Enterprise software is under attack. Traditional infrastructure players like
BEA are seeing their core products replaced with free open source projects,
while traditional application vendors like Oracle/Siebel are being displaced
by SaaS. But is this a slugfest with only one winner? Will SaaS and open
source ultimately turn against each other for dominance of the software
business model - WWF Smack Down style - where the once united tag team, after
conquering their opponent, starts to fight between themselves? Actually I
think not. Just as I don't see traditional enterprise software disappearing
completely, I believe both SaaS and open source are naturally suited to
different parts of the market and in fact will coexist quite naturally.
One of the more intriguing aspects about open source is the huge variation in
capabilities. As an example, consider the Apache web s... (more)
I don't see a future for enterprise software infrastructure components.
Applications, though, are a different matter. The key difference between a
piece of infrastructure software and an application is that an open source
developer is a user of infrastructure and knows exactly what is needed, but
developers typically have no clue about business application requirements.
It's no secret that open source has turned into a market force, which is
giving enterprise software some tough competition. The same can be said for
SaaS businesses, which are steadily eating into the market share o... (more)
Making software is easy. You just collect the market data, generate a
high-level technical specification, build the product, and test it. All
marketing needs to do is put together some screenshots and sales can just
kick back and wait for the orders to start flooding in. Right?
Unfortunately for software vendors, it doesn't quite work that way. It takes
a long time - years in fact - to get software right, and the problem starts
from the very beginning - understanding the market. Part of the issue is that
the market does not understand itself. Go into any large company, and ask
t... (more)
Joe Ruck is president and CEO of BoardVantage. He has led many high-technology companies through successful growth to IPO or acquisition. Prior to joining BoardVantage, Joe was senior vice president of marketing at Interwoven and part of the team that drove the company through one of the most successful IPOs of 1999. Previously, he held sales, marketing, and executive positions at Sun Microsystems, Network Appliance, and Genesys Telecommunications, subsequently acquired by Alcatel. Joe holds a BS in engineering from Oregon State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
David Lucas
Cathy Lopez
Shaul Efraim
Terence Martin Breslin
Cory Marchand
David Hughes
James Carlini
John Iffert
Dan Stolts
Joe Zeto
