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by Joshua Greenbaum, Contributing Editor   | Abstract: | Google's and Salesforce.com's efforts to displace software and turn the stalwarts of that industry out to pasture fall far short of the hype. |
Mainstream enterprise software vendors breathed a collective sigh of relief when a much-hyped deal between Salesforce.com and Google in early June amounted to a hill of beans, as opposed to the paradigm-shifting event that everyone had anticipated — or feared — depending on one's perspective. What you can't deny is that these two companies grabbed headlines and scared the you-know-what out of some very big companies. For no good reason, it turned out. Part of what frightened the market is that these two companies have tried, with varying degrees of success, to upend traditional notions of what software is, what it costs, and how it is used. If these two companies could actually make good on their headline-grabbing mantras - "No more software," in the case of Salesforce.com, and "Don't be evil," in the case of Google (OK, that's the informal motto; the real one is about improving the way people "connect" with information) — the combination could constitute the kind of perfect storm that sends markets into tailspins and rivals into receivership. [Click to continue] |