Software-as-a-service is poised to gradually take over IT infrastructure, whether or not CIOs want it to, according to InformationWeek's Charles Babcock. Software executives offer a variety of reasons for this forecast, but they appear united in their confidence that IT shops will move increasingly toward an SaaS model, and they are modifying their businesses accordingly.

Intuit, which sells tax preparation software, has expanded its services to include a mobile app that lets people use their smartphones to photograph their W-2 forms and file their tax forms electronically. "The world is quickly shifting from a paper-based, human-produced, brick-and-mortar-bound market to one where people understand, appreciate, and embrace the benefits of truly connected software, platforms, and services," says Brad Smith, president and CEO of Intuit.

Other software executives point to the younger generation as evidence that SaaS has taken root. "Most people coming out of universities have lived their lives in the cloud. Show them a room full of servers and they're going to ask incredulously, 'What is this? This is how you run your business?'" says Zach Nelson, president and CEO of NetSuite. "The Zuckerberg generation was born on the Internet, not the PC...the only thing they want the PC for, oddly enough, is making calls with Skype."

Someday, although probably not so soon, a complete ERP package will be delivered in an SaaS model, Babcock predicts. Startups will likely embrace it to reduce upfront costs, but it will also make the infamous ERP installation nightmare go away.

"The new ERP and other forms of SaaS will incorporate advanced thinking and quality assurance inside the system more quickly than traditional packages can. Then they will deliver IT as a service, not as an installation problem," Babcock writes.

For more:
- see Charles Babcock's post at InformationWeek

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