On Demand and SaaS

by Thomas Moewe
Managing Consultant

The concept of On Demand is often found surrounding the topic of SaaS. Recently I've found myself in several discussions regarding the two concepts, how they are similar and whether it is correct that they be tightly coupled.

I spent much of the last decade with IBM, who is responsible for much of today's vision behind the On Demand Enterprise. Similarly, IBM put much of the marketing muscle behind the concept of eBusiness in the 1990's. I've found that looking at the similarities between On Demand and eBusiness is a good way to understand how SaaS relates to On Demand.

SaaS is to On Demand as eCommerce was to eBusiness. That is, SaaS in itself does not deliver the On Demand Enterprise, just as eCommerce in itself did not deliver the vision behind eBusiness.

SaaS is an enabler of the On Demand Enterprise and a key step in the direction of realizing its' promise. As an organization embraces the concept of the On Demand Enterprise by investing in SaaS solutions, it is critical to take a holistic view of the enterprise to understand where SaaS fits and avoid building what we call SaaS stovepipes.

SaaS Accelerator's strategic consulting practice takes our clients through a 6-10 week process to look holistically at the enterprise from a business and technology perspective to create a multi-phased roadmap for realizing the On Demand Enterprise. By understanding the desired capabilities of the business and the underlying architecture to deliver the capabilities, the roadmap helps client to make better informed investments and avoid short-term technology decisions.