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VoIP Phone – How VoIP Helps Businesses During Recession

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:43:11 +0000

The telephone was a breakthrough discovery in 1870 which revolutionized communications that is known to the world today. Telecommunications has become part of world evolution, as humanity advances, so does our way of communicating which makes it a part of life. In the business perspective, telecommunications became the mouth and ears of the enterprise. No brilliant businessman can imagine operating his business without telecommunications.

In the United States, almost everyone is still using the traditional telephone, the one with the handset that needs to be connected into a wall jack. Do you know that traditional phones are very costly? You may seem to get used to paying the same average amount of monthly phone bills but in times of recession it is best to cut expenses, utilize the minimal resources you have and produce maximum productive output. That is the smartest move you can make in times of recession. Businesses spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars in their average monthly phone bill. That is no longer advisable if you aim to cut costs but you can’t sacrifice your communications just to cut expenses. Communications is the life line of the business but there are smarter alternatives compared to using traditional phones and this is where the power of Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is needed. Other popular names for VoIP are Internet Phone, IP Phone, or simply VoIP phone.

VoIP has been around for years already. You only need to have a computer and a broadband internet connection to make calls. There are two kinds of VoIP phones, the VoIP phone with the handset known as a hardphone which looks like the traditional phone and the second one is the software-based VoIP phone which is commonly known as a softphone. If you choose to use a hardphone you need to connect it to your computer with a LAN cable or RJ-45 socket unlike the traditional phone which uses the RJ-11 in the wall jack. If you choose the VoIP softphone, you only need to install the VoIP software and you setup your account then you start making calls using the software. Some VoIP softphones such has 3CXPhone from 3CX have a graphical user interface that is similar to smart phones which also have wide range of functionalities and flexibility.

A smart businessman like you would want to cut expenses during recession and using VoIP as an alternative is one way to do that. VoIP for businesses are commonly known as business VoIP. Software-based business VoIP phones such as CounterPath’s Bria, eyeBeam and X-Lite provide business users with innovative features that suit their business needs. Through softphones, you can make calls using your laptop as long as you’re online, this saves a lot of money. Imagine paying only an average of $30 of your phone bills with unlimited calls nationwide or even in the whole North America. Some unlimited plans cost only $79 on average with the elimination of unregulated charges. Some VoIP providers only charge a very small amount for international calls. This is the most cost-effective telecommunications technology. Shifting from traditional phone to VoIP phone saves you 50%-80% of your phone bills and for businesses this means you save thousands of dollars.

VoIP phones have the same features or have even greater features as compared to that of traditional phones. You can still have features such as Call Waiting, Caller ID, Call Transfer, Repeat Dial, 3-way calling, some can even handle more people in call conferences depending on the subscription plan. Other advance features would include forward the call to a particular number, send the call directly to voice mail, give the caller a busy signal, play a “not-in-service” message, send the caller to a funny rejection hotline and many others great features. For security issues, VoIP technology supports security standards such as Transport Layer Security (TLS), Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Secure-Real Time Protocol (SRTP) and many other secure encryptions to make your VoIP call experience free from wire or wireless tapping and eavesdropping.

If you or your business would like to cut your communications expenses then Marshall VoIP Solutions, Inc. (MVSI) can help you with that goal by providing you with cost-effective, state-of-the-art VoIP solutions, either hardware or software, which allow you to save thousands of dollars from communications expenses.

For more information about VoIP solutions, contact Larry Marshall, President/CEO of Marshall VoIP Solutions, Inc. (MVSI), one of the leading VoIP service providers in the United States. Partnering with renowned VoIP giants such as CounterPath, Cordia, 3CX and snom, enables MVSI to stay updated and provide clients with the latest and most advance VoIP technologies available today. MVSI provides IP PBX from renowned PBX leading provider 3CX, SIP lines from Cordia, VoIP hardphones from VoIP technological leader, snom, VoIP softphones from VoIP software giant, CounterPath and VoIP headsets from Plantronics. MVSI Phone Number: 888-205-5758 (Toll Free) Fax: 888-838-4289

Jonathan Filoteo is an entrepreneur, digital graphics artist, blogger and a marketing professional specializing in online marketing, ERP and CRM softwares, SEO and Social Media. Currently works in the marketing department of Marshall VoIP Solutions, Inc. (MVSI). http://www.marshallvoip.com

Author: Jonathan Filoteo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Dell 1320 Toner Based Printer – Low Cost Printing, Solid Performing Color Laser From Dell

Anthony Allen — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:43:08 +0000

Overview

Anyone looking for a solid performing, low cost, color laser printer should take a close look at the Dell 1320. This printer offers quality color laser printing at an affordable price.

Features and Functionality

The 1320 printer offers average print speeds of 12 pages per minute in color and 16 pages per minute in black and white. The print quality is sufficient for most office related materials. Home office and small office users who have a unique need for high quality color prints on a consistent basis should opt for a different printer model. The Dell 1320 is rated to handle 35,000 pages per month making a great “go to” printer for small network groups.

A network interface card is required to connect this printer to a local area network. This will allow all users that are connected to the LAN to print directly to the printer. The Dell 1320 printer comes standard with USB connection capability.

Envelopes, labels, and other media types are all supported by the Dell 1320 printer. This printer offers duplex printing, but only on a manual basis. Each print job requires double sided printing will require user interaction to re-feed the sheet of paper. The Dell 1320 has a maximum paper capacity of 250 sheets. This can be bonded or non-bonded paper.

This 1320 printer can use both standard and high capacity toner cartridges, offering either 1,000 or 2,000 pages of print capacity per toner cartridge. The Dell 1320 uses the Dell 310-9058 toner cartridge, Dell 310-9060 toner, Dell 310-9062 toner, and the Dell 310-9064 toner. Owners of this printer can purchase and use compatible toner cartridges in this dell model printer and will save money doing so.

Conclusion

Low cost and basic functionality are two features of the Dell 1320 color laser printer. The ability to handle common color print jobs makes this printer ideal for home and small office users. High capacity toner cartridges will also help keep printing costs down, which is always a concern.

Dell 1320 Toner

Internet Only Price Specials on Dell Toner Cartridges

Author: Anthony Allen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Three Reasons Why You Should Get an LG InTouch Max GW620

Simon Drew — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:43:06 +0000

The first thing you must do is try to limit your choices to make things easier. First, do you have a particular brand in mind? If you’ve only been using Nokia or BlackBerry phones ever since, then it’s probably a good time for you to try a new brand, like LG. LG has always been known for making high quality and affordable household appliances, but recently the company has been taking the world of mobile phones by storm.

The next thing you should consider is the operating system. You’ll be amazed at how many people choose a phone based on the OS installed on it. That’s because the operating system will determine how the smart phone performs. One of the best operating systems for smart phones today is the highly admired Google Android 1.5.

One phone that fits the bill is the new LG InTouch Max GW620. It is LG’s first ever Android phone that can be easily customised by installing the applications that would suit your mood. Here are three reasons why you should get this smart phone.

First, this smart phone looks really good.

The problem with a lot of smart phones today is that they look very generic and similar to each other. This phone stands out in the crowd of black handsets because of its classy silver slide out keyboard. It only measures 106 x 55 x 12 mm and weighs only 139 grams (with battery). That makes it one of the handiest, most pocketable devices around.

It has a brilliant 3 inch colour transflective TFT touch screen display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels and colour support of up to 262k. The QWERTY keyboard contains five lines to make it easier for you to type.

Second, this smart phone has smart specifications.

Not only does it run on Google Android 1.5, the most popular operating system for smart phones today, it also has an impressive 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM 7200A processor that is sure to speed things up for you. It has a 256 MB of RAM and double that size (512 MB) of ROM. It provides inherent support for GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / UMTS 850 / UMTS 1900 network connectivity and GPRS, CSD, UMTS, HSUPA and HSDPA data links. It is one of the most versatile smart phones in the market today. It also has Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and wireless LAN.

Third, this smart phone has great features.

If you’re always getting lost, then you definitely need the assisted GPS (Global Positioning System) that this phone offers for satellite navigation. You’ll also love the 4.9 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and 1x optical zoom. All these features and specifications make the LG InTouch Max GW620 stand out in the crowd.

You can visit Best Mobile Contracts to see all the latest mobile deals available. You can see what deals are available for InTouch Max GW620 and other phones.

Author: Simon Drew
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Introducing the LG InTouch Max GW620

Simon Drew — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:43:04 +0000

Finally, LG has decided to jump into the Android bandwagon by releasing LG InTouch Max GW620, its first ever smart phone running on perhaps the most popular operating system right now, the Google Android. Aside from the fact that it uses the same OS as the Motorola BACKFLIP and HTC Hero, which are some of trendiest devices today, this phone also functions a lot like a pocket PC with all its many useful features.

This phone is very easily customized by downloading and installing various applications depending on your interest. If you’re the type who likes to play games, there are thousands of game apps that you can choose from. If you’re the type who likes to keep updated with current events, there are several useful news and weather apps that you can get. If you’re a fan of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, there are apps you can install that would integrate all of these to make it easier for you to stay connected with your family and friends.

The Appearance

The phone comes in a black casing with a surprisingly chic silver slide out keyboard. Measuring only 106 x 55 x 12 mm and weighing only 139 grams (with battery), this smart phone is sure to be a looker everywhere you go. It has a 3 inch colour transflective TFT touch screen display that can support up to 262k colours and has a brilliant resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The five line QWERTY keyboard slides out easily, making it very easy to work with and giving it the feel of a real pocket PC.

The Specifications

As mentioned earlier, this smart phone uses Google Android 1.5 OS. In addition to this, it also runs on a powerful 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM 7200A microprocessor. It provides inherent support to the following network connections: GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / UMTS 850 / UMTS 1900. It also provides support for UMTS, GPRS, HSUPA, HSDPA and CSD data links. It has a 512 MB of ROM and 256 MB of RAM.

Should you have the need to further expand the internal memory, you can utilise the SDIO, microSD, microSDHC and TransFlash expansion slots. It also has a microUSB 2.0 client (480 Mbit/s) and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR (for your stereo headsets). It comes with wireless LAN at 802.11g and a built in GPS module which you can use for a-GPS (or assisted Global Positioning System), which you can use for satellite navigation.

The Features

The great thing about this phone is that it comes with a built in 4.9 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash and 1x optical zoom. This camera is a whole lot better than what you would find in a lot of smart phones in the market today.

Until now, there is no official announcement as to when the LG InTouch Max GW620 will be released, though it would probably be during the first quarter of 2010.

You can visit Best Mobile Contracts to see all the latest mobile deals available. You can compare all the best deals for the LG InTouch Max GW620.

Author: Simon Drew
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The LG InTouch Max GW620 is Finally Here

Simon Drew — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:43:01 +0000

After months of anxious waiting, fans of LG will be happy to learn that the company has finally joined the trend in smart phones and has come out with its very first Android phone – the LG InTouch Max GW620. Also known as Eve in the UK, this mobile phone can easily be personalised with a lot of different applications to suit your mood.

You can choose from informative news and weather applications, fun and entertaining game applications, or even your favorite social networking applications like Twitter or Facebook. It works impressively like a pocket PC, and you will receive all the important status updates from various sites in real time to keep you connected to your friends and family.

What the Phone Looks Like

This mobile phone looks really classic with its black casing and silver slide out QWERTY type keyboard. It measures only 106 x 55 x 12 mm. It is quite impressive to note how slim this phone is despite the fact that it has a three inch screen display and a full slide out keyboard. It has a colour transflective TFT touch screen with a colour depth of 262k and a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The QWERTY keyboard has five lines, making it easier for you to work on it. This mobile phone weighs 139 grams including the battery. Its size and weight fits nicely in the hand, making it easy to bring this phone along and keep it in your pocket or purse.

How the Phone Works

As previously mentioned, this phone runs on the most popular operating system for smart phones today, Google Android 1.5. This is the OS used for best selling smart phones such as Motorola CLIQ, Motorola BACKFLIP and HTC Hero. This phone boasts of a 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A processor, and has 256 MB of RAM and an astonishing 512 MB of ROM. It supports the following cellular networks currently used today: GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 / UMTS 850 / UMTS 1900. This makes it one of the most versatile smart phones available in the market today. It also supports CSD, UMTS, GPRS, HSUPA and HSDPA data links.

This mobile phone has a microSD, microSDHC, SDIO and TransFlash expansion slots should you feel the need to further expand your existing internal memory. There is a microUSB 2.0 client at 480 Mbit/s and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. It has wireless LAN feature at 802.11g. It also comes with a built in GPS module that can be used for a-GPS (assisted Global Positioning System), which is useful for satellite navigation.

What the Phone Does

One of the best things about this mobile phone is that it has a 4.9 megapixel camera with 1x optical zoom, autofocus and a LED flash. This is something that would surely please a lot of phone users who are used to settling for 3 megapixel cameras on their phones.

There is no official word yet as to when the LG InTouch Max GW620 will be officially launched and how much it will cost. However, it is generally believed to be available in the market sometime during the first quarter of 2010.

You can visit Best Mobile Contracts to see all the latest mobile deals available. You can also look at the best LG InTouch Max GW620 contracts on offer.

Author: Simon Drew
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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HP Laptop Computer Explained

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:39:01 +0000

HP is known as big computer manufacture which has been producing desktop computers and laptop computers in many types. HP Laptop computer is the one of several laptop products which has proved as convenient laptop for many users. There are several reasons which make users convenient with HP products; those are the features, functions, and the price.

Features

HP is the one of most famous computer manufacture which has produced what market need. There are many types of laptop in the market with different features and functions have produced by HP. Before you decide to buy laptop, you must define your needs first to get the best HP laptop which match with your budget and also your needs. Their products have created to all user elements, they are from beginner, intermediate, and advance users.

Price

Price is the most important for people who have limited budget to buy a laptop. HP has produced its product in different prices and features. It is recommended to you to make comparison with its features and functions. Usually with expensive price you will get high laptop specifications and good feature inside.

Below are several features from HP Laptop computer that you must know before you decide to buy.

Wireless Internet Connection

Wireless Internet Connection is important for people who always mobile in their activities. You can make a connection to the internet easily with this tool and you don’t need a network cable to make a connection.

Speed and Memory

It will be great if you can run several programs without lag time with your laptop. Processor and Memory (RAM) are the hardware which influence computer performance while you are working on it. How big memory capacity should you use? This question always comes up if you want to get the best computer performance, the answer is, processor and memory capacity should be balanced. As we have known, memory capacity in the market can range between 1 GB until 8 GB for ordinary types and could be higher than 8 GB for server types.

For more information about computer technology and other electronic equipment, you can visit my web site at PCDESKTOP-COMPUTERS.COM

Author: Mario Suyoto
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What Are the Advantages of a Co-Location Facility That Make it So Desirable?

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:46:19 +0000

Sometimes even as a small business you might need the services of a powerful server to hold your data, information and online activities. While purchasing a server might not be a huge ask for your business, maintenance and storage may be an issue to consider with importance. Co-location facilities can be something to help you out under such circumstances.

The Cost Aspect

The first advantage of considering a data center to host your server is the cost. While a co-location data center will provide you with power, storage facilities for your server, required temperatures, security and a good network and bandwidth, the amount of money you actually spend with these data centers is much less than what you would have had to spend if you had been hosting the server in your office premises.

The data centers are able to provide you with such services at a low cost as you share their great systems and infrastructure with a large number of other customers, making their overhead costs go down. A data center would be able to get the best performance out of your server with the infrastructure they provide, which would have cost you much more for the same reason.

Technical Support

Apart from the great infrastructure, cost and performance issues, the data centers ensure that their systems are running without fail by providing highly dedicated technical support for power and security systems. This saves a huge amount of your time, worries and money, considering the amount of supervision such an infrastructure would have needed from you.

You don’t have to employ IT staff to look after the networks and security systems. Nor do you need electricians and engineers to take care of your power systems, backup generators and batteries for uninterrupted power supply. The data center provides all this for you at a very reasonable price and you can concentrate more on the operations and forget about the maintenance issues.

All these points make data centers with co-location facilities a very useful option for you and your server will show much better performance with such an arrangement made.

Don’t waste your time looking for the best colocation deals, let us do the hard work and get multiple quotes from several providers so you can choose the best colocation deal for your needs.

Author: Jimmy P Harris
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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How to Effectively Check If a Collocation Facility Is Functional

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:46:17 +0000

The best thing to do, before a business should try the services offered by collocation centers, is to carefully check if these colo companies can give the benefits as you expected them to give, just like the other companies which offer the same service. This is simply because many of these companies different various benefit to lure new customers. How would you be able to get the best services if you do not find the best?

If you have any doubts or cobwebs in your mind, you should not hesitate to ask a colo vendor during a physical tour of solo site. You can ask for security arrangements. The colo vendor must be able to successfully persuade you of their security features, such as the access control systems, the on-site security personnel or the surveillance and other security measures in case of threats from fires, storms, flood and all other forms of natural disaster which may damage your colo equipment.

How fast is the link between the colo facility’s network and your equipment is also dependent on the capacity of the bandwidth you can use. If your link from the facility is only 100 Mbps, basically, that’s all you can get, even when the colo facility uses multiple OC-X connections.

It is also vey necessary to check the uptime record of the collocation facility. You should be able to get the so-called historical data on the frequency of power outages including its duration. Your business must be guaranteed 99.9 percent of the uptime result.

Since colo centers offer more services, be sure to ask questions during the tour when you can access your facility, since some colo offers 24/7, while there are also some who have restrictions. So, make sure you will know very important matters for your own benefits.

Since there are reports of network hacking, you should consider asking this question how far the network security is also designed to block hackers. What extent of monitoring services, intrusion-detection systems, sort of firewalls and other security measures they can offer.

You see, there are a lot of factors you should consider first before you think of getting the services of collocation centers. Don’t be too trusting of the various benefits they shout to lure companies. The most important is to see and check for yourself, how a collocation center can be of genuine help to your company. Remember that if you get the services of a colo center, you will be incurring a lot of money, whether to pay for the rent of the equipment, salaries of the staff you will hire to handle the maintenance, or to pay the colo staff to do it for you.

Author is an AT&T master solution provider who specializes in helping customers make the most out of their communication and network needs. He works tirelessly to provide powerful, efficient and cost effective solutions, such as Collocation and cheap business phone service, to address clients’ communications needs.

Author: Luke D Jenkins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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How to Effectively Check If a Collocation Facility Is Functional

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:46:17 +0000

Author: Luke D Jenkins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Software As a Service (SaaS) Software on Demand – Using SaaS the Smart Way

Michael G Perry — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:46:16 +0000

Software as a Service (SaaS) Today’s business world demands that business owners quickly adapt to a changing environment. Businesses can improve internal operations when they are able to adapt to emerging technologies trends to reduce operational costs and ultimately improve service to clients. Businesses that fail to adapt find that attempting to function using old, supposedly tried-and-true methods and technologies can cost them significant amounts of money.

When deployed correctly, Software as a Service (SaaS) can help your business reduce overhead costs associated with managing software installed and maintained on servers and client workstations. Software as a Service, also known as “software on demand” provides for quick deployment for many types of corporations and works particularly well within certain types of business operating models. Evolution of Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS began with the development of hosted software space that first appeared commercially in 1998. These first-generation SaaS applications were applications that allowed Web-based access to software through a subscription from the SaaS vendor as opposed to traditional application licensing for software purchased “off-the-shelf.”

The licensing model encourages software vendors to restrict the use of their applications by objectively defining how and when the application software can be used. The EULAs (End-User License Agreements) define precisely how an application can be used.

With SaaS, conventional CD software installation onto a workstation is completely done away with, and customers are granted full access to the application from their desktop PC. The PC essentially becomes a “thin client” when using SaaS; virtually all access functions are executed on the vendor’s server in a remote data center. Basically, the desktop PC becomes a client and the vendor serves up the application(s) on demand; hence, SaaS is basically software on demand.

At first, only certain companies were eager to adapt to SaaS. However, this group of companies made waves in their respective industries by becoming operationally effective when using SaaS. Today, more often than not, software is developed using the SaaS model because this delivery mechanism is a good fit for certain business operating models.

SaaS is rapidly becoming a preferred delivery vehicle for corporations around the world. In certain instances, business owners are particularly happy with the total cost-of-ownership savings of the SaaS solution compared to that of buying software through conventional reseller channels. With the only financial responsibility in the form of a recurring subscription fee, costs are constant and predictable with SaaS. As many business owners know, this is not the case with perpetually licensed out-of-the-box software. By the third year of ownership of licensed software, total cost of ownership increases because many vendors are pushing for new hardware equipment and other upgrades to your IT infrastructure.

Software as a Service (SaaS) Defined SaaS is just what the term implies: Software is supplied as a service by the software vendor. The application resides off-site at the vendor’s datacenter where the vendor is responsible for maintaining the data, servers and all other related hardware. Access to the remotely located application is granted by a subscription that allows end users to utilize the software. Users run the SaaS application over the Internet.

Vendors are able to maintain an application that works for multiple clients without considerable customization or integration issues. With traditional enterprise-level applications, this is not the case where many costs are generated customizing an application for a particular company. With SaaS, those costs are eliminated and the vendor has a single, easy-to-maintain application for multiple clients. Upgrades are a snap as is releasing new versions. When the vendor needs to upgrade its application or release a new version, it simply installs it in their data center, and all customers are instantly upgraded simultaneously the next time the application is accessed.

In most cases the software must be configured in an environment by where customers are able to access multiple applications simultaneously. SaaS is also known as a “one size fits all” kind of solution. By maintaining the hardware, vendors assume much of the operational IT costs associated with maintaining the software and servers that run the application(s). Transitioning to SaaS at your company could save your organization a lot of money by shifting these operational costs over to the SaaS vendor. Doing so eliminates the number of IT hours necessary to maintain the software running in-house on workstations, plus it reduces hardware costs for additional servers and other related equipment.

Shifting these responsibilities to the software vendor changes the customer-vendor relationship. Obviously, firms able to take advantage of SaaS are able to dramatically reduce operational costs and enable IT staff to focus on higher-order tasks within their organization. The SaaS platform also differs radically from traditional licensing methods in how the software is paid for. Gone are the large upfront costs with various consultancy fees and maintenance costs associated with adapting a new application company-wide. Instead, customers pay a subscription fee that may occur on a monthly or annual basis.

SaaS software vendors make the trade-off for the upfront fees for a predictable, steady cash flow from a service-based relationship with the customer. Keeping the customer relationship intact is essential for the SaaS provider to maintain these revenue streams and to keep them flowing. It is this need that drives the SaaS vendor to provide a quality service in their application, along with quality customer service when needed.

Oftentimes, it is the latter quality that many traditionally licensed software platforms are lacking. Regrettably, with certain SaaS vendors some of these companies are all about the customer up front when the application is initially being deployed only to essentially “forget” about the customer when it is time to provide some additional support. Obviously, forgetting about the customer is not in the SaaS vendor’s best interest.

It should also be noted certain enterprise software vendors often claim disinterest in developing SaaS applications, claiming SaaS is not able to provide the same level of sophistication inherent in their offerings. These vendors are underestimating the pervasiveness and agility of today’s SaaS offerings. Considering that enterprise software vendors generate significant revenues from upfront costs, the reasoning behind the expressed dissatisfaction becomes even clearer.

For small business owners, an enterprise software vendor may not be a viable option. For some vendors, it’s simply not cost effective for large enterprise-centric SaaS vendors to support businesses with fewer than 10 end users. With the SaaS application offering, the level of customer service remains the same no matter how many users need access.

Benefits of SaaS Savings generated by the relocation of an application from the customer’s location to the vendor’s data center are easily observable in terms of reduced IT staff hours or employees and the associated hardware needs. Other generated savings and benefits of SaaS are not so easily observable, are subtle in nature and can be far-reaching in their effectiveness.

These benefits are worth mentioning: o Delivery of standardized software applications across departments, business units and the entire corporation. o Improved security and access to digital documents in-house and outside of the office via the Internet. o Comprehensive training supplied from the same SaaS vendors with a new subscription. o Ongoing customer support from the SaaS vendor continued throughout the term of the contract. o Reduced risk as opposed to retail-boxed licensed software. The software is always accessible, and you don’t sacrifice productivity time should a workstation have to be rebuilt and you have to reinstall software.

Anytime a business can embrace an improved operational process, cost savings are realized. Standards applied across the business environment reduce or remove variations in work performance. These variations occur when different employees, perhaps located at different work sites or even different departments within the same building, alter their work process when completing similar tasks. Defining standards helps your business succeed in the most cost-effective manner possible. Under certain operating models, SaaS improves these standards by requiring virtually all employees to access the same version of software. The centralized application provides an access medium employees use to run the software at the office or remotely.

Access to files at the vendor’s data center (or in some cases a local workstation) is enhanced through SaaS. Centralized access using high-speed Internet connections improves the likelihood that documents will be easy to find. Security can also be improved by locating the documents off-site. Located on the vendor’s data center, your business documents are now maintained within the vendor’s security standards. Quality SaaS vendors usually have very high levels of security. Oftentimes, they use encryption to protect documents as the documents pass to and from the data center back the user.

Note: Be sure to review the SaaS vendor’s security policy before signing any contract.

Training supplied by the vendor at the time a subscription is purchased is another potential benefit of using SaaS. Reputable vendors provide training – after all, it is in their best interest to train customers to keep that constant revenue stream flowing. Customers will use the software if they know how to use it, and they are able to get what they need out of the application(s).

SaaS training can be tailored to your company’s specific needs. Extensive guides are both informative and easy to understand, and interactive help is readily available. Free trial periods are also common with SaaS vendors. During the free trial period, which usually lasts a few weeks or even a month or more, some vendors will take the time to train you on the software in order to acquire you as a client. In a service-based relationship established by virtue of the SaaS subscription, customer support continues for as long as the subscription remains current. This is also essential for the vendor to continue the relationship. Remember, a SaaS vendor wants to keep you happy, and they know that quality customer service goes a long way to retain clients.

SaaS presents far less risks for customers than many traditional licensing models. SaaS vendors reduce the software transaction with the customer down to granting access with a subscription payment. For the customer, should the application not perform as expected, the loss is only limited to the price of the subscription. This is not the case with certain traditional software licensing models, where the total cost of the software is a loss should the application not live up to expectations. Also present within a SaaS licensing model: You’re encouraged to consider purchasing more licenses than you need initially or else risk violating the defined EULA. The SaaS vendor isn’t concerned with disk copying or reverse engineering of their product. All code is kept on-site, safely where it can’t be shared unless access is granted.

SaaS service agreement terms are pretty much cut and dry, and should be displayed on the vendor’s Web site. These terms should be read and thoroughly understood. The vendor can easily terminate the customer relationship if a violation occurs by simply refusing access to the application. Before any company jumps into adapting SaaS, it is important to note what specific types of organizations are structured to benefit the most from SaaS. The fact is, there are specific types of companies that should not adopt SaaS. The best companies suited for SaaS are ones that have a unified operating model.

If your business is considering the move to SaaS from conventional software, it’s important that you ask yourself these five questions: o How will SaaS support our business better than traditional software licensing? o What is the total cost-of-ownership comparison between a three-year SaaS subscription with bundled services and purchasing software the conventional way? o Are there any special considerations for the SaaS software that would require modifications to your current systems or network infrastructure? o How would your end users’ experience change with the SaaS model compared to conventional software? o What time frame is needed to introduce the SaaS application compared to that of conventional software?

The Unified Business Operating Model It’s been my firsthand experience that the unified operating model is usually the best fit for SaaS. For businesses that fall under this category, leveraging SaaS can significantly reduce deployment and maintenance costs.

Obviously, not all companies operate under this business model. What the unified operating model has that other types of operation don’t is that many applications are accessed through a centralized location. Businesses lacking this centralization may find it difficult to convert to SaaS. Centralized management is also important to the unified operating model as are standardized business units. Companies operating with heterogeneous business units, each with its own localized management and different business processes would also have some obstacles to overcome when transitioning to SaaS.

Transformation into a unified operating model is not impossible. Many businesses strive toward unification by centralizing operations that streamline business processes and ultimately improve customer relationships while reducing operational costs simultaneously. Unified business operating models have transformed many companies operating under antiquated business models that simply don’t work as well in today’s business world. In the past, many companies diversified into new business sectors and developed individual business units that operated separately from other business units owned by the same company.

The Internet revolution forced many companies to once again centralize business operations to facilitate communications and decision-making for the corporation operating on a global scale. Some companies not able to centralize all their business units spun them off into new, separate companies or sold them off to competitors. Even today, these actions continue. The unified business operating model is not limited to large, global operations. Businesses just starting can quickly establish themselves using this model. Choosing SaaS for application-supported business processes can help your new business venture during its initial start-up. Established small and medium businesses (SMBs) may also be operating in a unified manner.

Risks of SaaS It should be noted that SaaS isn’t for every company. While the unified business operating model presents the ideal model to take advantage of SaaS, there are other situations where the solution should not be implemented. Business-critical processes should not necessarily depend upon SaaS. It’s important at the beginning to consider the ramifications of choosing SaaS before actually purchasing it. Risk analysis should be thoroughly conducted just as with any other new software platform under consideration. Businesses must consider how essential the SaaS functions are by considering how they would operate should the SaaS vendor to go offline. It’s imperative that when evaluating an SaaS vendor, your company examines the vendor’s track record of uptime availability.

Do the following: Find other businesses that have adopted the platform and talk to them about their experiences with the vendors you’re considering.

Also, SaaS service agreements must be carefully read and understood for all the limitations implied by the agreement. Specifically, it is the payment that is due on time for the subscription to continue. Arrangements must be made ahead of time if, perhaps, your business chooses to have fewer licenses over the next billing period to guard against the vendor expecting more payment for the recurring subscription.

Companies with high-value digital assets probably shouldn’t consider SaaS. While performing data functions and storing information on the remote data center may enhance the data integrity of most businesses, this is not always the case with every operation. The customer in the SaaS vendor relationship must consider the promises the vendor agrees to as to how data is stored and maintained no matter what new applications are introduced as the relationship progresses.

Here are some important recommendations to consider with SaaS:

o Know what business operating models benefit most from SaaS and seriously, think through whether or not your company will benefit from SaaS.

o Understand how SaaS impacts cross-functional teams and multiple business units.

o Correlate total cost of ownership of SaaS compared to conventional software licensing models.

o Get the entire service agreement in writing from the SaaS vendor prior to purchasing the service.

o Should a pilot program be implemented, set up an online forum using widely available, free software to allow end users a means to provide feedback on the application’s performance.

Finally, SaaS is a relatively new phenomenon that is rapidly becoming a foreseeable choice for certain large and small businesses. Companies ideally structured to take advantage of SaaS are rapidly signing up and in many instances, reducing their overall operating costs.

Of course, considerations must be made when making a change from traditionally licensed software. The fact is, not all businesses are ideally suited for SaaS.

However, it is certain SaaS is here to stay and will continue to grow in popularity as a preferred delivery method of software applications.

Michael G. Perry has more than 20 years’ professional experience in management, IT consulting and writing technical documentation related to business process, policies and procedures.

To learn more visit http://sisnv.net/ to email Michael directly. Disclaimer/Release of Liability Statement:

Regarding knowledge shared in this article, Michael G. Perry will not be held responsible for any consequential damages resulting from the application of content or recommendations.

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Michael Perry Author – Lecturer mikeperry@sisnv.net

Author: Michael G Perry
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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