There is no question that the Software plus Services initiative at Microsoft is seen as a critical next step by the powers that be. There is a huge amount of R&D being spent, every product group has to have S+S in their planning and products are arriving under the Live and Online branding. However if you Google or Live Search for S+S or Software plus Services, don’t expect to be flooded by links that provide a clear and well articulated view.
The term Software as a Service (SaaS) has started to gain traction and most IT businesses are at least aware, even if they do not have plans to exploit the opportunity. Even end users are starting to get the message that software can be provided as a service over the Internet without complex IT installed locally. However the S+S message is still evolving and I would suggest that it has still not entered the mass consciousness of the IT community, let alone end users. Even Microsoft have yet to reflect S+S within all of their own marketing output – the third hit on Google for "Software plus Services" takes you to a page extolling the virtues of the new S+S world with an overview of the new "Live"and "Online" positioning, however note the URL http://www.microsoft.com/online/saas/default.mspx that looks like SaaS to me 🙂
And don’t even bother going to Wikipedia, zero relevant returns for "S+S", "Software + Services" or "Software plus Services".
Come on Microsoft these are the basics….
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