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Mitchell Ashley

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Apple Amazingly Silent About SaaS

By Mitchell Ashley on Tue, 05/06/08 - 2:35am.

Apple is AWOL from the world of software-as-a-service, on demand software, cloud computing and storage, and virtualization. So just what are Apple's plans to thrive, or maybe just survive, in the quickly emerging ecosystems of SaaS and utility services? Does Apple have a plan, or are iPods and movie sales supposed to sustain Apple's future? Apple's been suspiciously quiet with the exception of announcing new Mac models, selling tons of iPhones, and bringing out their iPhone SDK.

The silence has been deafening, but I in no way am counting Apple and Steve Jobs out of the game. Jobs is certainly no dummy -- just the opposite, the guy creates new industries and product categories. Matter of fact, he's usually years ahead of the industry, frequently redefining the game in ways uniquely to Apple. As I said, Steve's silence is deafening, which leads me to believe he's got some very significant plans up his sleeve.

Robert Cringely over at PBS is speculating that Jobs is shopping Apple's software applications (Final Cut video editing software) as a pre-emptive move to buying up Adobe, removing any potential anti-trust objections. Apple's got some new found ready cash after significantly increasing their share of Macs within the PC market. Cringely says Apple has over $19B cash on hand.

It's not clear though that Adobe's on the block to be sold, or looking for an acquirer. Of any major software company, Adobe fits best with Apple, given it's focus on publishing and online, visual media. Adobe's working to continue Flash's dominance while also promoting Flex and AIR for next generation applications. What's interesting to me about an Apple acquisition of Adobe is it would turn the tables on Microsoft, giving Apple dominance in publishing applications (Illustrator, Photoshop) on Windows platforms, much like Microsoft has through Office apps on Mac OS X. Flex and AIR would also position Apple as the lead dog in Silverlight's battle to gain dominance.

All this said, I still don't see any signs of Apple's SaaS or utility software play. That tells me there's a lot more yet to be revealed by Jobs on this front. And you know whatever plans are underway, it won't be any me-too move by Apple.

Like this? Here are some of Mitchell's recent posts.
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Recent Converging Network Blog Posts: Back From Hiatus, Saved by Web 2.0 Technology
It Takes a Village.. ah, actually, being there first and tons of hard work, Security Industry Missing Ride On The Cloud, Product Bistro: Love Developers, and Trust QA, Breathing Your Own Exhaust.

Check out Mitchell's Converging On Microsoft Podcast. Current Podcast Episode: Security Mike Gets Serious About Security

Also visit Mitchell's personal blog The Converging Network and SSAATY Security Podcast.

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