Your business ISP ain’t what it used to be. The days when the ISPs job was simply to connect you to the internet and provide some webspace are long behind us. Most business ISPs are now able to offer expert IT management, hosted applications and Software as a Service (SaaS) in addition to the more traditional ‘connectivity’. So what is this all about and what opportunities does it provide for businesses in these difficult times?
SaaS can be attractive to a wide range of businesses from the SoHo (Small office, Home office) startups and SMEs through to larger corporates and public sector organisations. In fact any organisation that seeks to outsource some of its hardware/server requirements, software management and maintenance can now benefit. This can serve to make the bean-counters happy; one of the key advantages of SaaS is that it reduces the need to recruit and retain expensive in-house skills. SaaS allows businesses to outsource the management of key IT infrastructure, concentrating on its core competencies and keeping costs manageable and predictable in times when cost reduction is the norm and restricted borrowing facilities are constraining capital expenditure.
Most of these services are made available on a pay-as-you-go basis. So for instance an employees Microsoft Exchange mail facility can be ‘rented’ for as little as £5 per month per user. What is more as the business grows and reorganises the additional requirements can be accommodated with ease. As most SaaS services are delivered securely over the internet they are ideal for the ever-growing army of road-warriors and home workers who have no permanent office base.
The range of SaaS services is mushrooming. Hosted email services are growing in popularity, following the trajectory of the US where over 40% of email and messaging services are now delivered using an outsourced model. Add to this hosted services for CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Document Management, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and IP telephony and it is clear why many IT departments are redefining themselves with a focus on the delivery of strategic projects whilst the ‘nuts and bolts’ software is handled by specialist service providers. Certain sectors are seeing rapid uptake, salesforce.com for instance is building on its early success in CRM by redefining a new range of ‘Platform-as-a-service’ solutions. No wonder then that this burgeoning sectors is expected to be worth over $10bn by 2009.
The great news for customers is that many of these services are available on a trial basis, many free. So with little or no commitment it is possible to try SaaS for size and see how it fits your business needs.
Things that might be of interest to you: Web Hosting and Email, Microsoft Exchange, Home Office, Large Networks, Business Broadband
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