03.20.09

SaaS – WoW it really is!

Posted in Home at 7:20 am by JohnB

If there are is a  phrase which are generating more debate within the hosting community and in IT generally than ‘Software as a Service’ (“SaaS”)  I don’t know what it is!

Many have sought and created definitions over the last year or so and all are without fail both right and wrong, how so? Because everyone uses things in a different way and their perception of them is also different.

The on-line services offered by Salesforce.com have been described as SaaS ( and as such represents probably the most visibly successful deliveries of SaaS ) but I don’t necessarily agree. “Where is the software?” I would ask. If this is Software as a service then show me the boxed product which I can purchase outright. This is of course my opinion only but serves to prove my point.

So for that sake of  this article I’m happy to stipulate that Software as a Service is an application delivering functionality over the internet (web-based or via client side applets), in a reasonably platform independent way, on a subscription basis – which I think sounds fair.

So let’s look at this for a moment… we, in the hosting and associated industries are looking at SaaS and it’s delivery and wondering ‘What can we deliver which has mass market appeal’ – the real question here being of course ‘ How can we make some money out of this?’! And it’s with this in mind that I would like everyone to take a step sideways and have a glance at the world of Gameing.

The Games market has grown considerably over the last few years, the birth of the 3rd generation consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3) has introduced high-definition gaming to the mass market and the phenomenal success of the Nintendo Wii, which is really a 2nd gen console teamed with an exquisite marketing and positioning strategy, has shown that with the right products it’s relatively easy to gain a substantial share of a growing market. But there is another aspect to Gameing which is pertinent here and that’s the MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) the most popular and most discussed at the moment being World of Warcraft – WoW.

Ladies and gentlemen, in WoW I give you the most deeply penetrative SaaS application never discussed!

If I refer back to my previous stipulation on the definition of SaaS, then WoW hits the nail right on the head. It’s subscription based, platform independent and delivered across the internet. Moreover it further DEFINES SaaS in that updates to the core are made centrally and available to all, whereas expansions in functionality can be purchased separately by those who feel they need or want them. The notion of physical location of the service is never questioned, the communications channel is self monitoring to alert the user should a loss of effective connectivity occur, data is stored wholly centrally and, as long as the subscription is maintained, always available to you regardless of where or when you connect.

In-application interaction with colleagues is part of the service, data objects can be stored for later retrieval by the user or trusted associates, actions are limited and defined by the level of experience and the role which the user has and the environment is persistent, changing and expanding for ALL users based on the actions of ALL users.

There is a lesson here for service providers and SaaS ISV’s: Think outside of the traditional norms when thinking about SaaS and look beyond typical application functionality. If you’re a WoW player (which some of you undoubtedly are) think about how it delivers what it does and hoe WoW as a paradigm for SaaS really does show what’s possible.

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