Frank Collier Business Systems

Software as a Service (SaaS)

What is SaaS?

SaaS is software on tap – instead of buying your software and the hardware to run it, you plug into a web-based system and do your thing. Software, hardware, training and implementation are covered by the monthly rental.

This is not the same as a “hosted” system – where a service provider runs your software on his server (or maybe your own) on his premises, and your people access the system from the own PCs, for a monthly management fee. Here you still have the capital expenditure up front, but you generally don’t have to employ IT people to handle infrastructural maintenance because that is part of the service.

For companies which require a specific software solution – for example, a payroll system, a SaaS solution could be a good fit.

For small to medium organizations, first prize would be a total business solution delivered as a web-based service.

With bandwidth costs set to drop as time goes by, SaaS becomes a viable alternative to the traditional (and often painful) ownership of your own system.

But don’t hold your breath looking for a complete Saas offering in South Africa – there don’t seem to be many around just yet, however we continue to investigate.

Call us for more information.

NMMU is one of the few, if not the only, university in South Africa offering ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) as part of its B.Com Information and Business Management degree. Apparently, the ERP system used to demonstrate how ERP works is the well-known Syspro product, which provides a wealth of experience built into its accounting, distribution and manufacturing modules. This is great news for industry in general as graduates will in future be armed with practical knowledge of one of the really cost-effective products on the market. And students will be happy in the knowledge that Syspro sites are dotted about the globe, in at least 60 countries. Read more on Syspro .. here ..

At long last, the Preferential Procurement Act is being brought into line with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act.

Government departments at all levels, including parastatal organizations, will be required to comply with revised regulations which incorporate the “balanced scorecard” methodology used in the BBBEE Codes of Good Practice.

Contracts in excess of R1 million will be awarded based on the 90/10 principal, whereby 90% of the points are allocated according to price, and 10% to empowerment criteria, as determined by rating certificates issued by SANAS – approved verification agencies only. Deals worth less than R1 million will be judged by a ratio of 80:20.

Government organizations are notorious for high levels of fraud and corruption, particularly in the management of their supply chains. The discrepancies between these two Acts have contributed to the situation for years. Expect to see government departments under the whip as suppliers and service providers take advantage of the new Act to ensure fair play.

Earlier this year Microsoft selected SYSPRO to be part of its Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP) as a result of the impressive development of the new .NET-based Workflow module in the award-winning ERP product. Workflow is a long-awaited addition which will add real benefit to customer daily experience of SYSPRO.

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