IDC’s Top Ten Predictions For SaaS - (Read Do Not Waste Time Reading This Report)

IDC believes that these types of disruptive business models will ripple throughout a variety of software markets in 2006 & the role of SaaS delivery in the software industry continues to grow. Traditional software players have recognized the importance of SaaS and numerous SaaS-focused companies are entering the marketplace.

- Large ISVs Will Spin Off On-Demand Versions of Products
- Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Remain a "Tough Nut to Crack"
- Microsoft Strengthens SaaS Resolve
- Software on Demand Providers Focus on Partnering
- Mini-Ecosystems Emerge to Extend the Reach of Software on Demand
- SaaS Enablers Continue to Aid Availability of On-Demand Offerings
- Merger and Acquisition Activity Continues
- SaaS Providers Concentrate on Improving Offerings and Customer Experience
- Hosted AM [application management] Becomes a Stepping Stone Towards On-Demand Delivery
- SaaS Will Help Drive a Software Industry Transition to Subscription Licensing

Jeff Nolan rightfully says that with predictions like this and for the price tag, IDC owes the people who actually paid for this report at least 5 freebies.As I see it the report findings are thoroughly disappointing and evidently has no depth or meaning nor there are any great revelations based on the ten titles listed. Some of these may be disputable as well.I see that analyst community seems to be the only one that can go on and on without established means of checking how much were their original thinking /prediction and how much of them became true. Guys – impossible for such parties to go on .

In contrast look at this Infoworld article - more insightful - particularly the conclusion -"The ultimate disruptive effect of the “services wave” may well resemble that of the dot-com era, when companies that were smart about leveraging the Web exploited unforeseen growth opportunities. As the viral growth of Web 2.0 mash-ups and walled gardens like AppExchange make clear, every true SaaS application is potentially part of an XML-driven ecosystem. The SMBs that figure out how to tap into the power of those ecosystems could become the enterprises of tomorrow". While one may differ with the finding, the depth and reasoning atleast looks lot better- even if it is based on selective -first pass reading.Signs of changing times!!