The desktop. Currently the battlefield of an ongoing war, Windows vs Linux vs Mac. And probably completely irrelevant in the near future. Why? Because pretty soon, the desktop application will be dead except for a browser... probably Firefox, maybe Chrome.

What am I talking about? I mean, there's word processors, spreadsheets, videos, music, games, accounting packages, CRM, ERP and all those other 3 (or more likely 4) letter (swear) words you use when you talk about your computer system. All of those applications are IMPORTANT. Especially in the commercial world.

Camera moves across the desk... focuses on a watch... time fast forwards 5 years... Every application is available as a service on the web. Think Yahoo or Google mail. All you do, is connect to the net, and PRESTO! You get access to those applications (for a fee). Oh. Wait a sec. 5 years? Maybe in Internet time, cos they're here right now! The not-so-new buzzword - SaaS (software-as-a-service) - or Cloud Computing. Here's some examples:

• Communication - Google Mail / Google Calendar
• Word processor and spreadsheet - Google Docs
• Mapping - Google Maps
• CRM - SugarCRM
• Videos - YouTube
• Music - StreamingRadio

As an Infoworld post shows, SaaS is a a mainstream movement, covering a plethora of applications delivering as much or more features as desktop applications, usually with less outages than on-site solutions, and getting great buy-in from IT professionals.

Now there are some things that aren't there, and might need five years to get off the desktop. A web-based iTunes. 3D gaming. Image manipulation like Adobes products. But they're probably coming.

So where does TEIQ fit in? TEIQ are the only partners for SugarCRM in New Zealand (at time of this post). We provide SaaS CRM via hosting SugarCRM on our servers. We are also in the process of becoming a Google Apps reseller, to be able to resell (and integrate) Google Apps into the enterprise. We believe that putting applications in the cloud just makes sense, and look forward to the days where ubiquitous high speed internet finally gets to New Zealand.