Microsoft, SAP, Oracle under threat says Salesforce boss

Stan Beer
Friday, 29 September 2006 11:33

Your IT - Home IT

Like many of the articles that I've written lately, this one is being penned using Google's online wordprocessor Writely. That's precisely why Microsoft and other traditional software applications vendors are under threat says Jim Steele, president of CRM web services provider Salesforce.com.

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While Salesforce is an online CRM services vendor, it is at the center of the software as a service (SaaS) movement and has established an online software services portal called AppExchange, which enables SaaS providers to use the Salesforce infrastructure to market to and deliver applications as online services to clients.

There are now more than 350 applications available on AppExchange, including some direct competitors to Microsoft Office products, such an online Excel competitor called iRows.

As far as Steele and his boss Salesforce founding CEO Marc Benioff are concerned, the days of buying software and installing it on your computer system are coming to an end.

"We are now close to a tipping point where users are shifting from buying software on CDs to software as a service," says Steele. "According to Gartner, by 2010, 30% of all applications being used in businesses will be delivered as a service."