As the hype of virtualization and cloud computing settles and becomes more useful and affordable, SaaS applications become also more accessible and viable specially to SMBs. Furthermore, with organizational limitations on sizing of IT staff, SMBs particularly can’t always afford to hire the skill set required to maintain commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications or in-house customized apps. Therefore, It only seems right that in this economy, SaaS is positioned to deliver the most value to SMBs.

This translate on hefty benefits for SBMs since with these type of solutions smaller organizations are no longer concerned with delivering software to their organizations. They are now able to deliver business applications without having to worry about maintenance and upgrades and the associated headaches of acquiring and managing the right skill set to deliver such services. Although the article below is a year old, i believe the dynamic at work is the same regarding the economy and its impact on these solutions. It’s very interesting to see their research numbers on Saas demand for the last few years. Enjoy!

Economy Benefits SaaS cloud computing

Incredible news for open source everywhere when a big customer like this is behind your product…very glad to see the success of Drupal and open source in general. Check out the full article here….

Very interesting website that evaluates hosted ERP Solutions. Great insight on who is who and what the process is to choose the right Enterprise Resource Planning application is for your organization. Enjoy!

ERP System Evaluation Criteria
Our ERP system evaluation and analysis procedure consists of a six step review process.

• In step one, we verify the hosted ERP systems are truly software as a service (SaaS) solutions. To meet this criteria, the ERP application should be a thin-client system operated entirely through a web browser, delivered remotely from a data center over the Internet, and procured with a subscription pricing model.
• In step two, we verify the full ERP software application scope. To meet the complete definition of an Enterprise Resource Planning application, the software should offer the following integrated modules:
  • Accounting or financial system
  • Distribution or supply chain management (SCM) system
  • Manufacturing or MRP (Material Requirement Planning) system
  • Human resource and payroll systems
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
• In step three, we validate the application delivers a positive user experience and acceptable user performance. A few of the more technology advanced hosted solutions now leverage both a zero footprint client and AJAX browser-based technology …click in the link below to read the full article.

via ERPSoftware360.com