Podcast #2 - Bill McNee sees SaaS entering new phase

Bill McNee is founder of Saugatuck Technology, the influential analyst firm that has chronicled the development of the software-as-a-service market since the early days. He sees SaaS becoming a major disruptive force in the software industry with its promise of lower costs and more flexible deployment and maintenance. And it's going to to happen faster than we expect.

In this podcast interview, McNee says we're entering the era of SaaS 2.0. This will be characterized by richer SaaS architectures built around a service orientation, unbundling of hosting and integration services to specialized vendors and the development of application portfolios by leading SaaS players.

Contrary to popular wisdom, the first round of SaaS growth has been driven more by enterprises than small businesses. However, SMBs will increasingly carry the torch going forward. Traditional software companies may be able to compete, but they will need to change their business models drastically and end their dependence on license and maintenance fees. SaaS is shaping up to transform enterprise information architecture in ways that few people predicted when Salesforce.com broke onto the scene a few years ago.

Listen to the podcast  (right click and choose "save"  to download) Time: 15:32

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