Tag: LucidERA
Healthy SaaS Market Could Not Save Helpstream
8th April
I’ve been predicting for over a year, that despite the rapid growth of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market many aspiring best-of-breed vendors will not survive an industry shakeout or the short attention spans of their venture funding sources.
The latest case in point is Helpstream which discontinued operations this past month. I first reported on the company in 2008 when it originally launched as Pathworks Software and caught my attention because of the way it promised to leverage the Open Source pricing model and community building orientation.
In essence, Helpstream was one of the first SaaS companies in the helpdesk market to recognize the powerful potential of a social networking capability embedded into an enterprise app.
Since then, saleforce.com has picked up the baton and is very quickly demonstrating the tangible benefits which can be derived from merging a Facebook-like capability into its CRM/SFA solution with … Read More »
LucidEra's Demise Doesn't Diminish SaaS and Cloud Computing Promise
22nd June
LucidEra’s decision to close its doors this past Friday will spark a new round of debate regarding the viability of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud computing business models.
Some established vendors will use this event as further proof that the SaaS and cloud computing models are not sustainable. Conservative IT and business decision-makers within ‘user’ organizations will use it to justify their decisions to stay away from these ‘on-demand’ solutions.
Ironically, the Wall Street Journal published an article today highlighting the growing efforts of many of the largest software and systems vendors to get onboard the on-demand services bandwagon. The article points out that these vendors have been reluctant to adopt SaaS and cloud computing strategies and offer on-demand alternatives because they undercut the value and profit margins of their legacy products. But, their customers are moving in this direction and they must respond or continue to lose … Read More »