As explained eloquently by Scott Duke Harris of The Mercury News in SiliconValley.com,
SaaS means “software as a service,” referring to SalesForce.com and the like, who have moved specialized, CPU-intensive software applications from the desktop to the cloud (the Internet cloud). Like Google Docs, SaaS relies on broadband connectivity and provides convenience, scale economies and expertise to users. But is it any more palatable to “real” businesses than the managed network services model of the late 1990a, which collapsed under its own weight? Can enterprise IT managers become convinced by LinkedIn, Plaxo and the like that Facebook-type Web services can work in the corporate setting?
Stay tuned. Technological forecasts have a way of being a decade ahead of themselves. But sometimes, as with customer service outsourcing, they happen quickly, under our very noses, with hardly anyone noticing.