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by David R. Brousell, MA Editorial Staff Posted on Monday, January 22, 2007 2:55:00 PM   | Abstract: | New delivery models for enterprise software have won their share of converts, but be sure you know what works best for your business first &mdash a lot is at stake. |
Last week, Cognos, a supplier of business intelligence software, acquired Celequest Corp., a provider of real-time dashboards that are delivered to customers on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. The purchase gives Cognos its first SaaS offering. The packaged software industry, which has traditionally offered its wares on the basis of a license agreement under which the software is installed and run on a customer's computer system at that customer's site, has been experimenting with new delivery models for some time. Ideas such as the application service provider (ASP) model, software-as-a-service, and on-demand aim to give manufacturers lower cost, greater flexibility, and less complexity to manage, but there is much confusion over definitions and the characteristics of each notion. Cognos's move into the so-called SaaS market follows the lead of other software vendors that have opted for one or more of these new delivery ideas. Such companies as NetSuite, Microsoft, Plexus, Oracle, and SAP, among others, all offer these various delivery options today for their applications. [Click to continue] |