Accenture SaaS PoV March 2010

8/8/2019 Accenture SaaS PoV March 2010

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Achieving long-term returns from SaaS requirescultivating the appropriate mindset—just get started,be fast and exible, don’t over-customize—as wellas a bit of planning and governance to ensure thatorganizations realize the potential for rapid speedto value and long-term business transformation.

By Saideep Raj, Managing Director, Global SaaSPractice, Accenture

Maximizing the Benets of SaaS:Start Right and Keep Moving



functionality provides more exible

business capabilities at lower cost.Then pounce.

Build a cloudmigration strategyWith its low costs and substantialbenets, SaaS take-up is skyrocketing.Already, many organizations use SaaS-based CRM software such as MicrosoftDynamics CRM, Oracle CRM On Demandand Salesforce CRM. Organizations arenow also much more likely to use SaaS

applications—instead of traditional,packaged applications—for humancapital management, supply chainmanagement, ofce suites anddigital content creation software.

Cloud platforms from Amazon.com,Google, Microsoft, Oracle, salesforce.comand others cost-effectively bundle thevertical capabilities as well as developmentand integration environments requiredto move many types of applications tothe cloud.

company’s infrastructure fast,

exible and poised to adopt newSaaS functionality as it matures.

Every organization’s plan for SaaSadoption will differ based on multiplefactors, including business rationaleand organizational readiness for change.Even so, based on businesses whichare already seeing substantial returnsfrom their SaaS investments, Accenturehas identied ve techniques whichany organization can use to maximize thebenets of SaaS. These include buildinga good foundation, quickly launchingand iterating software until it meetsbusiness requirements, fostering business/IT collaboration and an agile mindset,governing SaaS and maintaining a living,evolutionary SaaS architecture.

By practicing these ve strategies,detailed in full below, organizationscan maximize the benets of SaaS byconstantly rethinking and reevaluatinghow and why SaaS is being used. In

particular, they must always look forthe next tipping point—when SaaS

Mature SaaS applications are fast, exible,

cost-effective, increasingly popular withboth business leaders and their employees,and well suited for getting businessdone. From a planning perspective,however, many organizations struggleto understand which SaaS applicationsto implement, as well as the besttechniques for coordinating SaaS useacross the enterprise to minimize risksand maximize business returns.

The best approach for knowing howor why to implement SaaS is throughconstant evaluation, testing andreassessment. For example, Accentureis helping a leading manufacturer to test,pilot and capitalize on today’s matureSaaS applications—especially customerrelationship management (CRM),supply chain automation and business-to-business exchanges—as well as tointegrate required applications and dataacross more than 100 business groups.The CIO’s goal, through these efforts,is to build and maintain a “living”application roadmap to keep the

Always look for the next tippingpoint—when SaaS functionalityprovides more exible businesscapabilities at a lower cost



that enables the business to do morewith SaaS, at less cost. For example,the aforementioned manufacturer nowmaintains a dynamic, evolving SaaSroadmap to know what to implement, andwhen. Interestingly, while the companyhas tended to trial new technology in itsmore established markets, based on thisroadmap, it has begun to aggressivelyimplement SaaS in less establishedmarkets—including Africa and the PacicRim—to cost-effectively and rapidly keeppace with recent surges in demand.

Springboard to transformationForward-looking Accenture clients viewSaaS not as a set of software features,but as a springboard to achieve moretransformational or revolutionary goalswhich deliver sustained—and perhaps evenunexpected—long-term benets. The costis the same; all that differs is the mindset.

If talk of “business transformation”sends business leaders running for thehills, know this: We’re not talking time-consuming or costly. Rather, the messageis more organic: SaaS is inspiring newoperating models. Embrace its morenetwork-centric approach to informationsharing, collaboration and innovation.And as you iterate your software using

SaaS, seize the opportunity to reneyour business practices.

By advocating that businesses rst lay thegroundwork—conguration, integration,a healthy collaboration environment anda well-designed roadmap—for any majorSaaS project, Accenture isn’t trying tothrow a wrench into enterprise SaaSadoption. Rather, we’re saying: Do beginfast. Progress quickly. Remain exible.Pursue benecial network effects.

But as you cultivate that mindset,also build a foundation that you can trulyrely on, pursue transformative capabilities,and verify that the appropriate controlsare in place to ensure that SaaS supportsnew business processes, rather thanbreaking them. In other words, to moveat speed and rapidly achieve benets

from SaaS, use the above ve strategiesto start right, and keep moving.

required legacy systems, adopt salesforce.com and then remain prepared for rapidlyusing more SaaS.

2. Jump in, then iterate.The SaaS formula for “speed to value” issimple: dene desired business outcomes,and specify how SaaS can achieve these

goals. Of course, many organizationsmoving to SaaS already have maturebusiness capabilities. Trading this livefunctionality for a SaaS alternative, on they, may resemble nothing less than brainsurgery. How can organizations relearnwith SaaS, to achieve a similar level of process maturity? The answer is to thinkiteratively: Launch as quickly as possibleand rene as you go.

3. Govern SaaS. Change

can be challenging.One of our pharmaceutical clients,for example, is embracing more SaaSapplications, yet must also complywith numerous regulations and—toavoid adding risk—avoid fracturingexisting controls. Working withAccenture, the company launcheda SaaS governance and releasemanagement program, throughwhich it monitors every SaaSapplication’s evolution, ensuring

it conforms to business rules forrequirements gathering, processdenition and compliance controls.

4. Increase collaboration.Beyond being an application procurementtechnique, for many organizations SaaSprovides a baptism into agile developmentpractices and the business benets of iteration. For example, one Europeantelecommunications company hasapplied these precepts to foster greater

transparency and demand much greatercollaboration between the business andIT groups which create new applicationsusing SaaS. As a result, it now releasesmajor functionality not once per year,but every six weeks. This approach alsohelps the company balance what a SaaSapplication can do (via customizations)with what it should do (to remain cost-effective and manageable).

5. Maintain a dynamic roadmap.Constantly study, test and pilotSaaS to identify, from a functionalityperspective, the next tipping point

For example, Lawson Inc. in Japan,working with Accenture, recentlyrebuilt and migrated 400 Lotus Notesapplications, including businessworkows, onto Force.com. Lawson’sbusiness case was clear: the move wouldreduce operating costs and increaseapplication exibility. Furthermore, thelicense and management savings fromusing cloud computing more than paidfor the migration.

Similarly, to better serve the familiesand teachers of 1.1 million students,this U.S. Education Agency, working withAccenture, designed and launched a newcall center, integrating databases frommultiple departments—including StudentEnrollment, Pupil Transportation, FamilyEngagement and Advocacy, and Special

Education Initiatives—to enhance thecity’s 311 (government informationand non-emergency) hotline. UsingOracle CRM On Demand, the projectcost less than a traditional approachand integrated effectively with theDOE’s existing environment.

With such savings in mind, manybusiness leaders are now asking:might any cumbersome enterpriseapplication move to the cloud unlessproven otherwise? And what aboutadopting SaaS not just at the customer-facing edge—for CRM and customerservice, HR and marketing—but even forcore systems such as ERP and nancials?

Five ways to quicklymaximize SaaS benetsTo know when and which SaaSapplications to adopt, and then tomaximize their benets, Accenturerecommends organizations pursuethese ve strategies:

1. Build a good foundation.To lower total costs and ensureinfrastructure remains highly scalable,start projects right. For example, beforeadopting salesforce.com, one Frenchcable provider worked with Accentureto overcome the complex data migration,cleansing and integration challenges forhundreds of thousands of records storedin data warehouses. Interestingly, thisup-front work did not impair project speed

or increase the total cost of ownership.Rather, it enabled the organization torapidly align its sales processes, integrate



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Accenture, its logo, andHigh Performance Deliveredare trademarks of Accenture.

About AccentureAccenture is a global managementconsulting, technology servicesand outsourcing company, withmore than 176,000 people serving clientsin more than 120 countries. Combiningunparalleled experience, comprehensive

capabilities across all industries andbusiness functions, and extensive researchon the world’s most successful companies,Accenture collaborates with clients tohelp them become high-performancebusinesses and governments. Thecompany generated net revenuesof US$21.58 billion for the scalyear ended Aug. 31, 2009. Its homepage is www.accenture.com.

For more information on how to maximizethe benets of SaaS, please contact:

Saideep [email protected]

Accenture SaaS PoV March 2010

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