Wanted: Customer perspectives on SaaS
A lot of tech industry conferences claim to be targeted at the end user but end up being just a vendor-to-vendor talking shop. That's certainly been true of the majority of SaaS conferences I've been to — probably for the very good reason that the end user is more interested in what the software actually does for them than where it's hosted.
But even at conferences explicitly targeting a software industry audience, it's important that the end user's point of view gets aired. That's particularly so when discussing a relatively new development like SaaS, in which vendors are still testing out business models and deployment patterns. Early adopters are bound to have robust views about what pleases them and what disappoints them, and their feedback can help shape the future direction of the industry.
With that in mind, I've been working with Thinkstrategies analyst Jeff Kaplan to put together a couple of customer panels at the SIIA On Demand Summit, taking place early November in San Jose. Jeff and I are both on the steering committee for the event (see disclosure page). This blog posting is part of our efforts to reach out to business and IT decision-makers with experience as SaaS buyers and users, to make sure we get a representative cross-section of views on the panel sessions.
Jeff's panel is "The Customer's Perspective of the Business Impact of SaaS", and mine is "How SaaS Changes the Buyer Experience and Vendor Relationship". I'm looking for IT buyers, Jeff wants business managers, and we're each looking for customers that fit the following criteria:
- Solid production experience of working with SaaS vendors/solutions
- From 'mainstream' companies outside of the tech sector
- Able to get to San Jose for the session
- Willing to speak frankly about both the positives and the negatives
Submissions for all vendor speaking slots at the conference have already closed, so this call is exclusively for decision-makers from customer organisations. We'll be locking down the panels soon so if you fit the profile and would like to take this opportunity to share your successes and concerns with leaders of the SaaS industry, please get in touch by emailing me, pw AT philwainewright DOT com, no later than next Friday September 14.
If you can't be on the panel but would still like to contribute your views on either of these topics, please post your thoughts below as a TalkBack comment. Make sure SaaS vendors get to hear the customer's point of view.