At ServoyWorld last week we announced (and did a demo: it’s not vaporware) our upcoming Servoy 4.1 platform upgrade. Although the number indicates a minor upgrade it actually is a major feature release for ISV’s! Why? Because Servoy 4.1 allows you to roll your own Force.com-like platform: you can be your own Platform as a Service (PaaS) provider! What does it mean?

With 4.1 you can allow both your end-users and third party developers to develop and deploy applications (user interfaces, data and logic) right inside your own application. With 4.1 - we’ve made PaaS even more appealing: 4.1 is more powerful than force.com, 4.1 is easier to setup and there is no hosting lock-in as with Force.com. You can even run the same application as an on Premises app, as well as client/server (over the Internet) all from the same single code base.

In Tech-Speak: In 4.1 we allow you to create objects (any type) on-the-fly, bind them to data and present them to a user. You can do this both with our Smart Client and with our Web Client, again from the same code-base! This is really revolutionary - as this is one of the first products that allows you to create, instantiate and bind data objects on the fly at runtime (even in a browser!).

We’re going to release this version later this year - and we’ll have it in public beta for you to try out in the next couple of months. If you’re an ISV and would like to have a demo right now let us know (sales AT servoy DOT com) and we’ll setup a webinar for you.

I’m just back from Las Vegas where we had our annual developer’s conference - ServoyWorld. Wow! Every year it seems like it’s better than the last - and this year was no exception.

I wanted to thank all the attendees, the speakers and our sponsors (The Support Group, adBlocks, Sybase iAnywhere, IT2Be, Data Mosaic, McGilly Information Systems, STB, Direct ICT, Ambitius, DataBridge and ProjectLocker). I know that taking time out of your business to attend/exhibit at/speak at a conference is something that is not done lightly - and we appreciate your attendance and help in making ServoyWorld 2008 such a rousing success.

I’m always simply AMAZED at all the innovative things people are doing with Servoy. I really get a kick out of seeing how creative people are - and how they are using (and extending) the product in ways that we never even envisioned.

The feedback we get from our customers is the driving force behind this product and this company - and there was no shortage of it last week! It was really cool to see customers doing the “laptop huddle” with engineers, implementation folks and executives. Everywhere I looked there were animated hand gestures (the good kind) and passionate conversations about favorite features, missing features and “why would you ever do that?”

Beyond the terrific speakers (THANK YOU!), the yummy food, the trip to the Las Vegas strip, and the no holds barred Poker Tournament (THANKS ProjectLocker!) - my favorite part of the event was the networking.

I had the opportunity to talk with our long-time customers as well as meet folks who were just evaluating the technology and hadn’t made up their mind if Servoy was going to be right for them (yet!). I met some new friends - and had the opportunity to catch up with others that I only “talk” to on our forum.

I also had the pleasure of moderating our third annual ISV Executive Summit. This is an event we organize specifically for C-level executives who are running software companies that deliver products to end customers. We had a really great program this year - everything from “How to pitch to Venture Capitalists” by Tim Danford from Storm Ventures; to “Using Public Relations to Spread the Word” by our own Brenda Christensen; to “Which Tech Tool is Best for an ISV” by Jan Aleman our CEO; to “Pricing, Retaining and Gaining NEW Clients” by Dean Westover from Choices Software.

Beyond the great presentations - I really enjoyed the interaction and number of questions and real life stories that were shared. We discussed everything from pricing to hosting to the conversion process. We talked about the impact of social media on business, how to leverage outsourced hosting and what the most effective methods were for customer retention in a SaaS model. I simply love hearing how our customers are being successful with Servoy - it’s so inspiring. I also really like hearing areas that we can improve - or areas they’re having challenges in - so we can try to help overcome issues and make the path even more straight and narrow.

I wanted to take a moment to thank our staff. No great event or great company or great product can exist without great people. Personally, I think we have some of the best out there! I really appreciate all the time spent in preparing for presentations, for all the time spent helping debug/evaluate/review customer applications, for being there early after getting to bed late - and for just being yourselves. You really helped make the conference the success it was.

I also wanted to extend a special thanks to Brenda Duncan and Carla Benassi - those hundreds of hours of organization and agonizing over the “small stuff” really paid off. GREAT JOB, guys!

And, finally, for those of you that didn’t have the chance to make it to Las Vegas this year - I hope to be able to meet up with you next year in Europe for ServoyWorld 2009. Watch this space for details…

We’re in the final 30 days before ServoyWorld 2008 in Las Vegas.

Things are abuzz here in many different directions. I can’t really give all the details here - but I’ve seen a lot of the presentations and they will be absolutely awesome! They cover everything under the sun - and we’ve really tried to listen to attendee feedback and offer a “beginner” track as well as a track for more advanced folks.

As usual, engineering is still cooking with full steam - working on the latest-and-greatest additions and enhancements to the newly released 4.0 version, in addition to some very cool stuff that isn’t public yet.

If you’ve never been to a ServoyWorld before - and you’re into Servoy - or maybe you’re just evaluating Servoy - you owe it to yourself to come and check it out. You’ll meet some terrific people - be able to get some ‘face time’ with engineers and execs - AND be have ample opportunity to have ALL of your Servoy-related questions answered.

In case you just got back from vacation and haven’t signed up yet - the cheap hotel rooms are gone - but you can still register for the conference at the ServoyWorld site. There’s only a couple of spots left for the pre-conference and post-conference classes - so if you’re still on the fence - sign up while you still can!

Keep in mind that rooms are still available at the fabulous JW Marriott Hotel. If you want to get your reservation at the killer ServoyWorld Conference rate of $149, you have to book NOW! There are only a few rooms left at that special discount, and the absolute deadline is August 2nd! Go to the Special Reservation URL, or call the hotel directly at 1-800-297-5056 or 1-702-869-7777. Do it today before all the available rooms are gone! To find out more about the luxurious, J.W. Marriott, visitwww.servoy.com/servoyworld/accomodation.jsp.

Do you know how close we are to ServoyWorld — THE most awaited Servoy Event of the Year?? It’s almost here, and you need to hurry and sign up TODAY! Come and join us at the luxurious 5-star JW Marriott Hotel, just 15 minutes off the Las Vegas Strip. The Conference speakers are all lined up — click here to read the latest topic sessions. If you want to learn more about Servoy than you could ever wish to know; or how to push your Servoy developments to the limit and beyond, make sure you join us at ServoyWorld 2008. To register for ServoyWorld, click here.