The SaaS Revolution

Posted by Jim ShedivycloseAuthor: Jim Shedivy Name: Jim Shedivy
Email: jim@redmoonsolutions.com
Site: http://blog.redmoonsolutions.com
About: Jim focuses on the long term strategy and the alliance opportunities for Red Moon Solutions, a privately held family business. He has over twenty years of experience in managing tax technology projects and businesses.See Authors Posts (10) on Aug 19, 2010 | 0 comments

Where were you when you first learned of the “horrendous havoc” Y2K would bestow upon your company?  Do you remember learning about the ‘web’—and how your company needed to “get on” it?  Today’s versions are just as unique: “software as a service (SaaS)” and “cloud computing”. How much thought have you given to the ways it will change your business and business practices?  It’s intriguing—and is one of the most (positive) technology changes in a while.  We are poised at yet another major intersection of changing the ways that we do business. I see SaaS making three major differences in your practices—no matter what business you’re in.

Flexibility
You and your employees are no longer tethered to your office – by its location, technology or hours.  Software as a Service makes your location ‘anywhere’ and provides access to critical data and documents 24/7.  Imagine being able to pull or push critical data when you want, wherever you are! You can be in your Brazilian headquarters pulling real-time data from your US operations…Of course this also means one may be expected to be quicker in response to customers…and if you don’t—your competition will.

Real-Time Tech & Data
I know there are some great IT teams “out there”, but imagine a world where your systems had the latest functionality and updates (tax laws, etc.)/patches/bug fixes available to you as soon as they were released from the software vendor, versus waiting for IT to fit it in their update schedule? In another scenario: what if your systems were running on the best equipment (faster processing, etc.)?  The SaaS promise is that your systems are updated ASAP and run on the best equipment “out there”—employees can be better served with quicker reports and better technology. Information is being updated and analyzed real-time, meaning decisions can be made based on “now” data. Isn’t that the way it should be?

Collaboration
Internal and external collaboration is facilitated with SaaS tools such as portals and their CRM, document management, workflow, and virtual audit room modules.  The communication and collaboration possibilities are endless.  Just imagine, with this type of technology, we can limit or eliminate the amount of time IRS and state auditors need to be on-site reviewing documents.

I know what you’re thinking: “it seems so easy…so what are the drawbacks?”

We can get into these later—a hint: IT would say ‘security’—but with data centers that have the latest in security policies, processes and technology, you might be more up-to-date with hosting data externally vs. internally.

How is SaaS impacting the way you operate?  How have you seen SaaS impact your business – good and bad?  Do you think this is just another fad or here to stay?  Lastly, will SaaS level the field for smaller companies to more effectively compete against larger companies who in the past had greater resources to create proprietary technology solutions to create a competitive advantage? Tell us what you think!