Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Some of you are doomed!

That was the clear message at the recent Software 2005 conference.
The most eye-opening session included top CIOs and corporate technologists from BP; Kaiser Permanente, a big health-care provider; Lockheed Martin; and Unilever. These corporate leaders weren't here to flatter the assembled software executives. David Watson, the CTO of Kaiser Permanente's IT group, stared out into the audience and said, "The quality I get from you people is abysmal."
Enterprise software is definetely Not Hot, 'Software as a Service' is Cool. IT manager pursue technology fashions, just like teenagers' haircuts and spring fashion. But even allowing for that, the writing for the traditional software is on the wall. What is going on here is more than just a fasionable trend. Salesforce.com has hit a sweet spot with many companies. And when Intuit has 4 million online customers, it shows that this is not just for large enterprises either.

On a personal note, I recently started using Jotspot to help manage some projects. For me, Jotspot made 'Software As A Service' relevant. It's a nifty collaboration environment based on some of the ideas from wikis, mixed with a powerful brew of project management features. I'm addicted!

Sure, there will probably continue to be a place for enterprise software and shrink wrapped applications, but if I was starting a software company today...

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