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Cloud vs. On-Premise
Making the Best Decision for
Your Complex Selling System
WHITE PAPER
Cincom In-depth Analysis and Review with
Insights from Louis Columbus and Greg Doud
S I M P L I F I C AT I O N T H R O U G H I N N O VAT I O N ®

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Table of Contents
Cloud vs. On-Premise Selling with Accuracy, Intelligence and Speed . . . . . . . . 1
Making the Best Decision for
Think of Selling Speed and Accuracy as Part of Who
Your Complex Selling System You Are . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ten Signs that It’s Time to Upgrade Your Quoting
Process and Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
WHITE PAPER Configuring Products on the Fly—Speed Is the
New Differentiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Cincom In-depth Analysis and Review with
Insights from Louis Columbus and Greg Doud
Cloud vs. On-Premise: Which Is Best for You? . . . . . . . . 2
Pros: When Cloud Computing Makes Sense . . . . . . . . . . 3
Cons: When On-Premise Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Fifteen Questions to Help You Decide If the Cloud
Is for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Infographic: Is the Cloud for You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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1
Selling with Accuracy, Intelligence Looking at the factors behind these state-of-the-art selling
systems shows a fascinating story of how companies are
and Speed breaking through the barriers of selling more. Here are
the lessons learned from companies that are excelling at
Now is the new normal for your prospects and customers.
accurate, intellegent and rapid selling:
Being able to capture new business, exceed the
• Define quoting, proposal and pricing success from
expectations of customers and set a solid foundation for
your customer’s metrics first—not your own. In many
future growth relies on how well your company responds
industries, since time is so incredibly precious and in
to every opportunity to sell. Making the most of every
such short supply, buyers want to get the most accurate
opportunity begins by getting into the mindset of your
quote as possible and move on to the next task.
prospects and customers.
• Realize that your buyers choose to learn differently
One of the most powerful ways to do that is to create very today than in the past. The current generation of
accurate, clear quotes, proposals and pricing estimates— buyers in B2B has chosen entirely new channels of how
ones that reflect the best of who your company is and they learn about new products and solutions.
what they can do to serve prospects and customers. Great Companies that realize this and choose to create
quoting, proposal and pricing systems can tell you which quoting, proposal and pricing systems that give this
deals are the most profitable, and those you need to walk latest generation of buyers a chance to learn in the way
away from. they prefer are winning more business as a result.
• Your customers’ greatest asset is time—respect it
Think of Selling Speed and Accuracy and earn the chance to serve and sell them more.
as Part of Who You Are Not only is the definition of time changing for your
prospects and customers, the pace of change itself
Making the most of every minute with a prospective
is accelerating. The following infographic from Intel
or current customer starts with a commitment to really
shows what happens in a typical Internet minute.
listen to what they have to say and capturing their
The Internet and its convenience and speed are
requirements accurately.
compressing prospects’ and customers’ expectations
The best-in-class, tablet-based quoting systems have the rapidly. Quoting, proposal and pricing systems need
ability to pull real-time pricing and product availability to keep pace with this change in how customers value
over the Internet and configure exactly what a customer time to stay relevant today and in the future.
wants in real time.
Bottom line: Who your company is on the inside and how much you value prospects’ and customers’ time gets
projected to the outside world every time you complete a quote, proposal or pricing request.
“What Happens in an Internet Minute?” Intel.com, n.p.,n.d. Web.12 Oct. 2012

4.
2
Ten Signs that It’s Time to Upgrade Your Configuring Products on the Fly—Speed
Quoting and Proposal Strategies Is the New Differentiator
Every quote or proposal that your company creates The best selling systems liberate sales so that more time can
says more about who you are than a year’s worth be spent with customers. Particularly with manufacturing
of marketing collateral. and service companies in heating, ventilation, air
conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R); specialty vehicles;
Quoting and proposals say how serious your company medical products and high-tech industries, this is the best
is about the commitments it makes and keeps. How you way to learn their business challenges and objectives.
handle them—either with accuracy, speed and precision
or with errors, omissions and requests from prospects for Accuracy and speed are important to customers who are
more meetings or information—also says much about looking to purchase your products. Therefore, they should
how your company operates. Here are the top ten signs be important considerations when contemplating a plat-
that it’s time to upgrade. form for your selling system. According to Gartner Analyst,
Tom Bittman1, recent polls show that even more than lower
1. Quotes are reworked multiple times, leading to costs, the majority of large enterprises consider speed and
lost time in the sales cycle and sales representatives agility to be the primary benefits of cloud computing.
having to chase down experts to get accurate answers.
The cloud can allow fast access to systems and product
2. Every selling or distribution channel has its own
information and can enable accurate quotes to be quickly
quoting and proposal system, which leads to a
configured at the point of sale. However, computing in
duplication of selling efforts.
the cloud also comes with its own set of risks. How can
3. New product introductions, product-line extensions you be sure which is better for your company—the cloud
and discontinued products aren’t reflected in the or on-premise?
current pricing, product catalogs and proposal
workflows for months.
4. Measuring sales productivity across all channels is
done manually and is often inaccurate. There are
Cloud vs. On-Premise:
no analytics or financials that can be viewed in real Which Is Best for You?
time to see sales productivity.
According to Forbes2, the biggest mistake companies
5. The proliferation of product features, options and make when purchasing a cloud solution is by not going
service contracts is making the existing quote-to- in with a well-developed strategy.
order process extend to weeks, when hours is the
turnaround time that customers want. Industry Analyst, Louis Columbus, concurs:
6. Pricing and Gross Contribution Margins are “The best results are being attained by enterprises that
calculated manually on every proposal and quote, focus on a very specific strategy and look to cloud-based
which bogs down the sales manager’s and finance technologies to accelerate their performance. Those
department’s time. enterprises that look to cloud platforms only for cost
reduction miss out on their full potential.”
7. Orders have been accepted that aren’t buildable,
or they’re so expensive to produce that the company So, how can you avoid making the “strategy” mistake?
is losing money. To start, take a look at some of the “pros” and “cons”
8. Prospects want a complete quote or proposal based about cloud computing.
on just a single meeting with your sales team. Currently,
it’s taking three to four meetings to capture their
requirements.
9. Cross-selling and up-selling is done rarely, if at all,
due to the lack of flexibility in the quoting, proposal
and catalog management systems.
10.Every quote has to go through engineering teams
to see if it’s buildable, which means that you’re
constantly chasing the experts.
1
Bittman, Thomas J., “Top Five Private Cloud Computing Trends, 2012.”
Gartner.com, Web. 12 Oct. 2012
2“
Hype Cycle for Cloud Computing Shows Enterprises Finding Value in Big Data,
Virtualization.” Forbes.com, 04 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012

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3
Pros: When Cloud Computing Makes Sense • SaaS-based integration is accelerating - Many
enterprises are now integrating their quoting, proposal
According to Greg Doud of Cincom, the following are the
and pricing systems directly into their CRM systems,
most compelling reasons why cloud computing may make
including Microsoft CRM and Salesforce CRM. This
sense for your enterprise.
is rapidly driving up adoption rates since sales
• Reduced cost - When you have your application running professionals are using these applications while
in the cloud, your IT staff doesn't have to worry about within a CRM working session—all in real time.
servers, networking and operating system software
support. Those things are being taken care of by the Cons: When On-Premise Works
cloud provider.
However, according to Doud, in some instances,
• Mobile computing - Most companies have complicated on-premise deployment may be right for your company.
security protocols to keep people from getting into their When might that be?
network; but that is just what the mobile users need to
do! Access authorizations are taken care of effortlessly When you’re concerned about:
in the cloud.
• Total cost of ownership (TCO) - Paying a low monthly
• Cash flow - When deploying a large system on-premise subscription for software certainly helps a company's
that requires multiple servers and software, a large, cash flow. However, over the long term, the software
up-front cash outlay is also required. When using a does become more expensive. For example, suppose
cloud, normal charges are billed on a monthly basis a company is looking to purchase some software for
as an operating expense rather than a capital expense. $3,600, or they can pay $100 per month. After three
This improves a company’s cash flow. years, the amount paid for the subscription is identical
• More robust environment - Cloud providers build to the purchase price. But after those three years, the
their infrastructure to support high-speed, load- subscription will begin to cost more than the purchase.
balanced environments. This means that running in • Outside risks - When software is hosted on-premise,
the cloud allows a company to quickly scale up their everything resides within the walls of the company. When
application without a large additional investment, or it is hosted in the cloud, the cloud provider has access
scale down and only pay for what’s needed. to and control of the hardware and software. If the cloud
• Increased response times/decreased outage risks - provider’s security controls are not as robust as those of
Most large cloud providers have multiple data centers the company, the risk of failure can be greater.
in various parts of the world. This allows a company • Data control - The US Patriot Act requires some
to deploy their applications and data closer to the companies to keep their data within the boundaries of
end-user than when servers and software are in the the United States. This limits some of the flexibility that
company's data center. This means better response cloud providers allow in terms of deploying applications
times and decreased outage risks. close to the user. Additionally, having an on-premise
• Faster start-up and time-to market with a SaaS-based solution may make sense when you need to keep
enterprise application - With a cloud offering, you can sensitive or regulated data local.
get started much faster than with one that requires you
to obtain your own hardware and software.
• Nothing to install - Enough said.
When Is the Cloud the Right Choice?
• Freedom for the line-of-business manager - Cloud-
based applications are paid for from operating-expense Outgrowing Little or no Need for
(OPEX) budgets, which frees up the line-of-business existing in-house IT mobile
manager to pay for just what they need. They also application
are free from the lengthy and often complex capital requirements
expense (CAPEX) budgeting processes that IT
departments have historically relied upon.
Immediate High growth/
• Greater flexibility in defining workflows - Cloud need/fast rapid change Seasonal needs
applications are more adept at being configured implementation
from a workflow standpoint since they are designed
for rapid updates and customization.
Geographic Business
Limited budget expansion continuity/
emergency
preparedness

6.
4
15 Questions to Help You Decide if the Conclusion
Cloud Is for You Computing in the cloud can provide unmatched dynamic
Finally, these questions should help you develop a scalability and flexibility as well as reduced start-up and
strategy to best decide what’s right for your organization. deployment costs, since software is typically expensed
rather than capitalized. There is also greater support for
remote and mobile users in the cloud. For these reasons,
Security
cloud deployment is quickly gaining momentum.
1. Where are the hosting facilities and backup data
centers located? However, in the end, it comes down to whether people
2. Who owns my data once it’s transferred to the believe that cloud computing is safe and that the risks are
hosting facilities? worthwhile. We hope this white paper has helped you
move closer to deciding what’s best for your organization.
3. Will my data be used for data-mining purposes?
4. What’s your disaster recovery plan? Your up-time
percentage?
5. Do your facilities have industry-recognized security
features (such as data encryption)?
IT
6. How long will implementation take and what does
it entail?
7. Do we need any hardware or software installed
on-site and what do we need to look at regarding
our ISP?
8. Will the add-ons and other services I’m currently
using be available in the cloud?
9. How is data returned to us if we decide to move
back on-premise?
Vendor
10. What is your company’s history and experience
in this area?
11. Can you provide references?
12. In your experience, what do you see as the benefits
and risks of moving to the cloud that are specific to
my particular business?
Cost
13. Can I shut down portals as needed and only pay
for what I use?
14. What can I expect to save with a cloud model vs.
an on-premise solution?
The Bottom Line
15. Why should I select you as my cloud computing
provider?

7.
5
Is the Cloud for You?
ACCORDING TO GARTNER
*From the Gartner “Hype Cyle for Cloud Computing,” 2012
More than 50% of
enterprises will have some Private Cloud
form of SaaS-based application Delivered internally
to one organization
strategy by 2015.
Public Cloud
By 2014, the personal cloud will have Delivered to anyone who
replaced the personal computer as the wants to consume the services
center of users’ digital lives.
75% of respondents in Gartner Pros
polls say they plan to pursue a Reduces Cost and Outage Risk
private cloud computing Cons
strategy by 2014. Highter Total Cost
of Ownership
Some Outside Risk
Less Data Control
The Question Countdown
security
IT
Vendor
Cost
Bottom Line

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6
Louis Columbus has nearly
20 years of experience in the
IT industry, specializing in Greg Doud is the
market and industry analysis, SeniorProduct Manager and
sales, product management Architect of Cincom Acquire®
and development. at Cincom.
He’s held senior positions at Toshiba America, Ingram Mr. Doud held positions of Director of Engineering
Micro, several software start-ups and immediately and Software Development at Honeywell and Gannett
before joining Cincom, as Senior Analyst at AMR before moving to Cincom where he's been working
Research. Mr. Columbus is a frequent contributor to since 1991. He regularly tweets and blogs about
industry publications and has published 15 books on technology and has been featured on Microsoft’s
operating systems, peripherals and industry analysis. Channel 9 for his work with Windows Azure.
In addition, Mr. Columbus is a frequent lecturer in Mr. Doud’s philosophy is to stay up-to-date on new tech-
Webster Loyola-Marymount University’s graduate nology and use it as a tool to solve the difficult customer
program on International Business and Global problems of today. He holds a BS in Information
Competitive Strategy. He earned his MBA from Processing Systems from the University of Cincinnati.
Pepperdine University.
Cincom, the Quadrant Logo, Cincom Aquire and Simplification Through
Innovation are registered trademarks of Cincom Systems, Inc. All other
trademarks belong to their respective companies.
© 2012 Cincom Systems, Inc.
FORM AQUS1301004 11/12
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All Rights Reserved
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