As Arthur C. Clarke once said was the best advice given by Douglas Adams, I too think it’s the best advice software as a service companies should give themselves. The chart below is one version of the fundamental reason why.

More people are connecting to the Internet today than in past years. The chart below is from internetworldstats.com.

What does this mean? There are more people every day with the ability to leverage the Internet to accomplish their business. How does the current economic crisis leverage this situation?

I read an article in the Denver Post this weekend that suggested air travel will decrease due to the economic crisis. (Personally, I hope that happens on Thanksgiving weekend, when I have to travel this year). Lets consider how this effects a business. Will they cancel trips previously planned to discuss operating the business? Yes. Will they find another way to have that meeting, if it is necessary? Absolutely. How will they have the meeting? I’ll bet using technology related to the Internet.

Clearly, this is a time to be austere with expenses. But, business will continue. People will continue to need to communicate and interact and the Internet will be the tool of choice.

One of our customers had over 600 people log in to use our service, each using it many times per week, over this past month. Our service allows them to avoid costs (including travel). Do you think this usage is going to go up or down in the coming quarter? Do you think other companies are interested in the same opportunity to cut their costs, you betcha!

What does this mean for a managed video as a service company? Focus on your core services and provide reliable quality product that delivers a sustainable value for the customer. The rest will take care of itself.