Leaving Bad Enterprise Software Behind
Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz has hired Peter Levine as a venture partner to help it invest in startups that focus on enterprise and business computing. According to
this report on SF Gate, Levine is a veteran of the enterprise world, and he agrees that enterprise computing has a stigma attached to it in the VC community. The general view is that sales cycles are long, IT managers are tough sells and big companies like
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have a strong hold which can make it hard for startups to break through.
“But he thinks that is starting to change as employees start to wonder why their work systems are so painful when they have such elegant technology at home.
“‘When you and I go to work and we use a computer to work, and find that our work apps are completely onerous and the apps we use at home are quite easy, we wonder why can't it be simpler, easier, quicker, and less expensive?'
“This trend — consumerization — is a dirty word in some IT shops that would prefer to keep employees locked down on known secure systems. But it's irreversible. ‘When someone goes to work now, they bring a device they may own, an iPhone or iPad, and say to the IT organization ‘I need this thing to work with your environment. ‘If that person is an important exec, the IT director won't say no.'”
Read the Full Story at SF Gate
