Posted by Administrator on February 2, 2009 under ERP Software | 
We often get the question is SaaS a tool we should use. This is a broad topic, so we did some research and came up with a set of answers to this query:
SaaS is software that’s delivered as a service, from a ‘cloud’ which could be a data centre based anywhere. Much like water comes to the home or office. You open the tap, the water pours out, you pay for what you use. You don’t own the reservoir or the pipes that bring the water to you. Will this model in the case of software?
The phenomenon of information growing exponentially affects all businesses, from SMEs to large enterprises. Operating environment becomes more complex with new sets of risks associated with managing and sharing large amounts of information.
Today’s fast, targeted, silent threats take advantage of the open network and new technologies that support an increasingly mobile workforce. Organizations need innovative approaches to protect the web, email servers and endpoint. The challenge is to find an easy-to-implement solution that avoid the cost and upheaval involved in installing new network infrastructure.
Software as a Service (SaaS) is the next evolution in how companies use and pay for software. Some say it’s the next step in the fulfillment of the technology “dialtone.” Executives and business managers want to understand the impact of SaaS to their bottom line, business model structure, and real-time operation requirements.
Dr. Timothy Chou was an early pioneer in delivering SaaS when he launched Oracle’s efforts in 1999. Over the past 10 years he has written several books, including The End of Software. He has also lectured and advised numerous companies on this significant shift in the software business. Most recently, he authored the book Seven, which discusses seven fundamental business models from the traditional to the Internet. Chou shares with Inner Circle readers his opinion on SaaS and its potential impact on how companies do business — today and in the future.
Dr. Timothy Chou (TC): Cost is certainly an executive concern. No matter what industry you’re in, your IT budget is dominated not by the cost of computers but by the cost of people — people who are managing the performance, availability, security, and maintenance of the software you’ve purchased. As a general rule, if you take your software purchase price and multiply it by four, that’s what you’ll spend to manage that software, per year. This translates to easily 75 percent of your budget being tied up in managing existing software systems.
www.sun.com/emrkt/innercircle/newsletter/1008/index.html
There’s no consensus on the term quite yet, even though the concept is sufficiently proven by now that it ranks as a legitimate alternative to licensed applications that are typically deployed inhouse and managed with internal IT staff. Software as a service, or SaaS, seems to have a slight edge in the name game, so we’ll go with that.
There are a couple of technology basics associated with SaaS. The first is that in most cases the system you access remotely will be available over an ultra-high-speed, secure Internet connection (or, alternatively, via a virtual private network, which for all intents and purposes amounts to the same thing).
One of the biggest technology benefits of a hosted solution is that it can inherently provide a platform for a “services-oriented architecture,” or SOA. This is a way to enhance the functionality of a system using external “services” available via the Internet, rather than coding all system functions internally. There is no direct relationship between SaaS and SOA, but if your SaaS solution is designed to take advantage of it, that can be a benefit in providing add-on functionality.
multichannelmerchant.com/opsandfulfillment/saas/
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Posted by Administrator on January 25, 2009 under ERP Software |
Why try to implement your ERP implementation with a phased approach? Why not just install the system and then educate the end-users in how to use it? The reason is that an ERP implementation is a huge undertaking. If done correctly, your company will benefit greatly. If done incorrectly, your company can throw away millions of dollars. Why do we say this?
via » Meet Your ERP Implementation Goals and Objectives Free Articles Directory About Business.
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Posted by Administrator on October 31, 2008 under ERP Software |
DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct 31, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Research and Markets ( www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7ec7b3/erm_software_app) has announced the addition of the “ERM Software & Application Management Services Market 2007-2010 – Bundled Report” report to their offering.
Enterprise Resource Management (ERM) applications integrate content value chain and business support processes providing insight into critical business data. Stiff competition and rising costs are forcing companies to realign their processes, resources, financials etc, obtain a single view of spending levels and maximize usage of people and assets ensuring positive return on investment.
The SMB segment is expected to account for significant share of the ERM market, over the period 2008-2010. With the advent of on-demand or the SaaS (Software as a Service) model of ERP and other ERM applications, it has become affordable for a large number of companies. Further, the vendors have acquired the expertise and initiated channel programs to tap this segment. Read more of this article »
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Posted by Administrator on September 25, 2008 under ERP Software |
Here is a good article just released.
You’ve ‘done’ ERP, now get the value
By – Kevin Clarke, HansaWorld SA country manager
So you’ve made the decision to invest in an enterprise resource planning solution. You know you’re getting some software that drives proven, best practice business processes, and you’ve gone through the perhaps painful process of having the software implemented, configured and fine-tuned. Happy days are here, right? Not necessarily. You need to be sure you don’t suffer from user regression as well as the possibility of your shiny, integrated new ERP system becoming little more than a glorified accounting system.
Probably one of the biggest challenges with any ERP deployment is that of user acceptance. While training must surely have been an integral part of the project, it is important to remember it should not end with the conclusion of the project. When the consultants have packed up and left the building and the ERP system is humming nicely in the background, a new danger lurks, which might adversely affect the value you get from your ERP solution.
Read the entire article here…
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Posted by Administrator on May 30, 2008 under ERP Software |
ERP implementations are difficult. That is a given. But, during an ERP implementation people always use analogies to describe how difficult the process will be. Here are some of our favorites. Please comment and add to the list of interesting, strange, humorous or bizarre analogies you have heard:
1. The implementation will be like open heart surgery while the patient is still alive and working.
2. An ERP implementation is like the corporate equivalent of a brain transplant.
3. I think of ERP implementations like mountain climbing: No two are the same, Some principles are universal: Gravity makes you fall no matter what mountain you climb. Some approaches are either wrong or very risky.
4. ERP is like my marriage…In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health…
5. ERP implementation is like a warfare, make it quick and fast, don’t drag too long. The soldier’s morale is the key.
6. ERP implementation is like a soccer team, where the coach, physiotherapist and substitutes have roles that are equal to those of the players themselves. (… in explaining the role of top management.)
And our favorite …
7. An ERP implementation is like a 9 month root canal.
Do you know of any more?
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