We are attending a Partner Conference call and Product Intro meeting on Wednesday, tomorrow, concerning NetSuite's purchase of OpenAir, the software as a service offering for Professional Services Automation Management.

Should be interesting, and afterwards we will share some insights into how the combination and future integration of these two systems will work, and what it might mean for you - should you run a professional services organization.

Just a quick reading of the OpenAir site leads me to believe that this will be a great addition to NetSuite. We have heard many of the requirements from our clients that the OpenAir software meets. Looking forward to this.

Of course the merger of these two companies says something pretty significant about the future of Software as a Service, or SaaS. First, a SaaS leader like NetSuite is on pretty solid footing, both financially and technologically, when it can manage an acquisition like this. Second, we think it speaks volumes to how SaaS offerings can accomodate market verticals in ways that on-premise software cannot. When NetSuite integrates OpenAir it will be able to offer a complete solution for the professional services vertical, but only for customers who want it. With on premise software, whether you pay for it or not, you install it all, and sometimes you even have to patch a module, though you do not use it.

It amazes me sometimes how much easier it is to use SaaS.