Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019) • Hacker News Board

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#31

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:46 PM UTC

zcw100 wrote: post #27

Translation: Companies are pissed that the free software gravy-train is over and how they actually have to start paying for it. This is the way it should have been for the past decade.

Those SaaS companies are probably not paying for the free software they're using though. Internal costs (people wrangling free/open source/homegrown software) have just become external costs (credit card charges of SaaS businesses doing the same).

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I suppose if folks are getting to capture more dollars for the value they deliver, that's always a good thing. Better to own your own biz versus being a cog in someone else's machine (IMHO).

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#32

Post by throwaway5752 » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:46 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #8

If you are already spending >$200K per employee, spending another $10K to make them even 10% more productive is a bargain.

They are just going to pay their employees less. Companies have to be profitable, temporary exceptions notwithstanding, and the money has to come from somewhere.

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#33

Post by aidos » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

rolltiide wrote: post #14

zsandwich wrote: post #10

Crazy. Seems that a lot of these tools are purchased by single departments and poorly integrated into rest of the org—creating more chaos and thus need for more tools.

Sounds like the solution is to have a SaaS tool which shows what other SaaS tools are being accessed by your organization. Hm how would we make that cost more though if there aren’t that many large organizations

https://track.g2.com/

Here you go

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#34

Post by throwaway55554 » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

paulie_a wrote: post #13

paxys wrote: post #8

If you are already spending >$200K per employee, spending another $10K to make them even 10% more productive is a bargain.

Most enterprises don't spend >200k an employee. Do people really believe that is a normal salary?

Factoring in all compensation, that is still a ridiculous figure.

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#35

Post by duxup » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

zcw100 wrote: post #27

Translation: Companies are pissed that the free software gravy-train is over and how they actually have to start paying for it. This is the way it should have been for the past decade.

Was there a free software gravy-train?

I don't remember many enterprises that relied on large scale free software that was anything like SaaS products today... they were spending plenty on software...

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#36

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #35

zcw100 wrote: post #27

Translation: Companies are pissed that the free software gravy-train is over and how they actually have to start paying for it. This is the way it should have been for the past decade.

Was there a free software gravy-train? I don't remember many enterprises that relied on large scale free software that was anything like SaaS products today... they were spending plenty on software...

Java, PHP, MySQL, Postgresql, OpenSSL, Linux come to mind.

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#37

Post by brongondwana » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #31

zcw100 wrote: post #27

Translation: Companies are pissed that the free software gravy-train is over and how they actually have to start paying for it. This is the way it should have been for the past decade.

Those SaaS companies are probably not paying for the free software they're using though. Internal costs (people wrangling free/open source/homegrown software) have just become external costs (credit card charges of SaaS businesses doing the same). The more things change, the more they stay the same. I suppose if folks are getting to capture more dollars for the value they deliver, that's always a good thing. Better t…

SaaS companies are more likely to be contributing back to open source software than individual Enterprise users though.

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#38

Post by thomasedwards » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

zsandwich wrote: post #10

Crazy. Seems that a lot of these tools are purchased by single departments and poorly integrated into rest of the org—creating more chaos and thus need for more tools.

Before all of these tools though it was a bunch of Excel spreadsheets and a random Access database that only one person knew how to maintain. At least with SaaS there’s a support line.

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#39

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:53 PM UTC

brongondwana wrote: post #37

toomuchtodo wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those SaaS companies are probably not paying for the free software they're using though. Internal costs (people wrangling free/open source/homegrown software) have just become external costs (credit card charges of SaaS businesses doing the same). The more things change, the more they stay the same. I suppose if folks are getting to capture more dollars for the value they deliver, that's always a good thing. Better t…

SaaS companies are more likely to be contributing back to open source software than individual Enterprise users though.

I would like to see proof of this assertion. PRs are one thing, dollars are what matter. You can't eat code commits.

Re: Companies fret as costs soar for software subscriptions (2019)

#40

Post by duxup » Thu, Mar 05, 2020, 5:53 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #36

duxup wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was there a free software gravy-train? I don't remember many enterprises that relied on large scale free software that was anything like SaaS products today... they were spending plenty on software...

Java, PHP, MySQL, Postgresql, OpenSSL, Linux come to mind.

Did something change with those?

I feel like this narrative is still apples to oranges and the concerns expressed are more about managing the costs all the SaaS products, not having to pay...