Software as a Service: An emerging Business Model
Tuesday, April 11, 2006, registration - 7:30, panel- 8-10:00 am
PTC, Needham
Participants:
- Jim Geisman, president, MarketShare (moderator)
- Christopher Herot, CTO, Convoq, Inc.
- Jay Muelhoefer, VP - General Manager, PTC On-Demand
- Bob Nealon, Business Development Executive, Application On Demand, IBM
- James E. Nelson, Partner, DLA Piper
- Michael Skok, General Partner, North Bridge Venture Partners
Software as a service is emerging as a strong alternative to traditional enterprise software vendor distribution and buyer purchasing models. A number of interesting factors are driving this trend. Vendors, customers, investors and others are all impacted by this trend and are attempting to understand and successfully react to this phenomenon.
Attendees will hear directly from representatives of various constituencies and learn how these individuals and organizations are driving best in class Software as a Service initiatives.
Our panel of experts will examine the following issues plus those that arise during the program:
1. What are leading software vendors doing to transform their business models to incorporate Software as a Service (SaaS)? What are the benefits, risks and opportunities?
2. What are the key issues facing the vendors attempting to implement effective SasS business models
a. Financial modeling
b. sales, distribution, and billing strategies
c. license, contract and tax issues
d. R&D impact
3. Why are buyers pursuing SaaS alternatives? What are the benefits and risks?
4. How do start-ups deal with this phenomenon, how are VCs dealing with all of this?
5. What perspective are industry analysts and auditors taking?
