Is boxed software a thing of the past?
Yes it probably is
The way we procure software has been pretty much the same for many years. There have been attempts to change the management of software but, without full support from the main software vendors, this has never been achieved.
In the mid 80s, "Bureau Software Provision" was launched. This made sense: Hardware was often the size of a small building, and there were big issues around software control. Centralisation made sense.
In the 90s, this was relaunched under "Application Service Provision" (ASP). The problems with ASP were features of the time: delivery was slow due to network speed; communication was hugely expensive, as costs had yet to drop.
Now is the time
IT has become much more adaptable and user friendly. Communication costs have decreased hugely. Surely it is the RIGHT time to provide a remotely managed software rental offering.
For years we have been purchasing "Shrink Wrapped" software that we spend ages installing, managing and patching. As we all know, this includes yearly upgrades which inevitably mean we have to replace the hardware infrastructure to cope. The costs we incur in the replacement or upgrading of hardware
infrastructure, let alone the associated costs in managing this, more than outweigh the costs associated with a SaaS solution.
According to Gartner, SaaS is the next new transformation of service provision growing from 5% of business software in 2005 to 25% by 2011. Gartner believes this will occur as more and more businesses don’t want to have the responsibility for buying, installing, customising
and then supporting the products they buy, when they could choose a managed services company to provide the platform and associated software and charge the business a monthly fee.
Insight Software Live offers you all of the benefits of Software as a Service - with a full range of Microsoft Sharepoint & Office packages paid for on a per-user/per-month basis.
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