In case you missed the enterprise software VC panel at Software2008, here's the debrief - part one.

When asked "What's a hot?" from an investing perspective:

Navin Chaddha of Mayfield immediately responded: "enterprise software is NOT hot;" companies catering to the needs of Internet 500 companies are hot and he is investing in business model innovation rather than technology. Sanjay Subhedar of Storm Ventures chimed in that data protection, application virtualization, risk and energy management were important investing themes. SaaS was still a theme across all panelists, with the exception of Glenn Solomon from Granite Global Ventures who takes the contrary view and prefers looking at traditional enterprise software opportunities.

When asked "Is there life for the licensing model in venture-backed companies?"

Prashant Shah responded: "in specific instances such as areas requiring deep integration in the messaging layer of applications. Sanjay added that is the application is mission critical, customers are still SaaS shy. Navin also noted that infrastructure software largely followed the licensing model

Continued in Part Two, SaaS - What the VCs are saying at Software2008