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Enterprise Architecture > Connecting All the Dots


EcomNets helps customers to deploy applications using Software as a Service (SAAS) and Web Services deployment model.We define an SAAS application as one that is billed on a recurring basis and that was built from the ground up to run natively on the Internet. Contrast this with a typical ASP(application service provider), which starts with a large ERP application (a monolithic application) and then requires the client to have either a high bandwidth connection or a local installation of the Citrix Winframe application just to execute the application. Obviously this severely limits the accessibility of the application as well as the deployment costs. In addition, the challenge for the ASP is that each customer needs an instance of the application (thus requiring an instance of the database as well), which means that signing on new customers does not bring the economy of scale as expected.

Benefits of EcomNets SAAS applications are

  • Considerably less up-front investment. Unlike a traditional enterprise software sale requiring a large initial capital outlay, an SAAS application is billed on a recurring basis (usually monthly) and, as such, requires a payment spread over time.
  • No hidden costs. In many cases, the true cost of a solution is not the price of the software (and hardware) but the level of effort required to install and potentially customize the software. In most cases, the cost of customization can be 3 to 20 times that of the purchase price. Also note that, for most applications, the majority of the total cost of ownership (TCO) occurs after the application is in production. This is sometimes known as the iceberg factor because the hidden risk is much more than the visible risk.
  • Shorter launch time. To adopt a solution through an SAAS firm typically requires provisioning the service, and in many cases this can be accomplished in a few days to a few weeks. Contrast this with building an in-house solution which can take months of development time.
  • No in-house development expertise needed. For many firms, the scarcest resource is the availability of properly trained developers. By adopting a solution offered by an SAAS firm, this scarcity is no longer an issue.
  • Definable operational parameters. Since most SAAS firms have to support a large customer base in order to be profitable, they are heavily financially motivated to deliver quality software backed with an SLA to measure operational reliability.
  • Automatic upgrades. Again, most SAAS firms invest in adding new features to attract new customers; existing customers can benefit from these newly added features.
  • Access to business domain expertise. In many cases, SAAS firms offer business expertise bundled into the application being offered. For this reason, SAAS firms are often called business service providers (BSPs). Some examples of successful BSPs and what they do: Employease (profiled below) focuses on delivering an eHR solution; Fidesic focuses on delivering an electronic invoicing and payment system; eBuilder provides a service to help reduce design and construction times; ClickLogistics provides logistics-outsourced services. All of these firms have captured their expertise in their respective domains in the software offering, and subscribers can benefit from this domain expertise.

If you wish to ask EcomNets about consulting assistance for Enterprise Applications, call 1-866-410-9400 or email support@ecomnets.com