Saaspoint builds next-generation consulting and development business with Force.com

With cloud computing now firmly established and new players entering the marketplace each day, what sets a successful cloud-computing business apart from the pack? For Saaspoint, one of the leaders in cloud consulting and integration, razor-sharp focus and the Force.com platform are the keys to building a successful next-generation business.
 

A new breed of consulting business

John Appleby, Saaspoint chairman, saw early on how cloud-based technologies could impact enterprise computing. After the launch of Force.com, Appleby realized there would be a tremendous opportunity to help companies of all types and sizes transition their on-premises operations and infrastructure to the cloud using the new platform.
 

Saaspoint, which was founded in 2005, provides consulting and custom development in Europe and North America. Today, the company has completed more than 700 salesforce.com-related engagements and is one of the largest cloud consultancies in the world. Saaspoint’s specialties include sales and marketing operations, customer service and support, and application integration – all using Force.com.
 

According to Appleby, “Force.com is simply the best platform for the cloud. It ticks a lot of boxes for any entrepreneur: it’s different, it’s disruptive, it’s high growth, and it has really high productivity and ROI. Also, it has become so rich and flexible that the opportunities are virtually limitless.”
 

Working at cloud speed

The Force.com development platform enables faster development and deployment than traditional platforms, and the cloud infrastructure is the same fast, secure, and reliable one that’s behind Salesforce CRM. Appleby is enthusiastic about the benefits of working with it.
 

He explains, “Software development isn’t for the faint-hearted. Building applications in-house can be expensive and time-consuming, and many companies don’t get the payback they’d been hoping for. With Force.com, we can roll out solutions or develop new apps at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional platforms. In one case, we deployed a CRM system in 8 weeks that would have taken 18–24 months with a traditional platform.”
 

He continues, “With Force.com, we can take advantage of all the benefits of a multitenant platform, like built-in security, reliability, and performance. The platform’s out-of-box features—analytics, offline access, mobile deployment—help speed our development efforts. And, we’re relieved of the burden of managing and maintaining any server infrastructure, even as our apps scale to tens of thousands of users.”
 

Competing against the big boys

Traditional systems integrators entering the cloud-computing marketplace face many challenges: changing cost structures (including a move to subscription-based models), rapid turnarounds and iterative “builds,” and the need to include Web 2.0 capabilities in their solutions. Appleby is optimistic about his young company’s ability to compete against more established players.
 

He explains, “Just as traditional software vendors (such as Siebel Systems) have been disrupted by salesforce.com, the old-time systems integration market has been disrupted by consulting operations like ours. It’s really hard for the traditional big boys to compete against the new breed of cloud-computing consultancies in a marketplace where projects are short and sharp and customers expect to see ROI in weeks instead of years.”
 

He continues, “It’s also virtually impossible to do cloud consulting with anything less than 100 percent commitment. If it’s only a small percentage of your business, then you must either be prepared to ‘eat your own children’ or completely change your financial model. This transition is going to be tough for traditional SIs. The next 18–24 months will really shape the future of IT consulting, and we expect to be at the forefront.”

Finding success with Force.com

Saaspoint’s customers range in size and industry. According to Appleby, “Like salesforce.com, we have a large base of small and medium enterprise (SME) customers; however, we’re also the consultant of choice for some of its biggest customers, including Misys, Plantronics, Ulster Bank, and others. In one case, we have more than 22,000 users on the platform.”
 

He continues, “We also have a couple of applications available on the AppExchange through which we have an additional 52 customers in 13 countries.” TimeTrack PSA is a simple professional services automation application that helps companies manage time and expenses for resources against projects or opportunities. Mobile Field Scheduler (MFS) is an on-demand scheduling tool that helps companies manage teams of field service agents and their schedules using a single interactive console.
 

Although the global economic downtown has negatively affected many businesses, Saaspoint hasn’t been impacted. “We’re actually seeing increased demand for cloud computing in the enterprise,” comments Appleby. “Despite the downturn, business must go on, but now CIOs and CFOs are looking for technology that can reduce costs and be implemented quickly.”
 

Forecast for the future: cloudy

Over the last year, Saaspoint has won an impressive number of new deals. For example, as part of a program to create a knowledge-based economy, the Irish government agency, Enterprise Ireland (EI), appointed Saaspoint to deliver and manage a cloud-computing transition program, helping indigenous Irish software companies develop their products on a cloud platform.
 

“Cloud computing is the fastest-growing sector in the international software industry and represents a huge opportunity for Irish software companies,” says Appleby. “Spend on IT cloud services is estimated to be growing at more than five times the rate of traditional, on-premise software. Following the cloud-computing transition, Irish software companies will be able to base their success on creativity and innovation rather than on huge investments in platforms and traditional software deployments.”
 

Appleby continues, “We’re really proud of this engagement, which we won against some of the more traditional industry leaders. It’s a clear illustration that in new technologies like cloud computing, practical experience and the availability of an A Team count the most.”

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