This week was big for the software-as-a-service segment, alongside the regular slew of news from the cloud space, which also happened to include a couple of equally notable developments from the consumer-facing end.

The first name in our recap is Accenture, a service provider that introduced a new SaaS for the insurance industry this week.  The company has an existing portfolio tailored for this particular space, and its latest offering extends it with the addition of automation, collaboration and other more industry-specific functions. The app is an entire set of tools covering a very broad spectrum from social enterprise to request processing.

NetSuite in turn is rolling out a new service of its own.  At its SuiteWorld gathering the firm announced what it calls commerce-as-a-service: it’s an application that centralizes all customer data and interactions in one place, and is based on the SuiteCommerce platform launched not too long ago.

Over in the personal cloud space, BrightNest unveiled a new app. Homefolio is a cloud based service that puts a rather interesting twist on traditional file sharing – the app is designed to accommodate household-related files, such as manuals, and catalogs them by room.  Homefolio makes use of multiple information points from its users enter as well, producing to-do lists and reminders.

Also this week, we’ve had a big update from Nvidia. Gamers account for a sizable chunk of the chipmaker ‘s customer base, and now that the cloud has entered the picture the company is not hesitant to adapt.  Together with Gaikai, the hardware maker is planning to make a name for itself in cloud gaming by producing custom chips designed to support cloud gaming; that is, streaming a title to the user’s end point from a remote server, rather than installing it locally.