-plus-Services Incubation Centre programmes. HP will provide hardware solutions and align its Developer & Solution Partner Programme to the AiC, while SingTel will come onboard with bandwidth support and also link AiC to the SingTel Industry Partner Programme.