I was fortunate to participate in the book, Why Buy the Cow?, by WebEx leader, Subrah Iyar with my friend Cindy Gordon. In the next four posts I will summarize some of the ideas in each section. In keeping with the on-demand spirit the book was published through Lulu.com. They are an example in the book and an example of how the concept of software as a service has extended itself into services as a service. As many of you know Lulu.com publishes books on demand at a reasonable cost to authors, making “self-publishing” much easier and speeding the time to market for books by placing the editorial responsibilities on the authors.
The first section of the book covers the concept of Collaborative On-Demand Business Solutions. In the Revolution Underway, Subrah Iyar discusses the rise of knowledge –based work in the latter half of the 20th century and how WebEx fit into that change by providing a way for these knowledge workers to connect through the web. They became, almost without realizing it, one of the early players in the software as service market. The book draws a lot on the WebEx experience but it is about much more than WebEx.
The next section, Succeeding in a Flat World, builds on Thomas Friedman’s concept the world is flatter, that there is a more level playing field out there made possible by technology that breaks down boundaries and barriers. We have moved from vertical integration of business components within an organization to horizontal collaboration across business partners. Several examples are offered including American Built Containment Systems, an Ohio based company that designs custom packaging online. The started selling online through what they called as Free Coffee Break seminars for the shipping person who does not have time to talk to a sales person. These virtual events became huge lead generators and now 95% of their business is virtual. Then there is the Buca di Beppo restaurant chain that rolls out menu changes across 30 states on a virtual basis with huge cost reductions.
The third section brings us to a new tipping point. It argues that two factors have pushed software-as-service to into broader acceptance. First, the “flat world” business realities discussed in the prior chapter are ideally suited for SaaS. Second, Saas, itself, has matured to where it can address these challenges for businesses of all sizes. It provides Salesforce.com as an example. It mentions an interesting partnering with Google where businesses can place Google Ad click through into their Salesforce.com database. The chapter also introduced WebEx’s new mashup platform, WebEx Connect, adding thieir existing collaborative capabilities into the mashup.
The book is available through Lulu.com as a download or in a paper version. Here is a recent review of Why Buy the Cow? by Paula Thorntom on the Fast Forward blog, Tomorrow I will cover the cases studies in Part Two: On-Demand Leaders: Changing the Way Work is Done.
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