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Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett. SELECTING A SAAS PROVIDER. 24th September, 2010 ICAEW. AccMan. obligAtory advert. AccMan. MORE ADVERTS. Former partner in UK firm of CAs Contract negotiator and selection consultant Industry analyst SAP Mentor (1/100 out of 2 million+ community)

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Dennis Howlett

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  1. Dennis Howlett SELECTING A SAAS PROVIDER • 24th September, 2010 • ICAEW AccMan

  2. obligAtory advert AccMan

  3. MORE ADVERTS • Former partner in UK firm of CAs • Contract negotiator and selection consultant • Industry analyst • SAP Mentor (1/100 out of 2 million+ community) • ZD Net contributor (enterprise applications) • AccMan (PSA innovation) AccMan

  4. SAAS APPS GROWTH • “Every SaaS vendor in the Software Insider Index® drove 14% to 26% growth despite the pick up in on-premises license sales.” (Ray Wang - Altimeter: 20th Aug, 2010) • Salesforce.com +24.8% • NetSuite +16.9% • SuccessFactors +26.7% AccMan

  5. SAAS APPS GROWTH • Kashflow - 100% YoY growth 2009>2010, same 2010>2011 • Xero - near term expecting 100K customers, 22K in 2010, may hit 40K 2011 • IDC sees SaaS accounting as the no.3 growing apps space • AccMan tracking 10% month over month growth in 2010 for major vendors in SME space • Close to 70 apps plays available in the UK of varying types AccMan

  6. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES • Consider SaaS as your way of getting closer to clients • Can SaaS open the door to value add? • Benchmarking? • SaaS as a way to reduce operational cost tor you and clients • Should you be bundling services? AccMan

  7. COMMERCIAL BUSINESS • Consider SaaS for fast track subsidiary operations • Move capex to opex • Collaboration environments • Moving finance to the centre of operations • Transformational change AccMan

  8. BROAD CHARACTERISTICS • Pay as you go billing • SaaS vendors carry infrastructure cost and lion’s share of risk • Modest implementation cost c.f. on-premise • Fast track innovation cycles - typically 4x pa • Richer user experience/productivity AccMan

  9. CONSEQUENCES • On-prem vendors become disintermediated • Utility computing models inherent in SaaS lead to more innovation • Potential for unpleasant lock-in is real • Things go wrong (gasp) AccMAn

  10. WHAT DOES SAAS LOOK LIKE? • Collaboration plays with dashboards • Process plays across verticals • Co-mingling social apps with finance • Vertical market specific • Extensible apps through APIs AccMAn

  11. STATE OF READINESS • Most SME apps are in a relatively early stage of development offering nuanced capabilities • Twinfield most advanced for professionals • NetSuite most mature in commercial arena • SAP Business ByDesign will be a fast follower • FinancialForce making the funky process play • Workday hitting the large enterprises AccMAn

  12. HOW TO SELECT? • Determine your pain point • Undertake needs analysis • Match needs to solutions • Due diligence • Negotiate (where possible) AccMAn

  13. PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE • Be prepared to experiment - not all apps will suit all clients (throw away apps/multiple apps?) • Analyse portfolio for client readiness - might include shoebox types • For SME clients: think end user not accounting types - UX matters !! • For larger clients: think business process and collaboration AccMAn

  14. COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS • Cost/benefit analysis is critical in replacement situations • Potential investment write off/closing out data centre contracts? • Business reach - strategic thinking (Salesforce environments?) • Speed to value (the Facebook effect) • Data cleansing (all too often under estimated) AccMAn

  15. REMEMBER IMPLEMENTATION • Salesforce: the Facebook for enterprise? (Chatter and Seesmic integration) • Xero/FreeAgent obsessive about cust experience, zero training • NetSuite/SAP BYD require implementation services. Look for 1:1/1.5 cost AccMAn

  16. DEALING WITH VENDORS • “You don’t get a pass cuz yer SaaS” - Frank Scavo • In most situations, this will be an IT style project like most others • Fake SaaS v ‘real’ SaaS - the multi-tenancy issue • Examine contracts carefully, embody demos in contracts • Do vendors embody the SaaS Bill of Rights? AccMAn

  17. DEALING WITH VENDORS • Undertake TCO analysis in the buy cycle • Independently source customer references (Google vendors) • Reserve the right to include 3rd party advisors • In large scale deployments ensure you include all moving parts • Data management? AccMAn

  18. ISSUES TO CONSIDER • Security should not be an issue - c.f. on-premise • Availability should be superior to on-prem • Data centre location is NOT an issue • BUT - you must run detailed checks on these issues • Due diligence on the vendor is vitally important AccMAn

  19. ISSUES TO CONSIDER • Security should not be an issue - c.f. on-premise • Availability should be superior to on-prem • Data centre location is NOT an issue • BUT - you must run detailed checks on these issues • Due diligence on the vendor is vitally important AccMAn

  20. AVAILABILITY - INTACCT AccMAn

  21. WHEN IT GOES WRONG • ClearBooks outtage w/e 29th August is a classic case of not understanding the underpinnings required for SaaS/cloud • 3 days data lost • No user communication except on GetSatisfaction • No user data download • Audit should not be overlooked AccMAn

  22. BEWARE INCUMBENT FUD • It’s not Sage/Microsoft/MYOB etc • It’s not secure/available/customizable etc etc • Hybrid is better (if you must) • It doesn’t do Excel AccMAn

  23. DUE DILIGENCE AND FUD • Claim: “NetSuite has never made money in its 10 year history.” Untrue. • SaaS vendors can make incumbents look incredibly foolish very easily. AccMAn

  24. SAFEGUARDS • There are NO standards - CIF but beware • Customer Bill of Rights • Data location - DPA is NOT as rigorous as it sounds • Data retrieval - your rights? AccMAn

  25. YOUR JOB AccMan

  26. BEWARE INCUMBENT FUD AccMAn

  27. BUT... Do the math (honestly) for yourself (or get help) AccMAn

  28. GOOD NEWS EXAMPLE AccMan

  29. Dennis Howlett • AccMan - http://accmanpro.com • Irregular Enterprise - http://blogs.zdnet.com/Howlett • DealArchitect: http://typepad.dealarchitect.com • Software Insider:http://blog.softwareinsider.org • Software as Services: blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS • Enterprise Systems Spectator: http://fscavo.blogspot.com/ Q&A - RESOURCES Certification 5

  30. Dennis Howlett CONTACT • email: dahowlett@gmail.com • Twitter: http://twitter.com/dahowlett • Skype/Facebook/LinkedIn: dahowlett • te: +34 953 708 636/+34 607 482 739 AccMan

  31. Dennis Howlett THANKS & CREDITS • Thanks for your attention • Thanks to Hugh MacLeod: http://www.gapingvoid.com for use of his art • Thanks to iCanHasCheezBurger.com for humor additions • Thanks to colleagues at EIs/EAs • Thanks to Compfight for providing CCC Flickr images AccMan

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