Software + Services

People ask me about our attitude to the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The answer is we have different take - software plus services.

Microsoft hasn't join the rush to a 100% SaaS model, instead we've talked about S+S - a combination of SaaS and on-premise software, the best solution for a particular situation.

What is software + services? It's two things:

1. It’s our approach to delivering the best of the service world combined with the best of the software world
2. The way forward for the industry

What does that mean? It means there are two inevitabilities:

1. The vast majority of apps and technologies will be offered as a choice of service or software
2. The vast majority of apps will have user experiences that span PC, Web, device, phone etc.

It seems our competitors are coming to the same conclusion:

“Economics of IT are changing, and many companies are looking at combinations of on-premise software and software as a service.” Rishi Chandra, Google Apps Manager

To my mind this is just common sense and we will see this start to become accepted wisdom over the next 6-12 months. S+S is all about choice - best of breed solutions for different scenarios but, most importantly, with a standardised model that allows easy passage between online and on-premise deployment of solutions.

Simple eh?