Category: Cloud Services

Transparency Market Research (TMR) states that the competitive landscape in the global Software as a Service (SaaS) Market is likely to be significantly fragmented due to large number of players. Some of the key players in the global market are Oracle Corp., Salesforce.com Inc., and ADP Inc. The wide range of products of these companies, excellent business and marketing strategies, and seamless services are expected to fuel the growth of the global market in the coming years. To stay ahead of the competition, the report suggests, companies will have to invest in cloud computing solutions. The growing demand for bring-your-own device and cloud storage has led to a shift in perception of the end users.

The report states that the global market is likely to be worth US$164.3 bn by the end of 2022 as the market is poised to exhibit a CAGR of 27.90% between 2015 and 2022. Amongst the various applications of SaaS solutions, the customer relationship management segment will be the highest revenue generator in the coming years. In terms of regions, the North America SaaS market is slated to dominate the global market as the region boasts a higher awareness of technology along with its acceptance. – Read more

 

It has only been a few decades since the idea of paperless work environments has become popular. Instead of filing cabinets and loads of paperwork, cloud-based CMMS tools now allow field maintenance staff unprecedented freedom.

When computerized maintenance systems first showed up around 50 years ago, preventive maintenance was just an idea. But thanks to computer technology, this extremely useful feature has led to the birth of a whole industry dedicated to keeping the world’s industrial and commercial equipment smoothly functioning.

Those early CMMS were primitive by today’s standards and were designed to help business owners document, standardize, and verify manufacturing processes. In this article, we will discuss how the CMMS has evolved over time, as well as more recent developments in preventive maintenance systems. You can learn more about the benefits of computerized maintenance management systems here.

Preventive Maintenance Gets Easier

In a process involving multiple work streams, resources and departments, this previously meant forms and documentation would travel around the organization, with various signatures and approvals required. Bottlenecks such as a missing part or lost approval form could bring things to a complete standstill.

With the advent of CMMS tools, automated workflows became possible. Now, computerized workflows with specialized software making repetitive tasks a lot easier and faster. With a few mouse clicks, you can dispatch work orders and material requisitions, with online approvals done in seconds. In addition, barcode readers, wireless sensors and a host of technological developments have enabled automated data collection into the CMMS.

Instead of assigning inspectors to monitor equipment health, the sensors can now let you know of any upcoming issues before they occur, using modern sensors and condition monitoring techniques. The CMMS and the input from sensors can be leveraged for any kind of preventive maintenance efforts.

In a 2018 survey of the manufacturing industry worldwide, 53 percent of the respondents reported using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). This shows that the adoption of CMMS is growing steadily growing.

Over time, the best practices followed by an organization get codified and standardized across companies and departments. But today, people no longer have to relearn the standards each time someone is hired or refer to bulky manuals. Instead, the CMMS conforms to the industry best practices and incorporates lessons from decades of experience across companies. It becomes a repository of knowledge, which can be extremely valuable and can speed up the onboarding process of new technicians.

It’s All About Communication

In maintenance, it is key that the right work is done and the work is done right. And that requires excellent communication. Modern CMMS facilitates the flow of information to the right person at the right time, allowing both maintenance managers and technicians to stay on top of their responsibilities.

Whereas previously people would be assigned tasks according to a manual roster and required more supervision and meetings, now managers can quickly change work priorities, work orders, and due dates and communicate them quickly to the whole maintenance team.

Additionally, using the CMMS, maintenance managers can assign duties, create standardized maintenance processes and offer a stable communication platform for regular and emergency maintenance tasks.

Where previously a team would be following up with the store, parts vendors and other stakeholders manually, now they have mobile access to an up-to-date system that shows near real-time information. Consider that in 2017, 9 percent of respondents from the worldwide manufacturing industry reported using mobile devices that are fully integrated into a plant-wide computerized maintenance management system.

This winning combination of faster communications and mobility means less time spent in coordination and higher overall plant productivity.

Less Time Spent On Inventory Checks

With every company trying to optimize their workflow, the less time you spend on inventory checks, the more time you have to work on activities that actually add additional value to your company.

Before you could use maintenance solution that can automatically track your inventory, every so often, someone would have to do a manual inventory of the stock. Luckily, that is no longer the case as today we have automated scanners and software that can update the stock levels in real-time.

With fewer workers devoted to inventory, they can be reassigned to other tasks that demand attention, like ensuring maintenance orders are fulfilled in a timely fashion.

Easier Data Management And Faster Reporting

We all know that a business decision can only be as good as the information you based it on.

With the development of IoT and condition-monitoring technology, the amount of data about your assets you can gather can be overwhelming. Luckily, modern maintenance software can pick up on that constant stream of data and help you analyze the data and find the right answers through the use of complex algorithms.

And while this might sound complicated at first, it’s not that you need to know how all of those algorithms work. The only thing you need to do is to recognize which reports you need and have the ability to interpret the available data to make the right decisions.

Conclusion

The use of computerized maintenance systems has completely transformed the way companies do business. The impact goes well beyond cutting down on paperwork – the concept of predictive maintenance owes its existence to the developments in sensor technology and software analytics.

By implementing a CMMS, you not only help extend the life of equipment and prevent failures, but you also boost the productivity of your workers by empowering them to make decisions based on real-time information.

Compared to the manual maintenance operations of the past, modern computer-assisted maintenance leads to higher morale, fewer work interruptions, better safety, and higher quality products, which ultimately boosts your bottom line.

Bryan Christiansen is the founder and CEO at Limble CMMS. Limble is a modern, easy to use mobile CMMS software that takes the stress and chaos out of maintenance by helping managers organize, automate, and streamline their maintenance operations.

 

A common question among SaaS business founders is how fast their revenue growth has to be to attract investors and potential acquirers – what does good look like?

Ten years ago the world economy was mired in a financial crisis.

But for Dan Saks, he was optimistic and launched his own startup, called AppDirect. His focus was on helping businesses leverage cloud applications.

Now the early days were not easy. Keep in mind that he spent much of his time in Europe selling his vision to telecom operators!

But of course, the effort paid off in a big way. AppDirect has gone on to raise $246 million and has amassed a large customer base, which includes biggies like Comcast, ADP, and Deutsche Telekom

Yet success can be fleeting – so this is why Dan takes a long-term view of things. Let’s face it, the cloud industry will look much different in the next ten years. There will probably be some well-known companies that will crater along the way. – Read more

It too soon to target enterprise clients when you can’t support their needs 90 days afteryou close them.

It’s sort of OK in the enterprise to promise features and functionality that are sort of there … so long as you deliver them fairly promptly after the deal closes.

In fact, it happens all the time. Enterprise customers will even sign contracts agreeing to buy so long as you implement a key feature with X number of days.

But if you don’t have the team, commitment and experience to deliver that functionality at least X days after you close a Big Customer … – Read more

The emerging tool of containers promises to redefine infrastructure and cybersecurity, even as it speeds the development of cloud computing.

In the age of SaaS, mergers and acquisitions present unique challenges compared to years past.

With large tech companies purchasing more and more SaaS applications throughout the enterprise, massive tech discovery and integration operations are in order.

Modern SaaS management opens the door for cost containment opportunities, risk mitigation and increased efficiencies for years to come. In the case of mergers and acquisitions, taking control of the technology landscape is a game-changer — and the creation of a SaaS integration road map is necessary.

Here’s how you can build a SaaS integration road map in six steps:

1. Align The M&A Team With Business Leaders

When acquired by (or merging with) a tech giant, what the M&A team says goes. However, according to my company’s study, as over 50% of SaaS spend is found outside of known software expense types, leaders of all business units are highly influential over the success of the enterprisewide integration. To ensure an effective merger of tech stacks, M&A teams must align with business units to devise an integration road map.

To uncover key digital change agents within the enterprise, identify heavy SaaS investors within the business units. Business leaders who are frequent buyers will be integral in driving tech innovation across the enterprise. Throughout the integration process, hold regular stakeholder meetings to align business and IT strategies. – Read more

The convergence of Software as a Service (Saas) and payments as a value added service is accelerating, as more SaaS companies become payment facilitators.

Infinicept today launched a new ROI (Return On Investment) calculator to show technology and SaaS companies how integrating a payment facilitator model into their business strategies can open up new revenue streams and increase valuations.

Over the past several months, an in-depth analysis of several vertically focused software companies across the hospitality, auto services, event management and personal services verticals was performed leveraging the ROI calculator. By adopting the payment facilitator model, the analysis concluded that software companies can dramatically increase their revenue (sometimes by as much as 14 times) while also increasing their valuation – by as much as 127 times.

The ROI calculator is a free service that allows companies to enter a few data points about their customers and merchant card processing programs to generate a customized report showing their potential revenue opportunity and increased valuations as a payment facilitator. This new tool is available at Infinicept.com/roi-calculator – Read more

Slick UIs and fast setup make great first impressions, but enterprise managers know they’re the tip of the iceberg. Unsexy features like interoperability are the real foundation.

Venture capital funding is at an all-time high in India.

In 2017, Indian companies received VC/private equity funding to the tune of $17.6 billion, with Japan’s Softbank investing nearly a quarter of that amount in Flipkart, Paytm, and OYO. It would appear as if nearly every tech-based startup is backed by VC funds these days and if you want to make it to the big leagues, you need VC money, period.

But a closer look reveals that this claim is not quite true. Bootstrapping may not only be a viable alternative to VC funding, but it might also actually be your ticket to startup success.

Consider Sridhar Vembu’s Zoho, which lies comfortably in the multi-billion dollar valuation field, while being guarded assiduously from external funding for nearly two decades now. Similarly, Paras Chopra’s Wingify, which has an ARR of $18 million, was bootstrapped.

One could go on. The list of companies that were built from the ground up, without being funded by VCs, is quite a long one. If you do decide to go through it, a common pattern emerges: a majority of these businesses are B2B SaaS (Software as a Service) ones. – Read More