E-Sourcing Forum » On-demand is going mainstream

On-demand is going mainstream

October 25th, 2007 at 07:05am David Bush - Iasta

Sometimes I need to take a minute to realize that the whole world does not already just “get it”, when it comes to the SaaS model. Although we have built our tools in the on-demand framework from the beginning, there are still many that are only now coming to the realization that the application delivery model is the best for supply management professionals. This was recently pointed out in an article by Maria Varmazis of Purchasing Magazine, who wrote a good overview of the a few companies that had successfully deployed on-demand software and had been experiencing the benefits for quite a while.

I guess when I use the term “deploy” it can be deceiving, since there is no “deployment” in on-demand and the usage of the word is a legacy term from the old days of enterprise software. In those situations, you needed an army of consultants and developers to prepare for months or years to get the system online and ready to use. Unfortunately for some companies, eSourcing technology is not always ready to go in a SaaS model, which means the problems still exist if you choose the wrong vendor.

The article gives some good basics about both the benefits and challenges of on-demand, but is most assuredly positive, in general, about the entire experience. I will be curious to see the day that on-demand is no longer the story and more the expectation.

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Entry Filed under: General, Supply Management Best Practices, Technology, e-Sourcing Marketplace

2 Comments Add your own

1. jon | October 25th, 2007 at 9:22 am

So true… my IT/IS group told me recently that we would not even consider a particular procurement application because it was only offered in an on-demand format. I was told “we do not lease software”.
Funny… we’ve been an Iasta customer for 3 years.
2. Alan Buxton | October 27th, 2007 at 11:31 am

Hi David

The article you mention is a good reality check. Although it is dated about a year ago (Sept 2006) I suspect much of the content still holds true today. Not only does the article sing the praises of On Demand. Dig a little deeper into the article and there is Cox Enterprises waxing lyrical about how On Demand helped them save money via an e-auction. And the closing words are a recommendation that buyers need to be clear on their requirements etc, etc.

None of this is going to be particular new news to us practitioners who deliver these kinds of services day in and day out. But reality checks like this are important. Without them we are in danger of building ever more irrelevant complexity whilst forgetting that we still seem to be some way off from providing buyers with a genuinely convenient way of achieving savings.