Managing Automation - November 2007 - (Page 18)

joshua greenbaum NOTES It’s official: On-demand and software-as-a-service are no longer hip. As stand-alone concepts, they’ve become mundane, commonplace, and downright boring. Though more and more customers are signing onto these two concepts, the vendors are realizing that it takes a lot more than hype to sell software. This is good news for many reasons: The end of the hype forces vendors to get down to the business of delivering real innovation. The end of the hype also changes the equation when it comes to what a new product can do for IT vs. what it can do for the line of business. The onus is now on features, functionality, and innovation for the end user. That’s radically different than the lower total-costof-ownership (TCO) and ease-of-implementation selling points that have typically been touted for on-demand and SaaS until now. Those attributes largely benefit the CIO, while a focus on innovation better meets line-ofbusiness user needs. What’s starting to emerge is a richer and more complete view of what on-demand and SaaS can do beyond merely lowering TCO. Take GT Nexus, Inc. and Agistix, Inc., two companies automating the management of complex intermodal logistics for retailers, OEMs, and manufacturers. Both companies use an on-demand hub that essentially acts as a repository and management center for the myriad documents and data objects — and stakeholders — that are part of a complex global logistics chain. Making global logistics management an ondemand service, instead of something that an individual company installs and maintains on premise, is a good idea functionally, regardless of the fact that this approach also lowers TCO. Going on2007 On-Demand, SaaS Get Real josh@eaconsult.com The hype cycle for on-demand and software-as-a-service is winding down, and vendors are focusing on innovation — finally. demand or SaaS means that lots of knowledge, information, and connectivity can be leveraged across multiple users, customers, and partners. That leverage is enhanced by the entirely new things you can do once all that data and process have been organized under a single roof — things, such as sophisticated goods tracking and landed cost calculations, that were either impossible or done poorly using pre-SaaS approaches. That’s innovation that the customers take right to the bank. Other companies are benefiting from “operating in the cloud,” such as Adexa Inc. and E2open, Inc., which provide ondemand product lifecycle management and supply chain management solutions, respectively. Again, the issues of multiple disparate inputs requiring a high degree of integration and the need to support a broad-based, global collaboration between partners and users can be addressed most effectively with on-demand and SaaS. Delivering these capabilities on premise would not only be costlier, but it also wouldn’t work nearly as well, if at all. What’s great about this trend is that being hip always meant little to the business user trying to drive innovation to the bottom line. What we’re seeing from these post-hype vendors — BlueRoads Inc. is another good example — is a more sensible and defensible vision of on-demand and SaaS that makes them more than low-cost alternatives. The reason that on-demand and SaaS are finished as hype models is that they’ve evolved to a higher level of value, something we hypehaters have been waiting a long time to see. ■ Joshua Greenbaum is principal of Enterprise Applications Consulting, based in Berkeley, CA. maonline managingautomation.com For more of Joshua Greenbaum’s views, visit: ❑ Reaping BPM’s Rewards www.managingautomation .com/notes43 ❑ Regulate This www.managingautomation .com/notes42 ❑ Vive La Software www.managingautomation .com/notes41 ma 18 November Photo: David Toerge http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/notes43 http://www.managingautomation.com/notes42 http://www.managingautomation.com/notes41

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - November 2007

Managing Automation - November 2007 Contents Take 1 Mailbox SAP's Business ByDesign to Validate On-Demand Model for Enterprise SW Portfolio Management Specialist Losing Ground to Rivals At Incor, It's Time for Some Deep Breathing Can HART, ISA Get Together on a Wireless Spec? Mesa Tries to Help Improve Plant Metrics Notes Cover Story: The Digital Factory Special Report: Breaking Down Walls Integration: Dreaming of One ERP Industries: Locking onto Cyber-Security Transformation: Not Your Father's Time & Attendance Program Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - November 2007

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