IBM Global Services To Host ISV Partners' Apps

ISVs Employease, HRsmart, Intacct and Onyx are contributing the first in what Mary Garrett, vice president of distribution channels and midmarket for IBM Global Services, hopes will be a wide array of applications for midmarket clients.

IBM Global Services will host the applications.

Employease is a human resources and benefits-tracking product, while HRsmart manages online recruiting and job applicants' status. Intacct is a suite of general ledger, accounts receivable and auditing applications, and Onyx is a CRM and sales-force automation product.

The midmarket companies using these applications will pay a per-user fee that will range from about $50 to $175 per user, Garrett said.

"Partners fear losing the relationship with the customer, and being the provider of value, but in this model the partner is the [path into the customers," Garrett said.

The partners to whom Garrett has described the new hosted offerings "expressed that this is a huge win-win" situation, she said.

"They [maintain the valuable relationship with the customer, and the contact with IBM enhances their credibility," she said.

The ISVs will bill the customer directly for the services being delivered by the IBM data centers, Garrett said.

Last week, IBM rolled out its Application Enablement Program, designed to attract ISVs to adapt their applications to be provided as hosted services.

Adexa, Entrust, MROL Software and Portal are the other early participants in the midmarket hosting effort.