What is Digg?57 Comments
- labsONE, on 12/07/2008, -0/+22"What happens to your business if services you rely on go under?"
You get screwed. - BoneStamp, on 12/06/2008, -4/+25If you run mission critical parts of your business on free software from an unstable company then no one will have sympathy for you.
- Khast, on 12/07/2008, -0/+14What happens if the programs you actually pay for actually force you to upgrade, and the new program isn't 100% backwards compatible, or the feature you depended on isn't available in the current version. (I *used* to use MM Jukebox (you know, before it became a part of Real), it had features in 7 which didn't carry over to 8..which I actually used....and if you install 7 (which I legally own on CD)....it automatically updates to the most recent without prompting.)
- KirbyMeister, on 12/07/2008, -0/+11I think it should be taken as an argument against SaaS in general. What he's saying is a drawback against SaaS, not just free SaaS. If you have some mission critical portion of your business being handled by a third-party, you must plan for that third party to cease to exist tomorrow.
- alex7575, on 12/07/2008, -2/+11I think his point still remains?
- Bloodwine, on 12/07/2008, -0/+8I think what it means is things like web apps, where everything is stored on a remote server at another company.
That is, if they went out of business you might not be able to get a hold of anybody and get your data.
That is different than hosting apps on your own servers and having control over the environment. - phrees, on 12/07/2008, -0/+7On the other hand - look at Wordpress.com. It gives you a free blog - offering Software as a Service. You can buy premium features, so they have a revenue model. You can take backups. The software is open source. So if Wordpress.com goes under you're completely covered and can be up and running on another server in a couple of hours if you know what you're doing. Software as a Service saves the hassle of running/maintaining your own servers and in itself isn't a problem. The real problem is locking your data into proprietary systems.
- seantubridy, on 12/07/2008, -0/+6What about paid software services like 37 Signals apps, Blinksale, Harvest, etc.? Sure you can export the data to a huge XML file but you had better be sure you have a way to import it into something else.
- brandita, on 12/07/2008, -0/+6That's the scary part about having all your business's information in someone else's hands/server.
- cleansoap, on 12/07/2008, -2/+8This isn't an argument against free software - this is an argument against free SaaS, especially ones where your data is entirely at the mercy of said service company.
- disillusioned, on 12/07/2008, -0/+6There was a lot of fallout when I Want Sandy, a web notification service, basically shut its doors with barely two weeks to clean up and grab your stuff from it, and forget it entirely.
The more issues we see like this, the more worrisome keeping things on the cloud becomes for people.
Facebook's loss of notification settings was another huge problem, especially given the absence of a post mortem to explain what happened to our data. These are just consumer services; when Amazon S3 went down, which many businesses rely on and PAY for, they recognized the issue and posted a complete post-mortem explaining exactly what failed.
I wrote about both issues at length at the following shameless self-plug links:
http://www.htmlist.com/rants/trusting-in-the-cloud ...
http://www.htmlist.com/rants/trusting-in-the-cloud ... - Beatmiser, on 12/07/2008, -0/+5I often worry about the new trend toward cloud computing for this very reason. I see the companies that charge for cloud based services seem strong and able to provide indefinitely, but I often wonder if that day will come when out of the blue the economy hits them. I use Google Docs and am now venturing into MobileMe just to test the water. Sure Google and Apple are strong, but then again with the economy these days, who knows for sure?
- LawnMowerKitten, on 12/07/2008, -0/+4When we bought our LCD, we were really afraid of getting it from Circuit City, or another tech store that is starting to head south. It's sad that companies have to worry about their programs losing service like hardware buyers have had to.
- alex7575, on 12/07/2008, -2/+6You forgot the /s (for stupid)
- Zarokima, on 12/07/2008, -0/+4I think that would be a part of getting screwed, not an addition to it.
- darkmagician777, on 12/07/2008, -0/+3There are many great free software out there. Stable applications like openoffice that many people can use for free.
I think the difference of the free software comes from those new start up companies who have no history to prove they are stable. it may take a year or two of actual user reviews before people are willing to experiment with what may be a crappy free version . - neutronphaser, on 12/07/2008, -0/+3Privacy / data protection issues can influence the use of SaaS. For example, a school may not be able to use Google Docs as data stored may be exported outside of the European Union, contrary to contracts the school has with the Data Protection Registrar.
- zbeast, on 12/07/2008, -0/+3I would never accept software as a service.. What happens when you for get to pay the bill what happens to that important data of yours. I recently has a experience with something as simple as an internet connection. I forgot pay for one of the three connections when switching billing systems. The second it went down I knew something was wrong because my load went crazy. I tried to call them the same day as it was disconnected AT&T completely deleted the account, including all of the mail and web storage. It took me 4 days to get them on the phone and it going to take them 2 weeks to set the account back up.. Fortunately nothing critical was storage on there servers. This is the kind of experience that I would expect from software as a service.
- maz2331, on 12/07/2008, -1/+4Not quite. The EULA is almost always a perpetual fully-paid license, which any successor in interest to the product or its copyright is still bound to honor. You may lose upgrades and updates, but if the company goes away, your license is still valid.
- Andreas129, on 12/07/2008, -1/+4Boring article that didn't say something new!
- maz2331, on 12/07/2008, -1/+4You go out of business too.
- Bloodwine, on 12/07/2008, -0/+3They aren't talking about software like OpenOffice. It's more along the lines of Gmail, Google Docs, and such. Granted, those aren't the best examples since Google is pretty stable and I don't think Gmail or Google Docs is going away anytime soon.
Software-as-a-Service is usually a remote application such as a CMS, DMS, webmail, collaboration tools, and things of that nature. You don't have any of the data or software locally, it's all in the cloud and out of your control.
You can keep archives of your current version(s) of OpenOffice in case backwards computability breaks in the future or OpenOffice is discontinued. The files and documents themselves are directly accessible by you. There is little risk of loss of data (at least for the reasons listed in the article). - neutronphaser, on 12/07/2008, -0/+3Boring comment that didn't say something new!
- ClevelandBrown, on 12/07/2008, -2/+5Oh the cheapness, it's killing me.
- Myztry, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2Assuming the asset is purchased before the company is dissolved, and the previous company has the forethought to bind their successor. Generally I notice that binding goes one way, and only in their favour.
- yellowsnowcone, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2As a service provider, offering "free" services helps generate qualified sales leads for those who might by your "premium" services. This is one reason to offer a "free" app.
You then get to learn all kinds of things about your customer through the data they generate. That helps you to refine your product. So I don't think this model is going to change. Offering a free version is tremendously useful in finding qualified buyers.
And as others have stated, "free isn't free". Because once they start using your product, there's a cost associated with replacing that product with another service. - Myztry, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2The lost notification data (notification) made me pause. First thing I thought is someone is phishing for username/passwords. Double checked the [click here] link, and what do you know.
It was actually legit... That was a first... - Myztry, on 12/07/2008, -2/+4I agree. Every service over the Internet is provided by software, but I'm not about to start referring to Digg (for example) as SaaS despite the data it stores.
- inactive, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2That's what XSLTs are for ;-)
- disillusioned, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2Yeah, that was my initial thinking, too. But when I logged into Facebook, they had a message there telling me it was legit. It's especially worrying because they haven't explained what caused the data loss or how we know next time it won't be something far worse, like making my messages wall posts or deleting my photos. I know it's a free service, but they're asking for a lot of trust...
- tgc1, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2This only goes on to reinforce the idea that nothing is free. You can have it easy, fast, or cheap. But you can only pick one of them. If you don't pay anything up front, don't expect to be helped much when your data is misplaced or disappears. When you don't pay much for your solution, don't expect it to do everything and don't expect it to be easy. If it's easy, and it's fast, don't expect it to be cheap etc.
- FKnight, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2Are you implying that businesses that provide SaaS are incapable of going out of business?
- inactive, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2SaaS is in my experience usually free. Wordpress.com has excellent support online. None of the others does. (Have you ever tried contacting Google?)
Software for which I pay, I danged well expect support. - lateralus, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2Call me an optimist but at least internet speeds to increase in my cubicle.
- OBKenobi, on 12/07/2008, -1/+3These services do not guarantee security, no corporation will take them seriously. Why put your company at extra risk when managing local security is already bad enough? Well, if you run Windows servers at least.
Virtualization is the best solution. - Olfster, on 12/07/2008, -0/+2Economics, don't we all love it. Why do I have to choose? Why can't I just have it all?
- demidog, on 12/07/2008, -3/+4Maybe somebody could provide a real-life example of this happening instead of the theoretical nonsense.
- inactive, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1Exactly! You're at the Service provider's mercy when it comes to upgrades. Examples: iGoogle left-side tabs, Wordpress.com new control panel... I could give others. Whereas, if you have the package on your own danged computer, you can tolerate the old version and upgrade when YOU'RE ready.
- inactive, on 12/07/2008, -3/+4SaaS is just a new buzzword. It's great for small business and maybe even some medium sized businesses, but the reality is that you are at the mercy of the SaaS provider, your ISP, and the connection to your SaaS provider.
SaaS has it's place, but generally it's not good for an enterprise to jump into it, just to downsize IT. - BoneStamp, on 12/08/2008, -0/+1I think the first S in SaaS stands for "Software"... so, when I say "Software" on a thread about SaaS then I assume you understand that I'm talking about software when it is provided as a service.
- darkmagician777, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1I use to love MusicMatch before yahoo bought and killed it for their own musical crap. I also stay away from real player all together.
- Psych77, on 12/08/2008, -0/+1Myztry, service provided over the internet by software is nothing to do with this, almost the opposite in fact.
SaaS is software that is provided over the internet as a service. I.e. you don't buy and install the software on your own hardware, you simply access the software via a URL. - mathcreative, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1Then don't digg it!
- BoneStamp, on 12/08/2008, -0/+1It's not that new. salesforce.com has been preaching "SaaS" for a few years at least.
- Testiculese, on 12/08/2008, -0/+1Bad analogy.
If a spark plug manufacturer goes bust, GM can contract with a new company that will make spark plugs to GM's specification.
If a software company goes bust...so do the specifications. - mathcreative, on 12/07/2008, -0/+1EXACTA!-(means I agree)
- Myztry, on 12/07/2008, -2/+2If so called 'licensed' retail software licenser gets liquidated, then in theory you are unable to (legally) access your data either. There is no longer a company to hold a license agreement with.
The saving grace is that reality trumps over pseudo (EULA) contracts, and retail goods rights remain. - romasharc, on 12/11/2008, -0/+0I think that is quite a biased opinion. With SaaS, the providers are in the business of providing uninterrupted reliable services. They understand that data is critical and security is of fanatic priority. And since it is the business of the provider, he will be extra cautious about the security of your data.
In my experience of selling cyn.in (SaaS and virtual appliance offering), before investing in a software, enterprises get complete understanding of what is being provided to them in the support and the exit options, before buying. Besides, if its a mission critical software, companies just don't invest in any software. they need a lot of credibility.
Also, with the economic downturn and budgets cut down, I think companies will move more towards cheaper software options including SaaS and open source. - gkaglobal, on 02/19/2009, -0/+0SAas has brought a vast development in areas such as sales analytics and business intelligence. Some of the best Saas service providers that I have come through are http://www.lucidera.com and http://www.cloudanalytics.com.
Hope we can see more of Saas technology in the year 2009 -
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