We are always skeptical when new buzzwords appear in the IT lexicon, but to be fair these two have been around for some time now. We can reasonably consider them broadly as synonyms. There are real world solutions implemented and used by customer based on this theory. But are they the all conquering new world than some analysts would have us believe? Or is SAAS a one-trick pony that's far from maturity?
It often seems that any discussion of SAAS will enevitably use Salesforce.com as a case study. Could this be because they're the only effective SAAS show in town? Well they're certainly the highest profile player in the space, but not the only provider out there. We feel that although the market is relatively small and immature now, the potential upsides in terms of cost savings will drive other vendors into the field.
Moving to the cloud is not a pancea to cure all ills. Management is often reluctant to give up their perceived control of systems. They believe their ability to shout at the IT department because the CRM system is down gives them control, in reality it gives them only imagined piece of mind. They can no more affect the outcome of a server outage onsite by pressuring internal employees than they can shouting down the phone at a vendor. Either should be keen to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. The temptation is to think that as a small customer, the vendor will be less concerned about you. However any such downtime will doubtless be a problem for others too, so you gain safety in numbers.
Concern about moving to the cloud can often be rationalized by examining the current level of usage. Do you use a webmail service? That's in the cloud. Do you use image hosting services? That's in the cloud too. These examples certainly aren't sufficient to allay all fears but it proves the theory at least. It will likely take many more years before some businesses are convinced that the cloud is sufficiently mature that they're willing to give up their core business data. Some simply may never.
With both Microsoft and SAP making moves into the SAAS space and many other large vendors following suit, we think you'll see the first fruits of their labour in 2010.
If you want to be ready, now is the time to look at what data you hold and how you use it.
De-couple early and de-couple often to be ready if the revolution comes your way.