The end of software

Do you know what is the real cost of your software? Before you reach for a calculator, be forewarned that it's a trick question. Even technology industry analysts and seasoned IT executives have difficulty putting a hard figure on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of today's enterprise application solutions. What makes the equation so tricky is the sheer number of variables that must be factored in, many of which cannot be lined up in a neat column and reconciled, such as issues of security, availability, performance, problem resolution and change management. The End of Software: Transforming Your Business for the On Demand Future, by Dr. Timothy Chou, is a groundbreaking book for business managers and executives that challenges conventional approaches to business software and proposes new alternatives to managing and maintaining the systems that companies depend on. Read What Industry Experts Have to Say: "Whether you rely on computer software to run your business, create software solutions, or invest in software companies, you are facing the shift from software as a product to software as a service. In The End of Software, Dr. Timothy Chou makes the case for Software on Demand and shows you who's already out there creating and using this new model." Fred Magner, Chief Information Officer, Unocal Corporation "As a pioneer of the On Demand delivery model, Dr. Chou challenges certain conventions long held by the software industry. The End of Software provokes industry participants to re-think how big software should be packaged, sold and delivered in the future." Stephen Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Embarcadero Technologies "Dr. Timothy Chou's book The End of Software presents a logical argument for the shift from selling and buying software, or the promise of the value that software represents, to selling and buying the actual value that software can bring to a user. This is very persuasive, especially when you consider the legacy of software vendors, who are notorious for over-promising and under-delivering. As Dr. Chou so clearly understands (and why shouldn't he-he's lived it), this new delivery method simply makes sense. But the world is often slow to change; as keen observers of the technology industry, we'll be watching closely." John S. DiFucci, Senior Software Analyst, Managing Director, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.