Author:
Aki Lassila
Affiliation:
Software Business Laboratory, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Keyword(s):
Software as a Service, business model, enterprise resource planning, value networks, online service.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
B2B, B2C and C2C
;
Communication and Software Technologies and Architectures
;
e-Business
;
e-Business and e-Commerce
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Society, e-Business and e-Government
;
Software Agents and Internet Computing
;
Web Information Systems and Technologies
Abstract:
The differences between product and service business are considerable and the change of focus in a firm’s
business model from one to the other is not easy to accomplish. The objective of this paper is to study how a
software product company specialised in developing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications can
use the Software as a Service (SaaS) business model to expand its business. To software companies who
provide SaaS services, SaaS offers e.g. lowered production and distribution costs, more predictable cash
flows, and shortened sales cycle. However, in order to be able to successfully offer SaaS services the
providers have to overcome the potential risks associated with e.g. scalability, reliability, and partner
management. In this case study we concentrate on SAP and examine how the SaaS model can be
implemented by an ERP software company. Our findings include that SAP has successfully leveraged its
market leader position with its SaaS offering and expanded its
customer base in the SME markets with the
help of its partner network. SAP has also been able to cope with the problems associated with SaaS and
managed to take advantage of the SaaS model’s benefits.
(More)