I’ve never been a fan of dogma – I’ll be the first to admit that I use some installed applications where I deem it necessary, this despite being an evangelist for all things cloud-y. I’m a solution focused kind of a guy and if an installed app fulfils my needs, I’ll use it. There’s nothing I like less than those who evangelize SaaS for its own sake rather than for the real benefits it brings.
It was refreshing then to have the following Twitter dialogue with a friend of mine who runs a successful SaaS business and whom one would expect to be 100% in the clouds. We were talking about the different applications one uses to run ones business and, naturally given the participants, the topic came around to what SaaS apps we actually use. Said friends perspective was;
When the cloud becomes a stormcloud eh... just been shooting the breeze with [someone] about Cloud apps. He can't believe we don't use Google for our email… We use our own Exchange server. WAAAAAAY faster than Gmail for managing and sorting 50-100,000+ emails… And if the net goes down we have a cached copy. And then you started talking about Google issues ha ha … Cloudapps are great, but each need should be strategically evaluated as to whether should be cloud or local. Risk decisions etc. We carry VERY sensitive data in emails - if saved on Google I'd have to disclose to customers we were doing that... I’d guess I use about 20% cloud apps... for the others, local still beats cloud - so a ways to go yet. Early cloud days eh…
Now this isn’t a post that seeks to create a discussion around the relative merits of specific installed applications versus their SaaS counterparts - neither is it seeking to cast doubt on SaaS as a genre (I’m an evangelist, that much should be obvious). It is however timely to focus on what my friend said, namely that every functional need should be viewed against broad strategic objectives. In his case his customers may well feel anxious about their private data being held in Gmail for example – he made a strategic choice that for that functional area the risks around SaaS were sufficiently large to justify retaining a traditional application.
It’s an eminently pragmatic approach regardless of whether the dogmatic types approve…
Ben, I agree with you totally. I recently wrote a series of posts about Starting a Business using SaaS Applications - http://bit.ly/2lu992 . We consult on SaaS and provide SaaS applications, so we thought we should practice what we preach. I use a lot of SaaS applications, but still use a lot of installed apps, including Microsoft Office 2007. I use Outlook to manage my numerous email accounts and I really like Word and PowerPoint. I use what makes sense for me and my business.
I agree Ben. Glad to see you are able to walk the line between evangalism and fanaticism. Very practical of you. Change is a process; enjoy it. The arc of innovation is bending toward the cloud and that should be enough.
It is indeed too early for us to turn to everything for our software needs, but in time, as the model matures, and proliferates in different IT product areas, the role of on premise shall surely grow smaller and smaller.
[..] Installed Apps for SaaS Vendors (cloudave.com) [..]
I agree, some companies however that produce SaaS systems is for 'local' copies. I.e., they provide you with a copy of the server itself, which you can still use in a SaaS capacity, but within your own corporate network, Google Search Appliance for example, as such a device allows you all the benefits of Google search, within your own private network. For UK/EU companies in particular, there are legal issues with transporting personal data outside of the EU, and consumers don't like this. For example, when buying online your personal and financial details are sent to computers in Brazil for processing needs to be declared in the UK (and to a lesser extent in the EU). Some smarter non-EU based SaaS providers have datacenters with the EU, so at least there a laws protecting the security of your data. But it all comes down to trust.
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