Business Strategy for Software Executives

February 4 , 2008

The New Integration Mandate

Software companies must include integration as part of their development budgets or risk losing sales opportunities – and interest from potential acquirers

By Ashok Santhanam, Bristlecone

Consolidation is rampant in the software industry. The product “stacks” at the major enterprise software vendors grow taller and wider by the week, even as emerging vendors with new models work to steal share from an increasingly demanding and impatient set of corporate CIOs.

The need for enterprise software applications and infrastructure products to work together seamlessly is greater than ever before. Yet software companies continue to place integration capabilities on the back burner during a new product release, preferring instead to work on adding new speeds and feeds.

Customers and investors will not stand for this “development in a bubble” much longer. The new integration mandate dictates that vendors must incorporate integration and certification as a strategic part of their development process or risk becoming sidelined in the new, interoperable enterprise software ecosystem.

Does Your Company Support Cloud Computing?
Apply Today for the Software 2008 Innovation Showcase

We are seeking companies involved in leading the cloud computing wave to speak at the Innovation Showcase at Software 2008. The program selects only the most promising vendors to present at the conference: in the 18 months since Software 2006, 12 of 20 Innovation Showcase companies have experienced a major financial event –including two IPOs from 2007’s class.

Innovation Showcase companies will receive a variety of PR and marketing opportunities at Software 2008 - the most influential gathering of enterprise software executives and investors of the year. Apply for the Innovation Showcase today at: http://www.software2008.com/showcase/

A Long-Haul Business Model

Too often, software companies operate under a technology-centric business model. But when technology changes, these business models can become obsolete. Bruce LaFetra of Rubicon Consulting explains the strengths of a customer relationship-based business model in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on marketing.

What Happened to VMware?

Last week, VMware announced great numbers but they missed Wall Street expectations and the stock took a tumble. Charlie Williams and Bruce Guptill of Saugatuck Technology take a closer look at what impact VMware’s quarter might have on the software market in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on virtualization.

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.

New on SandHill.com: Topics Pages

Need a one-stop destination for all of the insight SandHill.com has on SaaS? Open source? Offshoring? M&A? Now you can access all of SandHill.com’s opeds, blog posts, news and events on each of these hot topics on our new “Topics” pages. Simply click “Topics” on the top navigation bar on www.SandHill.com and you’ll receive a drop-down menu of all current Topics pages. Email us with feedback on this new feature and with ideas for additional Topics pages.

The Leadership-Innovation Gap

McKinsey research reveals a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. Organizational structures and processes are not the solution. Read how to bridge the gap in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.

News Update: Pounce!

Microsoft attacks Yahoo; plus, Salesforce.com execs leave, patents and open source take center stage and grassroots-level IT users impact enterprise spending. Read these stories and more software news of the week in the latest SandHill.com Software News Summary.

Poll: A MicroHoo Future?

What will happen if Microsoft gets Yahoo?
Take our Pulse Poll >>

Last week, readers speculated on whether software companies can succeed with a hybrid business model.
Give us your opinion and see the results >>

More at SandHill.com:

RightNow’s performance proves SaaS isn’t perfect.
Read the most important enterprise software industry news of the week >>

Widgetbox receives $8 million.
Monitor the latest software venture capital deals >>

SpringSource Global acquires Covalent Technologies.
Size up last week's software M&A deals >>

Brian Storms was named president and CEO of APX.
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

“Processes don't do work, people do”
–John Seely Brown

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.