Since the advent of software-as-a-service (SaaS), there's been increasing attention to how companies are saving money by taking this route. As one CIO relates: it's a cheaper, simpler and more flexible approach to procuring applications. He also boasts about the easy deployment and the lack of headaches with upgrades. But there are some critics of SaaS who say it isn't all that it claims to be. Critics claim that it won't ever bring about the demise of packaged applications or customized solutions as they're a necessary component of delivering tools.

For more on the differing views from two tech leaders:
- read this two-part article at Optimize