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March 26, 2006

SaaS: The Next Big Thing?

Eric Knorr's InfoWorld article called "Software as a Service: The Next Big Thing" is a great overview of the current state of affairs in the world of the "hot" Software as a Service ("SaaS") trend.

Although it's tempting to see SaaS as the old Application Service Provider model with a new name, those in the SaaS industry see some important differences, or at least some important evolutionary developments. This article helps you see those differences.

The article points to Salesforce.com as a leader in SaaS and, more specifically, its AppExchange as the key development to watch in this area.

Even though the following quote is pretty technical and jargon-laden, you will be well rewarded for unpacking this one, making it my money quote:

The ultimate disruptive effect of the “services wave” may well resemble that of the dot-com era, when companies that were smart about leveraging the Web exploited unforeseen growth opportunities. As the viral growth of Web 2.0 mash-ups and walled gardens like AppExchange make clear, every true SaaS application is potentially part of an XML-driven ecosystem.

As you probably know, I've long been a fan of the ASP, hosted services or SaaS model as a technology strategy and have written and spoken about it on many occasions over the years.

You can also read about my thoughts on the unique legal issues raised by SaaS approaches in Jennifer Jones's ComputerWorld article called "Data Diligence."

[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]

Learn more about legal technology at Dennis Kennedy's Legal Technology Central page.

Technorati tags: legal technology Software as a Service SaaS

Posted by dmk at March 26, 2006 03:59 PM

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