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by Joshua Greenbaum, Contributing Editor   | Abstract: | A crowded field of on-demand vendors signals a shift in pricing advantage to the consumer, who needs to decide when and how much to adopt. |
It looks like 2007 is going to be a great year if you want to save on IT costs. Every vendor worth its R&D budget is coming out with a software as a service (SaaS) offering, or enhancing an existing one. Or starting an entirely new SaaS company. The upshot is simple: SaaS isn't just here to stay, it should become an essential part of your strategy. The only questions are when and how much? Let's review the now-crowded field. There's Salesforce.com — the poster boy for SaaS persistence, having weathered the downturn in the market following the dot-com bust. NetSuite is another stalwart, having been in the market for umpteen years. Another veteran, surprisingly, is Oracle. Other than Salesforce.com, Oracle was the only other vendor to stay on course after the dot-com bust. According to chairman Jeff Henley, the company's SaaS offering grew at a healthy 70% last year, though much of that growth has come from its Siebel acquisition. [Click to continue] |