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6 Posts tagged with the saas tag
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Knowledge Infusion is asked about this every day by organizations worldwide, including during a keynote presentation at an IHRIM event yesterday. CIO has an interesting piece today that I wanted to call to everyone's attention. Will continue to discuss in future posts.

 

Another infusion of knowledge...

 

Link to article

 

 

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Pain in the -AAS

Posted by Jason Averbook Nov 27, 2007

 

 

 

At Knowledge Infusion, we are asked daily about our thoughts regarding Software as a Service. Not just our thoughts, but what it is. In the world of acronym soup, SaaS is one that HR and talent management buyers need to understand.

 

 

As stated in many previous blog entries, SaaS is a great technology solution for many organizations but certainly not for everyone.

 

 

The world of SaaS continues to get more and more confusing with vendors and implemention firms talking about SaaS even if the application itself is not a true SaaS solution.

 

 

While we do education everyday throughout our customer base about what SaaS truly is, who it is for, AND WHAT EVERY COMPANY NEEDS TO DO BEFORE DEPLOYING A SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE HR solution; a new set of acronyms enter the space.

 

 

The link below links to a great/funny article about acronyms around "-as a service". A few interesting examples:

 

  • Business as a Service - huh?

  • Ethernet as a Service - hmm

  • Mashups as a Service - for all of HR, learn what a mashup is here

  • Whatever as a Service - this one takes the cake

 

What do you do as a service? Will be interested in seeing responses here.

 

 

Another infusion of knowledge...

 

 

Link to article

 

 

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: saas
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In a recent research note linked to below, Gartner made an interesting prediction that has caught the eye of the folks at Knowledge Infusion. At KI, we are involved in many software evaluations and selections where price is an issue, not the only issue, but still an issue. The latest research note from Gartner states that seven major things will drive costs down. A few of the biggies include Software as a Service (SaaS) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Some things to note about this and how it will effect the HR and talent management software space

 

  • More and more HR organizations are looking to Software as a Service solutions to drive their workforce facing solutions. The problem with this is that few HR organizations or vendors in the space are executing the deployment to acceptable customer service levels. This has to change during 2008 for SaaS solutions to continue to gain traction.

  • The ERP vendors such as Oracle and SAP are racing to change their software deployment models and architectures; the question remains, will they be able to do it in time.

  • Vendors such as Workday and Lawson have already invested heavily in the SOA model giving them a huge head start on the future of the core HR and foundation layers.

 

 

This topic will continue to gain attention over the next 12 to 18 months as the face of HR software changes forever (again). Stay tuned as the acronyms SaaS and SOA continue to replace the term ERP; and no, this doesn't mean Oracle and SAP are dead; just reinventing themselves.

 

 

Another infusion of knowledge...

 

 

Link to article

 

 

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: soa, saas, lawson, workday, gartner, erp_vendors, oracle, sap
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Computerworld does a great job of talking with a Software as a Service (SaaS) expert from Saugatuck Technology Inc and the things that all enterprises need to be thinking about when looking and deploying SaaS solutions.

 

On a daily basis, Knowledge Infusion is working with clients to help them understand this evolving market and what organizations need to be thinking about before entering and during deployment of these types of solutions. The nine things that this article highlights and some Knowledge Infusion comments are:

  1. What is Saas? - Read this carefully and do not let vendors try to confuse OnDemand or ASP with Software as a Service. Organizations such as Workday and SuccessFactors to name a few are doing this right today in the human capital management and talent management markets.

  2. What about security? - Take time to really understand how secure your data is. The vendors in this space make your data much more secure in their world then it would be stored at your site.

  3. How do SaaS vendors charge?- This is very important to take time to understand, especially in the HR space. Many people have said to us, "The software would be more than what we paid for PeopleSoft or SAP!!". The thing they are forgetting is how much they have paid in the past for support. You have to look at this as a TCO argument.

  4. What kinds of services do SaaS vendors provide? - Once again, very important to understand in this space. If you are used to x level support from your ERP provider, you are going to get Y level support from the SaaS vendor. Not necessarily good or bad, just different. You are also not implementing, but deploying which changes the types of support and services you need as well.

  5. Is SaaS only for small and medium businesses or will it work in our enterprise? - SaaS solutions are proving with the right planning upfront to work in any size enterprise. The PLANNING piece is critical. You have to look at your processes and understand how the SaaS vendors solution fits into your enterprise process flow.

  6. How mature are SaaS services? - Not very mature and rapidly growing up. Depends on the vendor and talk to references.

  7. How mature is the SaaS market? - See response to number 6

  8. Is SaaS more than a flash in the pan? - We believe this is the right solution for many organizations, not all, but many and depending on factors such as, may be the future for your organization with PLANNING.

    1. What is your ERP?

    2. What is your BI strategy?

    3. What is your global strategy?

  9. What involvement should the service users have with the vendor once contract is signed? - ALOT. This market is in constant BETA mode and things that you need in your solution are being added daily. Your feedback is so important and it is important to give it early and often.

It is a very exciting time in this space as vendors continue to shift towards this model. We will continue to see talent management vendors such as Taleo, Vurv, Authoria, Plateau, Saba, SumTotal, Halogen, Cornerstone OnDemand, Workscape and others continue to enhance or deploy their SaaS solutions over the next 12 months. Also, dont be suprised to see Oracle, SAP and Lawson continue to get MUCH better in this space. Learn about the market now, stay tuned - much more to come!!

 

Another infusion of knowledge...

 

Link to Computerworld Article

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!!

 

 

 

 

 

1 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: software_as_a_service, saas, workday, taleo, vurv, workscape, successfactors, halogen, cornerstoneondemand, plateau, oracle, sap
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Knowledge Infusion works with vendors of many types from ERP to SaaS vendors in the HR, Talent Management, HCM and Business Intelligence space. Click below for a great article on the YOUTH DRAIN in many software vendors today. A good lesson for all vendors and a good tip for all customers looking to partner with vendors today.

 

 

This is not saying to buy from a bunch of twenty year olds, there is much to be said from buying from those who have been there and done that, but be sure there is an infusion of new age thinking into those lessons learned. Those who do that have a great chance for success.

 

 

Another quick infusion of knowledge...

 

 

Youth Drain in Software

 

 

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: vendors, erp_vendors, saas, quick_infusion
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Late Friday, a story emerged on the wires about 800,000 applicants information (including Social Security Numbers) being stolen from The Gap, a large US based retailer. See link below.

 

Knowledge Infusion works with clients on a daily basis to help them get BTP (Beyond The Paranoia) of not letting data outside of their shops; a story like this doesn't help. Before you go and lock your file cabinets and turn off all electronic access to anything, a few data points:

 

  • The incidents that get this type of exposure are very rare and in 99.3% of organizations, never happen.

  • Software as a Service applications are working in almost every industry worldwide without issue; lets not put our industry back on its heels because of a few incidents.

  • Innovation and TCO being built into software today has a future of open access, social collaboration and trust; once again, lets keep that going as we will need it. We are not all bad apples.

I have a feeling that this story is not over. Taleo (a leading Talent Management vendor) even put out a press release on Friday saying "it wasn't us".

 

Stay tuned for more but know that amongst our 160 enterprise clients, this is very rare and should not change your overall technology strategy in the least.

 

Another infusion of knowledge...

 

Mind the Gap: Personal Info Stolen

0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: taleo, saas

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