2008: The Year in Software

From exuberant to disconcerted, tech execs have felt quite a year. SandHill.com looks back at the year in software business and the best-read articles of the year.

By Maryann Jones Thompson, SandHill.com

Thinking back to January, it would have been difficult to predict the scale of the economic drama that would transpire in 2008. After NetSuite raised $161 million in its big December 2007 IPO, BusinessWeek wrote “VCs expect 2008 to be the year that they finally start to unload companies in their portfolios that have been absorbing cash for years. A survey of 170 VCs …showed that 59% of venture investors expect the market for IPOs to strengthen in 2008.”

By the end of Q3 2008, only 6 venture-backed startups had gone public. That’s down from 55 during the same period in 2007.

But for the software business, all news was not bad. Years of belt-tightening, strategic fine-tuning and innovative technologies have combined to place the software industry in a better position than many other sectors. Here is a look at the most notable news stories and most popular SandHill.com executive perspectives of 2008.

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Forecasting Business Intelligence in 2009

The move to cloud computing and the quest for simplicity will shape the business intelligence market in 2009. Read more BI predictions from Ken Rudin of LucidEra in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on Predictions for 2009.

Looking on the Bright Side

Recessions offer the ability to refine business practices and innovate in a more savvy way. Kimball Norup of M Squared Consulting lists eleven benefits to an economic downturn in this post.

Publish Your Perspective!

SandHill.com wants your opinions. Send your thoughts on the enterprise software industry to SandHill.com editor, Maryann Jones Thompson (maryann@sandhill.com) and have your opinions published on our site.

DON’T MISS: Leading through Uncertainty

The range of possible futures confronting business is great. Companies that nurture flexibility, awareness, and resiliency are more likely to survive the crisis, and even to prosper. Read why in this feature from The McKinsey Quarterly.

Poll: Story of the Year?

Which news story best exemplified the software business in 2008?
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Last week, readers speculated on how bad the recession will become.
Give us your opinion and see the results >>

More at SandHill.com:

A Forbes oped calls for the repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley.
Read the most important enterprise software industry news of the week >>

Supply chain performance software vendor Aravo Solutions received $7 million.
Monitor the latest software venture capital deals >>

Satyam scraps $1.6 billion merger after investors revolt.
Size up last week’s software M&A deals >>

RingCentral named Craig Klosterman as CFO.
See who’s made it to the top in our list of recent software executive appointments.

Send us your feedback on this newsletter and the SandHill.com site.

Parting Thought

“Never mistake a clear view for a short distance.”
— Paul Saffo

Courtesy of Malcolm Kusher, The Kushner Group

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SandHill.com is published by Sand Hill Group, which provides investment and management advice to emerging leaders in the $600 billion enterprise software, services and solutions market. Sand Hill Group produces the Software and the Enterprise series of conferences for industry executives, and authors research reports on cutting-edge technology topics.