saas lives up to its promises

Web-Based, SaaS Purchasing Model

Lives Up To Its Promises

Receiving

SaaSPurchasing

Requisitions

inventory control

RFqInvoice Approval

inventory controlPurchasing

invoice Approval

Receiving

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Web-Based, SaaS Purchasing Model Lives Up To Its Promises

In a challenging business environment like we have today, Purchasing Managers, CIO’s and CFO’s are using new kinds of technology solutions to increase productivity and decrease costs. CFO’s and CIO’s are attracted to Saas (Software as a Service) and Open Source soft-ware because this technology offers a faster, efficient and affordable way to conduct business processes.

For Purchasing Managers and CFO’s, e-Procurement software that is offered as a SaaS so-lution makes perfect sense because it improves the cost structure of a company, manages spending and demands better pricing from vendors. e-Procurement software (SaaS) or Tra-ditional deployment has equal productivity in that either of them will directly impact the bottom line in a positive way.

E-procurement solutions align purchasing behaviors to corporate objectives, focusing Pur-chase Managers on the most effective cost control and vendor management. e-Procurement maximizes agility in the face of market change and provides visibility in purchase or spend analytics. e-Procurement solutions greatly reduce administrative time and costs, and the ap-plication supports compliance efforts.

When economies slow, CFO’s tighten the purse strings and delay or even cancel big IT proj-ects and capital expenses. SaaS solutions offer up a way to continue to quickly deploy solu-tions without excessive costs. If CIO’s are not comfortable with SaaS solutions, then Open Source solutions or solutions that work on Open Source systems software, like Linux, makes perfect sense.

CFO’s and CIO’s see the distinct financial advantages of a SaaS licensing model.

Reduces up-front capital expensesReduces the expenses of installing the applicationReduces the cost of operating the data centerReduces the number of training staff

e-Procurement solutions offered on the SaaS model or run on Open-Source platform, like Linux, are well received by CIO’s because of the flexibility of the system and because there is no upfront hardware and software costs. With Saas, there is no costly ongoing software maintenance and no vendor lock if the vendor does not perform.

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Business bogs down

Organizations are much more dispersed as they grow globally. Difficulties arise from try-ing to support a global work force, using traditional business process applications through a firewall or a virtual private network. They are often sluggish and decrease productivity. A web-based application solves most of these problems, and workers are comfortable using web based applications. They are comfortable with a web-based application because they al-ready use these applications in their everyday lives. For instance, if a person has ever bought anything through Amazon.com or Ebay, they have used a web-based application to do it. Customer-oriented web applications and services are common and have been in place for years. Other examples include personal banking and stock trading applications. Users are comfortable with online security because they have usually had first-hand experience with some sort of web-based application.

In many companies, the technology infrastructure has not kept up with the expansion of the company. Other companies may be frustrated because they have limited, qualified internal staff to do the work the business requires. Still other companies may just be unable to take advantage of traditional software because it is too complex or too costly for them. Sometimes companies abandon the traditional software they purchased or they do not take full advan-tage of it because it was too hard to wrestle into the proper shape for use by everyone. SaaS overcomes these difficulties and offers many advantages.

Benefits of saas

AdoptionIt’s simple. You pay a monthly fee. There is no software or hardware to buy.

Availability24/7 and accessible from anywhere there is an Internet connection.

UsabilityUses the same interface that most websites use today, so user adoption is faster and training costs are negligible.

Operating CostsKeep these costs low. There is no hardware to maintain.

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Operational EfficienciesThink workflow. Decrease cycle time and reduces backsliding into less efficient habits.

Data AccessA thin, cheap, secure front end to legacy data.

CollaborationReduce production and travel costs; increase efficiencies and corporate knowledge capital.

“Soft ROI” OpportunitiesAlthough difficult to quantify, gains in employee productivity, retention and com-munication are very real.

The latest version of SaaS is always available, and updating is painless.

software as a service

Software as a Service (SaaS) is not a new concept in enterprise application. Companies like www.salesforce.com have shown that this kind of application of software can improve the bottom line, live up to vendor’s promises and, more often than not, begin to save companies money as soon as they go live.

SaaS, or On Demand software as it is commonly known, is accessed via Internet/Web Brows-er, and the activities and processes are managed from a central location. SaaS applications are generally priced on a per-user basis, sometimes with a relatively small minimum number of users, and often with additional fees for extra bandwidth and storage. SaaS software levels the playing field for users because they all use the same thin client and user access, so they can collaborate more effectively.

Research firm, Saugatuck Technology, reports that 55% of small and midsize companies cur-rently have at least one SaaS application running. Gartner reports that in the near future 25% of business software will be sold as SaaS. According to Information Week, companies are adopting SaaS for ease of deployment and management. It has the flexibility to support evolv-ing business needs, reasonable, predictable software costs and more reliability. It is estimated that by 2010, 30% of new software will be delivered via a SaaS model. Furthermore, virtually all new software venture money is flowing to SaaS startups these days, rather than to tradi-tional enterprise software businesses businesses.

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e-Procurement and saas

e-Procurement is creating and approving purchasing requisitions, placing purchase orders and receiving goods and services by using a software system. These systems have been around for years. e-Procurement can deliver more than just lower prices. It offers better productiv-ity, faster processing, greater visibility and the elimination of unplanned and ad hoc buying. This can have a much higher ROI than what can be achieved by shaving a few pennies off the price of any one item.

Historically, companies have installed e-Procurement software on their own networks. Until recently no company offered a true SaaS solution for e-procurement. Now, however, several players like Bellwether Software Corp., Coupa and Procuri offer true SaaS solutions

saas Advantages

SaaS based e-procurement software is perfect for any size or type of company. While it may seem big-company oriented, it actually offers small companies and startup companies a method by which they can get up and running without a huge outlay of capital. It is a good pay-as-you-go solution and good for any company that doesn’t want to part with a big cash outlay. Companies that adopt SaaS for e-procurement will get the following benefits

Software installation, updating and removal are made easier because everything is in one place, making watching disk space, memory and processor usage easier.

Saving money that goes to the bottom line is easy when Purchasing takes advan-tage of the unused load on the company’s server and saves money by eliminating the need for unnecessary equipment.

Configuring a client computer is simple—just point the device to your chosen serv-er, using a web browser. Thin clients or Browsers can often be locked down, too.

Bring down the costs with the knock on effect. Solving a problem for one user of-ten solves it for everyone. Also, new users are added quickly, reducing the workload.

Security—keeping data in a central location ensures its safety. Remote workers ben-efit, too, from rapid deployment of remote thin clients.

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Perceived barriers to implementation of saas

Barriers to adoption concerns center around security, reliability or lack of control. But in many cases where IT is not the core competency of companies, SaaS solutions are more secure because they have more controlled access and are more reliable because many SaaS providers keep the software up and running very effectively. There are other tangible benefits, too. Most SaaS applications are hosted at a level 4 data center and make good business sense for disaster recovery and business continuity requirements

According to studies by Forrester Research on Supply Chain applications such as costs, ben-efits, risks and flexibility of the deployment, SaaS applications provide better TEI through a 10-year lifecycle of ownership, as well as lower cumulative costs. They also reported on-premise deployments have greater pre-deployment costs, including hardware maintenance, upgrades and support costs, on top of license fees.

The cost controls inherent in the SaaS model and the expertise the SaaS providers bring to the table make SaaS an attractive, affordable option for companies. For instance, if a com-pany is using .net technology and has to deploy a Java solution or vice versa, Saas would be an ideal choice. It also makes sense when companies have small IT support staffs.

Companies that are deploying solutions based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) find deploying SaaS solution very practical. SaaS is often pay as you go, so you avoid capital ex-penditure and capital outlay. If companies have a freeze on capital spending, then going for SaaS is the only option they have.



A complete web-based solution, ePMX

ePMX is or ePurchase Management eXtra is an On Demand/SaaS procurement solution for purchasing and material management. The entire ePMX suite has been built from the ground up for SaaS delivery. Bellwether Software has been a leader in e-procurement soft-ware since 1985. The company has put in 23 years of experience and customer feedback in developing ePMX that is offered on a SaaS model. With prices as low as $25 per month per module for a single user, it makes e-procurement software affordable for any size company. And, it offers the opportunity for companies to get a higher ROI. ePMX software offers fast and easy deployment, and it is maintenance free.

Contact Bellwether Software for more information on ePMX at 502-426-5463 or

email us at [email protected]

BellwetheR soFtwARe coRPoRAte heAdquARteRs

9900 Shelbyville Road Suite 6BLouisville, KY 40225

Phone: 502-426-5463Fax: 502-423-8963

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