ChainLink predicts ?radical? changes for enterprise software

ChainLink predicts æradicalÆ changes for enterprise software    ChainLink Research, a supply chain technology research company based in Cambridge, Mass., has issued a report predicting 'on-demand' software services will 'radically' restructure the economics of developing and acquiring logistics and transportation management software.
   'Over the next three to five years, the growth of on-demand software will recast the vendor landscape and the relative power positions of today's software providers,' said Bill McBeath, chief research officer at ChainLink.
   'This is not an isolated trend, but a fundamental, market-altering shift in how software is developed, bought, delivered and used,' McBeath said.
   In response to a ChainLink survey that queried major shipping firms, John Gurrad, vice president, business planning and e-commerce for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), noted MOL's internal information technology resources were finite and consumed with a large backlog of projects.
   'An on-demand approach was the only way to maintain our competitive edge,' Gurrad said. 'We're not in the software business. We run ships. It was a better decision to bring in an expert to build and operate this technology for us.'
   ChainLink's survey 'was internally funded, not by any software vendor, so we have no axe to grind vis-'-vis the success or failure of on-demand software,' McBeath said.
   'We ran economic models that show on-demand software reduces the total cost of enterprise software by over 50 percent. Many traditional software vendors, such as SAP and Oracle, have not realized yet how much of a threat this is to them,' he explained. 'So, we believe this is a 'disruptive' technology that not only makes software less expensive, but has the potential to shake up the whole industry.'
   For more information, see https://www.chainlinkresearch.com.