Bonus
SaaS is great, but is cloud delivery great?
Sure it’s convenient to not have to worry about where the servers are, where the backups are, and whether or not more CPUs have to be spun up, more memory needs to be added, or more bandwidth is needed and it’s time to lay more pipe.
However, sometimes this lack of worrying leads to an unexpectedly high invoice when your user base decided to adopt the solution as part of their daily job, spin up a large number of optimization and predictive analytics scenarios, and spike CPU usage from 2 server days to 30 server days, resulting in a 15-fold bill increase over night. (Whereas hosting on your own rack has a fixed, predictable, cost.)
But this isn’t the real problem. (You could always have set up alerts or limits and prevented this from happening had you thought ahead.) The real problem is regulatory compliance and the massive fines that could be headed your way if you don’t know where your data is and cannot confirm you are 100% in compliance with every regulation that impacts you.
For example, EU and Canada privacy regulations limit where data on their citizens can live and what security protocols must be in place. And even if this is a S2P system, which is focussed on corporations and not people, you still have contact data — which is data on people. Now, by virtue of their employment, these people agree to make their employment (contact) information available, so you’re okay … until they are not employed. Then, if any of that data was personal (such as cell phone or local delivery address), it may have to be removed.
But more importantly, with GDPR coming into effect May 25, you need to be able to provide any EU citizen, regardless of where they are in the world and where you are in the world, with any and all information you have on them — and do so in a reasonable timeframe. Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to €20 Million or 4% of global turnover. For ONE violation. And, if you no longer have a legal right to keep that data, you have to be able to delete all of the data — including all instances across all systems and all (backup) copies. If you don’t even know where the data is, how can you ensure this happens? The answer is, you can’t.
Plus, not every country will permit sensitive or secure data to be stored just anywhere. So, if you want a client that works as a defense contractor, even if your software passes the highest security standards tests, that doesn’t mean that the client you want can host in the cloud.
With all of the uncertainty and chaos, the SaaS of the future is going to be a blend of an (in-house) ASP and provider managed software offering where the application, and databases, are housed in racks in a location selected by the provider in a dedicated hardware environment, but the software, which is going to be managed by the vendor, is going to run in virtual machines and update via vendor “pushes”, where the vendor will have the capability to shut-down and restart the entire virtual machine if a reboot is necessary. This method will also permit the organization to have on-site QA of new release functionality if they like, as that’s just another VM.
Just like your OS can auto-update on schedule or reboot, your S2P application will auto-update in a similar fashion. It will register a new update, schedule it for the next, defined, update cycle. Prevent users from logging in 15 minutes prior. Force users to start log-off 5 minutes before. Shutdown. Install the updates. Reboot if necessary. Restart. And the new version will be ready to go. If there are any issues, an alert will be sent to the provider who will be able to log in to the instance, and even the VM, and fix it as appropriate.
While it’s not the one-instance (with segregated databases) SaaS utopia, it’s the real-world solution for a changing regulatory and compliance landscape, which will also comfort security freaks and control freaks. So, head in the cloud vendors, get ready. It’s coming.
What Makes a Great U(I)X?
What Makes a Great e-Sourcing U(I)X?
What Makes a Great (Strategic Sourcing Decision) Optimization U(I)X?
What Makes a Great Spend Analysis U(I)X?
UX Epilogue
Serex was founded 23 years ago to help clients select, implement, deploy and effectively use CRM and marketing automation systems, something it still does to this day. However, a few years ago, during a routine meeting, a client asked if it had any systems to support buying because while it had its CRM and order management under control, and working like a fine-tuned oiled machine (their words, not Serex or SI’s), it’s Procurement organization was unable to keep up, and it was having to hire more and more buyers on a regular basis. Serex’s first response was, appropriately, why not use a social media platform to collect bids, and more specifically use a reverse auction and let the suppliers come to it? The answer Serex got was not the answer they expected — the organization had tried over a dozen auction platforms and not a single one met its need. Not one. (Sounds surprising, but when you consider the limitations of first generation auction platforms, it’s really not. And when you consider that marketing from these first generation platforms dominate the marketing airwaves, it would not be a surprise if only first generation platforms were tested.)
So Serex said that if they really wanted a useable solution that worked, they would build one, under an appropriate agreement. First of all, the solution would be designed under the guidance of the CPO, who had a lot of cross-vertical industry experience at Global 3000 companies. Secondly, the buying team would engage in regular review sessions, assist in UI design, and begin to use the beta as soon as it was ready. Third, the company would commit up front to use, so that the system would be developed by buyers, for buyers, and be used from buyers day one. And while new, and basic in some respects, it is obviously an auction platform designed by buyers for buyers that is used by buyers and works. (Serex’s first customer saved over 6 Million in its first year. And since launch, its first few clients have achieved similar success to its first customer.)
But the real proof that the solution is useable, even it is still a point-based procurement solution, is that all of the ten plus companies it is in negotiations with following it’s inaugural ISM event are all Fortune 500 companies, many of which already have big sourcing and procurement implementations with auctions (like Ariba, Zycus, and Emptoris). This only goes to show that while the e-Auction market is crowded, there is always room for a useable solution that does exactly what a buyer needs it to do in an easy and obvious manner. So while the platform has miles to go, the miles it has crossed make it well suited for a certain market. Which market? For now, in SI’s view, the mid-size market with a need for an easy best-of-breed solution.
The platform is essentially an e-Auction solution built to enable buyers to quickly set up and run auctions through quick bidder search and selection, quick product search and selection, quicker selection of which suppliers can bid on which products, and default auction parameters (which can easily be overridden). Complete product specs can be defined or uploaded as attachments if needed. Suppliers can send detailed messages during the auction to request or offer alternate delivery dates or substitutions for quicker delivery, and a buyer can update the auction specs as needed. In addition, all auctions are saved and new auctions can be created as copies of old auctions, and then updated as needed, allowing repeat auctions to be setup in just minutes (which is valuable if a product sells better than expected and an auction needs to be repeated on short notice to meet demand). (The auction platform has a built in attachment viewer that displays standard web formats.)
The platform also has a product manager sub-component that allows a complete product database that can be maintained and uploaded into the auction platform using a standard flat file format with attachments. In addition, a complete bidder database can be uploaded and maintained into the auction platform with all relevant supplier information.
Serex is not an extensive e-Procurement platform, but it’s one that fledgling organizations need when they want to being their strategic sourcing journey.
For a much deeper dive, check out the doctor and the prophet‘s in-depth dive over on Spend Matters Pro [membership required]. (Part I, Part II, and Part III.)