Cisco – The Real Threat in SaaS Apps?
Jan 3rd, 2008 by Martin Schneider
I have spent a lot of time at events and such talking with Jeff Kaplan…I think he’s a smart guy and one of the more intelligent SaaS pundits (trust me, there are many that are simply riding the hype). So, just in time for David Letterman’s return with new shows - he put up a nice top 10 list on SaaS in 2008. The full post is here.
His point on Managed Services is what struck the most resounding chord with me:
Today, we are entering a new age of managed services. Managed Services 3.0 combines the experience of the past with powerful new technologies to respond to growing customer demand. Cisco Systems will be pushing its IP communications and WebEx capabilities hard, while Microsoft promotes the virtues of its various “software plus services” solutions. The two are on a collision course in the unified messaging and communications market, but that will mean that they will each spend plenty on market education and channel sales programs.
For a while now, I have told people I am frankly more afraid of Cisco/Webex in the SaaS/CRM world than I am Salesforce.com. This usually prompts people to look at me sideways.
But Cisco is definitely preparing to tear into the applications world - and this could mean more CRM-like applications based on a Cisco/Webex platform. The company revealed a lot of this at its recent C-Scape event.
Basically, as the concept of a platform changes to be more about interactions, communication and process flow - Cisco could very well be on top of that in a big way. The communications channel well integrated with application functionality - as a manged service - makes great sense and Cisco is poised to strike here. Salesforce.com and other old school apps vendors - not so much. Even Google, which many fear are poised to become an application powerhouse, has little to offer in terms of really merging communication channels and apps.
Sure, it is a long way off. But you can never not be on the lookout for competition, right? And one of the great thinks about a flexible and open platform, one Sugar has spent a lot of time and resources creating, is that it can adapt to these types of changes more readily than older and more rigid software models.
Hi Martin, interesting post. Yeah, I agree that SFDC with their big-iron approach to serving up app content is a handicap in the era of distributed platforms providing managed services. Once hailed as a revolutionary approach, I think multi-tenant is showing its age. It really doesn’t lend itself well to serving-up interactive content at the endpoints.
And this is what Cisco/WebEx can bring to the table. They are very good at what I call “spraying” content across the worldwide grid. But then again, from personal experience, I can assure you that application-level DNA does not run deep in organizations built for pushing bits across pipes.
Let’s face it. It’s easy to underestimate the complexity of an application like CRM. It’s hard to make it seem easy. It’s harder still to force-fit it on top of a platform not designed to accommodate it. This is why the multi-instance approach and its more ready acceptance of federation/endpoint delivery provides a better path toward Managed Services 3.0.