Reply to: This 'ere Cloud thingy

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I guess I was confused by your mention of Oracle and ERP, which wasn't the kind of ERP delivered SaaS that you were talking about

A fair point, well made. I didn't explain that very well.

[Zippy]

There's some bollocks about Big Data on R4 at the moment. I may start ranting in a minute.

[MarillionFan]

SRM is going to be the big buzz for 2014. It's everywhere at this conference.

[DirtyDog]

You're missing an important point (probably because I didn't make it clear that Oracle isn't offering the flavour of SaaS I was talking about).

I guess I was confused by your mention of Oracle and ERP, which wasn't the kind of ERP delivered SaaS that you were talking about

[Peoplesoft bloke]

That assumes that you are going onto a shared platform - which is no different from the existing shared platforms, such as Oracle CRM on Demand or any of their earlier offerings.

Given the tech stack requirements for something like Oracle Fusion, it makes sense to host it on Oracle's cloud (or any other cloud provider which conforms to the industry standards), but that doesn't mean you won't be making any customizations to the product - Fusion is as customizable (if not more so) than previous Oracle applications offerings, but can be hosted either on premise or on a cloud provider. And doing away with the infrastructure costs and the techies who just look after the kit rather than the software running on it, is where the savings are.

You're missing an important point (probably because I didn't make it clear that Oracle isn't offering the flavour of SaaS I was talking about).

Unless there's a single codeline, you're relying on the provider to support multiple ones and port changes to all - and paying for it in maintenance.
The "no customisation" thing is a selling point (odd as it sounds) because it can allow senior folks to wrest control of the enterprise back from certain areas with their individual fiefdoms. I was sceptical about this, but I've actually seen it.

[DirtyDog]

SaaS provision of ERP functions (HR, Payroll, Finance etc) relies (in some cases) on every customer being on the same version - minor config. only, no customisation. This is because the supplier only has one codeline, and all customers are on it (although customer data is, of course, segregated)

That assumes that you are going onto a shared platform - which is no different from the existing shared platforms, such as Oracle CRM on Demand or any of their earlier offerings.

Given the tech stack requirements for something like Oracle Fusion, it makes sense to host it on Oracle's cloud (or any other cloud provider which conforms to the industry standards), but that doesn't mean you won't be making any customizations to the product - Fusion is as customizable (if not more so) than previous Oracle applications offerings, but can be hosted either on premise or on a cloud provider. And doing away with the infrastructure costs and the techies who just look after the kit rather than the software running on it, is where the savings are.

[Mich the Tester]

I've just had a paradigm shift. Building 10, Trap 2.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Joking aside, there is a paradigm shift in this - and it's one that is especially important in ERP, and it's really got little to do with actual technology.

ERP stuff like SAP, Oracle etc has traditionally been capable of being customised to an organisation's unique requirements (AKA stupid arcane business processes). This work was done by folk like me, who could also scam er I mean earn an honest living out of doing upgrades too.

SaaS provision of ERP functions (HR, Payroll, Finance etc) relies (in some cases) on every customer being on the same version - minor config. only, no customisation. This is because the supplier only has one codeline, and all customers are on it (although customer data is, of course, segregated)

BUT

Think about selling this to execs - it means -

No need to pay (directly and separately) for servers (even cloud ones) and techies to look after them - it reduces complexities and puts all the costs of running software in a single place.
Even more significantly - it now means everyone has to argue why the software can't do what they need - and that means these areas no longer get to customise the hell out of the product and run their own little empires - and that can be very attractive to very top management.

Upgrades are cheaper and more frequent (done by supplier) with no need to ask for more budget each time you need better functionality.

[DirtyDog]

You don't actually believe the CIA has moved all of their data to Amazon, do you? I agree with your point, though - it's probably more secure than most IT admins could make their own estate, anyway.

OK, maybe not all. But certainly a high percentage of operational and investigation data is now stored on Amazon private cloud rather than on internal servers.

[OwlHoot]

+1. Don't, under any circumstances, point out that client-server architecture has been around since long before most of the ClientCo team was born. Nor should you mention the additional latency introduced by putting the server in a server farm half the world away, rather than in the basement.

and avoid mentioning that it is extremely slow for mass data transfers, unless perhaps exorbitant fees are paid, and possibly even then.

Also, as your data could be made irretrievably unavailable at the drop of a hat (if the hosting company goes bust for example), it should only ever be considered a glorified backup device.

Oh and the hosting company, and "authorities", will be able to access all your data even if it is encrypted (using their standard available encryption service).

[Platypus]

Well if your customers are half-way around the world wouldn't that help rather than in your basement half a world away from your customer?

That's a very good point. Global businesses have global data centres and people these days rarely (IME) have servers in the basement.

[woohoo]

+1. Nor should you mention the additional latency introduced by putting the server in a server farm half the world away, rather than in the basement.

Well if your customers are half-way around the world wouldn't that help rather than in your basement half a world away from your customer?

[vwdan]

If security was still a worry these days, would the CIA have moved all their data onto the Amazon cloud?

Do it right and it's fine.

You don't actually believe the CIA has moved all of their data to Amazon, do you? I agree with your point, though - it's probably more secure than most IT admins could make their own estate, anyway.

[DirtyDog]

Cloud security. The same security principles that apply to on-site computing apply to cloud computing security.

If security was still a worry these days, would the CIA have moved all their data onto the Amazon cloud?

Do it right and it's fine.

[Mich the Tester]

Dont' forget that they will need to budget for a pilotless drone to move the cloud nearer to their users as well

I recommend contractors use an umbrella for this kind of work.