I just spent a good part of the past 2 days at “Software 2007” in Santa Clara. Conferences are very time consuming, but I have always felt it important to attend every once in awhile to get a better sense of what’s going on in the industry.
The Software industry has been regarded by many as “dead”. Didn’t feel dead…. there were lots of attendees. But as I mingled among the crowd, I met lots of entrepreneurs, service providers of all sorts (many Indian outsourcing firms…), marketeers from the companies delivering the keynotes (SAP, HP, Microsoft, SalesForce.com, Motorola) and a few rare appearances by my venture capital colleagues.
For me, this means that Venture Capitalists are not interested in Software. Perhaps I’m wrong, but if this was a Cleantech conference, I bet it would be a different story. However, this venture capitalist hasn’t given up… I’m actively seeking innovative ideas in the broadly defined software space.
During the conference, I listened to quite a few of the keynotes, specifically Hasso Plattner (Co-founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, SAP), Shane Robbison (Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, HP), Marc Benioff (CEO, Salesforce.com) and Steve Ballmer (CEO, Microsoft). Here’s my summary:
SAP: Hasso Plattner’s key message: not only small companies can innovate. As he presented SAP’s new offering for SMB’s, what I heard was not “innovation” but rather “catch-up”. Sorry… however, it’s still impressive (since often, large companies can’t do that either), but SOA, On-Demand, Collaboration, Community, Standards, etc. are themes we’ve been hearing about for quite some time.
Looking further into the future, Hasso talked about in-memory databases, and the impact they will have on performance. Another point he drove was that the applications should remain “dull looking”, the more minimalistic the form, the better. The more you put color, shades, etc., it doesn’t change the content, it convolutes it. Performance is everything, and Google is a good example of this.
HP: The fact that HP delivers a keynote at a Software conference, says something. These guys are certainly serious about software. Just noting some of the numbers: of the $3.6B invested in R&D, 70% is software (compared to 30% 3–4 years ago). Software powers hardware and differentiates products, and that’s where HP makes most of it’s $$. Shane spoke about the shift in software focus from management software to Business Technology Optimization. Wow! Not only did they acquire Mercury, they’ve kept the pitch!! Have to admit, it felt odd to hear it from HP. It’s so Mercury, well, ex-Mercury ….
SalesForce.com: Marc Benioff is a great presenter. During his session, I kept thinking of my Israeli entrepreneurs… why can’t they speak like him! He reminded all of us that SalesForce.com was a catalyst for change in the software industry. Very true. Initially, the users were SMB’s, but now, that’s not the case anymore. Marc then went to pitch a new platform that will allow anybody to create and then run new applications on top of this platform, empowering users and ISV’s to build next generation apps. This company is moving beyond just being a single application, to providing a platform, with multiple applications. Sounds like a familiar strategy…. perhaps, they should rethink the name of the company 
.
Microsoft: Steve Ballmer’s presentation skills are not-too-shabby either. He spoke about the transformation in the industry which is created by the Internet. Software is a commodity, and everything will evolve to a SAAS model. Monetization of software is moving to 2 important business models: On-line advertising, and the Consumer-Electronics model (meaning sell hardware, which is differentiated by software).
So, for me, net-net…. not a lot new. In any case, I still found it a worthwhile conference. When we live so far away (Israel…), we frequently visit Silicon Valley, which is still the heart and soul of this industry. The question is always what to put as the anchor reason for a trip. Software 2007 is a good one. Next year, however, MR is moving the conference to Las Vegas… might be good for some. I wish it would stay in Santa Clara.
OMG, I can't believe you were there and we did not meet! Hope all is well :-).
And yes, I agree with the "not a lot of new". I would say that running the Enterprise 2.0 theme allowed me to reinforce the sentiment that the Consumer space is really ahead on a number of fronts.
Posted by: Jeff Clavier | May 19, 2007 at 03:41 AM