Bursts on the exploding Software As A Service Industry

Interesting to hear that Jive Software has avoided SaaS and have gone to offer a Private/Public Cloud for their Jive Express software (read here).

A Private cloud could be a good sell to enterprises whose primary concern is about ’security’ and ‘privacy’ but that does not mean that larger companies will not use SaaS. In fact, as the author has pointed out that “Salesforce, WorkDay and other vendors have demonstrated that enterprises will adopt SaaS despite concerns over security”.

Lets see how Jive Software’s strategy plays out.

Another good article on how cloud computing will change business. I think there is some overlap between SaaS and Cloud but overall, businesses are going to be consuming software through the Internet - whether its in sales, product development, marketing, communication, collaboration or support.

This is a good article that shows how Indian consumers, businesses and entrepreneurs are starting to use SaaS when kick-starting their business. SaaS’s low cost, ease of use and scalability makes adoption easy and hassle-free.

Your app could be the best in the world but if it cannot scale then you are going to be out of business. Check out these slides from the CTO of Rackspace about scaling web applications.

On Nov 17, 2008, Sandhill.com wrote about the 10 Predictions for Software as a Service. Here are my views and comments on the predictions:

#1 Itʼs the product, stupid!
It is the product and has always been the product and the overall experience it gives the end user.

#2 Software without borders
Very true. Just like how social networks have opened up the boundaries. My prediction is that more and more enterprise SaaS solutions will look, act and feel like consumer based web 2.0 solutions.

#3 First impressions, first
Absolutely. In the web design world, users make up their mind about a website in 1/20th of a second. SaaS apps might be a little longer but if the app is clunky, slow, and not good to the eye then 1 minute might also be sufficient to close the browser and move on.

#4 Pinching pennies
Monthly recurring revenue and churn rate is also a very important metric. 

#5 Tier 1 support reigns
It depends on the customer. Full-fledged support for small business customers might prove expensive. Most of the support should be self-help including video tutorials and dynamic FAQs.

#6 More product alliances
This is a must. You don’t want to be an island after all. Complimentary services will use API’s to create enterprise mashups.

#7 Video trumps text
Absolutely. No comment. 

#8 SaaS for SaaS
This is called “Walking the talk”. Great way to reduce expenses.

#9 Grid computing muddle
No comment.

#10 Tech takes a back seat
As more and more SaaS vendors crowd the space, marketing (and mostly online) is going to differentiate one service from the other. It will be a level playing field again with the vendor with the clearest purpose and position will emerge the winner.