Dennis Howlett: SaaS frustration

While reading Dennis’s piece on how it is so difficult for large, established software players to make the transition to SaaS, two thoughts crossed my mind:

1. The differences between SaaS and the ASP model should be self-evident by this point.  Not that the article made any mention of ASP, but the underlying message of the challenges faced in evolving to SaaS delivery and revenue models should make it clear that SaaS is not simply hosting software on the web…which I think is the type of thinking that befalls many players entering the SaaS space before they “get it” and adjust technology and business architectures accordingly.
2. I couldn’t help but flashback to 2003, when as an IT manager for Siebel Systems I was asked to design the monitoring and systems management infrastructure for Siebel CRM OnDemand – Siebel’s response to the growing threat from salesforce.com.  I remember vividly the way Siebel dismissed salesforce.com as a competitive threat, and even joked about the flood of salesforce.com press releases that touted 2 or 3 seat mom and pop deal “wins” when we were still chasing the magic $1 million average deal size target.  Apparently Benioff and Co. got under the right executive’s skin, because in 2003 Siebel decided to develop its on-demand CRM offering, and many of the lessons I learned from the experience are what Dennis writes about in his post.