There is always room for
improvement in the On Demand (SAAS) marketplace, and while we strive
here @ IM to always push the technology envelope we as technologists
cannot lose site of our core audience. Below is an excerpt from an
InfoWorld post which I felt was important to focus on
1. SaaS guys do not value the non-visual interfaces, as much as the visual application engine.
SaaS
guys need to learn how to make all of the functionality that's
available through the visual interfaces available through the non
visual interfaces as well...typically Web services. Today, most do not,
and as we look to extend the reach of our SOAs to incorporate or SaaS
partners, this requirement is on the critical path.
It's easy to
fix this. Okay, it?s easy to understand how to fix it, costly to
implement, but this is critical to the success of the SaaS player.
Indeed, non-visual interfaces (Web services) could be the way we
leverage SaaS players going forward, the majority of the time.
2. SaaS guys typically don't consider integration to other SaaS players.
While
the focus as been on integration between the enterprise and the SaaS,
as more enterprises move their applications to SaaS, there is a growing
need for SaaS to SaaS integration. Unfortunately, as customers are
requesting this, many of the SaaS providers are stumped for an answer;
beyond hire a bunch of developers and hoping for the best. That is what
everyone thinks is the answer, and thus end up spending way to much
money for a cumbersome architectures that lack agility. Don't get me
started on that.
3. Many are slow in supporting true rich client technology, such as Ajax or Flex.
Thus,
the SaaS delivered applications are still the old school HTTP push and
pull, and thus don't have the look and feel of native applications.
Flex and Ajax are here to stay, they work well, and those SaaS players
that support true rich client Internet delivered applications will rule
the world, and make the user experience just that much more fulfilling
and productive.