Pardon the tongue twister, but if Salesforce.com is to have its way, Software as a Service (SaaS) would soon be overtaken by Platform as a Service (PaaS).
Its Apex Code platform — originally launched at the end of 2006 — has grown quickly and was re-packaged and launched as Summer ’07 just this week.
Salesforce.com chief marketing officer Clarence So says:
“The first generation of SaaS was about providing applications such as customer relationship management (CRM) and email packaged as services. With Summer ’07 we are taking this to the next level and delivering a platform with tools and services for the developer.”
“From a developer’s perspective it means they can take ready-made components such as our database, our authentication process, and single log-in and use them in their applications.”
Even though the focus for application development remains on Salesforce.com’s flagship CRM service, So expects the PaaS phenomenon to expand into all application areas.
Salesforce.com is boasting that it has over 1,200 developers working on the Apex platform at the moment. Already, they have 600 “live” applications and over 30,000 installs since the beginning of this year.
You can read more at Bye bye SaaS, hello PaaS (The Register)
Do you think that the mainstream is ready for SaaS or PaaS?
