JohnnyL’s Blogic

Wikipedia defines Software as a Service (SaaS) as a software application delivery model where a software vendor develops a web-native software application and hosts and operates the application for use by its customers over the Internet.

Dramatically reduced cost for computation and storage resources as well as plummeting network bandwidth costs are greatly increasing the ability to deliver software as a service. It is estimated that by 2011, 25% of all business software spending will be delivered via a SaaS model. That is up from 5% in 2005 (per our friends at Gartner). Clearly, SaaS is becoming an increasingly important part of the IT stack; helping organizations in a multitude of industries manage their day-to-day business. The benefits include reduced costs, bug count and IT resources, faster implementation and iterative development cycles, and always being up to date.

SaaS is already an integral part of Adobe’s strategy in the enterprise space with its products Acrobat Connect and Scene 7. And we will continue to increase our investments in SaaS for both the enterprise and our creative pro audiences.

But what about the consumer space? You’ve probably observed the broadband penetration into the home, consumer comfort with web-based applications and the explosion of sharing on the Internet through social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

People are taking more pictures than ever before – an estimated 49.5 billion images were captured on digital cameras and camera phones in 2006. Couple that with the number of people online growing at an ever-increasing rate, at all ages. In the US alone, it is estimated that 20% of the online population is represented by the 18 - 24 year old demographic.

But there has been something missing – a complete imaging solution that offers a broad set of functionality specifically geared to this emerging ‘connected generation’. To continue Adobe’s passion of enabling engaging experiences, we have announced Photoshop Express – a new service that will support this community of mass market consumers in the creation of engaging content in rich environments.

Photoshop Express is fully web based. No CDs. No downloads. No updates or activation. Whenever you log in, you’re using the very latest version. While we have leveraged Photoshop core technology to build this new solution, it is not Photoshop online. It is a targeted solution focused on this new generation of content creators that will extend the power of creativity to the consumer at large. For this audience, it is a complete solution. You can easily upload, organize/sort, edit, store and show off your images. And when you’re done, share them anywhere, including social sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

It’s easy. It’s fun. It’s free. All you need is a browser. To learn more about Photoshop Express, and to participate in our just released beta program, go to www.photoshop.com/express.

You take the pictures. We’ll help you make them look great as you share them with others.

Posted by John Loiacono at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The last several weeks have been weeks filled with a number of painful lessons learned.

Some of you might have seen the announcement we made with FedEx Kinko's regarding putting a "Send to FedEx Kinko's" button in the 8.1 version of Adobe Reader and Acrobat Professional. And you might have also seen the blogs and articles about the reaction of many members of the print community. The reaction was immediate, strong, and negative. That was our first lesson learned. We met the objective of developing new business opportunities for our technology and addressing a customer's print workflow problem, but did not engage with print industry thought leaders and influencers early in the deal cycle to determine how to best implement the program. We have a long-standing, very supportive relationship with the print community, so getting their input should have been baked into the process.

Bruce Chizen, Adobe's CEO, immediately acknowledged that our process, and therefore the end result, was flawed. We received a number of letters and emails letting us know just how problematic this is for print service providers, universities, government agencies, etc. We initially attempted to respond to each and every email. But as the volume built, we had to resort to a standard letter and a posting on our website. Another lesson learned. Immediate response is great, but the community wants action -- and quickly. What we really needed to do was sit down with them and have a conversation to see if we could find some common ground.

So Tuesday, Bruce and I met with a representative group of print industry leaders. They were tough on us. Big time tough. They told us exactly how they felt and the hard truths of what this deal means to them. We heard them. And they clearly told us what their expectations for next steps are. They had a lot to say, we had a lot to listen to. At the end of the discussion, we committed to coming back to them within two weeks with a decision on how we will move forward. We are going to do everything possible to find a way to deliver a win - win situation on all sides. It's the right thing to do. Another lesson learned.

In the meantime, some good has come out of all of this. We finally got many of the industry leaders in the same room and we spent the last 20 or so minutes of the meeting talking about what we could work on together once we resolve this big hairy issue that is on the table. And we will resolve it. That's the other lesson learned. At the core, we all want to work together, support each other, and ultimately, succeed together.

Posted by John Loiacono at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)

It's the culmination of some of the best work that I have seen in my entire career. Creative Suite 3 brings together what I can only say are some of the most compelling and cool products on the planet. Former Macromedia products and Adobe creative tools that were already best-in-breed point products have been enhanced with an incredible set of new features and now provide seamless workflow integration. And not just within the individual design, web, dynamic media workflows - but across those workflows as well. Even more, we've added a number of all-new products and technologies, such as the new Photoshop CS3 Extended (which pushes image manipulation to new heights with the addition of video, 3D and measurement and analysis); Soundbooth (a new, intuitive audio tool specifically for video pros); and Device Central (which allows you to check how your image/web application/video will look and act on any number of mobile devices). Some 200+ profiles are included.

The work on all of this began just 15 months ago when the acquisition of Macromedia happened. There was work going on in each company before that of course - but the real work to deliver on the promise of the acquisition - the integration of not only the two companies and its employees, but the integration of great products into a greater whole - began just over a year ago .

And now you have to just see it to believe it. Getting ready for todays' launch, I had 20 or 30 hours of demos to choose from. Cool, awe-inspiring, WOW demos. It was like being a kid in a candy shop trying to decide what to include in the event. If you get a minute, log in and watch the launch today - it's being webcast live and will be available for re-broadcast a few hours later. Rather than having me babble on, we'll let the products speak for themselves. They should take up 75-85 percent of my stage time. That's better for all of us. And while you're there, check out the rest of the website to see the demos and products I don't have time to show.

I've been heard to describe todays' announcements as the "biggest launch in the history of Adobe". That's true from the number of products: 13 point products, 6 suites, 9 key technologies, 2 services. It's true from the number of people working on it all. It's true from the number of lines of code, 80-90 million lines as best I can calculate . I can best summarize it with three "I's". INTERACTIVE and engaging content design/development. INTEGRATED products within and across the key workflows, and INSANELY cool products.

Take a look at the webcast. You'll be impressed. I'm absolutely sure of it. I'll be blogging regularly on the products, what our customers are saying - and what's next. Stay tuned.

Posted by John Loiacono at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm the new SVP of Creative Solutions. After 19 years at Sun Microsystems, I'm now a few weeks into what I hope to be a long run at my new digs. This is my initial blog entry.

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

I just sat through most of a 3-day internal marketing summit where our global corporate, field and product business unit marketing teams gather for strategy, motivation, skills development and time to interact (I heard there was also some evening parties and a few late night antics, but that can’t be confirmed just yet). As a former chief marketing officer, my experience is that no matter how good the speakers/content/breakouts are, most of the attendees find that just getting time to network with their brethren is the most valuable output. My second experience is that it can be very difficult to do breakouts for employees, who tend to be one or more of the following: pessimistic about anything you say; skeptical that anything will ever change; tired after flying in from Japan, India or the like; more excited about sampling the local drinking establishments than hearing about the best way to implement a direct mail campaign in Portugal. The breakout my VP of marketing and I hosted (“hosted” as in I just showed up), was a quick, hands-on and hopefully engaging exercise on the age-old common sense requirement: customer input. The outcome was in many ways just what was hoped for…people understood the value of why direct customer input is so important to how you create, build, market and sell your products. But the big epiphany for a lot of us what the comments that came when we asked about their thoughts on the exercise. The ah-ha was working on a problem that was narrow in scope, had a clear objective, was short in duration with a specific time limit, didn’t involve all the normal, tedious, pain-in-the-rear processes and approval cycles that usually kill momentum, and, had a result communicated right there in the room (award winners were named at the conclusion of the exercise). How we solve our internal issues is very similar to how any company addresses a huge, complex, seemingly overwhelming problem…carve it up into bite-sized pieces. You’ve heard the old adage, Q: “How do you eat an elephant?” A: One bite at a time.

So why did I come here? The positive experience of our exercise, and the corresponding frustration that occurs when a similar process is carried out inside a company with real business issues is not unique to Adobe, or our industry, or any industry. In engineering if you want something to happen fast, task one individual to go away and come back when he or she has developed a solution. If you want to go even faster, isolate three people in a remote cabin (with power and a high speed internet connection) and turn them loose on the same problem. If you want to slow down the development, add 15 more people and double the budget. No magic in understanding that small, focused, motivated teams do better than huge monoliths. Both the challenge and opportunity with Adobe is 1+1=3. Adobe, by itself, is an interesting company with an incredible brand, really smart people and the ability to address the needs of the most creative people on the planet. But Adobe + Macromedia is even far more compelling, with huge upside potential. If, of course, we are able to attack our new, bigger, more threatening challenges one bite at a time. That’s why I’m here, and welcome to my Blogic.

Posted by John Loiacono at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (99)