Cloud Application Insight

Your monthly cloud application industry round-up

Cloud computing is gaining favour as more and more organizations realize the benefits it can deliver them. To help inform you of the latest, important developments in cloud applications, FinancialForce.com has developed this quarterly Insight email. It has been designed to consolidate the best and "most worth knowing" news and developments in an easy to digest format, to help you stay ahead without the usual information overload.

Previous editions

Issue 7 - Are your bill rates competitive?

Professional services organization (PSO) executives continue to ask about bill rates. They need this information to understand how their organization is positioned from a pricing perspective relative to the market, and to make decisions on how much more or less they should charge, depending on their own and their clients' perception of the business value they provide. They need bill rate information to push back on their sales and finance counterparts when asked for price concessions or PS margin improvement.

Issue 6 - Cloud is out, mobile and social is in

We're on the cusp of an "Enterprise Spring," a revolutionary period for corporations that is being driven by the dual factors of social media and ubiquitous mobility.

Issue 5 - Professional Services Firms Leveraging the Cloud to Respond to Escalating Customer Demands

Professional services firms are facing unprecedented customer, competitive and operational challenges today. Customer expectations are rising, competition is intensifying and their traditional operating models are being tested by changing workplace requirements.

Issue 4 - Cloud computing (still) needs a bill of rights

One of the obstacles hampering adoption of cloud computing is that would-be buyers still aren't sure what questions to ask. So even if the whole process of buying online applications is much simpler than the conventional sofware alternative, people hesitate because they don't know how to proceed.

Issue 3 - Knocking down cloud myths

As the evidence continues to demonstrate that cloud computing is real, incumbent vendors find increasingly wrong headed ways of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt. Security is still the staple drip fed poison despite numerous reports clearly pointing to how cloud providers offer superior security to on-premise deployments.

Issue 2 - Sales loves Finance in the best run companies

Sales and Finance have always been two very separate business departments. Despite each affecting the success of the other, traditionally, these two functions have experienced a difficult relationship.

Issue 1 - Accounting for customer relationships

Salespeople have been working on Web applications in the cloud for years. With their need to organize teams of remote employees, they were among the first to see the advantages of anywhere access, invisible software updates, automatic backups and all the other conveniences of cloud (or SaaS) software.