Ever since e-commerce came on the scene, businesses have been cashing in. E-commerce is faster, cheaper, and secure (enough) for many types of goods and services. For many businesses, e-commerce is the primary revenue source and it is expected that this trend will continue. In the new age of social media, e-commerce is perceived as a must-have. If you're a business and you don't have it, you're old-school and your products probably are too, right? Well what I'm seeing now is that some businesses feel that it's more important to look like they are doing e-commerce, than it is to actually do it. Are they right? That's not a rhetorical question. I really don't know.
One challenge is some things are easier to sell online than others. And in the case of B2B, there can be quite a bit of behind-the-scenes magic to make the "add to cart" option available on a website. Looking at enterprise software/hardware, the products are very expensive; people aren't used to buying $100,000+ solutions on a credit card. Selling these products often involves contracts, volume-based discounts, mandatory support agreements, and of course, golf outings, just to name a few. Enterprise-class solutions are a bit harder to download than the latest MP3 from Lady Gaga, and hardware doesn't always fit in a FedEx box (or even a truck for that matter). Another issue is that the person buying the product may want to install it locally, or they may prefer to have a 3rd party run it for them and grant them access to it (this is the case with many cloud solutions). Coordinating those logistics adds another layer of complexity to the purchase process.
I'm sure you've seen news of enterprise "app stores" and marketplaces popping up for cloud solutions. What you'll find, though, probably because it's just so difficult to do, that these are not stores! There are no transactions taking place directly on these sites. It is not e-commerce. They are sources of information, directory listings of products, or at best, places to download free trial software. How do they work? If you click on a product in hopes of buying it, you are taken to a 3rd party website where you often find a phone number or email for more information, not a landing page to input your credit card info to actually make the purchase. Most would agree - that is not a marketplace, app store, or exchange. It may still be effective marketing and these vendors may have ambitions to take it to the next step and make it real. Time will tell.
Imagine searching for a product on Amazon.com, finding what you want, clicking the "Add to Cart" link and being brought to a third-party seller's site to make the purchase. How would you feel about making that purchase? I know I would think twice. Amazon.com figured this out a long time ago - offer everything under the sun from many sellers, but make the purchase process seamless for the consumer. In the end, you're shopping at Amazon.com, and it's so easy that you keep coming back for more.
At this point you're probably wondering, why is this important and why do I care so much about this? Well, CA Technologies does have a vested interest in this subject. It's exactly what we're trying to accomplish with our support of the Cloud Commons Ecosystem. The Cloud Commons website actually processes subscription-based transactions for real cloud solutions (via credit cards, PayPal, and it can even accommodate PO processes). It has taken countless hours of development -- I've already pointed out this is much harder than simple one-time downloads for a fixed price (keep in mind iTunes was once revolutionary in its time, too). Here, software vendors can post enterprise-class cloud solutions (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS, packaged services, content, etc.) for sale in the Cloud Commons Marketplace. An enterprise customer can research and identify a cloud solution from one of these vendors, choose to buy it, and either download it to their private cloud (and here's the magic), or... wait for it... choose one of many Cloud Commons service provider partners to host it for them. All without leaving the CloudCommons.com domain.
The entire transaction between the software vendor, hosting provider, and enterprise user is managed on the site. And remember, because these are cloud solutions, the billing is often subscription based, with royalties, licensing, and hosting costs paid on a recurring basis. It's all automated. Vendors can manage their customers. Customers can manage their purchases. And uniquely, Cloud Commons Marketplace offers the freedom for end users to determine which hosting provider is right for them. The other cloud "marketplaces" lock the end users into their platforms and require that the software be hosted on their infrastructures.
I understand the marketing value of saying that you have an "app store" - appearance matters. The packaging may be great, but besides the Cloud Commons Marketplace, all I'm seeing are brochures in otherwise empty boxes. So you tell me -- in the age of social media, is the sizzle now more important than the steak?
I hope not.
*Image courtesy of stock.xchng.