In the last couple of weeks, I have been in situations where I have been asked by companies to evaluate proposals for application development projects from traditional consulting firms.

It is quite astounding to see the numbers being proposed.  The same applications could be developed and deployed in Force.com at a fraction of the estimated cost.

It won't be long before companies start catching on and realizing there is now a very different (and much less expensive) way to build information systems.  This is not just a 20% or even 50% improvement.  Building systems with a tool like Force.com, if done correctly, can be transformational for an organization - applications that were too costly to build suddenly become feasible, resources that were constrained become available, and the quality of systems dramatically improves.

The IT consulting industry is in for a shock.  Driving the bus up to a client and unloading high priced tech archs, DBAs, and a multitude of developers will quickly become a thing of the past.  

The times are definitely changing.  Quickly.