The advent of SaaS has created an environment where delivering new functionality and value is near real-time. To put a sharp point on it, between the time of Bill's visit and the publication date, Workday has moved from 92 customers to 98, and Workday 9 will be on display at the HR Technology Conference in just two weeks.

Some great takeaways from the InformationWeek 500 panel on the future of software today. Bob Evans moderated a panel with Ray Wang of Altimeter Group, Christopher Lochhead of SuccessFactors, and Workday's Aneel Bhusri and Stan Swete.

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days with 300 of the smartest folks you are ever going to meet-- IT leaders attending the CIO 100 Conference in beautiful Colorado Springs. This event is held each year to “honor leading companies that demonstrate excellence and achievement in innovation and business value.” In other words, how to turn technology investments into business advantage for their firms.

A core tenet of SaaS has always been that it is a lot cheaper than on-premise software. This is based on the fact that there are no upfront license fees, and no hardware, maintenance or upgrade costs. As with all technology shifts, this promise has been met with healthy skepticism and not a little FUD from the incumbent on-premise vendors.

McKee Foods Corporation, Workday customer #7, worked closely with us in the development of our Payroll product and on 2nd April 2009 they went into production on both Workday HCM and Payroll. McKee replaced an on-premise ERP system and is now using Workday to process more than 350,000 paychecks/year for 6,500 empoyees in 7 plants across the U.S.