Art Wittmann: As InformationWeek covers Microsoft's revelations at its Professional Developer Conference this week, it's becoming clear that Microsoft's top brass know they aren't in the same business they were just a few years ago. So is this the transitive stage that spells the end of Microsoft's dominance of the software industry?

I think the question actually applies more broadly. Though I didn't think it was so even just a year ago, it seems to me that the software industry is at an inflection point. Forces are converging to make software as a service a viable alternative for businesses of all sizes. It's always been the case that the efficiency offered by multitenant single-version systems would allow purpose-built applications to compete on a cost basis with traditional premises-based software, particularly for smaller companies. Basically, if it's a no-brainer for a company to outsource its payroll, a similar equation applies to most of its IT software. Security and privacy concerns as well as regulatory compliance alone should probably be enough to make most smaller businesses SaaS customers. Pile on remote support and a variety of user devices, and it really is a no-brainer.