Is Software-as-a-Service a Polymath Innovation?
When Vinnie Merchandani gave examples of polymath innovations in his Procurement Leaders session a couple of weeks ago, it struck me that Software-as-a-Service is a great example of a polymath innovation in the software world.
Delivering Software-as-a-Service over the long term requires proactively bringing in many more technologies and innovations – much more quickly – than the old enterprise software model. Some of the examples of how a SaaS company needs to be always innovating include:
- Ease of use – End-user experience design, especially as end-user expectations change and new devices and interaction paradigms emerge
- Seamless coordination with other systems – Efficient integration/synchronization with hundreds of external systems
- Visibility – “Big data” analytic techniques from the ever-increasing SaaS datasets
- Scalability – Scaling to Internet-sized volumes by designing a computing infrastructure all the way down into the storage
- Internet architecture – Network and traffic optimization for millions of users around the world
- Functionality development – a rock-solid process that always delivers
As businesses increasingly turn to SaaS providers for more and more types of software solutions, I encourage you to look for providers who have experience and expertise in these polymath areas. A commitment to continuous innovation on multiple fronts – in the areas that generate value for your business – is a clear requirement for long-term SaaS success.
