Why is this important? Well, software programs at the application layer are “naturally vertical” because they directly interface with end users, and end users organize themselves by geography, industry, and profession. This makes them readily adaptable to the beachhead focus needed to cross the chasm. Later on in the life cycle, however, as solutions generalize, a horizontal approach is typically more productive, but this is a much harder challenge for an application offer to meet. By contrast, infrastructure offerings have just the opposite dynamic. They are “naturally horizontal,” because
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