Software as a Service
<< of SaaS solutions is very compelling. He explains that every authorised person with in a business community can have access to the software’s functionality, while upgrades can be easily managed in a hosted environ ment by the solutions provider and made available to everybody instantly due to the single- instance, multi-tenant nature of the application.
“
We see … the opportunity to create new applications that use these Cloud-native elements as a core part of their functional scope and as a core part of how people interact with them.”
– Kaj Van de Loo, SAP
In Clark’s view, the main benefits of SaaS over traditional software offerings are significant and numerous. He suggests the following key highlights:
• Tier 1 solutions delivered simply to your desktop.
• Rapid deployment with minimal client IT resource requirements, both in terms of personnel and hardware.
• Dedicated off site resources to manage the environment and databases that support your business critical application.
• Often no Capex – Short term contracts matching your business need.
• Faster ROI, often self funding.
• Significant resiliency and redundancy built into the solution architecture.
Special Report
.
Raghavan Subramanian, associate VP, Cloud
Computing at Infosys
Raghavan Subramanian, associate VP, Cloud
Computing at Infosys sees the key benefits of SaaS applications as offering users the ability to access software via a Cloud platform on a pay-as-you-go or, say, monthly
8
MANUFACTURING
&LOGISTICS
IT May 2010
basis, as an alternative deployment model to installing the software application on-premise. He adds that, in some circumstances, traditional applications can pose a number of challenges. For example, he points out that in the B2B space applications may be developed for use by organisations such as manufacturers, resellers and OEMs within a particular partner ecosystem. If copies of the software application are distributed to each of these partner companies software customisation can become difficult to manage, sometime resulting in silos of separate customisation can take place, which can compromise the overall efficient use of the application. “SaaS offers a means of bringing this type of situation under control,” said Raghavan. He adds that individual companies within the business ecosystem may not have the level of freedom of customisation they had with traditional applications; but nevertheless SaaS can offer a single instance of the software that, if suitably configured, can accommodate the needs of all partner organisations within a business ecosystem. Although the level of possible customisation would be less than it would be for an application used by a single user organisation, the overall benefits can be greater, says Raghavan. “It can bring a lot more discipline in controlling the software that is used by an organisation and its partners,” he said.
Raghavan also makes the point that it is the SaaS applications that are designed to work in an off-line capacity that can be
particularly attractive for end users. His view is that users should be able to use many applications, such as email, in an off-line capacity without having to do “any crazy workouts”. “If providers are able to offer this advantage then end users will be a lot more likely to use these types of SaaS-based applications,” he said.
Kay Van De Loo, senior VP of technology strategy at SAP
Kay Van De Loo, senior VP of technology strategy at
SAP, believes the time to value is a very convincing argument for a SaaS solution. This, he points out, is because it can be up and running quickly with a short configuration time. Another advantage cited by Van De Loo is that users can pay as they go. Interestingly, he adds that these subscription models really have nothing to do with where the software is located. “In fact, we’re now beginning to launch subscription-type licences for our on-premise applications,” he said. “So, as it happens, the two models fit together well. If you have a subscription-based licensing model and an infrastructure that scales up easily when new people subscribe >>
www.logisticsit.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52