Elearning! Fall 2007 - (Page 32) bestofbreed SaaS technology has grown significantly and will continue to grow in coming years. “Ease of use, rapid deployment, limited upfront investment in capital and staffing, plus a reduction in software management responsibility, all make SaaS a desirable alternative to many on-premises solutions, and they will continue to act as drivers of growth,” says Sharon Mertz, Gartner’s research director. According to Gartner, this year SaaS revenue will surpass $5.1 billion — a 21 percent growth over 2006 revenues. In terms of total market share, Gartner reports that SaaS adoption is close to 70 percent of the total in e-learning and Web conferencing. BENEFITS OF PROVIDERS Compared to traditional onpremises LMS software, the SaaS delivery model is appealing to HR and training professionals for several reasons, including its lower start-up costs, reduced total cost of ownership and rapid deployment. Research completed by Bersin & Associates indicates that on-demand solutions are highly effective and scalable. Web-services technology makes integration with a company’s system easier than ever and speeds up the implementation timeframe. ed tool set (while adequate) is missing some features you find in a focused, best-of-breed third-party tool. Purchasing a suite, then, may force you to trade off perceived benefits for a system that may not actually meet your company’s needs. While a single vendor solution may seem to provide implement and maintain this type of solution is high and may slow deployment, thereby eliminating or significantly reducing return on investment. With an on-demand SaaS solution, the vendor takes responsibility for delivering the system and implementing upgrades. SaaS technology is Purchasing a suite may force you to trade off perceived benefits for a system that may not actually meet your needs. SaaS offer several advantages over traditional integrated onpremises solutions. Bersin’s findings note that the actual functionality available in a traditional, on-premises suite is much more limited than that available from focused best-of-breed vendors. Development tools, for example, are widely available from many specialized companies; however, the LMS-providhigher levels of accountability and control, in effect it can create the opposite problem. If a suite provider cannot meet an organization’s needs, the buyer has essentially put all its eggs into one basket and may have no recourse when part of the system does not meet the company’s needs. In addition, the human capital and IT infrastructure required to owned, delivered and managed remotely by a vendor, leaving the maintenance and upkeep burden with the vendor and not the client. CONCLUSION A best-of-breed LMS provider can deliver product enhancements and partnerships that offer clients both depth and breadth of functionality. The resulting integrated solution is composed of best-of-breed products for which the LMS vendor takes full responsibility. Clients are also safeguarded by a master-service-level agreement that provides a centralized approach to product support and maintenance, as well as a clear upgrade path. The growing popularity of the SaaS delivery model is making even easier for learning leaders to assemble best-ofbreed solutions that deliver world-class functionality quickly and cost-effectively. —Susan Swanson is a freelance research analyst and writer specializing in the learning and performance industry. 32 Fall 2007 Elearning!
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