SaaS is a new field, legally speaking. What are the rights of SaaS users?

Cloud computing is growing rapidly.  Experts predict that, by the end of 2010, the Software as a Service (SaaS) market will be 20-30% larger than it was on January 1 – and that’s while the economy as a whole is growing at an annual rate of less than 3%.

With growth comes growing pains, however, mostly in the form of unanswered questions. What happens to material in a cloud when a SaaS provider goes out of business? How liable is a cloud computing company for its mistakes? Should users have to pay for part of the licensing fees for cloud-borne software?

Two SaaS market experts — Ray Wang and James Urquhart — have each written a “Bill of Rights” for SaaS customers in an attempt to answer some of these questions. Here are the highlights:

1. Customer data always belongs to the customer. This includes data generated by using a SaaS program. The customer also holds all data proprietary rights when its relationship with the provider is terminated. This right protects the privacy of customers, freeing them from worries about a SaaS company misusing their data – which is, indeed, their property. If I rent power tools to make a desk, the owner of the tools has no right to the desk. Services – the SaaS tools – are what is purchased in a SaaS agreement. Whatever is created with those tools belongs to the customer.
2. Customers must always have full access to their data. This naturally follows from #1. If the data is my property, then the SaaS company has no right to withhold it from me.  If I haven’t paid my fees, it has a right to withhold services, but not to hold my data hostage.
3. Customers have a right to know where their data is stored and backed up and how it is secured. Since data is valuable property, the company which stores that data owes its owner a full description of the data’s security. This allows a customer to buy appropriate insurance and make disaster recovery plans as they see fit.
4. Customers have freedom of speech as they use the provider’s services and as they communicate about the provider, except as the law prohibits. Again, a SaaS provider is renting out tools. They cannot dictate what their customers do with those tools. Also, no one should have to worry about being cut off from the programs of a SaaS provider if they complain publicly about it.

At eEmpACT, we are definitely committed to the above SaaS customer rights, and we support efforts to emphasize them throughout the SaaS industry, especially as SaaS becomes more common in the business and personal computing worlds.

SaaS Users Bill Of Rights is a post from: Human Capital Supply Chains

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Today’s business buzz is all about Cloud Computing. With rapid progress in the technology sector, there are new ways to enhance productivity, while cutting costs substantially for the long term. Plugging into the Cloud promises to eliminate the need for costly on-site servers, complex installed software, backup worries and disruptive and expensive upgrades.

Cloud Computing is currently the most sought-after technology for many industries – the staffing and recruiting industry is no exception.

And for good reason.

Cloud Computing Explained

Cloud computing is Internet-based computing where shared software, resources, and information are accessed on demand by your web browser and other web-enabled devices such as cell phones. Simply put, Cloud Computing is a way to have all the benefits of a secure physical infrastructure, with none of the massive costs involved in setting up and maintaining servers and software. Following are just a few of the benefits:

• Cost savings - No hardware to buy. No servers to maintain. No IT staff to pay. No back-ups to worry about.
• Device and location independence - Access software anytime, anywhere using a web browser.
• Reliability - No more worrying about servers going down. For example, eEmpACT On Demand www.eempact.com and Bond Talent  www.bondtalent-us.com are accessed from a state-of-the-art facility with dual power generators, multiple Internet feeds, redundant cooling and world-class security.
• Scalability - The ability to rapidly and inexpensively expand your business.
• Maintenance - Upgrades are simple. With no software in your office – all updates are automatic.
• Better cash flow – Cloud Computing options like eEmpACT On Demand and Bond Talent are offered on an affordable monthly fee basis, which drastically reduces your upfront costs.

 Few disagree that Cloud Computing is poised to make a big impact this decade.  According to a survey by GlassHouse, a Framington, Mass., managed services consultancy, 60 out of 100 North American IT executives polled last December plan to implement Cloud technology in 2010.  

 The staffing and recruiting industry will find Cloud Computing especially useful due to the nature of the work involved. Whether you are meeting clients, managing branches, or interviewing potential candidates away from the office, both time and money can be saved with no loss of productivity or data.

Staffing firms and recruiting departments “do not want to manage IT, they want to manage their business,” explains Simon Piff, a practice director for enterprise infrastructure at IDC, a global IT market researcher.  Ultimately, Cloud Computing is expected to transform a staffing or recruiting firm’s IT spending from a capital expenditure to an operating expense — from up-front lump sums to monthly pay-per-user.  As Piff states, “cash flow is king for most organizations, plus the restrictions on credit” have forced companies to look for more cost-effective Cloud-based software solutions.

 Software solutions, such as eEmpACT On Demand and Bond Talent, provide a single database for integrated front- and back-office operations utilizing the latest in Cloud Computing to streamline your workforce, regardless of size and financial level. Cloud Computing solutions specifically designed for staffing and recruiting allow:

• Firms to sell, recruit, service and manage businesses more efficiently 24/7 from any location.
• Sales reps to be better organized, more productive, and ensure consistent follow-up with potential clients.
• Recruiters to be more responsive to clients, more accurate in candidate matching and leverages the Internet to reduce recruiting costs.
• Managers to better track performance metrics, hold employees more accountable, quickly open new branches and maximize branch productivity.
• Owners to actively manage payables, general ledger and receivables, improve cash flow forecasts, accelerate financial intelligence and ensure operational excellence.

It’s clear why Cloud Computing is being embraced by companies of all sizes. Its advantages of speed, ease of deployment, and low cost make it a viable option for firms looking to improve their service without sacrificing quality.

 The Staffing and Recruiting Office of the Future is Here

Thanks to the advent of web-based On-Demand applications that utilize the lower cost structure of Cloud Computing, combined with the much lower monthly billing of SaaS pricing, the world of software applications is about to make another dramatic change.  As software environments have evolved from DOS to Client-Server to Hosted ASP to Web-based and now to SaaS-based Cloud Computing, prices are set to drop by 50% once again.

 Cloud Computing is being hailed as the future of the mobile staffing and recruiting office. What was unimaginable less than a decade ago is soon to be the standard. Taking this leap in technology today can ensure that your staffing firm moves with the technological times, enhancing employee productivity and saving money in the long run.

Cloud Computing for Human Capital is a post from: Human Capital Supply Chains

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If you haven’t heard the phrases ‘Cloud Computing’ and ‘Saas’ (Software as a Service), then you may have been hiding under a rock.

Whether you are reading a blog, surfing the Net or leafing through an IT magazine, you’re bound to come across that terminology. Just by doing a Google search for some industry-related words, the numbers are impressive:

• 63,200,000 hits for Client Server
• 29,500,000 hits for Cloud Computing
• 25,500,000 hits for Software as a Service (SaaS)
• 14,300,000 hits for Active Server Pages (ASP)

While that’s hardly a scientific study, it does illustrate that more and more, Cloud Computing is something that many business owners, corporate leaders and vendors are trying to better understand and consider using for a number of reasons.

Vice President for Research & HR Applications at Gartner, Jim Holincheck proposes in his latest blog entry, ‘Will History Repeat Itself?’, that Cloud Computing and Saas are new computing paradigm and delivery models that are about to take the world by storm. Holincheck goes back in time to look at business applications and how due to market changes, one prominent vendor disappeared off the technology landscape for not staying current with the market trends.

His point is with all that’s going on in the current marketplace, business applications are at a crossroads, and history has a habit of repeating itself. Both customers and vendors have had over 20 years invested in their current client server/ASP software applications, and many wouldn’t dream about making a change.

But with a SaaS or On Demand solution, there are some real value and savings that are added directly to your bottom line by utilizing this new technology. Holincheck sites that in speaking to many customers that already use SaaS add-on solutions, prior to switching over they questioned why they should continue to pay high maintenance fees, to incur large upgrade costs, and to maintain large support staffs with their Enterprise Resource Planning solution. With an On Demand model, there are very real cost-cutting benefits to both customers and vendors.

It is this cost-cutting benefit that is making Cloud Computing turn heads. In ‘How to Cut Costs in the Cloud’, the Coupa Software eBook wisely suggests that saving money is not the responsibility of the few; it should be a priority for every employee in the organization. Whether or not your organization has share holders, each employee should act as if they are being held accountable to shareholders.

One of the biggest obstacles isn’t so much the cost of changing your technology, but one of mindset. Coupa advocates that moving to “The Cloud” is as much a cultural shift as it is technological. It’s about getting the whole organization aligned behind the company’s cost savings initiatives. It’s about encouraging smarter spending practices. And let’s face it, people need and want a common platform from which to operate, which makes it easier for them to participate. It’s about Human Capital Management.

Typically working in the Cloud, software is easier to use. The good news is that the newer cloud-based business applications are built using the same technology and innovations that have made our day-to-day Internet experiences routine and user-friendly.  To read more about best practices in the Cloud, go to Coupa.

Only time will tell how all this will play out, but one thing is for certain: the IT weather forecast is in for some global warming, and there are more clouds on the horizon.

Got Your Head In The Cloud? is a post from: Human Capital Supply Chains

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