3 Lies people tell themselves about why “SaaS does not matter”

You know the shift to SaaS is life-threatening for your future as an ISV—you are doing something about it and reading ISV Survival! Still, you will need to convince colleagues who have not understood the risk your ISV is facing from Software as a Service.

A good place to start is Rick Chapman’s presentation: The SaaS Tsunami: An Analysis of why and how Software as a Service is changing the market.

Rick Chapman, managing editor and publisher of Softletter, spoke at the 2007 Business of Software conference held in San Jose, California in October 2007. His slides and a video of his presentation are available from the Softletter website.

SaaS is not an issue—our product is special!

After a general introduction on why the earlier Application Service Provider (ASP) market exploded with the dot-com crash, Rick gets into his stride at slide 19 with the 3 lies that people tell themselves to justify in their minds why SaaS is not a risk for them:

1. Our products are too “core” to be replaced by SaaS equivalents.
2. SaaS is too monolithic—our products require extensive customization.
3. SaaS is not good enough—the desktop is too powerful and flexible—SaaS is too slow.

I am sure you have heard exactly these objections on more than one occasion.

The our product is special view is an especially risky way for people to think about SaaS. This comment tells you that they have not truly understood the life-threatening situation you (and they) are in.

If you hear anyone at your ISV claiming that SaaS does not matter then you know that you need to make clear (and fast) that, with respect to SaaS, your product is not special at all.

Trapped underwater? Find an air supply—quick!

As I mentioned in What Connects ISVs, SaaS and Survival?, the Rule of Threes helps you focus on what is really important in life-threatening situations.

Claiming SaaS does not matter because our product is special is like being trapped underwater and focusing on finding something to eat. If you are trapped underwater then you need an air supply—within 3 minutes—otherwise you are dead. Shelter, water or food are not the things you should be giving any thought to at all.

What this means is that you must redouble your efforts to ensure everyone in your organization really understands that SaaS impacts all areas of your business and that you need to start doing something about it. Now.

Everyone needs to understand the risk from SaaS

Rick’s presentation is a good introduction to some of the core thinking behind SaaS. You can use it as ammunition to convince some of your “SaaS doubters”:

• Ensure everyone is absolutely clear on exactly why SaaS is such a risk to your existing ISV business.
• Explain the concrete steps you are planning to take to survive and profit from the shift to SaaS.
• Explain about the Rule of Threes—in life-threatening situations focus on what is really important and do not get sidetracked by wishful thinking that SaaS is something that will go away.

Good luck! Let me know how you get on.