Today, many enterprise applications, whether custom developed or commercially available, fall into the trap of trying to be too many things for too many people. By 2020, user-developed business applications will evolve from spreadsheets and simple databases built and maintained by a single “power user” to feature-rich, lightweight applications built by anyone to address the needs of the individual, small teams, or entire departments. These will be shared across the enterprise, enhanced by the internal user community, and extended outside the firewall to suppliers and partners.
Now I work for an enterprise software company, and I happen to believe the market will be safely crowded by 2020. But what will enterprise applications look like? How will they be packaged and sold? By whom? For whom?
I’ve been kicking around a theory that in the age of SharePoint and other flexible platforms (Google? Facebook? Salesforce.com!) all packaged software is just a series of decisions pre-made: from functionality, to interface, to branding, to extensibility, you-name-it.
The smart players may be the ones preparing for the age of the power user. The lowly clerk or admin who needs a unique app on Tuesday, builds it Wednesday, and makes it available to the enterprise app store for scaling on Thursday.
How powerful is that?