Presentation Transcript

1. Software As A Service (SaaS) Prepared for International Institute of Business Analysis May 24, 2011 Al Moore
2. Agenda What Is SaaS? What Drives Companies to SaaS? What Prevents Companies from Using SaaS? Selecting a SaaS Provider Major Offerings & Players Take-Away Terms Resources Open Discussion
3. SaaS Defined According to Wikipedia… Software as aService… A software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally (typically in the (Internet) cloud) and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet. Other Terms: On-Demand Software Leased Software Utility Computing
4. Why You Want to Learn About SaaS According to Gartner Group SaaS sales reached $9B in 2010, up 15.7% from 2009 SaaS sales are projected to increase to $10.7b in 2011, up 16.2% from 2010 SaaS applications, which accounted for a little more than 10% of the total enterprise software market last year, would represent at least 16% of worldwide software sales by 2014!
5. SaaS – Future Prospects Per Forrester Research… ~35% have or are implementing/expanding in 12 months
6. SaaS – What it Isn’t NOT the ‘ole Service Bureau…
7. SaaS – What it Isn’t NOT the more recent Application Services Provider (ASP) model…
8. SaaS – What it Isn’t SaaS - ASP Differentiators: ASPs typically manage third-party software ASPs typically offer Client/Server-based applications ASPs run multiple instances of the software
9. SaaS – What it Isn’t NOTInfrastructure as a Service (IaaS)… AKA contracted “Cloud Computing” The National Institute of Standards definition: Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. Cloud Computing might be used, but it isn’t “It” I
10. SaaS – What it Isn’t NOTPlatform as a Service (PaaS)… The delivery of a computing platform and solution stack as a service. PaaS offerings facilitate deployment of applications. Allof the hardware & software facilities for application design, application development, testing, deployment and hosting
11. SaaS – What it Is The modern SaaS Vendor Solution will exhibit the following characteristics: Rent-like Pricingvs. Permanent Use Licensing Configuration vs. Customization Multi-tenancy vs. Multiple Instances Frequent Release Schedulevs. Annual or Bi-Annual Open Integration Protocols vs. Proprietary
12. SaaS – Rent-like Pricing Per-seat / Per-month fees Benefits: Lower Implementation costs No capital expenditures No additional ongoing maintenance or support fees “Freemium” model Excellent for start-ups Drawbacks You never own it Costs escalate with growth
13. SaaS – Multi-tenancy All users access one set of code and one database “One House Fits All” Benefits: Economies of scale Data Mining (?) Drawbacks: Lack of Flexibility Real pressure on the quality of design in the application architecture
14. SaaS – Configuration All users access one set of code and one database High reliance on APIs “One Size Fits All” Benefits: Economies of Scale Drawbacks: Lack of Flexibility Real pressure on the quality of design in the application functionality
15. SaaS – Release Frequency SaaS providers typically update their software more frequently than traditional providers - it’s easier! Benefits: More features, more quickly Enhanced testing capabilities Limited customer impact You don’t have to manage it! Drawbacks: You might have too much spare time?
16. SaaS – Open Integration Protocols Providers must leverage open protocols to operate over the Internet HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol REST – Representational State Transfer SOAP – Simple Object Access JSON – JavaScript Object Notation “Mashups” - a web app that combines data and/or functionality from more than one source Benefits: More interoperability
17. Why Consider SaaS? MONEY!!
18. SaaS – Internal Business Drivers Per Forrester…
19. SaaS – External Drivers Acceptance of the Browser GUI Standardization of Integration Protocols Availability of Broadband Service Internet Reliability
20. SaaS - Barriers User Concerns over: Security Functional Flexibility Provider Viability
21. Security Concerns Data is no longer within your walls, behind your firewalls It’s accessible from anywhere Mistakes happen! Cloud Model – Authentication management is hard to perform & Integrate with existing, in-house resources Security Standards are immature Your data can move without your knowledge Industry secrecy
22. Potential Remedies Utilize recognized standards: SAS-70 ISO 27001 Unambiguous SLAs, with penalties User access controls Back-up & recovery measures Security vulnerability tests Use of Encryption & Audit Logs Reverse Access Data delivery when contract terminates Data Escrow Agreements
23. Functionality Concerns “One Size Fits All” Different user requirements must be “configurable” User requirements must be unambiguous How are later configuration changes handled? Are they even possible? Places a huge emphasis on the Provider Evaluation process
24. Potential Remedies Define specific Functional Requirements as “Ability to…” statements “Ability to print separate warehouse Pick Tickets for each Zone” “Ability to print Pick Ticket line items by shelf location in descending numerical sequence.” Review the Application Database to ensure it meets your critical needs Identify Provider API Capabilities at a detailed level Review the Report Generation Capabilities for ease of use and completeness
25. Provider Viability Concerns Face it… …the Provider holds the keys to your kingdom! Relocations Management Changes Ownership Changes Financial Failure – Foreclosure - Bankruptcy
26. Potential Provider Viability Remedies Deal only with Tier 1 Providers …the smaller the Provider, the greater the risk Execute a Strong Contract that offers you protection against specific risks & events Conduct Effective Reference Checks
27. Taking the Leap D
28. Selecting the Provider Selection Criteria Functional Fit Total Cost of Ownership Over Five Years, with Growth Use “Net-Present-Value” analysis Implementation Costs Contract & SLAs Solution Infrastructure Security – Data and Physical Including Business Continuation/Disaster Recovery Backups Permissions and Password Protection Level of Customization
29. Selecting the Provider Selection Criteria (cont.) Integration with existing or planned applications Cross Platform Compatibility Operating Systems Browsers Scalability Mobile Compatibility Upgrades Services Available Business Consulting Training Implementation & Transition Planning Customer Support
30. Selecting the Provider Selection Criteria (cont.) Business Intelligence Flat File Interface Capability Tenure Competitiveness Number of Paying Customers Financial Health Profitability Venture Capital
31. Offerings and Players Offerings:
32. Offerings and Players Players: Office Productivity/Collaboration/E-mail General Business Management
33. Take-Away Terms Data Escrow = data assets placed in the custody of a third-party through a contract IaaS = hardware Infrastructure as a Service On-Premise = the opposite of the SaaS delivery model PaaS = Platform - a method for deployment of the “Solution Stack” Provisioning = Implementation Service Level Agreements (SLA) = contractually defined levels of service; regularly measured to validate contract compliance Solution Stack = all of the hardware and software required to develop, test, and deploy application software
34. Conclusions Targets the Small Business/Start-up Market Office Productivity is the most likely use SaaS appears to be trailing IaaS and PaaS The Pricing/Features Combinations can be tricky There will be Start-up Costs Lack of Flexibility will hinder adoption in the General Management arenas Vendor Selection will be no less risky than On-Premise – more so for Management apps SaaS could lead to more “Best-of-Breed” Software Strategies Watch Microsoft’s Office 365
35. Resources www.business-software.com www.cio.com www.crmsoftwareblog.com www.earthweb.com www.forrester.com www.networkworld.com www.saaschronicles.com www.wisegeek.com www.wikipedia.com www.zdnet.com
36. Q & A
37. Thank You for Your Time!