Software 2004
“The software industry is now about renovation -- not innovation. It is no longer about 'what,' it is about 'how.' Rather than focusing on invention, we need to help customers renew what they already have. The software business is becoming a service business.”
– Ray Lane, General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
More than 1,100 executives filled the San Francisco Marriott on March 1 and 2 for the Sand Hill Group’s Software 2004 conference. The group had gathered to hear the leaders and visionaries of the enterprise software industry lay out “A Blueprint for the Next Decade.”
Speakers in the general sessions covered strategic, forward-looking issues such as the transformation of the software industry and product architectures for the next decade. And nearly 40 educational workshops focused on tactical topics, such as positioning a software company for acquisition, or best practices for software sales. Perhaps the most compelling attraction was the opportunity to network with industry at breaks, lunches and evening cocktail parties on the exhibit floor. Attendees came from around the world and from all corners of the industry. In addition to a press corps of 60 correspondents, most of the registrants were top executives at software companies. Startups, multi-billion-dollar players and companies of every size in between joined the event. The balance of attendees included venture capitalists, investment bankers, industry analysts, management consultants, recruiters, legal professionals and other members of the software industry ecosystem. Why the frenzy? Software 2004 was the first-ever conference to bring together the leaders of the software industry and empower them to re-invent the industry, rethink current practices and make the dramatic changes necessary to create successful companies for the next 25 years. The caliber and quantity of attendees at this inaugural event validates the need for such an annual gathering. Not to mention more than 30 companies and organizations signed up to sponsor this inaugural event. |
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“It is amazing that it took so many years for the software industry to create a vendor-neutral conference of this scale... I am taking back ideas to my organization that I can implement tomorrow. I’m putting ‘Software 2005’ on my calendar now.” - Bryan D. Stolle, CEO Agile Software
“I found Software 2004 to be a state of the union gathering for the software industry. It gave me a read on the current pulse of the entire enterprise ecosystem. This will be invaluable insight for my portfolio companies and for my future investment decisions.” - Peter Sobiloff, General Partner, Insight Venture Partners |
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