tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7192559051002951199.post-28444870675264629642008-08-11T06:12:00.000-07:002008-08-11T17:24:08.853-07:00Recently, I flew to visit a potential customer – this prospect happens to be a good-sized bank, and as is often the case with financial institutions they are extremely cautious about everything having to do with risk and security.<br /><br />As a matter of fact, an executive in attendance made a point of asking me if there are risks inherent in the SaaS architecture.<br /><br />“It seems like one of the main advantages of your model is that it’s extremely low-risk; the initial investment is very small. Am I missing something, some catch?” he asked me.<br /><br />I pointed out that, on the contrary, he had it right from the beginning – the real risk would come from getting <a href="http://www.crn.com/managed-services/196900673">locked into a long-term commitment</a> to an on-premise vendor and having to do so *before* you know for sure if their solution will work the way you need it to (and the way THEY say it will).<br /><br />A true SaaS solution gives the customer the ultimate amount of freedom and flexibility; companies have embraced the idea of a ‘try-n-buy’ – instituting a pilot program that allows the customer to dip its toe into the water before deciding if they want to get wet.<br /><br />This freedom enjoyed by the customer forces us SaaS vendors to be nimble and requires us to focus relentlessly on customer service. However, it also comes with a built-in competitive advantage: customers can find budget for these projects so much more easily than with an on-premise solution.<br /><br />Phil Wainewright, who writes a <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=432">terrific blog for ZDNet</a>, wrote the following in a <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=432">recent post</a> of his: “Certainly, the low-risk, pay-as-you-go model will give SaaS vendors a big competitive advantage if capex budgets are slashed…”<br /><br />The title of that post is, “<a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=432">Eight reasons SaaS will surge in 2008</a>”, and Wainewright goes on to <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/gianpaolo/archive/2007/12/31/2008-the-year-of-intranet-saas-intranet-s-s.aspx">quote Microsoft SaaS architecture expert Gianpaolo Carraro</a> who compares the current SaaS revolution to the awakening companies had in the mid-90s around using an Intra-net as well as the Internet.<br /><br />I like that word: “awakening”. That’s definitely what this feels like – companies are waking up to the possibilities in the SaaS world. I can almost smell the morning coffee brewing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.compensationmanagement.com/uploaded_images/coffee-750572.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://www.compensationmanagement.com/uploaded_images/coffee-750553.bmp" alt="Wake up to SaaS" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7192559051002951199-2844487067526462964?l=www.compensationmanagement.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Christopher W. Cabreranoreply@blogger.com0