Designed to operate using a PC with a web browser, mobile devices, barcode or RIFD devices, on-demand Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is tailor-made for companies of all sizes during bad economic times. SaaS dispenses with costly company owned server hardware and software and customized application, not to mention of full-time data center personnel. The vendor provides the server hardware data hosting and security, back-up and fail-over provisions, and product upgrades. The next generation of Saas offers business intelligence (BI) and analytics that are now indispensable tools for businesses to streamline operations and to get the best value for money. The new addition to SaaS solutions, Complimentary Business Intelligence (Complimentary BI) by Oco, Inc offers savings, fast implementation, custom targeted functionalities and built-in best practices features---all aimed at profitability, even viability, in a harsh economic environment. It deserves a closer look.
Complimentary BI is delivered as on demand SaaS and is designed to leverage existing BI framework. Data can come from varied sources, aside form the company's single data warehouse. Rather than addressing the entire enterprise, complimentary BI aims to focus on targeted business needs, with custom fuctionalities analytics and reporting, delivered in the shortest time possible (6 t0 8 weeks), at least possible cost (around $100,000 to $500,000) and with minimal strain to the IT personnel. Complimentary BI also provides functionalities to limited areas of operation, while not disrupting any on-going in-house enterprise level business intelligence development. It also aims to fill business knowledge gaps in in existing IT resources.
More info on Complementary BI is found at the website of Oco, Inc. You may download free white paper to learn more of Complimentary BI, compared to enterprise business intelligence. The CIO update - Gartner Research Free Newsletter is also available in the same site. Gartner's research document, entitled Survey of BI Purchase Drivers Show Need to New Approach to Business Intelligence gives you ideas how Complimentary BI may address the specific needs of your business.
The bad economy dictates well thought of scalpel approach to business intelligence solution that Complimentary BI offers. Developing Enterprise Business Intelligence that uses the hatchet or all-of-the-above strategy may be undesirable in tough times like this. Enterprise BI addresses the needs of the entire company, which is desirable in the long term, but it can take years to complete, may require full-time IT personnel, and may take many years before a return of investment becomes visible.
Complimentary BI: Your SaaS Solution in a Bad Economy
SeeControl's Affordable, Online Inventory & Asset Management Software
Being a windows form programmer, who works in client-server or WAN based computing environment, I get fascinated by software products that leverage Web technologies --browsers, light client and all that. Software customization is the norm in my field unlike in the world of Web-based application where user-customization is done to a minumum and turnkey is the byword.
SeeControl is an application service provider. In its promotional pitch, SeeControl alternately describes its products and services as On-Demand or Software-as-a-Service(SaaS). There are fine-grained technical differences between the terms, which we will not discuss in details. Whatever their product is called, SeeControl offers web-native software application that clients use from his PC using a Web browser, a digital device like mobile phones, or barcode or Radio-frequency identification (RIFD) readers. The client pays not for software ownership but for the use of the software application. SaaS appeals most to clients who have big computing requirements but are not willing to spend for server computers, server software, and full-time datacenter personnel. SaaS applications are therefore designed to be affordable and entail lesser financial investment than licensed software and customized application. The SaaS vendor assumes the burden of hosting data, providing back-up and fail-over provisions, and product upgrades.
Every SeeControl's product revolves around a sophisticated asset/product identification system using barcode or RIFD tags and readers. This ID system collects the data and sends them to a central datacenter through the Web to provide the count, statistics, and whereabouts of asset and these are the source of data for reports that the client sees.
For the past days I have searched the Web for available information about its SeeControl's Affordable, Online Inventory & Asset Management Software. As a software developer I am interested in SeeControl's application interface. No luck so far in finding material on interface. You will find at the bottom of this post the only video I could download from SeeControl's Web site. It features a SeeControl workspace rather than an application interface.
How affordable is it? I still await SeeControl's response. When queried on pricing as well as on how they secure client's data, SeeControl, through Michael Harper, sent back this e-mail:
Better if we answer your questions live. When are you available?
Until I talk personally with Michael Harper, I will not be able to offer any pricing information. In addition, I still have to know how SeeControl addresses clients' concern about the security of their data while in the hands of the SaaS vendor. What if their data fall in the hand of their competitors? Informations on suppliers, clients, product costs are valuable trade secrets, never to be shared with the whole world. More on this in my next post.
