Google: Point SaaS solution killer

Google certainly has the cash to acquire ISVs to round out a complete application suite. Perhaps we are witnessing the oncoming death of point SaaS solutions in favor of those who can offer complete solutions and back it up with infrastructure that the enterprise respects. If this is the case, Google's brand, positioning, and perception of reliability -- real or imagined -- means that Google will soon pose a significant commercial threat to all traditional ISVs.

In this, Google represents the changing of the guard, one that heralds a new wave of upstarts who know how to exploit the Internet. As I said up top, strategy and technology are and always have been interconnected. But companies like Google understand better than most how to leverage the emerging Web 2.0 technology in order to give companies a competitive edge.

Yes, Salesforce opened the door. But it may be Google and its kin who will be the ones to boldly step through.

In the short term, Pring advises enterprises to review their application portfolios to ascertain where SaaS can deliver advantages and then go about making the best use of it. But remember, there are not that many areas where SaaS is part of the equation today. CRM, HR -- but beyond that, there is not a lot out there, yet.

For the long term, Pring suggests keeping your eyes on the SaaS and Web 2.0 vendors but also watch how the old-guard likes of Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft respond.

My advice? Outsourcing, in all of its forms, sounds good in theory, but as outsourcing initiatives have proved over time, it takes solid analytical thinking to understand where it makes sense and where it doesn't.