Serena delivers SaaS solution for Project Portfolio Management

BANGALORE, INDIA: Serena Software has achieved the first milestone of its on demand strategy by delivering one of its key offerings, Serena Mariner 2008, via Software as a Service (SaaS). Available now, the new SaaS version of Mariner gives business and IT managers the most functional on demand Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tool with no infrastructure to manage, no software to install, and simple subscription pricing. 

“The success of any department is hinged upon a manager’s ability to understand where resources are going, make decisions quickly, and show value to the business,” said René Bonvanie, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, partner programs, and online services at Serena. “The SaaS version of Mariner will allow our customers to start using the software right away – eliminating installation, hardware issues, and the cost of having to maintain the software – to achieve a faster path to value.” 

Named a Leader in Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tools by Forrester, Serena Mariner helps organizations more effectively plan, manage, and deliver a greater return on business activities by bringing total visibility into projects, people, and costs. Unlike ad hoc approaches and products that only give partial visibility, Mariner delivers total visibility and a straightforward, flexible approach. It provides improved alignment with business priorities, powerful dashboard reporting for real-time monitoring and issue resolution, and robust resource management to help balance demand and supply for projects. Customers also experience fast time to value by matching their organization’s PPM maturity with Mariner’s functionality through solution accelerators, free assessment and training, and Quick Start service offerings. 

“We looked at the competitors and chose Mariner for its intuitive nature, full functionality and better vision,” said Cortney Edwards, PMO Support Engineer at PHNS, which provides information technology services for hospitals, healthcare providers and businesses. “Mariner will help us better manage our demand flow, provide more detail around rank and prioritization, and a central repository improving standardization in decision making. The on demand version is ideal as it allows us to adopt Mariner fast, with lower cost and less risk.”

A Trio of SaaS Solutions

Serena Mariner is the first of three on demand offerings that the company plans to make available in 2008, with Serena Business Mashups and a full suite of Agile Lifecycle Management tools on deck later this year. 

Transparent Pricing

Customers will be able to try Mariner On Demand for free for 30 days and can purchase a subscription on Serena’s web site. Introductory pricing of 50% off for the first six months makes Mariner On Demand available for as little as $18 per user per month (based on workgroup). Pricing is available in three currencies depending on country of purchase, with list prices shown below. Details about the Introductory Discount pricing are available on the Mariner web site. The table below shows pricing per user for group, team, workgroup and departmental implementations.