Software as a Service (SaaS)

Sage Announces Global CRM Strategy — CRM vision addresses emerging customer needs, leverages Web 2.0 technologies, and begins delivering new strategic benefits in 2008.

Scottsdale, Ariz. - March 10, 2008 — Sage CRM Solutions, part of the Sage Group plc, has announced its global CRM strategy. Sage CRM Solutions 2010 is a comprehensive product and technology vision to guide development of the Sage CRM Solutions product family that includes ACT! by Sage, SageCRM, and Sage SalesLogix. The strategy addresses distinct business requirements; creates new interoperability among the Sage CRM Solutions family; applies open Web standards to enable a connected front and back-office; and incorporates emerging Web 2.0 technologies.

“Our customers have the potential to grow and enhance their businesses through the insights that our CRM solutions can offer them and the implementation of this strategy will help them achieve that potential,” explained Joe Bergera, executive vice president and global general manager, Sage CRM Solutions. “CRM has reached a critical turning point. Customers tell us their requirements have moved beyond the on-premise versus hosted debate. They want a pragmatic approach that delivers a fully functional ‘anywhere user experience’ supported by a connected front-office and back-office environment, and interoperability between our market leading contact management products and CRM suites.”

The strategy – developed through research among the Sage customer base of more than 5.5 million business management software and services customers – identifies tangible opportunities that small and mid-sized businesses and divisions of enterprises can take advantage of this year, with additional capabilities being delivered incrementally through 2010. Sage CRM Solutions customers will realize benefits including:

• quick time-to-value via purpose-built solutions;

• enhanced end-user/cross-organizational productivity with Web 2.0 applications;

• end-to-end business processes through front and back-office integration;

• functional synergies among Sage CRM, ERP and vertical solutions through the application of Web services and other standards-based technologies; and

• investment protection via flexible and interoperable on-demand and on-premise implementation options.

Business Requirements-Driven Segmentation

Businesses interact with their customers in many different ways. While some businesses work one-to-one with their customers, others have more distributed organizations that need to manage one-to-many or many-to-many relationships. Sage’s CRM strategy accounts for each organization’s customer interaction model, as well as its performance enhancement strategy, and CRM buyer type. Sage CRM Solutions are optimized to address business requirements based on this segmentation, anticipating that many organizations will require expanded functionality and deployment options over time.

“Sage’s delivery strategy for CRM buyer types, meticulously segmented from the simplest to the most complex customer interaction models, represents a level of planning not commonly seen from solution providers,” said Mary Wardley, IDC vice president, enterprise applications and CRM software. “This not only affords buyers a better ability to custom fit CRM within their organizations, but also presents compelling opportunities for the extensive Sage partner network to provide professional services that help customers, and Sage, fully realize this global strategy.”

Continued

CRM Daily | Sage CRM Announces Expanded and Updated Services

By Dave

Its that time of year again. No, Im not talking about spring cleaning. No, not taxes either. Its the time of year when every MBA student thinks about his or her career plan. Today I had the privilege of meeting with one of Stanford GSBs finest scholars. His number one question: should I get into venture capital?

While I won’t answer that question in this blog entry, I will talk about one of the items we discussed at length. Here’s what I like about SaaS companies:

• Recurring revenue model. One of the most compelling aspects of any SaaS company is its revenue stream. Although it takes some time to develop, once a SaaS company has a customer base and has reached a steady churn rate, it has a predictable, repeatable revenue stream. Then it all comes down to continuing to acquire customers while reducing churn.
• Low cost of sales. Another incredibly compelling aspect of the SaaS model is the low total cost of sales associated with these companies. The product is available for demonstration, evaluation, and long-term use right over the web. While some customer accounts may still require in-person sales, the vast majority can at least get up and running without an on-site customer visit. As a result, a great SaaS company can be very successful at a “land and expand” strategy.

• Ease of delivery. Unlike the old installed software model, SaaS companies, like Consumer Internet companies, get to deliver updates when they want to. Customers lose some control in this model – whereas they used to be able to decide when they would roll out software updates, now the company delivering the software decides that for them. But companies benefit immensely because they get the most up to date capabilities without the overhead associated with traditional software delivery and maintenance. Companies can also deliver these releases more quickly and more efficiently than before.
• Stickiness. Most if not all SaaS offerings require that the customer input or import data into the service. For example, a human resources management offering would likely require a customer to import its organizational data. Having the customer complete the initial work is critical, and sometimes challenging. But once the customer does this, they are likely to stick as long as they are getting some value from the product. Having gone through the process once, they are not likely to switch to another system. Moreover, extracting and exporting data from service based offerings is harder than it was with installed software.
  
• Measurable growth. Finally, with SaaS business model, a company can really measure its performance. Once the revenue stream is established, a company can focus on a few key metrics. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) indicates how much recurring (vs. new) revenue a company has each month from its customer base. Companies can track their customer Payback Time to see how long it takes to recoup the cost of acquiring a customer and getting that customer up and running. Then companies can focus on reducing this time.

Tech, Startups, Capital, Ideas. » Why Software As Service Businesses Are So Interesting

Small and midsize companies are slowly but surely turning their heads — and business — to software-as-a-service.

By Jessica Tsai

For years now, software-as-a-service (SaaS) has been the little engine that could — and it’s been gaining significant traction as more and more companies are turning to hosted, on-demand solutions, according to a report released today by Access Markets International (AMI) Partners. The report particularly underscores the growing adoption of SaaS among small and midsize businesses (SMBs), revealing that 21 percent of small businesses and 31 percent of midsize ones are using a SaaS model — double the penetration seen in 2004.

The consistent development of SaaS remains “steady” and “incremental,” says Laurie McCabe, vice president of SMB insights and solutions at AMI-Partners. According to the report, SMBs are drawn to SaaS because the technology:

• is easy to use;
• is easy to implement and maintain;
• requires limited infrastructure and technology resources; and
• is increasingly available.

“There are, truly, many great SaaS solutions out there for SMBs, in almost every application area,” McCabe says. Yet while SaaS technology may be readily available, adoption is hampered by the fact that many businesses still need to be educated about its benefits.

The report states that SaaS adoption among midsize businesses is “significantly outpacing” penetration within the small-business sector — in fact, midsize businesses are, on average, spending about six times more per year than their small-business counterparts are, and they’re twice as likely to report a planned increase in spending in the next 12 months. “Small businesses are typically slower than [midsize] businesses to adopt any new type of technology solution,” McCabe says. “As a group, small businesses tend to be less knowledgeable about what’s available, and more reluctant to try things than [midsize] businesses [are].”

Aside from educating themselves, McCabe argues that there are no legitimate obstacles for smaller businesses looking to acquire a SaaS solution — SaaS is an equal-opportunity model. The initial steps are remarkably simple, McCabe says — and may be just what a small or midsize company needs to get the ball rolling: “Identify the business functions you need a solution for, and ‘google’ that function — such as ‘CRM and SaaS’ — to get an idea of the range of offerings out there,” she advises. “Then try a few and compare.”

In fact, she adds, the most fundamental reason to turn to SaaS in the first place is that it’s “easier to try and use than traditional packaged software.” Furthermore, most SaaS solution providers will give a potential client the option to see its data in a live demo — and some industry wags have noted that any vendor that won’t let you test-drive its software should be immediately removed from consideration.

Growth may be steady but McCabe predicts SaaS will take another three years to become truly accepted by the mainstream. It helps that big-name companies are also taking a dive into the SaaS pool, further extending awareness of the market. And the fact that SaaS solutions are now being peddled by established vendors such as Microsoft and IBM should also help boost confidence.

As of now, the market has yet to ripen. “Our survey indicated that 34 percent of small businesses were not aware of SaaS, and 33 percent didn’t think SaaS was relevant to their business[es],” McCabe laments. As a result, she adds, it remains the vendors’ burden to convey the advantages and practicality of SaaS.

destinationCRM.com: SaaS Is As Easy As 1-2-3, A-B-C