February, 2009

Navigating your SaaS contract: Buyer beware?

Even as CIOs face smaller IT budgets in a range of areas this year, one segment that still has traction is Software as a Service (SaaS). The subscription-based software delivery model provides an alternative to bulky, on-premise applications and is thriving in shops where CIOs need to deliver functionality quickly without a lot of up-front investment.

But buyer beware: The gold on the road to SaaS is often buried in the contract you negotiate, and some CIOs are left wishing they had done something differently soon after the ink has dried.

In a recent SearchCIO-Midmarket.com article, CIOs shared tips and advice for avoiding potential pitfalls in SaaS contracts, from contract duration to licensing fees and more. One CIO faced a requirement to buy a minimum number of licenses, which had to be maintained for the life of the contract. Adam Sokolic, vice president of product management at National Retirement Partners Inc. in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., lost 15 people in a layoff and was stuck paying for the licenses even though he didn’t need them anymore.

Ouch.

Such issues don’t seem to be crimping the popularity of some SaaS solutions, though. Research firm IDC has increased its SaaS growth projection for 2009 from 36% growth to 40.5% growth over 2008.

Service-now.com recently announced record growth of almost $20 million in recurring revenue by the end of 2008, bringing fiscal year revenue growth to 389% of 2007. Salesforce.com saw a 34% jump in quarterly revenue by the end of January, reaching a record quarterly revenue of $290 million. Subscription and support revenues were $266 million, an increase of 35% over last year, and professional services and other revenues were $23.5 million, an increase of 15% over 2007. In fact, as these results show, CRM and IT Service Management software seem to be among the more popular application categories for SaaS.

So while lobbying for desirable SaaS contract terms may require a practiced and skilled negotiator, the market growth shows that SaaS continues to gather steam in today’s corporate IT. And that can benefit everyone.

Qualities of a good leader: Avoid layoffs at all cost?

An article on our sister site, SearchCIO.com, this week highlighted the qualities of a good leader during a recession, culling advice from leadership experts and CIOs. The list includes qualities such as utilizing the ability to inspire those around you, having communication (and listening) skills, proving you can perform and drive results, being able to prioritize, and then — BAM! Avoiding layoffs at all costs. Something that seems almost impossible, as daily news headlines remind us.

In the article, Jason Jennings, an author, speaker and consultant who has studied more than 100,000 companies, said the most productive companies are completely opposed to layoffs. Why? As soon as layoffs begin, employees start to worry about themselves and their futures as opposed to their work.

But with expectations that unemployment will top 9% in 2009 and budgets that are painfully tight, aren’t layoffs necessary?

Oftentimes, they are. When demand for new cars virtually stops, carmakers need to pare back production, and that means job cuts. But when it comes to IT, there are some ways to prove value and cut costs without resorting to the proverbial ax. For example, some companies are relying on their project management offices to steer them through the recession – time-tracking and tying resources to specific projects. Doing so prevents redundant work on projects, speeds project completion (freeing up the time and the budget for more projects) and justifies positions. One IT executive in our recent article specifically attributed job preservation to his PMO.

And most recently, technology giant HP announced pay cuts for the entire workforce as a way of avoiding layoffs after a disappointing first quarter. Rather than scaling back the 100,000-person workforce by 20,000, CEO Mark Hurd preferred the pay cuts to trim the budget.

Jennings notes that besides the morale issues that layoffs cause, job cuts can be a short-term fix. When business picks up again, the recruitment and training for renewed growth will be a setback. No argument there. But if your management is calling for a headcount reduction and you have already made all the efficiency moves you can – what then? Have you found other creative approaches to avoid pink slips?

What the tweet? Using Twitter as a business tool

It took a lot of coaxing to get me to start using Twitter. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to join. It wasn’t because I didn’t understand it. I just didn’t get it. I didn’t see what the big deal was. To be frank, I didn’t think I could keep up with the twit-chat. I barely update my Facebook page. I still take notes in (gasp!) a notebook. My inboxes are overflowing with work and personal messages.

And I’m not alone. As more and more companies are showing an interest in using Twitter, from the CIO to the marketing department, the benefits of the social networking tool are being questioned and investigated. Is the time investment worth it, or is this another trend?

Recently on (ahem) Twitter, I came across a Tweet from someone in my following about companies using Twitter as a business tool. Thus, a business connection was born – Norman Birnbach (@NormanBirnbach), president of Birnbach Communications, a small agency that works with clients in both traditional and online media. Birnbach gave me some Twitter business insight into why everyone should be investigating it.

1. Twitter, shmitter – why bother?

According to Birnbach, you need to protect your brand. If you aren’t there, someone else will be. “It’s important to build up a following and credibility. In the tough economy, companies need to have an established spot to provide honest information and respond to Twitter reactions,” Birnbach said. Situations like employee layoffs will spur people to react via Twitter — without a spot on there, you lose your voice to respond. Keep a pulse on what your employees are thinking and join the dialogue when appropriate.

2. It’s not (always) about marketing.

Aside from creating a brand and name for yourself, Twitter can be used as a customer service tool. “@ComcastCares does a really good job listening to their customers and providing assistance and feedback,” Birnbach said.

Reaching out to your customers (whether it be external or internal IT customers) and providing another outlet for your services builds loyalty (refer to No. 1). “No one really cares about your product or service,” Birnbach adds. “All people care about is how you help them, and you can’t oversell being helpful.”

3. Keep an eye on what everyone is doing.

The constant posts on Twitter provide company transparency – you can share what you’re doing, and you get to see what your colleagues and competitors are up to. The ability to see in real time what peers are learning and doing, projects they are diving into and new trends as they develop turns Twitter into an online networking and learning tool. This type of knowledge share has been very beneficial, according to Birnbach. It provides a new way for companies to communicate internally and externally and learn from peers and colleagues.

4. Ready to join?

If you’re ready to start using Twitter, there are a few things you need to know:

Build a following. Look for people who are Tweeting on the topics that interest you and follow them. Search topic keywords or companies you want to know more about and start following. “Twitter is different from Facebook in this respect – you can just start following whoever you want without knowing them,” Birnbach said.

Banish Twitter-block. Birnbach said some people don’t join Twitter because they don’t want their tweets to sound foolish, boring or inappropriate – people are concerned about oversharing and privacy issues. “Don’t tell people that you’re having a sandwich for lunch. If you’re always going back and forth with obscure references, you’re not going to engage people. Figure out who you are trying to reach and what you are trying to achieve and post a mix of insight and conversation,” Birnbach suggested. Provide useful comments and remember – ABL (always be linking). Sharing news, timely information and important updates make you a credible source and an asset to your following.

Don’t overdo it. To ensure you and your employees are focusing on other priorities (like work), set a time limit for using Twitter and stick to it. “It’s important to at least look at Twitter. If you decide to go ahead with it, use it to extend what you’re already doing – as a complementary component,” Birnbach said.

I’ve been on Twitter for more than two weeks and … I love it. Used right – as a business tool to communicate with your CIO universe, your staff and/or your users – you will, too.

Unexpected side effect of recession: Time for IT education, training

When a business slowdown creates employees with too much time on their hands – look out, help desk.

That was my take on a blog from our senior writer Linda Tucci, who found herself in a roomful of lawyers at a conference in New York this week. I burst out laughing when I read her story about a presentation on Excel that IT expected a bunch of associates to attend. Instead, the room filled up with partners. Talk about a tough crowd.

But as a side effect of the recession, highly paid employees finally getting around to using the tools on their desktop isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually an opportunity to increase the ROI on the tools you’ve deployed by increasing usage – and getting visibility for IT among the higher ranks. Just getting them on board as tech users can bode well for future projects, too.

Excel might not be the best example for ROI – but think of the reporting capabilities you’ve created that many more people could be using, once they found the time for some IT education and training. The CRM or sales systems that need updating with information from their latest client calls. The mobile applications you went to great lengths to create and that people now might have the time to tinker with on their BlackBerrys. Encouraging a culture of catch-up could be well timed and even appreciated by those looking to engage in a new project if business is slow.

While I had to laugh at the thought of big shot lawyers frenetically calling the help desk as they struggled through their learning curve (woe to those help desk folks), I saw real value in what they and the organization were doing. IT and the business will benefit in the long run. Offering IT education and training is a great way to make the most of the recession and emerge from it in fighting form.