We are all amassed and in awe of technology as we know it…virtual wired, virtual here or there, virtual wireless, virtual…mobile! When was the last time you visited/took advantage of the convenience of Pay-Pal, ATM, Kiosk, Online Finance eg Banking or HR Services – Sending Cvl/Resume(s) ?
What about the “digital divide”, the “dilemma of the digital age”, where too many citizens lose access to the world of digitization? A robot took your job? Has a computer application made you obsolete? Data mining, is it alive and well? Is/was it a dream to wake up and go to work and receive a pink, blue, brown or purple separation notice dated yesterday and effective now?
It has to be a fucking dream! Yes, I’m dreaming! I wonder…do robots dream?
It all started with Ethernet, WAN, LAN and Virtuality – Private Networks… Bell Telephone thrived on planting telephone poles and lines, just like the cable companies. What about your underground cables and networked communication phone lines? Could we survive without it?
Software as a Service: The Digital Age…Will the Workforce Become SaaS?
The 411, did you know that SaaS, a software delivery method that provides access to software and its functions remotely as a cloud/web-based service, does many things? SaaS allows organizations to access business functionality at a generally lower cost than paying for licensed applications, since SaaS pricing is based on a monthly fee. Because the software is located remotely, users do not need to invest in additional hardware. SaaS removes the need for organizations to handle installation, configuration, and day-to-day maintenance and upkeep… defined as hosted applications.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a business management system that integrates all facets of the business environment, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. As the ERP methodology has become more popular, software applications have emerged to help business managers implement ERP in business activities such as inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance, and human resources.
SaaS strategy:
“Of all the cloud computing ideas out there, SaaS is the one that needs attention right now.” “Lots of companies treat it Ad Hock!” As Tested and Competed, a statement from Michael Bidding, CTO of Fusion PPT, Consulting and IT Services.
Vendor marketing, new services and cloud strategy have trapped business technology leaders in a cloud computing avalanche. Enterprise technologists now using SaaS have described their applications as mission-critical. Ad Hoc is not Saas. Ad Hoc is an autonomous system of routes (and associated hosts) connected by wireless links. Ad hoc network systems (ANS) are complex systems with cross-layer protocol dynamics and interactions not present in wired systems. Such a network can operate independently or connected to the larger Internet (system), operating as a hybrid Fixed/Ad Hoc network. A survey of several companies and their CIOs could get the most out of SaaS by incorporating it or making it part of the overall enterprise architecture.
Cloud Computing: The sharing of computing resources rather than having local services or personal devices to drive the application(s). Its goal is to apply traditional supercomputing, or high-performance computing power, typically used by military and research facilities. Cloud computing networks are also larger groups of servers, with specialized connection speeds.
Data processing tasks:
Shared IT infrastructure(s) contain(s) large groups of systems that are linked together, allowing data centers to function like the Internet while computing resources are used, accessed, and shared as virtual resources in a secure and scalable methodology.
Although SaaS is not described as universal, users surveyed agreed that it has moved beyond customer resources, HR, email, sales force automation, service/help desk, finance (online banking ) and backup applications. All these applications are used and more… Business Server Apps has used SaaS for almost 100% of its services. Billing, inventory, timesheets, sales, email, and pipeline management are shared across this Software-as-a-Service application(s). Businesses enjoy fast setup and low capital expenses. Another benefit is increased employee power and mobility through remote offices via smartphone or personal computer (PC). “Mobile Access is the name of the game,” says Michael Bidding. Cloud computing is eclipsing Simple Software as a Service (SSAS) education. SaaS providers say that portability, privacy and security are the main points of interest for companies.
SaaS users say that the IT organization is the main driver and C-level managers or line of business are behind the use of SaaS. SaaS development strategy teams are encouraged to address selecting the right vendor, signing the right contract, having a detailed exit strategy, managing a good working relationship, creating a contingency plan, digging deeper in the interoperability and integration of the In/On system The role of IT in the support and participation, and the alignment with the goals and objectives of the company.
SaaS customers agree and are generally satisfied with the applications. They say that they are doing better with SaaS than with conventional applications and will continue to invest in SaaS. When companies integrate (or plan) SaaS applications with other business applications, they show a commitment to the product as part of an overall business architecture. The combination of custom built, packaged, on-premises applications mixed with client setups, SaaS applications, and other tools, makes it more difficult for the business to understand the risks associated with application changes. The IT organization is ultimately responsible for the smooth running and functioning of the federated architecture.
The future promises to do more through companies monitoring their own SaaS performance. IT staff will not have, and in most circumstances will not have, the local ability to determine if the service is up or if a user is experiencing a problem caused by a LAN failure on the Internet. Performance issues are called to the IT service/help desk.
SaaS pricing is less transparent, and reliance on performance data is controlled by the provider. IT teams have to closely maintain the bandwidth between the user and the server. Bandwidth is a range within a band of frequencies or wavelengths. The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed time;
Digital bandwidth is expressed in bits per second (bps) than bytes per second. Another expression, as described in analog, is cycles per second or hertz (Hz). Bandwidth is a measure of space and speed, meaning a fast drive can be hampered or slowed down by a bus with little bandwidth or space (space). I/O devices are particularly affected by low bandwidth, ie, an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), the performance demands of 3D graphics.
An application is a program from a group of programs designed for end users. Two general classifications of software are systems software and application software. Systems software consists of low-level programming that interacts at a basic level, including operating system compilers and utilities for managing computing resources. Application(s) software sits on top of systems software because it cannot run without the operating system and system utilities (the interface is the interaction between the computer and the user).
Customer Resource Management (CRM) tops the SaaS usage list(s). Human Resources (HR) candidate tracking, for over a decade, has moved from the tedious task of sorting hand-to-eye and is poised for further growth as SaaS has proven to be an invaluable tool in your HR effort(s), i.e. applications, tests, benefits and other personnel registration tasks and core functions.
Business Intelligence (BI), Application Program Interface(s) (API) – Windows, Excel, Access, SQL, etc. – sets of routines, protocols and tools relevant to creating software applications – by providing all the basic components, the API makes it all the easier to develop a computer program. Programmers put all the basic components together, ergo, a program interface designed for end users.
SaaS offerings are limited compared to most mainstream offerings across a variety of on-premises or cloud platforms. “Microsoft is winning customers for its SaaS-based exchange,” says Mr. Bidding. “SaaS is growing.”
Members of the IT organization will need to learn new skills and devise new strategies that allow them to integrate legacy infrastructure with rapidly growing SaaS portfolios.
So the next time you take advantage of convenient kiosks, ATMs, Pay-Pal(s), the Internet, or smartphone web browsing, remember dream software and its relationship to your lifestyle and/or livelihood.
Have you ever wondered if robots have dreams?
Until next time…
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