The next big innovation in SaaS

One of the biggest technology innovations in the coming years is going to be how to protect information regardless of where it resides. Software as a Service (SaaS) has come a long way and technology advances have made the complete SaaS eco-system viable. Some key elements that have transformed this space:

• The access points: Multiple access points providing information anytime anywhere.
• The network: The spread of broadband and wireless internet access at affordable prices headed in the favorable direction.
• The backend infrastructure: This is a complex domain and the success depends on building an infrastructure that can scale infinitely. Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and T-systems are on the forefront of the innovation here.

In all of the above, the innovators already know what it will take to serve the next generation and have set things in motion.

Perhaps, the most important innovations in this area have yet to come. Today companies and individuals alike are paranoid about keeping their data in the cloud. Three big factors that will determine success in this area:

• Trust: There are various trust issues related to data storage, processing and access. Providing flexibility and access to information while protecting the information is a non-trivial challenge that needs to be solved. The solution needs to be end-to-end. It is not enough to protect the data stored on the server.
• Education: Today, it is too complex to understand how data gets protected at various levels.
• Simplicity: The key to mass adoption is to make it simple – simple to understand and simple to use.

There is a lot of ground to be covered in this area. If there are innovations in this area that can win trust and are simple to understand and use, we will look back and call them the ones that put SaaS adoption on the fast track.