End of Software, The: Finding Security, Flexibility, and Profit in the On Demand Future

Chapter 11. The Debate Is the Rate

The time is right for a major shift in the software and services industries. During the Internet era, a catch phrase was “the Internet changes everything.” Indeed, although the bubble might have burst, networking and the continued drive to lower hardware costs are forever changing the software and services industries. The intersection of three forces are at work: changes to the traditional software business, changes to the traditional service industry, and the advent of new software companies that deliver only software on demand. At this intersection, the next step in the software industry will be played out. So far, we have focused on the technological changes, but in this chapter we'll focus on the business ...