Hyped SaaS !! Can we have 'Kaas' too.

SaaS is fast getting popular just like anything that receives extensive hype. However, the good thing with such hyped concepts is that they bring to light the basics that have been kind-of forgotten (or not treated seriously enough). This (SaaS) is a case similar to design patterns (see http://itcit.blogspot.com/2008/06/invisible-design-patterns.html). The concept has always been there, it is just the hype that is new. There have been shared servers, shared telecon services, shared hosting services, and tremendous softwares have been developed in order to cater to niche needs of various business verticals and sub-verticals. All these are like SaaS in action (in a way). So, nothing new there.

Let me, however, take another slant on this one. Can we take some learning from the SaaS concept and start treating reuse and knowledge management (which are kind-of aimed to achieve similar purpose in their own earnest) more seriously. I am not saying that IT firms (especially large IT firms) are not taking KM and reuse seriously -- what I am saying is that there needs to be a more focused effort. Or to put it more simply -- let's create a hype around KM+resuse. Should I call it 'KaaS' -- knowledge as a service?

SaaS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_as_a_Service