Savio has a point, much as I don't want to admit it. However, it might not be the point he's thinking that he's making. Or, rather, the data points to an entirely different point.
Wayne Waddoups of SAIC sent this slide deck along to me from a presentation delivered by Michael Cusumanoa (MIT) at Carnegie Mellon University, and I found it fascinating. The data clearly shows a (strong) decline in enterprise software sales over the last few years, with the only exceptions being "hits" and "platform leaders." In other words, those who get lucky and those who have built a massive lock-in ecosystem.
As shown, software is clearly on the decline, while services revenue is on a strong upswing. This, as Cusumanoa posits, may well lead the industry to invest in the next big area of innovation: Services innovation.… Read more