Tag: outsourced IT

Posted on

Price Of The Cloud Still Out Of Reach For Small Businesses? Commercial QuickBooks Hosting Providers offer competitive pricing, but are still largely unknown.

Price Of The Cloud Still Out Of Reach For Small Businesses?

Price Of The Cloud Still Out Of Reach For Small Businesses?

Commercial QuickBooks Hosting Providers offer competitive pricing, but are still largely unknown.

In a recent article on Forbes.com, contributor Gene Marks contends that, for most small businesses, the most cost effective way to run their business IT is locally and not in the cloud.  The contention is that software features and functionality businesses demand isn’t yet available in affordable SaaS solutions, and outsourcing the hosting and management of desktop applications is more costly than doing it yourself.

Because the cost of a cloud solution like the one I have is still too high for most small businesses like mine!  The setup I have would normally run me about $100 per user per month.  Which means that a typical small business with a ten user network would be paying $12,000 per year.   Yes, you read that right.  It’s a great service.  But is it worth that much?  Not to my clients – all thirty of them who considered this option turned it down.  At least for now.  Forbes.com

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2012/01/23/price-of-the-cloud-still-out-of-reach-for-small-businesses/

What this author did not take in to account is the aggressive pricing model which evolved around the hosted QuickBooks desktop editions, and how the community of Authorized Commercial Hosts for QuickBooks offer “full meal deal” hosting of those business applications most small businesses know and love.  Because the QuickBooks desktop editions have such a large market of integrations, add-ons, plug-ins, etc. it was necessary for most of the hosting providers to accept hosting of a wide variety of these applications in order to get adoption of the hosted QuickBooks product with ProAdvisors and accountants as well as their clients.

One of the Authorized QuickBooks Hosting providers, Cloud9RealTime.com, offers both shared hosting of QuickBooks desktop applications and Microsoft Office, as well as virtual server environments where customers may run whatever mixture of desktop software solutions the business already has.  By allowing businesses to place all of their licensed products in a managed environment, where installation of software updates and helpdesk support is part of the service, it enables organizations to have the benefits of remote access and high availability service without having to build the capability themselves – and for a fraction of the cost.  Cloud9’s pricing model is far less than described in the article, with services for businesses being available for half (or less) than the $100 per user cited by the author.

The Authorized Host for QuickBooks program and community of providers seems to be fairly unknown amongst small businesses, but owners and managers should look more closely at providers like Cloud9RealTime.com and see what pricing and services are available.  It may change your mind, and show that the cloud isn’t out of reach for small businesses.

Make sense?

J

read more about the confusion over hosted licensing on The Progressive Accountant http://www.theprogressiveaccountant.com/tech-tips/confusion-over-hosted-licensing.html

Posted on

Understanding the Customer Journey: Know More and Assign Proper Credit

Understanding the Customer Journey: Know More and Assign Proper Credit

There is a fascinating video of a presentation by Neil Hoyne (self-designated “student of the customer journey”, and Global Program Manager at Google) where he discusses customer attribution and how businesses should more closely measure, analyze and understand customer behavior to understand why some people do or don’t click, buy, or come back for more.  While the conversation focuses on website performance and link tracking, the underlying message applies to all aspects of business relationship development.  In short, it doesn’t usually take just one thing to compel someone to do something.

Neil’s session “encouraged companies to identify more actionable performance metrics and build stronger industry relationships as the advertising market continues its rapid evolution away from last-click valuation.”  In concept, it means that there are many interactions that may occur before someone makes that decision to actually click or buy.   They likely received impressions from various sources (ads, word of mouth mentions, etc.), or performed searches or perused various discussion or information sources at some point before that final “click”.  So, why is that “last click” considered to be most valuable?

If you compare online sales and marketing to people-based sales and marketing activity, you’ll find that users will follow similar paths and interact in similar manners with both mediums.  This is due to the fact that, as Neil puts it, “every customer has a story”, and each is taking their own individual journey.   The path they follow is as individual as the person, but there are ways to identify trends based on how users interact with the business if the data can be appropriately captured and analyzed.

If we turn the conversation to customer management, similar truths are revealed.  For example, in many businesses sales success is attributed solely to the sales team, and compensation plans support the belief that the front line is the essential source for new revenue.  However, the truth may be that the sale was made based on a personal referral from a satisfied customer or perhaps due to a discussion where the service and support was said to be exceptional, or even because the login portal is a pleasant shade of green instead of a dull grey.  Not giving appropriate credit to all of the factors which impact the sale presents a risk to the business, because changes in the approach may result with unintended negative consequences.  Remove the element which supports or encourages the action and you may lose the action, which is more likely to occur if the business doesn’t really understand why it happens in the first place.

For example, a business may decide that a direct sale approach is better than giving up revenue to affiliates or resellers.  However, the business may very well find that it takes the involvement of that affiliate or reseller in order to get the sale.  Pouring more money and resources into the direct sales force won’t make up the difference if the target customer isn’t connecting, or if the company isn’t offering the additional service or value-add delivered by the partners.  Also, if the sales organization is focusing exclusively on new business, where is the attention to current customers?

Businesses are spending tremendous resources in time, money and personnel to try to find ways to reach new customers and markets, yet often fail to fully understand what it took to get the existing customers on board.  Even worse, many businesses resist analysis of EXISTING customer behavior, not taking the time to understand how that customer interacts with and uses services provided, and failing further in identifying and delivering additional value to keep the customer satisfied and coming back for more. Many businesses only address existing users from a support standpoint, yet fail to explore ways to improve retention or up-sell revenues through front line sales efforts.  Again, it is the failure to understand when and why people take action that causes investment and effort to be misplaced, and desired results to not be achieved.

The whole point of this is that the business should KNOW MORE about the various ways users interact with them, and GIVE CREDIT to all of the elements involved in the chain.  If every user has a story, then the business should closely listen to those stories to learn how to increase reach and service delivery to customers of a similar theme (what the customer needs now), and to keep listening and learning in order to understand what the customer needs next.

Make sense?

J

Link to Neil’s presentation here: http://googleaffiliatenetwork-blog.blogspot.com/2012/08/accelerate-deeper-look-at-attribution.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GoogleAffiliateNetwork+%28Google+Affiliate+Network%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Is great customer service the entire customer experience?

You know those car commercials on TV, where the sales person is telling the customer about how great the warranty on the vehicle is?  Yeah – the one where the customer wants to know if they should buy a good car, or buy a car with a good warranty.  Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Read more about using the cloud to extend your access and collaboration beyond traditional boundaries.

Posted on

Cloud FAQs for CFOs: CFO.com

There’s an amazing article on CFO.com called Cloud FAQs for CFOs and every business owner, manager, accountant, CFO and CIO should read it.

Here is one of my favorite Q/As from the article:

“Q: But I’m a finance officer, not a technologist. Can you guarantee that the total cost of ownership for the cloud is lower than what I’m already spending for my on-premises IT?
That depends upon what you’re already spending. Do you know?

According to Forrester senior analyst Dave Bartoletti, most companies are not all that good at knowing how much it really costs to run an application because IT departments “are still seen as cost centers.” The company buys the servers, the storage, and the applications, and flips the switch. “What does it cost to run?” Bartoletti asks rhetorically. “Who knows? You just depreciate the assets over a certain amount of time and after they’re fully depreciated, you buy more.” Even organizations that account for staff costs, maintenance, energy — all the indirect spend that goes into producing a service the business needs to run — will probably not be able to cost out individual applications with any degree of accuracy. How much, for example, does your e-mail cost? “If your CIO can’t tell you it’s x, y, z, per box,” Hotels and Resorts CIO Mike Blake tells CFO, “that’s a problem.”

“Enterprises are making significant investments in cloud technology in pursuit of lower costs,” says Dave Zabrowski, founder and CEO of Cloud Cruiser, a provider of cost analytics for cloud consumers, but “if you can’t see what you’re spending, there’s a good chance you’re spending too much.”

And that problem, that financial black box, has been the bane of the finance officer’s life in the IT age. The cloud, if nothing else, presents an opportunity to open that black box”

 Read more on CFO.com (http://s.tt/1jGJU)

Make sense?

J

read more about the confusion over hosted licensing on The Progressive Accountant http://www.theprogressiveaccountant.com/tech-tips/confusion-over-hosted-licensing.html

Posted on

Knowledge, Sustainability, and Succession

Knowledge, Sustainability, and Succession

In a global economy, where competitive pressures are increasing every day for even the smallest of businesses, sustainability becomes as much a focus for the business as growth once was.  Developing strategies for retaining profit margins, improving cash flows, solidifying supply chains, and streamlining operational processes is essential when designing the business to handle the stresses of a depressed economy.  But knowledge management – investing the learning and experience of individuals into the DNA of the business – is also an essential element to sustainability and business continuity.  When the entire realm of understanding of how the business runs exists solely in the proprietor or founder, there is little foundation upon which to build an enterprise.  However, when this knowledge is turned into systems and processes which guide the operation, results are able to be reproduced consistently, and reliance upon key individuals is reduced significantly.  This aspect of succession planning is often overlooked, but is THE essential element in business continuity.

Accounting professionals are trusted advisors to their clients, and provide much more service than simply financial reporting.  The consultative approach, delving deeper into the business and looking beyond the surface-level numbers, is what business owners are looking for.  You can help your clients see beyond the numbers to find ways to improve efficiency and profitability in the business, and to help turn individual knowledge into business knowledge, crafting a plan to retain and build on that value.  That’s what sustainability is all about.

Make sense?

J

Posted on

Getting Results: Social Media for customer service is a sword that cuts both ways

In a recent article on Forbes.com, authors Mark Fidelman and Becky Carroll discuss the high cost paid by Southwest Airlines – cost in terms of customer perception as well as obvious costs in dollars – due to a website snafu resulting in lots of customer overcharges – and the part social media played in the entire affair.  There are a number of lessons to be learned from the article How One Defective Social Media Campaign Spawned Millions in Overcharges, but one big message is about the positive impacts of effective and relevant (and timely) customer communications.  Social media is a sword that cuts both ways, offering a platform for both positive, and not so positive, discussions and conversations.

Using social media for customer service has become just as, if not more beneficial than, having an army of agents in the contact center. This is especially true when a crisis hits a company. Gone are the days when a customer service issue was aired solely between a consumer and the company’s contact center (and maybe a few friends within earshot). When things go wrong, consumers take to a brand’s social media channels for several reasons. Forbes.com

Particularly when you factor in the viral nature of social media interactions, and the amazing speed with which ANY message can gain broad visibility, businesses should understand that all those “friends” can turn into an ugly mob pretty quickly if an effective communications strategy isn’t in place.

Whether or not an organization uses social media as one of their official customer service channels, customers will seek out all ways of communicating when they have an issue. How companies choose to respond on social media has a large impact on how quickly a crisis settles down.

But communication isn’t all that is required.  Providing information on a solid course of action, and how revealed problems are being addressed to satisfy customer demand RIGHT NOW is the critical element.  Communications and promises are nothing if they’re not backed up with action in real time.  Actually, the best solution is to not have the problem in the first place, but sometimes you just don’t see it coming (see “unintended consequences“).

Make sense?

J

Is great customer service the entire customer experience?

You know those car commercials on TV, where the sales person is telling the customer about how great the warranty on the vehicle is?  Yeah – the one where the customer wants to know if they should buy a good car, or buy a car with a good warranty.  Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Read more about using the cloud to extend your access and collaboration beyond traditional boundaries.

Posted on

The Cloud Makes Time Travel Possible: Hosted applications can deliver immediate business benefits

The Cloud Makes Time Travel Possible: Hosted applications can deliver immediate business benefits

In an article published on CIO.com, author Kevin Fogarty describes how moving to a cloud IT approach proved to be a highly beneficial and strategic decision for an on-site diesel fuel distributor.  The focus of the article was on how existing software and processes were enabled by centralizing them in a cloud hosting environment, and not by replacing them with new subscription-based applications.

For many businesses, this is the secret that nobody’s talking about: you can have the benefits of “the cloud” without having to radically change everything you have and everything you do.  Retention of knowledge assets is critical to business continuity, and moving existing systems and process to platforms where they can be leveraged to greater business advantage is a way to do that.  With centralization of systems and services, information can be processed far more efficiently than before, eliminating delays and improving cash flows dramatically.  Time is money, and the cloud helps businesses spend less of both.

“A lot of the invoices have to go out every day by certain times, so third-party accounting companies can do their thing for the fleet owners.” The setup sounds like a classic for any overhyped business-process-automation system, but Daniel Abrams and other Diesel Direct managers weren’t interested in managing their business using sophisticated business systems that require more motivation, money and technical staff than Abrams was willing to use or pay for.”

The initial benefit is being able to use the products already in place, just from a more secure and redundant location, but when you begin to consider the positive ramifications of reducing the time between delivery and invoicing, billing and payment receipt, or customer demand and product supply, you rapidly realize that the cloud means much more to the business than just another way to run software.

“Those changes save Diesel Direct both money and time. Rather than running reports and invoices all night Tuesdays, for example, the additional capacity lets the company run those resource-intensive processes during the day rather than overnight. That gets critical work done faster and more accurately than a process left to complete itself unattended.”

In short, the cloud makes time travel possible, because the result is available almost immediately upon completion of the task.  It’s kind of like getting your expense check as you walk off the plane in your home town, because you reported all your expenses in real time as they were incurred (snap a picture of the receipt at the bar, and like that).

Yet most business owners and IT managers for small and mid-sized businesses are being told that the cloud is best applied when innovation is required, and should be reserved for NEW things, and not thought of as a way to improve the status quo with existing or legacy architecture.

“It’s not unusual for mid-sized companies to come to depend on cloud services, according to James Staten, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester’s Infrastructure and Operations practice.

It is unusual for them to be more concerned with infrastructure than with applications, he says.”

With affordable and secure application hosting services being widely available for small and medium businesses, owners and managers no longer have to look to new solutions just to enable mobility, remote access, and a fundamentally stronger and better-managed system.  Legacy applications can be hosted and delivered, extending their useful life as well as the value of the development and intellectual property, and giving customers capabilities not readily available with local implementations.

“Diesel Direct can’t accomplish anything if its minimal IT infrastructure is offline for any length of time.

Abrams, worried about storms taking out his business as well as the power, didn’t know what technical solution he wanted until Callow “described for him what an enterprise infrastructure looked like,” Callow says.

“They didn’t need one, didn’t want one, but they did want the security, the reliability of a redundant IT infrastructure,” he says. “The most effective way to get that at the lowest possible cost is the cloud.”

Among the greatest benefits of outsourcing application delivery to a cloud hosting provider are the increased monitoring and security, application of best practices, and high levels of system fault tolerance and recovery capabilities offered.  While business subscribers focus on features and functionality of the application, the real focus for hosting providers is the platform – and the management and security of it.  This behind the scenes work offers tremendous business benefit to subscribing customers, but is often not the focus when discussing overall benefits of a cloud computing approach in the context of Software-as-a-Service, which is where many smbs focus their investigations.  As an alternative, businesses who may seek to adopt hosted solutions for their existing applications and software frequently do so for reasons of security and redundancy, not recognizing that their business processes may likely experience significant improvement, as well.

“Enterprises might have the luxury of making strategic decisions about cloud or other technology,” Golden says. “In mid-sized companies things are very tactical. No cloud evangelist is going around the refueling industry saying ‘there are ways to solve this problem.’ “Companies make tactical decisions to solve their own problems and, five or 10 years later, we’ll all wake up and realize we’ve changed the way we do everything,” Golden says.”

Make Sense?

J

The company in the article could be just like yours.  You don’t have to adopt new software and systems to benefit from the cloud.  How could your business change, if you could remove the problems of time and distance?