The new software deal - SaaS
This blog is now dormant but the world of supplier enablement goes on and on.
SaaS is my new gig and if you are wrestling with how you make money (it's not a dirty word) from SaaS then take a look at
http://www.saasdeal.co.uk/See ya!!
Labels: cash, money, Mural Ventures, profit, SaaS
Supplier Networks drive Supplier Enablement
I see that the Aberdeen Group has published a new report about the importance of supplier networks. The Exec Summary of the report is free and can be located by
clicking here.It is copyright so follow the link to read more.
Click here if you need information on building a supplier network.
Labels: Aberdeen Group, CPO, supplier enablement, supplier networks, supplier portal, survey
Supplier Enablement - black hole
I have just reviewed a supplier adoption programme that deals with the strategy and approach that will be taken to acquire content and connectivity for an eProcurement roll-out.
Having read the documents two things struck me:
1. a team would be appointed to drive the programme – good decision
2. the programme lacked insight and detail about communication with suppliers - why?
As a general observation, a high level of competence exists to handle the data extraction and analysis that determines the selection of suppliers for inclusion in a supplier adoption programme, this part of the project being ‘internal’ to the business, but evidence shows a lack of experience when the project goes ‘external’ to the business to suppliers. It is a black hole for many.
The tough part of any supplier adoption programme is executing the activity of contacting your suppliers and then moving them to become active participants in your
e-Procurement quickly and at a low cost to your business.
Quickly means the elapsed time is short between first contact with your supplier and your supplier being activated. This drives the benefits of eProcurement into the business and is vital to delivering ROI.
Click here for a benchmark.
Low cost because, and you might not want to know this, most eProcurement projects woefully underestimate supplier adoption as an activity and the cost of this activity will impact ROI in Years 1 & 2.
It is apparent that supplier adoption, more often referred to now as
supplier enablement, is a skill set and is
increasingly in demand.
Click here if you are a buyer and want more information about how to run supplier enablement.
Labels: buyers, electronic invoicing, eprocurement, ROI, supplier enablement, suppliers
SaaS matures but money rules OK
In July 2006 I mentioned Microsoft's announcement of Software as a Service.
Click here for a refresh of that.
More recently I have found an interesting note on
Wikipedia that talks about the
SaaS maturity model.
Well, this is quite academic at the moment aside from providing developers a reference point as customers are more concerned with the 'why' and not the 'how' are you doing it.
If you search on
SaaS in
Wikepedia you will find the maturity model or
click here to go directly there.
The real debate is about 'why' with the choices being to go with the on-premises delivery of software or use SaaS. It is a passionate debate that is riddled with the vested interests of IT departments who want to preserve control of IT resources and their vendors who want to hang on to their customary license revenues.
Does the person at the top who carries the buck care?Who is advising him/her and what will they say about the choices?
IT say - This is a strategic resource and we know our business better than any third-party service provider. We can deliver it cheaper and, importantly, we control the resource.
Finance say - our choice is upfront capital expenditure and the cost of our resources (salaries etc.) to have the system on-premises or monthly operational expenses with
SaaS that we align with use and can turn off if we don't need it in the future or for that matter change if something better comes along.
If the on-premises deployment fails to deliver then the money is lost. The financial risk with
SaaS is reduced and the time to benefit is shorter because we are using an existing service.
So new projects will not only be subject to the usual rigors of the 'business case' but also the evaluation of on-premises versus
SaaS.
Interesting times ahead.
Click here for insight into using SaaS to deliver connectivity in the supply chain.
Labels: business case, on-premises, SaaS, supplier enablement
Are you getting enough?
BBC South Today featured a conference organised by
SEEDA for small businesses to meet the Olympic organisers to know how they can 'cash in' on
opportunities. It seems that some small businesses feel they are at a disadvantage.
The Olympic 2012 web site has an
eTendering web site that shows past, current and future opportunities so that is easily accessible, check it out.
But the spend on the Olympics 2012 is small compared to what the UK public sector spends annually,
so how are small businesses doing in the competition for public sector contracts? Are you getting enough?
A report has just been published by the DTI with more statistics that you could shake a stick at.
Click here for the report. Can't be bothered and just need the headlines, here goes:
I bet you now want to read that report?
Click here and put the kettle on
Labels: DTI, Olympics 2012, public sector contracts, Small Business Forum, SME
UK Government launch Small Business Forum
This blog regularly covers the issues facing
SMEs and it will be interesting to see what issues emerge from the Small Business Forum.
There is an interesting panel representing small businesses and the first meeting on 1st May may have been little more than a get to know each other and set the agenda for the next meeting affair.
Click here to see those comprising the panel.
At the same London Olympics 2012 has run a seminar to help small business understand how they can access opportunities connected with the Games. They have an
eTenders site,
click here to go there.
It really does appear that government is working to open up public sector contracts to
SMEs.
Labels: Olympics 2012, Small Business Forum, SME
eBusiness drives supplier enablement II
More from the EU eBusiness Watch report 2006/7.
Is there evidence that suppliers are e-enabled as a consequence of a
growing dependancy on eBusiness? Check it out.
Does this correspond with what is actually happening in your business?
Labels: eBusiness Watch, europe, supplier enablement. UK
eBusiness drives supplier enablement
Discuss. The European eBusiness Watch Report 2006/7 is a great source of free information about how eBusiness is shaping up across Europe.
Here is an interesting sample from the report.
Who's doing it
- and is it important to them?
© European Communities, 2006. Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.Click here for the full report.
Click here for practical solutions to eBusiness whether you are a buyer or supplier
Labels: buyers, eBusiness, eBusiness Watch, europe, suppliers
eProcurement gets political
It is election day in Scotland today and the Scottish National Party has included eProcurement in its plans to govern if elected.
Click here to read about recent developments in Scotland.
Labels: elections, eprocurement, scotland
- and is it important to them?
