Archive for December 12th, 2009
Let’s get SaaSy – or maybe not
At the recent IT Alliance conference held in Palm Springs California there were quite a few sessions on Software As A Service (aka SaaS).
SaaS is loosely defined as running an application on a remote server that someone else managed. To access the application all that’s typically required is a web connected computer. Often the power of the computer is irrelevant since the processing power has been offloaded to the remote server.
The concept of offloading local processing and data storage isn’t new. Remember the days of mainframes and timesharing?
Part of the reason companies moved to desktop computers was speed. Just 30 years ago remote connections were slow and costly. Today those same connections approach local network speed and the cost has been minimized.
Now that connections are cheap — and the labor to maintain and constantly upgrade multiple desktop computers is expensive – the pendulum is swinging back toward remote computer processing or SaaS.
So the million dollar question most consultants are asking is where they fit within such a SaaS model. If the publisher is selling the application and collecting a monthly maintenance fee then where does the VAR fit in. What’s the model that allows the VAR to earn a fair recurring revenue stream from their installed client base.
Ask ten different people and you’ll get ten different answers. Read on for how I’d tackle SaaS. Read the rest of this entry »
