A blog by Gooroo Software about Cloud Computing
Here are the two latest business articles from Gooroo Software in the media.
Specialist SME portal Fresh Business Thinking has published our piece on using SaaS applications to help minimise IT costs, while cloud and SaaS website BusinessCloud9 is featuring our article on recession-proofing your computing.
We’d welcome your feedback on both!
Here’s Gooroo Software’s general manager, Dean Miles, in his 60-second interview with SME business portal, Smarta.com, in which he gives his thoughts on the company, the cloud and taxation.
Here’s a nice piece in leading IT magazine Computer Weekly, in which Gooroo is prominently mentioned as a key player in the SME SaaS sector. It also includes a customer testimonial on Yorkshire-based Allgas, one of our pioneering users.
As the cloud services model grows in popularity, more and more observers are asking about security. Specifically, is the cloud secure, and can it meet demands for data integrity, recovery, privacy and governance, regulatory compliance, and auditing?
These concerns are debated at some length here, with a number of valid points made. However, many of these concerns are of most interest to larger companies. What’s more, many of the issues look serious, but are we comparing security on a like for like basis? For example, does a company’s internal security processes stand up to the same harsh scrutiny that’s being used to assess cloud security?
In many cases, the levels of security offered by SaaS and cloud services vendors far exceeds that within many companies. But companies shouldn’t make assumptions. As we point out in our recent article, there are a number of questions you should ask before you commit to any SaaS vendor.
Some people think that cloud security is all smoke and mirrors. But with the right approach and some key questions, you can get a clear view of the security of your data.
Another influential US business analyst has weighed into the cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) debate. McKinsey & Co analyst Will Forest’s presentation goes into considerable detail on definitions and where the technology is making its impact.
The presentation supports what we have been saying for the past few months: cloud services and SaaS can provide significant benefits to small and medium sized businesses – especially when those businesses don’t already have cash and resources tied up in expensive business software, data centres or storage. This is because it gives smaller businesses access to these applications and functions without the overhead.
Is the cloud mature enough to help large enterprises save money? Maybe. But frankly, businesses of that size have the budget to experiment. Smaller businesses don’t – so they are likely to simply get on with their business and take advantage of the SaaS model, as our recent survey says.
If you’d like to find out more about what our software can do, we’re exhibiting at the Business Growth show, Ramada Piccadilly, Manchester, Wednesday 22nd April. It’s free to enter.
We are showcasing the Gooroo LIVE! suite at the Business Growth Show in Manchester next Wednesday, 22 April. If you’d like to see what our software could do for your business, come along for a demonstration and a chat with us.
The event is at the Ramada Piccadilly, central Manchester, from 10am until 4pm, with free entry. Visit the show’s website for full details. We hope to meet you there.
Also, our article on how to choose the right cloud / software as a service provider continues to get pickup: it’s now online here at the leading SME portal, SmallBizPod.co.uk
If you’ve considered deploying software as a service (SaaS) or a cloud software service, but not been sure how to go about it, here’s some advice that may be useful.
Our latest article reveals the key questions you need to ask a prospective cloud or SaaS vendor. It covers the key issues you need to know about, from how to go about uploading business data, how to get best use of the cloud software, whether the data will be secure, and how to ensure you get the right level of application performance, availability and uptime.
It’s online in its full-length version here and in a condensed form here.
In the meantime, our SME cloud computing survey continues to get pickup – we’ll be revealing more data in the coming months.
Germany may beat us at football, but they lag behind both the UK and France in business uptake and use of software as a service (SaaS), according to a new Gartner survey announced recently.
In its “User Survey Analysis: Usage Plans for SaaS Application Software, France, Germany and the UK 2009” report, Gartner found 71% of French survey respondents said their organisation currently uses SaaS for business applications, compared to 68% in the UK and just 45% in Germany.
“France is only ahead by couple of percentage points, so it is not a massive difference to the UK,” said Chris Pang, principal analyst at Gartner. “In France, the high adoption rate is probably explained as there are a few more local vendors offering SaaS solutions … it is usually small scale accounting solutions in France.”
The Gartner survey focused on companies in the SOHO, SME and large enterprise sectors, with most in the mid market area. And in several ways it echoed the findings of our own survey, reported here a few days ago.
For example, Gartner says the economic downturn will decelerate purchasing of any new software, but SaaS is more resistant as it is normally paid out of operating budgets. Our survey found that cost considerations were key for businesses choosing cloud apps.
The Gartner survey respondents were also clear on their motivations for using or considering using SaaS in 2009. Most agreed that they choose SaaS primarily because they considered it more cost-effective than an on-premises application. Other reasons given included ease of deployment and internal resource constraints – points which again echo our own survey.
So it certainly looks good for SaaS and cloud apps in the coming year.
Our survey of small business’ attitudes to cloud computing is getting good pickup in UK and international IT news sites: there are examples of early coverage here and here.
The full findings of the survey were posted here earlier this week, and show fast-growing interest among UK small businesses in this emerging area.
