| Most Content Management Systems (CMS) today | | | | to the environment of the organization. |
| resemble white elephants. Terribly expensive to | | | | Accountability is the strongest point of a SaaS |
| maintain, these applications (like their animal | | | | vendor, as there are financial penalties for failure |
| cousins) consume a lot of time, energy and | | | | to meet the defined metrics in the Service Level |
| resources to just keep them alive and functional. | | | | Agreement. |
| Over time, and over multiple forced upgrades, | | | | Lower Costs, Improved Scalability and Greater |
| these applications turn out to be far more | | | | Flexibility |
| expensive to maintain than they are worth. As a | | | | Similar to an outsourcing agreement, where the |
| result, many organizations have never been able | | | | cost of support, licenses, and manpower is spread |
| to justify the high cost and long implementation | | | | across multiple clients, a SaaS vendor can keep |
| time required to install a content management | | | | costs low, while continuing to deliver high value |
| system. Moreover, as content management | | | | added services. It is estimated that more than 60 |
| systems typically involve a range of tasks | | | | percent of the total cost of owning an application |
| involving usability, information architecture and | | | | is due to costs due to upgrades, support, security |
| interface design - customer's face a Herculean | | | | management and trouble shooting. In a SaaS |
| task in ensuring that content is easily accessed, | | | | model, the costs are lower as the vendor takes |
| created, updated, published and retired. | | | | care of every aspect of implementing, managing |
| In many instances, customers have also found to | | | | and upgrading the application. You also save costs |
| their dismay that even if they are not happy with | | | | as you do not have to budget for a developer |
| a particular content management system, they | | | | who tweaks the HTML code, or a webmaster |
| are forced to use it as they have already | | | | who actually takes care of hosting. Players such |
| invested substantially in purchasing, integrating, | | | | as CrownPeak provide a dedicated account |
| adopting and maintaining the application. | | | | manager for the lifetime of the service, who is |
| Putting an end to nasty surprises | | | | the same person who actually implements the |
| What is the solution then? The answer could lie in | | | | CMS for your site, as part of your monthly cost - |
| a relatively new way of consuming software, | | | | an option that can be used extensively by small |
| called 'Software as a Service' or SaaS. Unlike | | | | and medium organizations for bringing them on an |
| traditional software, where consumers pay a huge | | | | even keel as their large counterparts. |
| amount of money to buy a software product, | | | | By using a SaaS model, customers can cut down |
| and then spend additional amounts to make sure | | | | on their risk, and choose different functionalities as |
| that the software justifies its ROI -- a vendor | | | | they grow. For instance, if they find that a |
| delivering a product through SaaS gives no such | | | | solution no longer meets their changing needs, |
| nasty surprises. As the software is hosted, there | | | | they can simply shift to another vendor. As most |
| is no hardware to buy and no software to install | | | | SaaS vendors bill on a monthly or quarterly basis, |
| and no infrastructure to manage. As a customer, | | | | costs are spread across the lifetime of a |
| you just pay on a fixed monthly or quarterly | | | | product's usage. This is an extremely attractive |
| basis and leave the task of managing, maintaining | | | | value proposition when compared to the traditional |
| and upgrading the software to the vendor. | | | | software model, where costs are paid upfront, |
| SaaS vendors have filled a much needed void - | | | | maintenance and site changes are still charged |
| prompting independent analysts to predict a | | | | after launch, and the risk of product |
| period of high growth for specialist vendors. | | | | implementation and adoption rests almost totally |
| Research firm Gartner expects the SaaS market | | | | on the customer. |
| for Enterprise Content Management services to | | | | Using SaaS to succeed in a converged world |
| grow by 30% annually. While the base is small, the | | | | In a digital world where your content can be |
| potential is huge. Currently, Gartner estimates that | | | | creatively used in a variety of forms, effectively |
| only 2 percent of the money spent in the ECM | | | | managing and using this digital reservoir of content |
| market - which translates to $25 million of a $1.2 | | | | is critical for competitive advantage. So you may |
| billion market is spent on hosted solutions. As the | | | | have a Web analytics software that gives you |
| popularity of SaaS vendors increase, one can | | | | the details about the most popular sections in |
| expect SaaS to command a much larger share of | | | | your site, an installed CRM application that gives a |
| the ECM market. For the record, Gartner | | | | complete picture about your customer, and e-mail |
| estimates the global SaaS market to grow to | | | | campaign management software that blasts out |
| $19.3 billion by 2011, tripling in size from the $6.3 | | | | customized mails to selected list of people who |
| billion it was in 2006. Similarly, research firm IDC | | | | have visited or downloaded content from your |
| predicts that SaaS will be worth $10.7 billion by | | | | site. |
| 2009. | | | | The key here is content, as content alone will |
| Why CMS delivered using a SaaS model leads to | | | | drive people to your site, and will compel your |
| more value? | | | | customers or prospects to have a valuable opinion |
| To understand why SaaS solutions from specialist | | | | about your company. But unless these different |
| players such as CrownPeak are increasingly been | | | | pieces of the content information landscape don't |
| preferred by customers, consider the following | | | | connect and talk to each other, the ROI on such |
| facts. In a conventional CMS system, success of | | | | initiatives will remain unclear. One can compare this |
| the implementation is not guaranteed. You pay for | | | | scenario to banks, which have multiple delivery |
| the system, and then pay more to justify what | | | | channels of delivering a service to a customer, |
| you have already paid. The real work in a CMS | | | | such as the telephone, Web or the ATM. Unless |
| implementation begins after the site goes live | | | | the bank has a single view of a customer, it |
| which is when most vendors leave you the keys | | | | simply cannot deliver a satisfying service to the |
| to the CMS and say good luck. Template tweaks, | | | | customer. As a vendor using a SaaS model takes |
| workflow changes, site redesigns, architecture | | | | end-to-end responsibility of streamlining the |
| updates, creating new landing pages and micro | | | | process of managing and publishing digital content, |
| sites, and publishing take a lot of time, and are | | | | an organization can effectively measure the |
| messy if they involve integration with multiple | | | | success of their online marketing initiatives. |
| systems such as your campaign management | | | | For a world used to the tyrannies imposed by |
| system or your CRM application. This means that | | | | traditional content management application |
| the customer is responsible for systems | | | | vendors, arrival of SaaS as a service delivery |
| deployment - which is usually done through a third | | | | method with clear proven benefits is liberating. |
| party vendor. In addition, the customer even has | | | | From dynamic website updates to managing digital |
| to cough up a significant percentage of money | | | | assets, CMS's from SaaS vendors offer one of |
| for annual software support. | | | | the best opportunities for organizations to free |
| Most enterprise application users would be | | | | themselves from the necessities of sustaining and |
| surprised to know that SaaS vendors actually | | | | maintaining a white elephant. |
| guarantee you a running application fully configured | | | | |