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12.10.07
Enterprise Software And Blogging
 By Robert Scoble
Bill Gates seems to bemoan the fact that enterprise software isn't covered by blogs and journalists.
Instead, he points out, that we like talking about consumer software.
It's a good point, especially since business software like that from Oracle, SAP, Microsoft etc makes a TON of money.
So, why is it so?
Well, how many people in the world actually buy business software? For instance, back when I worked at NEC, a company that had more than 100,000 employees back then (more employees than work at Microsoft, actually) we used SAP. But I didn't have any say in that matter. Some CIO somewhere else made that decision and forced us all to use SAP. That doesn't exactly make us warm and fuzzy about the computer sitting in front of us on the desk.
But that doesn't really explain it totally.
Instead, let's look at the business of journalism or even of blogging. We're paid to deliver page views. Advertisers call it "CPM" (cost per thousand viewers). Now, what's going to get more of you interested? Consumer software that you actually have a role in adopting or purchasing or enterprise software where some CIO somewhere else in your organization decides on? I know that when I talk about enterprise software the numbers of viewers just don't show up. So, tech bloggers quickly learn that if they talk about enterprise software they aren't going to get many advertising impressions.
There are a variety of CIO blogs, though, I wonder which one is the best one?
Don't feel too sad for Gates, though. He's laughing all the way to the bank. Turns out those CIOs buy a lot of software.
Any of you have any ideas on how to make business software sexy?
I wonder what the Enterprise Irregulars think about this? (They are a group of bloggers who cover business software).
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