Microsoft Partnerprogramma - Column Victor de Pous
Software als dienst biedt win-winsituatie voor klant en provider
Natuurlijk is de inzet van informatie- en communicatietechnologie geen panacee voor alle problemen in een gebruikersorganisatie bij overheid of bedrijfsleven, maar wij weten dat zonder ICT alles stil staat. Anders gezegd, niemand kan meer om de toepassing van digitale technologie heen. Wel zijn er verschillende leveringsmodellen voor de beschikbaarstelling van ICT, grosso modo te scheiden in zelf doen of uitbesteden, waarbij laatstgenoemde route aantrekkelijke voordelen kan bieden voor de klant en aanbieder. Aldus blijkt uit de levering van software als dienst.
Het outsourcings-concept application service providing (ASP), dat uit de vorige eeuw stamt, krijgt namelijk dankzij de brede beschikbaarheid van webbased-technologie en breedbandnetwerken, een praktische herstart in de vorm van Software as a Service of SaaS.
Technologiedienst
Computerprogramma's aanbieden als dienst in plaats van product betekent de overgang van vendor-centric naar user-centric computing, terwijl perpetual licensing plaatsmaakt voor een licentieabonnement. Simpel gezegd: klanten gooien - voor een belangrijk deel - de complexiteit van ICT en de bijhorende zorgen over de schutting en krijgen er een continue levering van ICT-functionaliteiten voor terug. Qua technologie neemt aan de voorkant webbased-computing het client/server-model over. Aan de achterkant van de voor de klant onzichtbaar geworden informatie- en communicatietechnologie doen virtualisatie van servers en infrastructuur hun intrede.
Voordelen
De klant krijgt aantrekkelijke voordelen. Denk aan het ontbreken van betaling van grote bedragen vooraf en ineens, geen noodzaak tot de inzet van dure consultants, geen implementatiestrubbelingen, betere budgetteringsmogelijkheden, meer flexibiliteit en vrijwel zeker een lagere cost of ownership. Voor de leverancier betekent SaaS een continue inkomstenstroom, een hechte relatie met de klant en hij kan laten zien wat hij waard is in een maatschappij die geheel ICT-afhankelijk is geworden.
Bovendien bestaat de mogelijkheid naar wens van de klant een geheel van softwarepakketten (van welke producent dan ook) samen te stellen die samen als dienst tegen een of meerdere serviceniveau's worden geleverd.
Juridisch kader
Maar wie sourcing van sofware als dienst aanbiedt, heeft daarvoor toestemming van de rechthebbende, dat wil zeggen de juridisch eigenaar van het programma, nodig. De licentieovereenkomst voor het bewuste computerprogramma moet hierin dus voorzien. Volgens de industriestandaard is sub-licensering in de regel verboden, want het gebruiksrecht op een softwarepakket wordt doorgaans uitsluitend verleend voor intern gebruik bij licentienemer.
SaaS vraagt niet alleen om deze reden om een nieuwe generatie software Services Provider License Agreements, maar ook omdat er rekening moet worden gehouden met allerlei infrastructurele (optimaliserings)mogelijkheden, die nieuwe technologieën ontsluiten. Denk aan service-oriented architecture (SOA), server-virtualisatie en dual-coreprocessors. Hoe wordt het gebruik financieel belast?
Oudere type contracten terzake hebben in de regel betrekking op wat vroeger wel heette facilities management-dienstverlening (FM), waar de techniek met separate, 'dedicated' hardware en software op basis van perpetual licensing in een one-to-one-situatie tussen dienstverlener en klant werd ingezet.
Trends
- De SaaS-dienstverlener is verantwoordelijk voor het softwaremanagement bij de klant.
- De grootste drempel voor de brede invoering van SaaS ligt in de cultuurverandering die zowel binnen de industrie als de gebruikersorganisatie moet plaatsvinden.
- Een SaaS-dienstverlener zal in toenemende mate als one-stop-shop allerlei diensten aanbieden, waarvoor hij in de rechtsverhouding naar de klant het eerste aanspreekpunt is.
- In juridisch perspectief gaat perpetual-licensing over naar subcriptionbased-licensing. Er zijn nieuwe Services Provider License Agreements nodig om de licentieverlening via een third-party SaaS-dienstverlener juridisch mogelijk te maken.
- In juridisch perspectief heerst echter onduidelijkheid in de markt over licentierechten, services, verantwoordelijkheden en aansprakelijkheden. Bovendien is de aandacht voor de continuïteit van de softwaredienst en conflictbeheersing onderbelicht.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
SaaS: Growing Up (Analyst Views)
SaaS: Growing Up - Week of 07/12/2007
As familiarity and confidence in the Web grows within the enterprise some are looking back to the technology and business models of earlier times on the Web. This reinvestigation is leading to new growth for the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. A SaaS model is defined by Business Communications Review as follows: “Customers access SaaS applications and data via the Web and essentially rent the application from the SaaS provider on a per-user or per-month basis. The SaaS provider is responsible for delivering, securing and managing the application, data and underlying infrastructure.” The idea, which has been cited for saving companies time and money, as well as allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives, while gaining traction is not accepted as a best practice by all. Objections to the SaaS model include allowing third parties to handle sensitive data, and the inability to fully customize applications. However, there is still a huge market and providers are lining up to meet the needs, real or only perceived, of all those they can.
IDC predicts that worldwide spending on SaaS, which reached $4.2 billion in 2004, will increase to $10.7 billion in 2009. IDC’s projections are on par with other analysts’. Saugatuck predicts that the growth rate of SaaS will be 25 percent per year through 2010. Bill McNee, Saugatuck’s founder and CEO says, "By 2012, we expect that 35 percent of all new business software will be deployed and delivered as SaaS.”
“When first introduced in the late 1990s through ASPs, many in the software industry thought that SaaS would be primarily used by small and midsized businesses that didn't have a lot of internal-processing resources,” according to Amy Wohl, a technology blogger and president of Wohl Associates. Now, that the view of SaaS is changing, “as SaaS got out into the world, what we found was that while there were small and medium-sized businesses that used the software, you might also get very large companies using it. This kind of arrangement can be attractive to a company of any size.” Research indicates that both large and small companies are hopping on board.
There are some simple reasons for both providers and customers to like the SaaS model. For those on the application provider side, there is essentially one code set to work on, and as updates and upgrades can be rolled out simultaneously all clients are running the same version. This scenario helps providers save both time and money and more importantly to put both to more strategic use. Likewise, customers are using SaaS implementations for very similar reasons. Early adopters of SaaS implementations were often focused on the direct savings incurred by fewer IT hours needed for routine tasks and maintenance as well as hardware and other costs. Treb Ryan, chief executive of OpSource, a software-as-a-service delivery provider explains the rationale, “You don't have to buy a server. You don't have to get a database to run it on. You don't need to get back-up and disaster recovery. You don't need to hire a system administrator to run all of that for you. You just go buy it from the SaaS provider and all of that is included in the price. That's very valuable for small and midsized businesses.” Ziff Davis notes this as well, “Leading IT departments are leveraging the convergence of services and software to redeploy key IT people and outsource key IT operations to expert providers of those services. This helps shrink IT expenses, increase efficiencies and improve the reliability, scalability and security of IT systems.” However, Ziff Davis also points out that there is another important element to SaaS which customers are realizing, “Most importantly, it helps IT departments focus their efforts and resources on technology initiatives that deliver strategic value.”
A Ziff Davis white paper looked closely at three SaaS implementations and found that, “While no two companies decide to use a service for exactly the same reasons, there is surprising agreement among the three companies interviewed for this white paper for both their selection and benefits obtained.” The paper notes that, business expectations of software as a service are indeed changing, “with a much higher emphasis today placed on value-added services. The use of such a service to save cost, while a factor in each company’s decision, was cited less frequently than other benefits more likely to give them a strategic edge.” Among the three companies that the white paper interviewed there were three notable themes behind their decisions to go with the SaaS model. First there is the desire to gain a strategic focus, “each company reported that their IT department was spending too much time on daily system maintenance, often at the expense of strategic applications development or customer support.” By turning this work over to the SaaS vendor companies were able to focus on strategic initiatives. Companies also expressed a need to consolidate and reduce; “a universal desire to consolidate and standardize disparate legacy systems and reduce process duplication were named as key challenges by all three companies interviewed.” Finally, all three companies felt that by making the move to SaaS they were in fact adding a business partner. The companies said the SaaS model fostered a deeper relationship with the provider, which, considering they are the experts. There is a common element to all three of these themes which is summed up well by Treb Ryan, “I think the best SaaS applications aren't just a straight-up replacement for what you were doing prior, but they actually allow you to do things you couldn't do before.”
However, not everyone is on board with the model. Since the early ASP days the major concern has been the turning over of data, its management, and access to it, to a SaaS provider. These concerns are real; in many cases they represent the core of an enterprise’s value. There have also been real-life examples, in which the SaaS technology failed and resulted in service disruptions, which add weight to this concern. (Salesforce.com experienced these in late 2005 and early 2006.) However, just as Salesforce.com recovered and re-gained the market’s trust, the entire market is starting to lean in the same direction. Ultimately providers want their customers to feel safe letting any and all data outside the enterprise, but while they wait for the comfort level to rise they may need to take small steps and work with less sensitive data. To this end, some are suggesting that the outsourcing of email may pave the way.
Jim Nauen, vice president of sales and marketing for Centage Corp. points out “E-mail seems to be something that people are okay with the level of security that outsourcing providers are providing . . . It's kind of the crown jewels, the accounting information, people tend to have more problems with.” “Amy Wohl agrees with this, “I think in many cases it's being used for applications which are not the mission-critical application of the business.” Asked if that idea will change, “Well, yes, when people get more accustomed to it and realize it's completely safe to use. I think that it will happen, too, but it hasn't happened yet.”
While it may not have happened yet, analysts are expecting growth: “There is no doubt that software as a service has become a driving force within the software industry,” says Erin Traudt, research analyst at IDC. “The software industry must adopt a new frame of reference for value creation, and software as a service delivery is at the forefront of this trend.”
As familiarity and confidence in the Web grows within the enterprise some are looking back to the technology and business models of earlier times on the Web. This reinvestigation is leading to new growth for the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. A SaaS model is defined by Business Communications Review as follows: “Customers access SaaS applications and data via the Web and essentially rent the application from the SaaS provider on a per-user or per-month basis. The SaaS provider is responsible for delivering, securing and managing the application, data and underlying infrastructure.” The idea, which has been cited for saving companies time and money, as well as allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives, while gaining traction is not accepted as a best practice by all. Objections to the SaaS model include allowing third parties to handle sensitive data, and the inability to fully customize applications. However, there is still a huge market and providers are lining up to meet the needs, real or only perceived, of all those they can.
IDC predicts that worldwide spending on SaaS, which reached $4.2 billion in 2004, will increase to $10.7 billion in 2009. IDC’s projections are on par with other analysts’. Saugatuck predicts that the growth rate of SaaS will be 25 percent per year through 2010. Bill McNee, Saugatuck’s founder and CEO says, "By 2012, we expect that 35 percent of all new business software will be deployed and delivered as SaaS.”
“When first introduced in the late 1990s through ASPs, many in the software industry thought that SaaS would be primarily used by small and midsized businesses that didn't have a lot of internal-processing resources,” according to Amy Wohl, a technology blogger and president of Wohl Associates. Now, that the view of SaaS is changing, “as SaaS got out into the world, what we found was that while there were small and medium-sized businesses that used the software, you might also get very large companies using it. This kind of arrangement can be attractive to a company of any size.” Research indicates that both large and small companies are hopping on board.
There are some simple reasons for both providers and customers to like the SaaS model. For those on the application provider side, there is essentially one code set to work on, and as updates and upgrades can be rolled out simultaneously all clients are running the same version. This scenario helps providers save both time and money and more importantly to put both to more strategic use. Likewise, customers are using SaaS implementations for very similar reasons. Early adopters of SaaS implementations were often focused on the direct savings incurred by fewer IT hours needed for routine tasks and maintenance as well as hardware and other costs. Treb Ryan, chief executive of OpSource, a software-as-a-service delivery provider explains the rationale, “You don't have to buy a server. You don't have to get a database to run it on. You don't need to get back-up and disaster recovery. You don't need to hire a system administrator to run all of that for you. You just go buy it from the SaaS provider and all of that is included in the price. That's very valuable for small and midsized businesses.” Ziff Davis notes this as well, “Leading IT departments are leveraging the convergence of services and software to redeploy key IT people and outsource key IT operations to expert providers of those services. This helps shrink IT expenses, increase efficiencies and improve the reliability, scalability and security of IT systems.” However, Ziff Davis also points out that there is another important element to SaaS which customers are realizing, “Most importantly, it helps IT departments focus their efforts and resources on technology initiatives that deliver strategic value.”
A Ziff Davis white paper looked closely at three SaaS implementations and found that, “While no two companies decide to use a service for exactly the same reasons, there is surprising agreement among the three companies interviewed for this white paper for both their selection and benefits obtained.” The paper notes that, business expectations of software as a service are indeed changing, “with a much higher emphasis today placed on value-added services. The use of such a service to save cost, while a factor in each company’s decision, was cited less frequently than other benefits more likely to give them a strategic edge.” Among the three companies that the white paper interviewed there were three notable themes behind their decisions to go with the SaaS model. First there is the desire to gain a strategic focus, “each company reported that their IT department was spending too much time on daily system maintenance, often at the expense of strategic applications development or customer support.” By turning this work over to the SaaS vendor companies were able to focus on strategic initiatives. Companies also expressed a need to consolidate and reduce; “a universal desire to consolidate and standardize disparate legacy systems and reduce process duplication were named as key challenges by all three companies interviewed.” Finally, all three companies felt that by making the move to SaaS they were in fact adding a business partner. The companies said the SaaS model fostered a deeper relationship with the provider, which, considering they are the experts. There is a common element to all three of these themes which is summed up well by Treb Ryan, “I think the best SaaS applications aren't just a straight-up replacement for what you were doing prior, but they actually allow you to do things you couldn't do before.”
However, not everyone is on board with the model. Since the early ASP days the major concern has been the turning over of data, its management, and access to it, to a SaaS provider. These concerns are real; in many cases they represent the core of an enterprise’s value. There have also been real-life examples, in which the SaaS technology failed and resulted in service disruptions, which add weight to this concern. (Salesforce.com experienced these in late 2005 and early 2006.) However, just as Salesforce.com recovered and re-gained the market’s trust, the entire market is starting to lean in the same direction. Ultimately providers want their customers to feel safe letting any and all data outside the enterprise, but while they wait for the comfort level to rise they may need to take small steps and work with less sensitive data. To this end, some are suggesting that the outsourcing of email may pave the way.
Jim Nauen, vice president of sales and marketing for Centage Corp. points out “E-mail seems to be something that people are okay with the level of security that outsourcing providers are providing . . . It's kind of the crown jewels, the accounting information, people tend to have more problems with.” “Amy Wohl agrees with this, “I think in many cases it's being used for applications which are not the mission-critical application of the business.” Asked if that idea will change, “Well, yes, when people get more accustomed to it and realize it's completely safe to use. I think that it will happen, too, but it hasn't happened yet.”
While it may not have happened yet, analysts are expecting growth: “There is no doubt that software as a service has become a driving force within the software industry,” says Erin Traudt, research analyst at IDC. “The software industry must adopt a new frame of reference for value creation, and software as a service delivery is at the forefront of this trend.”
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