We hear discussions, debate, read analysis & reports on the introduction of a new framework / model “SaaS” software as a service. The computing has gone through extreme transformation since Abacus was invented. Our forefathers used Abacus to calculate and solve mathematical equation and problems. It was in the seventeenth century Charles Babbage, invented the first computing machine and no one could have ever imagined that a huge machine would become the enabler for business transformation and global integration in future. A priceless gift to the human civilization by Charles Babbage that has created a flat world for Global community to co-create values for growth and prosperity. The era of mainframe computing has passed, domination of client server architecture is fading away and the Web technology is still evolving. The intellect and global community is building their future economy on the technological framework that has been created over a period of six decades. As economic indicators, business needs and market dynamics are rapidly changing across the global landscape, the challenges for continuous improvements in quality, performance, strive for operational and business excellence, and cost reduction is a never ending journey. Business houses, multinationals, transnational, medium enterprises and small business houses are constantly in search for achieving excellence and meeting the customers’ needs and demands to stay competitive.
The question that haunts us is what is driving what? Is business driving the technology or technology driving the business? To my belief it is the global consumer with insatiable appetite for high quality, low cost and great customer experience that has forced business and technology to converge and produce products and services to meet their growing demands on a regular basis. To cut cost and focus on the core business, we saw many strategic business models and engagements like out sourcing, off shoring, Global Delivery Onsite/Offshore Model, Multi-vendor Off shoring (Multisourcing) and near shoring. These models have been one of the key drivers for business growth across the global landscape. The fundamental thought of owning a business focusing only on core business has seen a paradigm shift and led to operational excellence, lean management and bottom line appreciation. Many strategic decisions and new business models have evolved to maintain competitive advantage on a global scale where biggest of the big corporate have tumbled and many business houses have perished. Growth and development happen when competition is extreme. Adam Smith the Father of Economics is also known for his explanation of how rational self-interest and competition, operating in a social framework which ultimately depends on adherence to moral obligations, can lead to economic well-being and prosperity.
In a time when the global market is behaving erratically and oil prices are shooting up rapidly, the challenges have multiplied to meet the growing demands of the global consumers. New ways have to be discovered, invented or innovated to meet the growing demands. To stay competitive and win markets, companies have to find alternatives to reduce cost and attain operational efficiency and speed. To achieve cost reduction and attain operational efficiency companies have to move to SaaS model. Software as a service is a model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet. By eliminating the need to install and run the application on the customer’s own computer, SaaS will dramatically reduce the cost for software maintenance, on-going operations and support. SaaS provider may host the application on its own Web server, or will host it in data centers. The on demand application can be accessed via the Internet and business users can use the application based on the subscription. Customers can reduce their cost dramatically and need not bother about the maintenance of the application because it is hosted in a central location and the maintenance of the application is the responsibility of the provider. SaaS model will enable large, medium and small enterprises to derive higher values at less cost. Therefore, SaaS will drive and transform the way the business is happening today. Early adopters to SaaS will enjoy the competitive advantage and be able to sustain the emerging global demand.
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