New Player Joins the SaaS Team

The newest company in the software-as-a-service arena is Workday, which will offer ERP software. Workday is a further validation of the SaaS model, which promises speedier deployments and lower implementation costs by delivering applications using a Web browser. Workday was launched by PeopleSoft founder and CEO Dave Duffield, who invested an undisclosed sum of his own funds. Workday points to Salesforce.com as a model for success, as it pursues Oracle and SAP--though ERP apps are more complex than CRM apps, where Salesforce reigns. Duffield has surrounded himself with ex-PeopleSoft employees--many of whom remember Oracle's takeover. Never underestimate the motivating power of vengeance. --Andrew Conry-Murray, [email protected]