Hive Solutions is a SaaS R&D company that developed the Colony Framework, an open source platform as a service (PaaS) solution. Colony addresses common SaaS challenges through its modular architecture and uses a plugin model for extensibility. It took 6 months of research and 1.5 years of development involving 300k lines of code. The Colony Framework specification allows for multiple implementations and distributions. Hive Solutions then built the Omni Platform PaaS using Colony, which offers a store for plugins and scalable deployment to the cloud. Omni Platform follows a freemium business model to attract developers, partners, and customers.

1. Hive Solutions
An SaaS R&D Company
Luís Martinho
lmartinho@hive.pt
2010

2. From
Denmark
to Portugal

3. SaaS
the challenges
. Vendor Lock-­in
. Legacy systems integration
. Lack of support for customizations
. Limited support for Hybrid Clouds
. Availability (on updates)

4. The research phase

5. The research numbers
ch
months of pure resear
6 and prototyping
1 years of research
1/2
and development
300k
Lines of code and
70 person years
(someone should have
400 d
retired by now) Colony plugins develope

6. Colony Framework
the r ebolution
this is
the logo

7. Colony Framework
Goals
. Modularity and re-­usage
. Easy to use and easy to develop just like rails
. Fun to develop
this
is true . Open
standards
. Truly open platform in every sense . Opem
sourcecode
. Com
munity driven
. Sustained development, research oriented
not guided by
customer demands

8. Colony Framework
Structure
. It’s a specification and not an implementation
. 2 reference implementations . Python, Javascript
. 2 different flavours . Standard and Web
. Runtime Plugin model (OSGi and MEF inspired)
. Distributed model (OSGi inspired)
. Easy Viral deployment

9. Colony Framework
How it works?
the core ent
. Dependen cy managem
ent
. Life cy cle managem
ol
. Inversion of contr
CRM Plugin
. Dashboards
. Sales force automation
. Commission accrual
HR Plugin
. Salar
y processing
. Career Man
agement

10. Colony Framework
the big picture
Services Set
. HTTP Distribution Set
. Serialization
. SMTP
. Discovery
. XMPP
. Balancing
.Etc
Business Logic Data Set
. Data pool managing . ORM
. Load balancing . Storage
. Compression

11. Colony Framework
Distribution
Optimized resource usage

12. Colony Framework
Distribution possibilities
just plug the cable
. Easy scaleout
. Simple development model
. Crowd sourcing ready
. No technology commitment explore the power
of millions
Colony is defined by
just like
standard specifications
a normal plugin
not technologies

13. Colony Framework
Where to use?
. the holy grail of
. Business software modular SaaS ERP
. Scientific computing
. E-­Government . Harvest the world’s
. Web consumer products computing resources
. Health Care
. Maintainable public
. Energy Management sector applications
. Scalable and modular
facebook
. Open distributed smart . Open and Standard
grid management health care solution

14. The Product
Platform

15. Omni Platform
What it is
. A Platform as a Service solution
. A one stop shop for all your enterprise application needs
. A scalable and maintainable infra-­structure
. A structure that allows an easy deployment of software
applications to the cloud
. A service that supports building unique solutions
using components from the store
. Colony Framework based

16. Omni Platform
Where does it fit?
No fresh start, it
No constraints to
leverages existing
the defined product
resources Platform
. M . S
S Azure alesforce
. A . Z
mazon EC2 Cloud Computing SaaS oho
. G . G
oogle App Engine oogle Apps
The best commitment for a developer in the cloud!

17. Omni Platform
Lifecycle
2 . C I O Creates the
Store
1 . developer creates solution by using CRM
c i o
the CRM module, and HR Modules and
developer leavereging the installs it into its
existing resources Omni platform instance
amd deploys it to
Platform
the store
3 .The user consumes the
Omni Platform according
user
to his needs

18. Omni Platform
Business Model
. Fremium based -­ Free basic services and paid premium services
. Free for the technology enthusiast that wants to test the platform.
. Premium users will get more plugin storage, performance, security,
support and API access
. Official Hive Solutions’ plugins sales
. A percentage of every plugin sale

19. Timeline
R&D with real Implementation
partner and with partners
We’re
Pure R&D real scenario here
3+ years
0 1 year 2 years
Colony tested Public distribution
in production
Colony
environment
of Omni Platform
implemented
as a prototype May 2009 First version
in iphone of Colony web Ui
Sep 2008 First Implementation introduced in
of the Colony webserver production.
Dec 2008 Oct 2009

20. Call to Action
Join us
. Partners that can help us market omni platform
. Partners to develop new plugins for colony
. Parners wanting consulting with colony
. Modular architecture advisory
. Deployment of colony in scientific environments
. Hobbyist usage of colony

21. Q&A
“there is no such thing
as a dumb question”
Luís Martinho
lmartinho@hive.pt