Jill Dyché is answering questions about the recent data management trends for SearchDataManagement.com’s Ask the Expert section.
The three master data management trends she singles out are:
MDM trend No. 1: The use of data quality tools.
That is, establishing data quality standards and following through with them.
MDM trend No. 2: Using a common platform for multiple data subject areas.
Yep, the switch to a single platform that would unify your multiple applications and be convenient is taking place. To go further, this is the switch to on-demant applications from your desktop software.
MDM trend No. 3: Building solid business cases for MDM that transcend the “feeds and speeds” conversation and pitch bona-fide business value of MDM. Take case management in state government–whereby the state can track an individual despite multiple identities and addresses–thereby more quickly targeting food stamp fraud and saving millions in taxpayer dollars.
Couldn’t resist posting this, as it clearly shows the benefits of on-demand services over the traditional software, without even mentioning SaaS. =) Perfecto.
I posted some results of the recent Forrester survey about it not long ago. It showed 66% of companies being scared of adopting SaaS because of the integration issues.
Well, I found this video on IntelligEntenterpris website that reminded me of survey respondents. So as it turns out, the fear of new (SaaS in our case) is nothing new
Salesforce.com’s latest announcement of its “global strategic alliance” with Google…what does that mean for the world?
In “global” terms, aside from integration between Salesforce.com’s cloud-based development platform with data from Google services, it’s a quest to outlive on-premises software and replace it with web-based applications. A perspective that doesn’t look too promising for Microsoft and the smaller on-premises software vendors.
Behold and despair, the era of SaaS is starting right here right now. =)
Quocirca has recently published a white paper on SaaS adoption across the business sector.
SaaS already is a huge part of most business processes, however, there are still companies that rely hevily on their on-premises applications.
…many vendors are realising that to provide a satisfactory end user experience, total reliance on a web browser is not always enough and a desktop component is often needed.
Quocirca lists the following problems with SaaS adoption:
Most consumer and business applications have an on-demand component
For many applications an on-premise component is needed to enrich the user experience
On-demand delivery is attractive to businesses because it helps them manage costs, provides high availability and flexible access
Business processes are only as strong as the weakest link in the applications that support them
Some level of integration of on-demand services with legacy applications and internal workflow will always be necessary
Many new independent software vendors (ISVs) are building in on-demand components from the start
Existing ISVs are making the move to on-demand too, but they face additional challenges
This only means that there’s a growing need for an effective link between the desktop and web applications and platforms. And since data integration market closely follows the SaaS trend, it looks like integration will be catering for this linkage and transition from the on-premises to the on-demand.
According to the recent Forrester research survey, there are top 8 reasons why companies say “No Thanks” to SaaS. The 8 include:
66% Integration issues
well, duuh, select a trusted vendor, who won’t let you face these issues.
61% Total cost of ownership concerns
yes, quality actually costs money. what’s wrong with that?
55% Lack of customization
mm..ask and you shall be granted…The problem I’m seeing with all these “excuses” is that these people never even looked into the SaaS market out there. They are just repeating the romours and scarry stories they heard somewhere else (perhaps from the same hypocrites that don’t even know a single reliable SaaS vendor).
50% Security concerns
…not gonna repeat it.
42% “We can’t find the specific application we need”
ever tried asking?
39% Complicated pricing models
possible, but again, depends on the vendor.
39% Application performance
well, you’re the one selecting your applications. Make sure they work right from the very beginning.
34% “We’re locked in with our current vendor”
ok, that’s a sound enough excuse.
Integration… what do you do when it needs to be done, yet you realize you don’t have the money, the time or the assets to invest into it?
Below are a few ways out. Each is widely used, so the selection depends largely on your company’s priorities and the nature of business. before I start, let’s make it clear that leaving the problem untackled or allowing your own customer to deal with it is not an option.
First, and probably the least effort-consuming is turning to professional services. This implies having a SaaS vendor come in and do the integration for you and provide you with the most recent on-demand integration tricks. A good option, as long as you’re not scared to spend money.
Second, you could build your own professional services team to cater for your company’s data integration needs or even build your own integration solution. But this too is an approach reserved for larger companies that can afford to allot staff members and time for this purpose.
Third, an approach for risky spirits and real players, find a partner that specializes in your area of aintegration. Trust me, you won’t ahve a problem finding one. The problem that might arise is, again, time and compatibility of your business with the data integration ambitions of your partner ISV. But there’s always a way out, right?
I recently came across an article that named 5 best practices for implementing SaaS CRM applications.
Considering the recent growth of interest towards SaaS applications in general, no wonder “a late 2007 survey of 1,017 software IT decision-makers at North American and European enterprises found that SaaS adoption is growing at double-digit rates.” (May 2008 Forrester’s “Best Practices: The Smart Way To Implement CRM” report)
As popular as SaaS is and as much as it’s being adopted, there’re still pitfalls. To avoid these, the Forrester analysts identify the following best practices for companies to keep in mind:
1. Build the Right Business Case.
2. Negotiating the Right Contract
Contracts can be tricky and cause customers to complain, especially when it comes to the following points:
1. Hidden cost drivers.
2. Unexpected service outages.
3. Declines in customer support.
4. Obscure disaster recovery procedures.
3. Follow the Right Implementation Approach.
4. Adopt the Right Data Security Procedures.
5. Establish the Right Support Structure.
If all SaaS vendors cleaned up these 5 areas of their company’s lifecycle, the customers would be much happier, and the corporate world in general would become even more SaaSy =)
Software-as-a-Service market only continues to grow, presenting a more and more efficient and reliable business model. According to Gartner, by 2011 25% of new business software will be delivered as SaaS. This SaaS boom makes more and more companies that have never before even considered moving to SaaS-type business model, make decisions in favour of adopting it. Howevever, as always with large and popular projects, the essence and the very milestones get trivialized, you get a wrong picture of it and end up somewhere totally different from what you planned.
William McKnight has a recent entry in his blog uncovering the essence and how-tos of the process of selecting a SaaS vendor.
The 3 hallmarks or selling points of SaaS he names are:
1) no IT involvement,
2) pay-as-you-go with little upfront cost
3) the vendor takes all responsibility for infrastructure and upgrades – those invasive and non-value-added activities.
And some rules of thumb to keep to when selecting a SAAS vendor/solution:
1. Check the value proposition of the application.
2. Ensure the ability to expand the core functionality of the application beyond the provided functionality (scalability).
3. Don’t sabotage IT plans.
There’s an insightful article by Mike Karp on ILM (information lifecycle managememnt) and the six steps of implementing a successful and efficient policy on data storage, verification, classification and management. Mike identifies the following steps to follow to ensure your ILM efficiency: Stage 1. Preliminary
1) Determine whether your company’s data is answerable to regulatory demands.
2) Determine whether your company uses its storage in an optimal manner.
Stage 2. Identifying file type, users accessing the data and key words used.
1) Make a list of regulatory requirements that may apply. Get this from your legal department or compliance office.
2) Define stakeholder needs. You must understand what users need and what they consider to be nonnegotiable.
3) Third, verify the data life cycles. Verify the value change for each life cycle with at least two other sources, a second source within the department that owns the data (if that is politically impossible, raise the issue through management), and someone familiar with the potential legal issues.
4) Define success criteria and get them widely accepted.
Stage 3. Classification (aligning your stakeholders’ business requirements to the IT infrastructure).
0) Identifying the business value of each type of data object, i.e. understanding three things: what kind of data you are dealing with, who will be using it and what its keywords are.
1) Create classification rules.
2) Build retention policies.
When you engage with the vendors, make sure to understand their products’ capabilities in each of the following areas:
* Ability to tag files as compliant for each required regulation.
* Data classification.
* Data deduplication.
* Disaster recovery and business continuity.
* Discovery of compliance-answerable files across Windows, Linux, Unix and any other operating systems you may have.
* Fully automated file migration based on locally set migration policies.
* Integration with backup, recovery and archiving solutions already on-site.
* Searching (both tag-based and other metadata-based).
* Security (access control, identity management and encryption).
* Security (antivirus).
* Set policies to move files to appropriate storage devices (content-addressed storage, WORM tape).
* Finding and tagging outdated, unused and unwanted files for demotion to a lower storage tier.
* Tracking access to and lineage of objects through their life cycle.
Finally, when you know your vendor, you can look for solutions to automate the needed processes and phase-in.
