SaaS Cloud Spend Intelligence for Procurement and Finance

A single, global view of all integrated internal & external data

The benefits of SaaS

Organizations of all sizes are increasingly choosing software as a service as an alternative to aging, on-premise ERP systems, which are slow to implement, costly and complex.

In a groundbreaking survey of 1,322 organizations, the Panorama Consulting Group published a report in early 2009 that “identified the actual benefits, drawbacks, risks, and overall results experienced by organizations implementing ERP software across the globe.”

Caution, the findings may be surprising:

Implementation time – The average implementation time for an ERP system: SAP 20 months; Oracle 18.6 months; Microsoft 18 months. Tier II: 17.8 months.
Post-implementation reliability – Following the “go-live” of the software system, 57 percent of participants suffered operational stoppages
Executive satisfaction –The average satisfaction rating: SAP 73 percent; Oracle 62 percent; Microsoft 69 percent. Tier II: 70 percent.
Business results – 79 percent of ERP implementations realize less than half of expected business benefits.
Total costs –The average EPR implementation costs: SAP $16.8 million; Oracle $12.6 million; and Microsoft $2.6 million. Tier II average: $3.5 million

It is no wonder why decision-makers are turning their backs to ERP systems: The tangible benefits of software as a service as a proven delivery model are enormous, especially in today’s economic climate when IT budgets are under scrutiny:

Benefits of SaaS:

No hidden costs – one set price that covers hardware, software and maintenance
Immediate set-up – requires no consultants, hardware or software installations
Customization and scalability – run as needed advanced analytic applications
On-demand – real-time information available to multiple users via the internet
Realignment – focus business users on decision-making, not on data or IT management

Software as a service is an alternative that can deliver faster, better and more measurable results including a proven return on investment. This may explain why Gartner, for example, forecasts that the global enterprise market for software as a service will rise by nearly 22 percent in 2009.

“Analytic applications delivered as a self-service over a web platform are ideal for SMBs requiring pay-as-you-go access to spend intelligence at a very low price point,” said Jeffrey M. Kaplan, Managing Director, THINKstrategies, Inc “Rosslyn Analytics has a solution that not only gives multiple users immediate visibility into company-wide spends data, but enables executives to reduce costs by automating and managing business processes.”