For Software Makers, Turning Cloud’s Disruption Into Transformation
July 11, 2013
Grazed from Forbes. Author: Editorial Staff.
There’s little doubt that the cloud has reenergized the software sector with exciting new companies, high-profile IPOs and compelling services. Less certain is whether the cloud is good for the software industry’s giants. Software has been a high-growth, profitable sector for years, and disruptive changes are rarely kind to incumbents. How should software leaders interpret the changes in their business landscape, and what should they do to make sure they’re not left behind by the software as a service (SaaS) wave?
We believe the rules of the game that create leaders in the sector today will endure. Platform power will continue to be paramount. When other developers build applications that work on top of yours, longevity is an inevitable consequence. Just ask Salesforce.com and the thousands of developers that build apps on top of its Force.com platform…
Scale economics will still matter, too. Newcomers often show promising growth, but selling enterprise software is a scale business with heavy selling costs. That won’t change. And product stickiness will also remain important. New SaaS applications may be easy to access online, but the real friction—porting data and retraining employees—is just as real in a cloud environment…
Read more from the source @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/baininsights/2013/07/11/for-software-makers-turning-clouds-disruption-into-transformation/