With approaching of Windows 7 on the offer there are some questions arise whether Windows 7 will be the last Microsoft traditional operation system. And will the next version of Windows be completely cloud-based?
So what's the next? Windows 8, of course, and Microsoft has posted several job listings for developers to help with work on Windows 8, however in can have another naming by the time its launched. There is an example of those listings:
“For the upcoming version of Windows, new critical features are being worked on including cluster support and support for one way replication. The core engine is also being reworked to provide dramatic performance improvements. We will also soon be starting major improvements for Windows 8 where we will be including innovative features which will revolutionize file access in branch offices.”
It looks like Microsoft already works hard on the new storage technology "Distributed File System Replication", which is focused on keeping data synchronized across multiple servers. And another Windows 8 job posting focusing on Windows file system tells that Windows 8 Server will also show up.
With approaching of Windows 7 on the offer there are some questions arise whether Windows 7 will be the last Microsoft traditional operation system. And will the next version of Windows be completely cloud-based?
So what's the next? Windows 8, of course, and Microsoft has posted several job listings for developers to help with work on Windows 8, however in can have another naming by the time its launched. There is an example of those listings:
“For the upcoming version of Windows, new critical features are being worked on including cluster support and support for one way replication. The core engine is also being reworked to provide dramatic performance improvements. We will also soon be starting major improvements for Windows 8 where we will be including innovative features which will revolutionize file access in branch offices.”
It looks like Microsoft already works hard on the new storage technology "Distributed File System Replication", which is focused on keeping data synchronized across multiple servers. And another Windows 8 job posting focusing on Windows file system tells that Windows 8 Server will also show up.
As our company has developed its own traditional ERP-system Virtuoso, which is a ERP solution for small and mid- enterprises in Ukraine, and we are specializing in the development of custom object-oriented systems (ERP/CRM and XRM solutions), we are very curious to know the state of things in this market, the balanoftware-as-a-Service solutions.
Recently examining some data from the report by Accenture, where 150 UK and 150 US IT executives from largest 2000 companies were questioned I found that most of UK and US companies do not see the value in utilizing SaaS model to upgrade their ERP systems. Research stated that only 7 percent of UK firms, and 15 percent of US firms polled believe that current ERP systems would be replaced by new technologies any time soon.
However, there are other opinions that disagree with survey suggestion that large companies don’t see the value of implementing SaaS. A Forrester reports claims that SaaS projects are on hold and calculates that majority of large Global organizations (75 per cent) already use SOA and SaaS to some extent, and 60 percent plan to expand the reach of their using in the future. As we can see the given data is controversial and not sufficient enough to make any predictions or conclusions. After reading several others reports I noticed that representatives of each side trying to turn the scale proposing their own version of situation and benefits/risks. So, as usual I decided to turn to Linkedin hoping to finally find the answers.
And I’d like to tell that the question got a welcoming and warm reception as many other professionals took this issue very seriously. The discussion has been started and answers ce between traditional ERP and SaaS solutions and what are the forecasts for the nearest future (Is SaaS going to replace traditional ERP systems anytime soon). Especially in the light of great success of Salesforce.com and other well-known providers of customer relationship oriented Sfell at incredible pace. There were different opinions and facts from CIO’s, CTO’s, Enterprise Architects, various Senior Consultants and Analysts, Strategists, Evangelists and other IT related high-level professionals, however, the hottest dispute raised within the Enterprise Architect Network, seems like it was very touchy subject for them.
But, I’m not going to copy and paste all answers and comments, as you can see them personally (the links will be provided at the end of article) I just would like to classify the answers of those highly-qualified professionals who responded on my call (thanks them a lot!) and give their vision on the issue.
So, consider the main pros and cons for SaaS ERP model underlined in the answers:
Pros:
1. Simplicity. In general, SaaS is simpler to deploy, from a technical perspective as you don’t need to purchase any hardware or physically install and configure the software by yourself. To start you just need to simply sign up. 2. Initial costs. While traditional ERP has high initial costs to buy, deploy and config all needed hardware and software SaaS can be launched considerably cheaper without installing hardware and hiring consultants to implement it. 2. Access. SaaS provides with the possibility of having a system totally independent of your position in the world. If you're connected to the web, you can access the system, using a notebook, for example. 3. Better infrastructure and staffing benefits. Few organizations can match the infrastructure and security investments made by SaaS vendors, by offering complete cycle of maintenance services SaaS vendor allows organizations to reduce staffing needs. 4. Free Trials - Almost all SaaS vendors give a free trial. Try out the service, keep it if you like it. Customers can assess the value of the application before paying for it. 5. Risk Free – if the company is not satisfied using the application it is easy to put an end. Just export your data and close your account. And because of this one of the main vendor’s task is to focus on customer service and needs, since it is on subscription model a vendor is judged on month-month basis.
Cons:
1. Integration. ERP applications have many complex transactional integration points with other systems and applications, both inside and outside the company and this is something that is very hard to achieve with SaaS. Each customer instance of a given ERP package will have a different set of suppliers, contractors, customers etc, each with different applications and processes, and a different array of internal systems for manufacturing, accounting, reporting, etc, all of which must be integrated with the ERP system. SaaS is best for applications with uniform use cases, limited integration requirements, and simple transactonal behaviors. ERP is none of these. 2. Security. Companies, especially large ones, are very reluctant to move into SaaS due to security concerns, they want to protect their core data and do not want to have a third party responsible for protecting that information. 3. Costs. There are several aspects should be taken into account: - Investments. Given the significant investment that most have made for implementing, integration and customization of their ERP-systems switching is not that easy and customers will wait until the investment is depreciated. - Running costs. Although the SaaS can be deployed relatively cheaper than on premise system an ongoing cost of cloud based offering are high, especially as the company matures. 4. Operational control. Due to the fact that ERP is their core systems, the majority of companies still want to have control over the availability of the service. If the ERP system is down, the companies main processes stop. If CRM is down, only the sales process stops. Although SaaS suppliers are delivering most often a better service than internal ICT-departments, it is still difficult to accept that you do not have any control over your most important system. And what if the SaaS-provider gets bankrupt? 5. Standartization. There is the lack of standardization of SaaS solutions. The industry is still nascent and there is no clear solution upon which a company can design and build a solution around. Given the complexity and high customizability of ERP offerings, it is a risky proposition to bet it all on an offering that is not the industry standard (e.g. PeopleSoft or SAP) 6. Restricted offering. Integrators and other companies that earn money for implementing ERP systems are not willing to implement SaaS-services. The earnings of implementing a SaaS-service is just a fraction of the earnings of a on premises implementation. By CRM-implementations we see sometimes that those earnings are just 10 % of the original 'old'-implementations. These companies are normally in the lead of selling ERP, so they have will hesitate in advising a SaaS offering.
Summarizing, I can say that there are a lot of tradeoffs between two options and although the SaaS model is relatively new all factors should be accurately prioritized and evaluated to identify the best suitable software for each organization. As it was mentioned in discussion SaaS model is seemed to be a good option for small and medium businesses which haven’t made a huge investment in on premise ERP systems. Smaller businesses that did not have access to ERP systems would be of the first to adopt SaaS ERP as their requirements would be lower. Especially, if you look at total costs of ownership of SaaS versus on premise solutions the SaaS will be considerably cheaper meaning that there will be market forces encouraging the SaaS model. As for security reasons the ability to physically isolate instances in a multi-tenant architecture using virtualisation will go a long way to address some of the security concerns, however other data governance and data legislative related questions would also need to be addressed. But as a robust and hosted CRM solutions are so successful and new generation of Rich Internet Applications will deliver a rich and high performance user experience there is an evidence that the market will migrate towards SaaS, the ERP market will follow this development. It only takes a little bit more time.
P.S. Also, I forgot to mention an existing problems with network traffic and bandwidth which can result in productivity and revenue lost on SaaS model. I agree that in some locations the quality of networks remain bad with bandwidth is too expensive, however there are different trends in the world. Moreover, most of large enterprises are already network dependant, so it can be a disadvantage for both models.
With growing popularity of web-based business applications and Software as a Service (SaaS) business models with spreading success of Salesforce.com and other well-known companies the question arises: Is SaaS going to replace traditional- ERP in the nearest future?
Experts agree that there is an interest in SaaS-based ERP and that plenty of vendors are promoting the concept, but most user companies aren't ready to make the move. According to recent research from consultant firm Accenture, where 150 UK and 150 US IT directors from the largest 2000 companies were questioned, many UK companies do not see the value in utilizing software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to revamp existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Only seven per cent of UK firms polled believe that current ERP systems would be replaced by new technologies any time soon. In the US however, the figures are a bit higher where 15 percent of questioned companies have a positive attitude towards SaaS model.
Among the main reasons for reluctance there are security concerns of storing ERP data on a service-provider, shortage of ERP offerings in specific segments, lack of flexibility and customizing comparing with traditional ERP.
However, some market watchers disagree with the survey's suggestion that companies do not see the value of implementing SaaS. A Forrester report states that SaaS projects are on hold and calculates that majority of large Global 2000 organisations (75 per cent) already use SOA and SaaS to some extent, and 60 per cent plan to expand the reach of their using in the future.
While there is a whole set of questions and controversy let’s try to identify the key differentiators between SaaS and Traditional ERP and how they will impact on ERP software selection:
1.Simplicity. In general, SaaS is simpler to deploy from a technical perspective as you don’t need to purchase additional servers or physically install the software in yourself. However, on the other hand, the high level of technical ease may create additional business complexities that you may not otherwise experience with traditional ERP.
2.Flexibility. As traditional ERP is installed on your own servers you can change and modify it as you need. You may decide to customize it, integrate it to other software, etc. Although any ERP software will allow you to configure and set-up the software the way you would like, SaaS is generally less flexible than traditional ERP in that you can't completely customize or rewrite the software. Conversely, since SaaS can't be customized, it reduces some of the technical difficulties associated with changing the software.
3.Control. Many companies find that they don't have control over SaaS software as they would like, relative to traditional ERP. This is especially true of mid-size or large companies with well-defined business processes that are not able to be changed to fit the software. Smaller companies generally are able to adapt their business processes to the software easier than a larger organization. 4.Accessibility. Since SaaS is entirely accessed through the web, you are in a world of hurt of the internet goes down. Alternatively, traditional ERP does not require internet reliability, provided your users are accessing the software from inside your company's network.
5.Cost. In general, SaaS can be deployed at a much smaller initial cost, which can be attractive to smaller businesses. However, the ongoing annual payment can be higher for SaaS becuause you're paying to use the software. Much like leasing vs. buying a car, that payment never goes away as long as you're using the software and can become costly as you grow and add employees to the system.
Clearly, there are tradeoffs between the two options, and all factors should be accurately prioritized and evaluated to identify the best suitable software for each organization. However, the forecast from analyst firm Gartner suggesting that enterprise adoption of SaaS model would be on two-to five-year lifecycle and will not culminate until 2013 is seemed to be realistic due to the declared reluctance by European and in a less degree US companies to replace their existing ERP systems.
The newest version of Lotus Notes and Domino will push e-mail, contacts and calendar items to iPhone users. It will also includes some other updates to functionality. But the main new feature is the addition of Microsoft's ActiveSync protocol in Lotus Notes Traveler, the software that supports replication of Notes e-mail, calendars and contacts to smartphones.
IPhone users can check their Notes e-mail through an optimized Web site. However, they must refresh to get new messages. Early last year, Apple licensed ActiveSync so that businesses could push their corporate Exchange e-mail messages to iPhones. Since the ActiveSync client is already embedded in the iPhone, adding ActiveSync to the Traveler product was a good way to enable push Notes e-mail to the iPhone, he said.
IBM launched the new version of Notes and Domino for 600 beta users. The full commercial release is scheduled for the second half of the year.
Users of other kinds of phones can already get Notes e-mail pushed to their phones. With the SyncML standard, Notes pushes e-mail to Windows Mobile and some Symbian devices. Businesses can also push Notes e-mail to the iPhone using third-party products. Sybase iAnywhere, for example, supports push Notes e-mail on the iPhone through its Information Anywhere Suite. That offering launched in March and only supports e-mail, not calendar or contacts sync.
Earlier this year, IBM said it planned to support ActiveSync in order to push data to iPhones, but it didn't say when.
As we reported and our previous articles in the beginning of this year IBM reported 4% growth in licensing of Notes and Domino in 2008 that foot up to 145 million Notes licensees comparing to 140 million licensees IBM reported last year. Spokesman of "Big Blue" claimed that IBM won as much as 12,000 customers and many of them former users of MS Outlook and Exchange. The list of new customers includes: Southern California Edison, Nationwide, Global Hyatt Corp., CEMEX, 3M, State Bank of India, The Hartford, Banco do Brazil, and The Coca-Cola Company.
Notes from the author:
Mirasoft Group has been selected as offshore supplier of IT services to IBM.
Mirasoft Group is a Ukrainian provider of software outsourcing services with development centers in Kiev and Vinnitsa (Ukraine) has been selected as offshore supplier of IT services to IBM. The company provides software engineering services using IBM technologies for more than 7 years and runs Lotus Notes and Domino development center with highly-qualified team of certified specialists on staff.
During last year most of IBM specialists have been certified as IBM Certified Application Developer thereby confirming the company’s commitment to provide customers with high quality and service in software development using latest IBM technologies.
The Vinnitsa high-qualified team has a profound experience in Lotus Notes/Domino development and successfully completed various software projects belonging to different vertical industries.
For more information about our IBM Lotus Notes/Domino experience please contact: Email: sergey.lesnikov@mirasoft-group.com Tel: +38044 492 99 62
The biggest names in the Digital Age - over 200 speakers in keynotes and a multi-streamed seminar programme. New products and services from over 300 exhibitors providing solutions to boost your online strategy. Dedicated zones covering all the key digital marketing and business internet areas. This year Internet World 2009 showing at Earls Court 2 in London between 28th - 30th April.
Internet World is Europe's largest, longest running and best attended event for Digital Marketing and Internet business, each year an exhibition attracting over 13,000 visitors and more than 300 exhibitors. In this year Internet World will pass in 17th time and brings everything you need to formulate and implement your online strategy, from Digital Marketing to eCommerce, Content Management to hosting. It showcases the UK’s leading suppliers, delivers Europe’s best free education program and brings together Europe’s largest collection of visionary individuals from marketing, IT, digital and eCommerce.
The exhibition annually collects hundreds of participants, among them representatives of large international companies, such as The Butler Group, DaimlerChrysler, ICI, GMTV, Virgin, Oracle, IBM, Google, Overture, Ask Jeeves, Orange and thousand visitors, who are professionals responsible for presence of firms in the World wide web. This year exhibition will also have key speakers from all areas of the industry, including Barclays and John Lewis, each offering their own expert insight.
Remarkable that over the last 4 years Internet World has experienced unprecedented growth with exhibitor numbers swelling from 100 to over 320 and attendees increasing from 5,000 to over 13,000. It is now firmly established as Europe’s leading event for this Digital Marketing and online business.
Each key group will have a dedicated seminar theatre and its own area on the show floor grouping relevant exhibitors together to make it easy for visitors to find everyone they are looking for.
Notes from the author: Mirasoft Group will also participate in Internet World 2009 and will be very glad to arrange a meeting with companies interested in offshore software services and discuss opportunities for possible co-operation. I believe it will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the current needs and to discuss how our services can enhance a capacity for innovation while reducing operating costs.
Dear IT professionals across the world, I’m so delighted to invite you to the new Linkedin group “Global IT professionals network”. The aim of this group is to provide IT professionals across the world with a perfect platform where they can communicate, exchange best practices and address various issues in an information technology fields.
Today, the term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable. The information technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. Some of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, web design as well as the management and administration of entire systems.
Let’s create together a perfect platform for IT folks all over the world - join this group if you are an IT Professional!
Conficker, the Internet worm that caused a panic reminiscent of Y2K late last month, but didn’t make anything serious, has finally woken up. At the end of the week the worm started to update itself via a peer-to-peer network between infected machines after downloading its payload from a server in South Korea.
It’s not clear how many machines were infected, but approximately the figures range from 9 million to 15 million.
While earlier variations of the Conficker worm prevented infected machines from accessing the servers of most antivirus companies, this new variant also blocks access to sites that offer tools for removing the worm like BitDefenders bdtools.net. This version of the worm includes an instruction that tells the worm to remove itself on May 3, but , it will keep a port open on these machines that will allow the hackers to get back into these computers at any time.
According to Symantec, Conficker downloads a variant of the well-known Waledac malware, which is one of the world's most active spambots. There are some speculations around here that Conficker was created by the same group of hackers that created Waledac.
Kaspersky Labs stated that Waledac will download a rogue antivirus application along with email-worm onto infected machines. The fake antivirus software will ask users to pay $49.95 for "Spyware Protect 2009," which, of course, is anything but an antispyware product.
In my previous entries I wrote about negotiations between world's No. 1 and No. 4 makers of server computers IBM and SUN Microsystems respectively, and potential consequences of that deal where merged company would hold 65 percent of the $17 billion market for Unix servers. But things have been dramatically changed since recent developments of the story.
According to The Wall Street Journal IBM has withdraw its offer for Sun Microsystems, its main rival servers supplier, after Sun has sent a notice to IBM terminating its right to exclusive negotiations. Two companies are reported to have been in merger talks for a couple weeks, but they had reportedly been haggling over a price. Eventually last week Sun's board has rejected a formal offer from IBM, considering the offer price too low and declaring concerns that the offer gave IBM too much authority to walk away from the deal.
IBM is believed to have made an initial offer for Sun worth $9.55 per share, but subsequently cut that to $9.40, after its lawyers pored over the details. While Sun shares had risen to $8.49 on last week, from $4.97 on March 17, a day before talks between the two technology companies were first reported. But Failure to secure a deal will raise questions over the future of Sun. By entering into negotiations, its board has potentially signalled a lack of faith in its ability to operate as a standalone company. Shares of Sun Microsystems fall 23 percent on Monday after the company rejected rival IBM's $7 billion offer.
Prices for all kinds of IT Outsourcing Services will drop by between 5 to 20 percent in next two years, says Gartner. The analyst firm predicts this reduction of prices based on the continued economic downturn, which will increase competition in the market between traditional and new providers as well as between emerging and traditional outsourcing destinations, as Gartner already mentioned in its previous reports about the rise of new outsourcing destinations.
Claudio Da Rold, a Gartner vice president stated that "regardless of the relative strength of outsourcing during a recession, many clients are reporting intense discussion with their vendors and renegotiation of contracts for terms and conditions, service level agreements, fees, volumes and low-cost offshore delivery locations".
Gartner expects a price fall in data center and network services between 5 percent and 15 percent while helpdesk services will decline by between 5 percent and 10 percent. Charges for application hosting services, until now one of the fastest-growing areas, will have the biggest drop between 10 percent and 20 percent, the analyst firm said.
"It is important to remember that price reductions will apply with great variability across geographies, vertical industries and client size with regard to specific deals," said Da Rold. "Providers are not reporting any across-the-board price reductions, but rather will address each client situation individually."
Gartner also warned that customers pushing for prices which are too low could affect the quality of the services provided and the relationship between provider and client.
