I’m sorry to see that the new year and today’s severe economy crisis haven’t rid the technology industry of old, outmoded thinking.

One of the most recent exmples is a blog post by ComputerWorld’s Mark Everett Hall entitled, “How SaaS Hurts a Fragile IT Economy”, in which Hall suggests that Software-as-a-Service solutions represent a threat to both IT professionals and the technology industry because SaaS commoditizes traditional, on-premise IT systems and software applications.

Of course, what Hall fails to recognize is that customers are migrating to SaaS, as well as a broadening array of cloud computing services, because legacy systems and applications failed to fulfill their promises or justify their costs. And, in today’s economic environment and rapidly changing marketplace, few companies can continue to accept the exorbinant costs, complexities and risks associated with legacy apps and systems.

In contrast, SaaS and cloud computing are proving to not only be more cost-effective but also delivering superior functional capabilities which are better geared toward meeting the changing economic, competitive, workplace and ecological (think green) requirements of today’s world.

I’m finding that enlightened IT executives and staff are quickly discovering that SaaS/cloud computing isn’t the enemy and a threat to their jobs, but a welcome relief to the day-to-day challenges they’ve faced deploying and managing needlessly complex legacy systems and software.

Because SaaS solutions and cloud computing services are proving to fulfill the business requirements of their end-users at a more economical price, the IT department can finally focus on more important corporate priorities and initiatives rather than constantly responding to the daily firefights of keeping their systems and software up and running.

It is for these reasons that THINKstrategies’ most recent survey, conducted in conjunction with Cutter Consortium, found that SaaS adoption is not only accelerating but achieving unprecedented customer satisfaction, renewal and referral levels.

Hopefully, Hall and other trade press reporters who are prone to view every new trend with skepticism will learn about the positive realities of SaaS and cloud computing in 2009.

I’m committed to promoting the IT and business benefits of SaaS. That’s why THINKstrategies’ launched the Best of SaaS Showplace Awards program earlier this week. Click here to read more.