23 September 2010
The Rise of the Cloud = The Demise of the Desktop” What it will take for GIS companies to weather the cloud computing storm
That’s the title of the presentation I gave at the LIGeoCloud event in Washington DC yesterday. As hoped, this led to some lively debate! I discussed my view on how SaaS and cloud computing will become the dominant delivery method for geospatial capabilities in enterprise and line-of-business information systems.
The point I made is that the accessibility, lower cost and flexibility that comes with SaaS GIS means it will eventually take over from today’s incumbent desktop solutions. In other words, GIS delivered as SaaS in inevitable, so get ready to give customers what they want…and expect! Otherwise, you’ll get left behind.
I believe SaaS GIS is the way forward and in order for GIS companies to “weather the cloud computing storm” and not get left behind, they will have to stop thinking like software companies and start thinking and acting like service providers.
Philip O’Doherty, CEO
