Software as a Service (SaaS) for Performance Management – Part 1

This is the first of a two-part post about Software as a Service (SaaS) for performance management. In the first part I’ll provide an introduction to SaaS, define what it is and touch on some of its applications to performance management. In the second part I’ll detail the various benefits of SaaS including but not limited to cost-effectiveness, reliability, and ease of deployment.

The race is on for Government to focus on results, but the race is long and difficult because the path is rot with challenges. New technologies promise transformation of performance management processes, a great opportunity, indeed, but often at a high cost with a long implementation timeframe. SaaS solutions offer a cost effective way to simpler performance management implementation.

Municipalities, large and small, need to discover Software as a Service (SaaS) — referred to by some as applications that live in “the cloud”, Web-based, online, or on-demand as a way to save time and money without sacrificing the basic tenants of performance management: Results, Relevancy, Transparency, Timeliness, and Accuracy. SaaS also brings applications under a single platform, making it easier to implement performance management programs as well as an improved ability to benchmark across jurisdictions. SaaS is a technology trend that promises to provide a simpler solution for implementing performance management programs.

SAAS DEFINED

SaaS, on-demand, and cloud computing have become common terms in the technology world. In one way or another, they refer to the growing trend of software vendors providing their applications over the Web as a service, rather than as a set of code to install on a local server or desktop computer. Some actually provide both solutions. With SaaS, customers tap into one code base that is refined and enhanced (producing better results for the users) based on feedback from all users. The whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Organizations and/or individuals subscribe to the service and access it using a computer, laptop or even their mobile phone. These applications are known as on-demand, Cloud-based, Web-based, or online. Cloud computing is used by many SaaS providers and refers to massive server farms that host applications online for many customers. Cloud computing enables flexible processing power and storage capacity to scale up or down, depending on actual usage.

Almost everyone who uses the Internet today has used SaaS. Email programs such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail are examples of SaaS. What is really nice is that there is nothing to download or install, users simply create an account and log in through a Web browser. Popular social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter operate using a SaaS model.

SAAS AS A GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TOOL

SaaS is ideal for government seeking technology solutions to help them implement performance management programs. Because these programs often encompass many disparate agencies/divisions that can geographically span hundreds or thousands of miles, it is useful to have a centralized, common technology platform that many users can share. In the event that some users are outside of your network, SaaS allows users to access your performance management data and application from anywhere. SaaS offers both simplicity and a cost-effective solution for government users.

This was originally published on the Performance Management blog http://measuresmatter.blogspot.com/