Meet “Generation SaaS”

The next generation of enterprise users will demand much more from their software. Here's why on-demand applications are meeting their needs.

By Treb Ryan, OpSource

The enterprise workforce is in the midst of a transformation. Today's generation of technology users grew up on the Web, email and MySpace. Their expectations are dramatically different than that of previous generations of workers - they want their business applications to match the way they work rather than changing their behavior to match the way an application works.

We call this new workforce "Generation SaaS." Software vendors must understand their needs and adapt their current products to meet their needs or risk being passed by.

Register Early and Save Big on the Enterprise Cloud Summit

Register by midnight March 7 and receive 40 percent off conference passes to the most important cloud computing event of the year: the Enterprise Cloud Summit. Held May 18-19 in Las Vegas, this conference presents powerful cloud innovations and solutions to influential IT buyers. Click here to register now and save!

How to Transform a Generation

While many first-world young adults have been fortunate to be raised as the "SaaS Generation,"Ray Umashankar is using technology to change the destiny of the less-fortunate in India. As recipient of recent grants from the SHG Foundation the Dell Foundation, Umashankar shares the mission of his ASSET India Foundation and what software executives can learn from his success. Read more in this Social Entrepreneurs profile.

Ten Tips for Improved Usability

As flawless usability becomes the rule for today's enterprise software, UEVision shares a checklist from its usability experts for ensuring the optimum user experience in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on usability.

The Future of the Service Desk

Luis Font of NTRglobal explains how remote support is breaking down geographic boundaries in this post to the SandHill.com Blog on SaaS.

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.

Market Rebels and Radical Innovation

In this adaptation from Hayagreeva Rao's book, he explains the role of activists in making or breaking new markets, products, and services. Find out more in this article from The McKinsey Quarterly.

News Update: Billion Dollar Baby

Salesforce.com matures to the ranks of the megavendors; plus, startup valuations drop, IBM's Iowan move and "shockingly bad" enterprise software? Read these stories and more software news of the week in the latest SandHill.com Software News Summary.

Poll: Generation SaaS?

Will the primary IT decision makers be from Generation SaaS when the recession is over?
Take our Pulse Poll >>

Last week, readers speculated about how virtualization will impact enterprise software leadership.
Give us your opinion and see the results >>

More at SandHill.com:

Gartner: PC sales to see worst fall in history.
Read the most important enterprise software industry news of the week >>

XML vendor Layer 7 Technologies receives a Series C Round.
Monitor the latest software venture capital deals >>

Versata Enterprises acquires AlterPoint.
Size up last week’s software M&A deals >>

MuleSource names Greg Schott CEO.
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

“We cannot swing up on a rope that is attached only to our own belt.”
— William Ernest Hocking

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.