If you’re still debating the merits of Software as a Service there’s an article from The Economist you should read. It’s not about SuccessFactors (though it could be) it’s about Google. Why is an article about Google relevant to SuccessFactors? Well, because they provide their offerings as a service, and so do we. Thus, many of the benefits of the approach are the same:

6 lessons about SaaS using quotes from the article:

1. “Most employees already know how to use web-based software, and thus do not need training. “ Any new application takes some time to get familiar with, but when users are used to the web, they have a tremendous head start with SaaS applications.

2. “They can access the services through any web browser, regardless of what kind of computer (or telephone) they use.” Ummm. Yes. No software to install on every PC. Works with any system anywhere in the world.

3. “And in-house IT staff need do absolutely nothing, since the data and software reside on Google’s server computers.” IT’s opinion will always count, but it’s not another system they have to install, update, secure and maintain.

4.  “A bigger reason than money for switching from traditional software to web-based alternatives has to do with the pace and trajectory of technological change…Mr Sannier says it is “absolutely inconceivable” that he and his staff could roll out improvements at this speed in the traditional way–by buying software and installing it on the university’s own computers.” With SaaS, offerings are constantly improved, usually with no additional costs.

5.  “With … software services that are accessed through a web browser, the security issues are more subtle. Since the software and the data reside on the service provider’s machines, the danger is of losing control of sensitive data, which is now in somebody else’s hands. Most IT bosses find this scary. Not so Mr Sannier. He remembers a picture that Google showed him of one of its data centres burning to the ground; it looked awful. The point, however, was that no users of Google services anywhere even noticed, because Google’s systems are built to be so robust that even the loss of an entire data centre does not compromise anybody’s data.”  Because SaaS providers handle security and availability issues for millions of users, they can manage risk in ways most individual companies can only dream of. Though its scary to imagine your data in someone else’s hands, those hands may be far more capable than your own of protecting that data – much like money in a bank instead of under your mattress.

6.  “Big companies will probably keep “mission critical” systems in-house. But as everything else migrates to web-based services, software will increasingly resemble the web technologies of the consumer market”