2. Embracing SaaS: A Blueprint for IT Success
2
Introduction
THIS EBOOK OUTLINES COMPELLING APPROACHES for CIOs to establish and lead a defined software-as-a-service (SaaS) strategy for their
companies in order to meet line-of-business (LoB) needs for innovation and agility.
In the pages that follow, we share key success factors for CIOs that can help them and their organizations take best advantage of the opportunities
inherent in SaaS solution deployment. We show how making this shift is consistent with achieving organizational goals.
3. IBM Cloud | SaaS
Software as a Service:
A Strategic Choice
MUCH MORE THAN a delivery choice for software deployment, SaaS is a strategic choice with distinct advantages for the enterprise and LoB
practitioners. It supports finance objectives and priorities of the IT organization as well.
SaaS adoption serves the objectives of the contemporary CIO, who is charged with managing IT budget constraints across numerous
implementation projects. Typically, 70% of budget is spent on systems maintenance and operations, while business leaders across the enterprise
bring continuous requests for more competitive systems and improved functionality.1
Contrary to some conventional wisdom, a SaaS strategy can free up precious resources. Simultaneously, IT teams can get more done with less
chaos while delivering consistently on business needs.
At IBM®, we identify six deployment and governance success factors for CIOs and business leaders to help them and their organizations make
the most of SaaS to achieve organizational goals. These success factors can help companies take best advantage of the opportunities inherent
in a shift toward SaaS solution deployment:
Let’s look at each of these success factors and explore how they can be applied by today’s CIOs.
3
One:
Stay
Secure
Two:
Ensure
Privacy
Three:
Scale
Globally
Four:
Integrate
Systems
Five:
Preserve
Choice
Six:
Align
Organizations
1 Source: 2011, IDC
4. Embracing SaaS: A Blueprint for IT Success
One: Stay Secure
DATA SECURITY is a fundamental priority for the CIO and a core value for
every successful organization. SaaS implementation meets today’s security
standards without compromise.
When it comes to data security, today’s CIOs need to challenge their SaaS
provider to deliver on critical points of value, approaches and policies. In
these conversations, CIOs should:
• Look for transparency relative to the provider’s policies
• Expect providers to demonstrate that their operations are secure
with industry standard checklists and certifications
• Understand their obligations relative to security, privacy and
regulations
• Set and manage policy around integrations between SaaS solutions
and solutions they own on their premises
LoB decision makers are likely to be less sensitive to security standards,
since they are naturally focused on outcomes more than process. When a
LoB decision maker initiates adoption of a SaaS solution, it remains the CIO’s
role to engage them in a collaborative process to map out and enforce the
relevant security policies.
4
5. IBM Cloud | SaaS
Business
Customs
Personal
Privacy
Two: Ensure Privacy
DATA PRIVACY and confidentiality are critical elements of software
deployment policy. These elements take on special significance when the
organization takes stewardship of customer, consumer and partner data.
SaaS from IBM is designed to maintain privacy and confidentiality while
handling data in appropriate ways.
The CIO is challenged to establish data privacy policies that respect both
business customs and personal privacy. It is a key leadership role to
maintain organizational consciousness of the responsibilities and trust
inherent in that stewardship.
It is also a key leadership role to ensure that data privacy practices are in
compliance with varying regulations and standards set and enforced by
jurisdictions throughout the world.2 Protection of personal and other sensitive
data are an obligation of your organization as well as the SaaS provider
acting as data processor.
It is a preferred practice to define and enforce a clear data privacy policy,
publish it and educate all members of the organization and ecosystem. It is
important to select vendors whose capabilities and reputation can assure
that privacy is maintained.
5
2 Source: Who Goes There? IBM Software white paper (2013)
Organizational
Consciousness
6. 6 Embracing SaaS: A Blueprint for IT Success
Three: Scale Globally
A DISTINCT BENEFIT of the SaaS software deployment approach comes
from scalability that matches organizational needs over time – both
geographically and across functional areas of the business.
The SaaS vendor bears responsibility for maintaining the cloud
infrastructure and keeping applications updated anywhere in the world.
The CIO sets parameters for these activities that are consistent with business
objectives.
Even smaller businesses often have users or customers across multiple
geographies. Hosting key applications in the cloud can make user location a
non-issue, even if they move about daily.
With scalable, globally available solutions, a SaaS strategy lets you:
• Define global needs at a local level, like user interface
language, client success assistance, education and training, and
migration services
• Be comfortable with a single set of capabilities that applies to all
geographies
SaaS in Action:
Client Need:
Improve the quality
and breadth of product
offerings globally.
Provide total solutions
tailored to each
customer’s environment
and operations.
Solution:
Implement a secure
social extranet. The client
uses it to test pricing
and launch concepts.
This solution significantly
improved information
exchange among people
located around the
world, both inside and
outside the company.
It has fostered a new,
lateral work style that has
redefined partnerships
and eliminated time zone
barriers to productivity.
7. IBM Cloud | SaaS 7
Four: Integrate Systems
THE DAILY CHALLENGE for every CIO includes ensuring that multiple
solutions and applications work together seamlessly to meet organizational
objectives and the needs of the business user base.
Often SaaS solutions are embraced by LoB buyers as standalone
capabilities, with integration to other systems only an afterthought. CIOs can
anticipate this challenge and engage those peers early in their decision
making process to deliver smooth integration.
With the goal of driving total value across the enterprise, the CIO defines
how key applications interact. Considerations include consistent identity
management, required analytics and collaboration, the avoidance of data
silos and alignment with the existing device management strategy.
CIO’s can streamline these processes by choosing a SaaS provider with
common application programming interfaces (APIs). The strategic approach
regards SaaS applications as extensions of existing infrastructure and plans
for:
• Integration between SaaS and on-premise enterprise systems
• Integration between SaaS providers
• Integration of Systems of Record with Systems of Engagement
SaaS in Action:
Client Need:
A retailer defined a need
to become more proactive
in resolving supply chain
exceptions. The goal was
to control these exceptions
before they had a negative
impact on inbound
ordering costs and
customer service levels.
Solution:
Cloud application
integration improved the
collection of order lifecycle
information by tying data
from internal procurement,
warehouse and
transportation systems
together with external data
from their freight forwarder,
broker and carriers. The
solution made the value
chain a competitive
differentiator.
8. 8 Embracing SaaS: A Blueprint for IT Success
Five: Preserve Choice
LINE OF BUSINESS USERS collectively require sufficient solution options
to help them meet their full scope of business objectives. At the same time,
CIOs need deployment options that are compatible with present and
future technology investment priorities, such as serving an increasingly
mobile workforce.
A comprehensive SaaS strategy delivers on both values. It is a preferred
practice to align with a solution provider that offers both breadth and
depth. A best-of-breed provider will bring solutions for a whole range of
roles, while supporting a hybrid cloud environment.
To ensure relevant solution choices are available to LoB users, the CIO will:
• Assess providers in terms of breadth versus depth – and align with
one provider that offers many solutions rather than expertise in
one area
• Select a key solution provider that can provide a spectrum of
industry expertise, product expertise, relevant experience and
sufficient scale
• Balance on-premise and off-premise options as required
• Maintain flexibility and agility
• Resist limitations in available provider options
SaaS in Action:
Client Need:
Drive business innovation
while delivering IT
efficiencies.
Solution:
Customer constructed
a “Cloud First” strategy
to balance these two
dimensions. It deployed
digital marketing
optimization, social
business, procurement
solutions and more to drive
broad value across the
enterprise.
9. IBM Cloud | SaaS 9
Six: Align Organization
THE SHEER VARIETY of line of business objectives and priorities puts pressure on the
IT infrastructure to supply business applications quickly. A well-crafted SaaS strategy
can extend IT’s capabilities with minimal impact. Also, there is a framework for selecting
and introducing new applications, where the IT and LoB teams can work together to
define and achieve business objectives.
This collaboration ensures more rapid and successful outcomes for SaaS application
deployment while establishing realistic expectations for LoB leadership. LoB
leaders are defining rules of the road for their own functional areas, but the CIO has
the cross-functional vision to combine those rules and approaches across the
business.
An integrated, strategic approach delivers great advantages. The strong technology
leader will:
• Advance the conversation surrounding the technology climate and
corporate culture
• Ensure an integrated SaaS selection and decision making process that
accommodates the needs and concerns of both LoB and IT leadership
• Establish a Cloud First Council comprised of senior managers from all
departments that together serve to govern cloud adoption policies and
strategies
• Identify where SaaS options matter most to the different roles across the
business
• Understand internal economics and control, while enlisting the up-front
support of the finance and legal teams to define expectations for an enterprise
SaaS strategy
A well-aligned SaaS strategy is a key element of a nimble and responsive approach
toward managing technology while aligning resources with overall business goals.
SaaS in Action:
Client Need:
Improve procurement
and supplier management
processes.
Solution:
Improved onboarding of
new suppliers. Improved
management of supplier
development and phasing
out of high risk suppliers.
Eliminated reliance on
supplier information held
in 120 ERP systems and
8,000 individual databases.
10. 10 Embracing SaaS: A Blueprint for IT Success
Conclusion:
How CIOs Respond
FORWARD-THINKING CIOs recognize the above opportunities. They confront a need to change and advance
their approaches, driven by three main factors:
Changing Customer Focus: Virtually all industries have been driven to become more
customer-centric in their decision making. The need to align the right data with the right tools
determines how well companies can meet escalating consumer expectations (or not).
Changing Competition: Smaller companies are outperforming bigger competitors with innovation
and fresh thinking. Bigger companies can remain static – or they can shift strategy and reinvent
their approaches.
Changing Context: The convergence of social, mobile, analytics and cloud, sometimes labeled the
“nexus of forces,” is rapidly changing how people and businesses work together. This convergence
impacts collaboration between employees, between vendors and suppliers, and across the industry.
1.
2.
3.
Where LoB leaders have tended to get more deeply involved in their own IT systems decisions, IT leadership is
now becoming more business-savvy and consultative as an enabler, not an inhibitor.
Aligning business practices around a broader SaaS strategy provides distinct areas of strategic value with
long-term benefits – speed, agility and competitive advantage.
11. IBM Cloud | SaaS 11
One:
Stay
Secure
Two:
Ensure
Privacy
Three:
Scale
Globally
Software as a Service: A Strategic Choice
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE companies deploy SaaS solutions to drive innovation
and get to market quickly without compromising their IT standards.
SaaS is much more than a delivery choice for
software deployment. It is a strategic choice
with distinct advantages for the enterprise and
its leaders.
It offers significant commercial and business advantages:
• Improved business agility
• Best-of-breed offerings
• Access to the most current software
• Predictable operating expense
Four:
Integrate
Systems
Five:
Preserve
Choice
Six:
Align
Organizations
