Cloud-based
platformsand developer tools are set to
revolutionise the IT industry
There is a major structural change afoot in the IT industry -
one in which slow-to-modernise
legacy systems are being superseded by more innovative,
lightweight and nimble on-demand approaches. What began with simple
software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings has exploded into a
full-blown technology movement in which companies are able to build
and manage a whole suite of business applications "in the
cloud".
Innovation has finally and irrevocably taken precedent over
infrastructure in the minds of CIOs. They are supported by teams
that can now tailor bespoke applications in weeks or even days.
These applications are deployed on top of web-based platforms
rather than being physically rolled out over several months or even
years.
In a climate of leaner IT budgets and squeezed margins, being
able to quickly take a business tool from concept to execution is
more vital than ever.
The ease and familiarity of the consumer web experience has bled
into the enterprise. Workers have come to expect the same
reliability and streamlined functionality in their work
applications that they receive on Facebook and eBay.
Developers are increasingly looking to the web to deliver the
mobility and flexibility they require - instead of Java and .net,
the web is becoming the runtime environment of choice. Acceptable
timeframes for upgrade and innovation are shrinking and executive
expectations are rising.
It is time, therefore, that CIOs stopped thinking in terms of
information and infrastructure and began thinking in terms of
innovation and greater economic and strategic efficiency. It will
be the defining trend of 2008, and the determining factor in the
ascendance of the CIO to the boardroom.
Analyst house Quocirca claimed that software suppliers that
"have adopted the SaaS model are not looking back. Their customers
like it, their suppliers are supporting them, and there are
long-term gains on all sides."
You only have to look at one of
the biggest technology news stories over the past weeks to find
evidence of the paradigm shift.
Microsoft has finally woken up to this movement beyond its
traditional comfort zone and
the need to grow its web-based channel.
Adobe on the other hand, with its release of Air, is looking to
fill another increasingly important niche: how to migrate the
highly functional web applications we have come to rely on from the
browser to the desktop.
It is clear that the pursuit of seamless, lightweight and mobile
functionality is what will usher in a revolution in enterprise
computing.
For the likes of salesforce.com, we have been evangelising this
shift for longer than almost anybody, starting with the clear
message that core business apps such as CRM could make the leap to
SaaS, but our horizons always extended far beyond that.
Now the industry is in the era of Platform-as-a-Service, where
the reach and scope of innovation is restricted only by any
theoretical limitations we might put on the internet, which
continues to evolve at a dizzying rate.
This marks a major change. CIOs used to be limited by company
culture, cost, infrastructure, skills and time. Now the only thing
that needs hold them back is their company's ambition and the
almost infinite potential of the web.
Lindsey Armstrong is EMEA president at
salesforce.com