Why Not an Apps Store for Enterprise Software?
Posted by Jeff Papows on Thu, Jan 28, 2010 @ 08:41 AM
It was impossible to miss this week's news about Apple's earnings and its new tablet computer this week. While I can remember the less a darker time for them, these days when I think of Apple I think of the enormous success of its apps store that inspired an entire community of developers -- and vendors for that matter -- to foster innovation based on common interests and a market demand for a broader array of application choices.
So I got to thinking why should the apps store developers have all the fun? While open source has its communities and standards bodies are designed to advance the industry using the same lingua franca, why couldn't there be an apps store for enterprise software?
Hear me out on this one.
What if you could develop enterprise software, test it out and get it validated through an unbiased third party that would help you bring it to market. The industry wins through collaborative efforts, vendors win by picking up a sales channel and most importantly the customer wins because the software is certified and validated and will actually work as described on the vendor's website and would likely be improved upon since competition breeds innovation.
Now of course this enterprise apps store wouldn't work for everybody but you've got to think there are some niches that would benefit from this model. Off the top of my head, I could see a place for vendors in the financial services or healthcare industries that offer compliance software. After all, those rules and regulations are already established and the purchasing decisions/competitive differentiators are usually based on how easy they are to use, how secure they are and how well they work.
We're already seeing shades of this with the apps.gov website for federal agencies that's designed to streamline the software procurement process and ensure consistency across different departments (which I actually addressed in a recent post, ‘Why I.T. Governance Will Remain a Top Priority in 2010.')
It's certainly something to think about.