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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................ 1
Foolish Assumptions.................................................................. 1
How This Book is Organized..................................................... 2
Icons Used inThis Book............................................................. 3
Where toGo From Here............................................................. 3
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iv SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Introduction
O dds are that youve heard a lot about the cloud in recent
years. If youre like most people, it was a pretty mysteri-
ous term at first, and you may still have plenty of questions
about what the cloud is and what it can do for you. You might
even be tempted to think that its just another Internet fad
that will come and go before most people get a chance to
figure it out.
Dont count on that. The cloud is for real, its here to stay,
and its not just for trendy millennials. In fact, the cloud has
increasingly powerful implications for businesses Thats
why the roster of companies offering cloud products does
not just include tech whiz kids working out of their garages.
Those offering amazing solutions in the cloud include some
of the biggest and most respected names in technology, such
as Oracle.
Foolish Assumptions
We dont know you, but we know you picked up this book, so
were going to make a few assumptions about you, the reader:
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2 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Introduction 3
Chapter5: Ten Things to Know About the CloudThe
cloud isnt just a thing or a place or a product; its a chan-
nel that connects your needs with new solutions.
Appendix: Evaluating a Cloud ProviderWhether
your business is already in the cloud or on its way there,
here are some questions to ask to ensure you pick the
right partner.
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4 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 1
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6 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 1: Definitions, Buzzwords, and Acronyms 7
cant really be adequately processed with the applications of
yesteryear (or last year). This is big data.
The question is, where do all of those lines of code live? Are
they stored on the device, or someplace else? For years, the
answer to that question has commonly been, on the device.
You purchase software, install it on the device, then launch it
when you need it. Whatever documents or data you create are
typically stored on the device, too.
For the most part, that distinction doesnt really even matter
to the userthe cloud brings that application and any neces-
sary data to wherever the user might be. Like clouds up in the
sky, this cloud is everywhere, all the time.
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8 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
What kinds of things can you do through SaaS and the cloud?
Dont groan when you hear this, but when it comes to accessing
software via the cloud, the sky is the limit. Line up enterprise
resource planning applications via SaaS, or apps focused on
human resources management, perhaps customer experience
management, supply chain management, or enterprise perfor-
mance management. Thats just a handful of the possibilities.
So where did the term cloud computing come from? Its not
entirely clear, but there are references that go back as far as
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Chapter 1: Definitions, Buzzwords, and Acronyms 9
the 1990s. The use of the terminology really picked up steam
in the first decade of the new millennium.
The concept, however, goes back a lot further than the name.
Consider the early mainframe computers, which users would
access through a network of terminals that did not have their
own processors. All of the work, all of the data storage, all of
the processingit all happened in a central place.
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10 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
The services that PaaS providers offer can vary. Some offer more
than just a platform to build and deploy upon, adding tools for
application testing, application integration, security, and team
collaboration. There may be mechanisms for monitoring, work-
flow management, and other aspects of service management.
Serving updata
The concept known as data as a service, or DaaS, often goes
hand-in-hand with SaaS. The idea is to provide data on-demand,
wherever the user needs it, through whatever device that user
is holding, on whatever platform is required.
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Chapter 1: Definitions, Buzzwords, and Acronyms 11
Because raw data doesnt mean much to the average human
being, its necessary to access that data with some sort of
software application, which presents and helps to interpret
the data. Its pretty common for the data and the software to
be bundled togetherone particular set of data can be han-
dled by one particular application, while another set of data
may be handled by some other application.
Beyond that, its a whole lot more powerful. With more cen-
tralized and accessible data, youre better able to leverage
that data into better business decisions, and spotting trends
becomes a whole lot easier.
Cloud Computing
Public orPrivate?
Cirrus, stratus, cumulus, cumulonimbus. There clearly more
than one kind of cloud. And theres also more than one kind of
cloud computing. In the broadest of terms, cloud computing
can be divided into two primary varieties: public and private.
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12 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
Simply put, public clouds are those used by more than one
business or organization. Private clouds have single tenants,
and the hardware and network associated with each of these
private clouds are dedicated to just one client. There are
pluses and minuses associated with both models.
With a public cloud, each user gets a piece of the cloud envi-
ronment. Its typically a pay-as-you-go model, great for users
whose needs are going to fluctuate a lot. Users generally
arent on any kind of contract, so theres lots of flexibility.
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Chapter 1: Definitions, Buzzwords, and Acronyms 13
out just fine. For some users with certain demanding needs,
its less than ideal, or even a deal-breaker, but it doesnt have
to be.
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14 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
For one thing, cloud solutions pretty much always are accessed
via the Internet, while hosted solutions may or may not be. It
could, instead, be a direct network connection. Because cloud
services are typically delivered via the Internet, users often get
to their cloud solution by launching a web browser, rather than
some other software application.
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Chapter 1: Definitions, Buzzwords, and Acronyms 15
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16 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 2
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18 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
between the time they decide they want something and the
time they obtain it, plus the subsequent time when theyre
using it, enjoying it, or having issues with it.
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Chapter 2: Your Challenge: The Digital Agenda 19
Your innovation also has to be able to keep up and stay
ahead, which means time-to-market must shrink, whether
youre marketing a product or a service. You need business
intelligence, powerful analytics, collaborative tools, and other
digital wizardry to keep ahead of your competitors. In fact,
you also need to shrink the time it takes to implement those
digital tools that are your secret to success.
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20 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
Suffice it to say that technology almost takes the back seat in the
world of the cloud. Oh yes, the technology is there, but its not
intrusive, not distracting you from what really matters: under-
standing how and where the cloud can make your business more
successful. That means businesses can make the most practical
decisions about what activities should and should not be put
into the cloud, instead of being bogged down by questions about
technology limitations
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Chapter 2: Your Challenge: The Digital Agenda 21
But what about those larger companies? Their embrace of
the cloud is also on the upswing. What theyre choosing
to migrate to the cloud may be a bit different, and the way
theyre using it varies.
Indeed, the cloud has really made the leap from a tech phenom-
enon to a mainstream business strategy. Beyond financials and
ERP, forward-thinking businesses are rapidly adopting cloud-
based HR, sales, marketing, and a wide range of customer
experience opportunities. Theyre finding that their demands
for new features, security, and reliability are being met more
effectively than they might have imagined a short time ago.
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22 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 3
L ife may have been simpler when everyone wore just one
hat, but its a whole lot more colorful when you have
more hats to wear. Theres a lot more on the plate of those
people managing lines of business, but there are a whole lot
more answers, too.
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24 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
Its all about best practices and innovations, and the new-
found opportunities that business managers and business line
leaders have to make exceptional things happen. The cloud is
one of the technologies enabling this evolution, along with a
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Chapter 3: Newfound Power of the Business Manager 25
mobile-first strategy that brings to everyones fingertips the
kinds of analytical tools and real-time information needed to
act quickly and smartly.
Even so, robust sales cloud solutions are so much more than
contact lists, schedules, and sources of prospects. They really
get to the heart of the challenges facing those in sales lead-
ership roleshow do you put your perfect sales plan into
action and make it really fly?
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26 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
Of course, it takes some big data to pull it off, and that data
must be managed in seriously sophisticated ways. Theres no
better solution than the marketing cloud.
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Chapter 3: Newfound Power of the Business Manager 27
The goal is to create a consistent marketing experience across
multiple channels: web, social, mobile, email, and any other
digital channel. You need marketing content that matches
where the viewer is in the customer lifecycle, in order to
achieve better engagement, improve retention, and make it
more likely that a potential customer will become an actual
buyerand on top of that, a loyal one who becomes a brand
advocate.
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28 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
Also, for some companies the contact center has had a tough
time keeping up with call volumes, because too many people
are calling to ask questions that didnt really even need to
be answered by a human being. On top of that, some of the
tougher questions may stump the contact center employee.
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Chapter 3: Newfound Power of the Business Manager 29
Help customers help themselves: Free up your call
center representatives for the tougher calls with self-
service sites that offer guided answers. Supplement that
with online chat, click-to-call, co-browsing, and virtual
assistance. Make it all happen regardless of the device
the customer is using. And get customers service ques-
tions answered at the point where those answers are
needed, regardless of where they are in their customer
journey, which will satisfy them and free up your staff.
Get it together: Unify all of your customer service touch
points in order to better understand customer needs.
Bring contact center, field service, web, mobile, and
social onto the same cloud-based solution so that ser-
vice agents have a 360-degree view of the customer, in
a single, unified desktop integrated with other critical
systems.
Keep an ear to the ground: Monitor social media chan-
nels for service-related comments and potential issues,
so that you can respond and engage customers proac-
tively. Make sure social customer service is a key part of
your social media strategy.
Share the knowledge: Underpin all service channels with
a single knowledgebase, so its easy for customers and
agents to find the right information thats consistent and
accurate. Make it easy for agents to author and publish
to the knowledgebase so it becomes a living, growing
repository that is constantly updated.
Improve the contact center: Give your contact center
agents the tools and technologies they need to deliver
the caliber of service customers will rave about on social
media, no matter what channel or device your custom-
ers are using to reach you. Help your team answer com-
plicated questions and resolve complex issues quickly.
Build upon virtual assistant web self-help with live-agent
assistance and guided interactions, and give agents the
power to co-browseviewing a customers screen to
walk through online tasks.
Foster customer advocacy: View service as the nursery
for establishing and building customer advocacy. An
exceptional and personalized service experience, deliv-
ered through preferred channels, can have more impact
than anything else on getting customers to recommend
your company and refer others in your direction.
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30 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
At the same time, you also need to find, hire, reward, and retain
the best talent. Social recruiting is a trend you must understand
and deliver. You must support a working environment thats
collaborative and productive. Youre expected to make an ever-
greater contribution to the organizations strategic vision.
Not that the cloud can, in and of itself, work miracles. It takes
the right cloud solution to be able to handle both local HR
needs and the challenges that go along with a global organiza-
tion. Like any other kind of cloud solution, one focused on
HR has to be an effective mix of social, mobile, and analytical
capabilities.
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Chapter 3: Newfound Power of the Business Manager 31
So, what can a world-class HR cloud solution such as Oracle
Human Capital Management do for your company? Here are
some thoughts:
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32 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
They have, in fact, found a lot to love about the cloud. They
appreciate its ability to reduce IT costs and increase pre-
dictability. But far beyond that, they recognize that digital
technologies and cloud-based solutions bring greater analyti-
cal capabilities and operational knowledge, they make such
advances more accessible through mobile platforms, and they
encourage collaboration through social channels.
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Chapter 3: Newfound Power of the Business Manager 33
Heres a rundown of some of the reasons CFOs, controllers,
and other finance leaders are opting for Tier 1 cloud technolo-
gies, including Oracles Enterprise Resource Planning:
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34 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 4
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36 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
But its best to take a step back first, and give some serious
thought to the kind of functionality that youll wantnot
just for this particular need, but for other needs that might be
related in one way or another. Determining what functionality
is required is the first step in deciding which platform is right
for your organization.
Get Personal
You may think of cloud solutions as being somewhat inflexible.
After all, arent you signing on for some software application
thats being hosted elsewhere and used by multiple different
clients? Isnt that part of the reason cloud solutions are so
cost-effective? Well, thats the way it was, and not all that long
ago, but it doesnt have to be that way.
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Chapter 4: The Path to SaaS 37
One more thing the IT folks (and everyone else) will love
is having control over upgrades and software updates. A
complaint that some have had about the cloud experience is
that software updates happen whenever the provider wants
them, and you as a user have to take them when they happen.
Upgrades might occur at inopportune times from a business
perspective, and they might mess up configurations that you
had gotten just right.
Come to think of it, you could put all of those names and prod-
ucts together and build yourself quite a great cloud, couldnt
you? Youd have access to some powerful functions and excel-
lent tools, along with the scalability that is part of the appeal
of the cloud.
You also might wind up with quite a cloud bill. Any one of
these products is likely to offer a seemingly cost-efficient
solution to the problem it tackles, but add them all up and
the grand total might cause you some pain. When you write
checks to a bunch of different places, your ledger might not
be happy.
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38 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
The same situation holds true with the potential synergy you
lose by getting your HR-related cloud apps from different pro-
viders, or customer-service cloud solutions from different com-
panies. Data can often be transferred from one app to another,
but the process isnt always pretty or easy.
What if you had one data record in one place for each cus-
tomer, and that record was accessible to whatever cloud
app needed itsales, ordering, service, or something else?
Wouldnt that be a whole lot more powerful, less confusing,
and more cost effective than having multiple records floating
in different cloud apps that dont quite talk to one another?
As you explore your options, keep in mind that you may need
your cloud solutions to connect not only with one another, but
with on-premises applications, too. For various reasons, there
may be something important that you choose not to send to
the cloud, but that doesnt mean you dont want it invited to
the party. For example, perhaps you have accounting on prem-
ises, but prefer to handle procurement in the cloud for better
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Chapter 4: The Path to SaaS 39
information sharing and visibility across the business. Youll
still need to reconcile purchase order and receipt data from pro-
curement with the supplier invoice in accounts payable. Thats
why interconnectivity is so important. Whatever solution you
choose needs to be able to maintain strong interconnectivity
with on-premises apps and data, as well as any third-party apps
that you wish to continue using.
Be Secure
No one has to tell you just how important security is. Just
pick up the papertodays, yesterdays, tomorrowsand
youre likely to find a headline about some company that suf-
fered a data breach. Your cloud solution absolutely, positively
must be secure.
That said, it may matter where your data resides for other rea-
sons. From a regulatory perspective, it might not be accept-
able for your cloud solution to be housed just anywhere.
Depending on the local requirements, for example, all data
pertaining to business in one country might need to stay in
that country. Some industry requirements also dictate the
location where data must be hosted.
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40 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
The better story to tell is how a move to the cloud can help
the company measure up to customer expectations, innovate
faster, and maximize value. The cloud can help the company
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Chapter 4: The Path to SaaS 41
keep up with the demands of the market, and can open the
doors to new markets.
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42 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 5
N
obody understands the cloudits a mystery! At
least thats what one Hollywood movie asserted. But if
youve read some of the preceding chapters, it shouldnt be
quite as much of a mystery as it was before. Here are 10 more
bits of information to help clear up the cloud.
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44 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Chapter 5: Ten Things To Know About the Cloud 45
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46 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Appendix 1
H
idea.
ow many cloud providers are out there vying for your
business? How many clouds are in the sky? You get the
Is theCompany a Proven,
ViableProvider?
How can you tell? Consider these clues:
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48 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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Appendix 1: Evaluating a Cloud Provider 49
Taking theQuiz
If you are already operating in the cloud and jotted down a
negative answer to more than half of these questions, you
can benefit from a more modern cloud solution. If youre on a
cloud provider search and a candidate cant offer satisfactory
answers to questions like these, keep looking.
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50 SaaS For Dummies, Oracle Edition
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