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Server monitoring and management


Often referred to as observability, it integrates log files, tracking and metrics from network devices, servers, databases, security software, and applications. The development in this area is agile development and DevOps. Representative companies include: DDOG, DT, ServiceNow.

Security


Includes server-side and client-side software. The technological development trend in this field is Zero Trust(Zero Trust Network). Since the enterprise software has changed from a wall garden surrounded by a firewall to an open Internet network, it is necessary for the enterprise software to verify any request by the visitor, the interviewee and the intermediate network. Representative companies include: server-side security companies include ZS, Okta, and Ping Identity; client-side security companies include CrowdStrike.

SaaS at the application layer


It is often divided into general SaaS and vertical SaaS. General SaaS includes CRM, ERP, SCM, HR, Finance, Marketing, contract document management, e-commerce, collaboration, communication, business analysis, etc.

Vertical SaaS is distributed in various industries. The enterprise software market in vertical industries has long been ignored by entrepreneurs and VCs due to its small market size. But the arrival of SaaS has brought advantages of scale and software distribution to software companies, so this market has become a brand new software market. For a simple example, if a customer can receive $1,000 a year, then any industry with 100,000 merchants may have a unicorn SaaS company.

The representative companies of General SaaS include Salesforce, Zendesk, Workda, Coupa, NetSuite, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, DocuSign, Shopify, AXY, Twillo, Anaplan; representative companies of vertical SaaS include Veeva. Some of these SaaS companies have used the characteristics of the Internet to develop B2B marketplace and transaction models, such as Bill.com and Zenefits.

3. The significance of the cloud computing revolution

Computing equipment is different from other assets in that it has value-added meaning or slow depreciation, and computing resources depreciate very quickly. When Amazon invested a lot of hardware in the era of the dotcom bubble and found that it could not be used, the internal team hoped to be able to provide a rental service to the outside world and pay according to the usage. Therefore, cloud computing is a technological innovation brought about by the business model revolution. Adapted to the development needs of the following times:

  • The transfer of purchase risk from seller to buyer: In the past, whether it was hardware or software, it was based on needs assessment, budget, bidding, and purchase. The purchasing decision model used has high requirements for the quality of users’ decision-making. However, it is difficult to make correct judgments about IT, a new technology that changes rapidly.

    A large amount of hardware was bought but not used or software implementation failed, and the buyer suffered the consequences of the wrong purchase decision. In the era of cloud computing, buyers can even try it for free first. After the effect is good, start buying and using a small part of it, and then promote it to the whole company. Or as the company’s business grows, increase the purchase and use;

  • From aristocracy to civilianization: Due to the above characteristics and high sales costs, traditional software is generally sold individually and sold to super customers. The needs of users are also numerous. Cloud computing has changed the software distribution model. They started from the standard needs of small customers, gradually met the customized needs of large customers, transformed the former aristocratic products and services into civilians, and expanded the software market scale (this is why the cloud The calculated market size will exceed the traditional technology market);

  • The fast-changing business environment: Companies are required to make decisions faster and faster.The degree of SaaS is very high. These have promoted the development of China’s cloud computing SaaS.

    A long time must be divided, and a long time must be divided. The next platform revolution after cloud computing will be edge computing. I will give you a detailed introduction later.