By Alison D'Addieco

In the 15th century, some people still believed that the world was flat. In a way, they were right–they were just off by about 600 years. Today, advances in technology have made the term "world-flattening" part of our vocabulary, as jobs are outsourced to places as far flung as Bangalore, India.

"The rise of the global economy has shifted the emphasis of software engineering," says James Morris, dean of Carnegie Mellon West, pointing out a short supply of effective global software leaders.

That's a problem the West Coast campus hopes to help change, with the unveiling of its new Master of Science in software management program, which will give engineers the skills to successfully navigate the changing industry and better seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

And opportunities abound, as software itself continues to evolve, says Timothy Chou, former president of Oracle-On-Demand and author of The End of Software. His acclaimed book chronicles the evolution of on-demand software that is delivered over the Internet. Commonly referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), the trend is the future for software makers and users, predicts Chou. "Anyone who uses Google is using SaaS," he notes. "Were it not for SaaS," he adds, "eBay as we know it could never have existed."

To address the implications of these issues, Carnegie Mellon West helped bring together Chou and several other noteworthy software industry experts by cosponsoring a conference titled, "The New Software Industry: Forces at Play, Business in Motion." Other cosponsors of the spring conference included the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the University of California's Services Science, Management, and Engineering Program.

For those in attendance, including students in the new master's program, the conference offered insights for creators, investors, and users on where the best software opportunities will be found.