the dos & don'ts of company-wide saas deployments
DESCRIPTION
Corel CEO Tom Berquist has spent the last four years implementing nearly a dozen SaaS solutions across the company. In doing so, Corel has achieved increased efficiencies and saves at least $2 million a year. Here are Tom's tips for successful SaaS implementation.TRANSCRIPT
THE D
OS AND D
ON’TS O
F
COMPANY-W
IDE S
AAS
DEPLOYM
ENTS
TI P
S F
RO
M C
OR
EL C
EO
, T
OM
BE
RQ
UI S
T
• CEO Tom Berquist joined Corel in 2009 and immediately began moving the 25-year old company’s infrastructure to the cloud
• He will have deployed 10 new SaaS applications over 600+ workers by the end of 2014
• Today, Corel boasts a savings
of at least $2 million per year as a direct result of its SaaS implementations
LEADING COREL TO THE CLOUD
DO: GARNER ACTIVE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT
• CEOs need to push for the change at all levels• SaaS should be discussed at senior management meetings• Don’t leave everything to your CIO
DON’T: TRY TO SIDESTEP YOUR IT TEAM
• Consult with and engage IT from the initial stages
• Focus your IT team on being project managers• IT will become your primary integration team as
you roll out each new SaaS app
DO: GO WITH EVOLVED SAAS COMPANIES
• Bigger companies tend to consolidate updates• The larger the company, the more expertise is
available as a resource to you• Mainstream apps have more integrations with
other programs
DON’T: START WITH EVERYONE
• The broader the app’s touch, the longer it will take to rollout
• Focus on a particular business team first (e.g. legal), and then build on your success
• Look for apps that change the backend infrastructure of a system without altering the front end too much
DO: LAY OUT A REASONABLE TIMELINE
• Create a rollout roadmap with key milestones• No rollout for a large company will take less 2 quarters• Aim for full adoption within a year at most
DON’T: DEFAULT TO ENDLESS TRAINING
• Try to pick apps that require minimal training (e.g. Google)
• Know when to say “Enough training, it’s time to adopt.”
• Be supportive and understanding - but still firm - with your slow adopters
DO: THE MATH
• Chart your tech costs before and after the deployment
• Consider the value of having converted a fixed IT cost into a variable one
• Include the decrease in hardware and support staff costs in your ROI calculations
DON’T: LOCK YOURSELF IN
• The greatest benefits of SaaS lies in its inherent flexibility
• Start with in-depth analysis of each business unit’s tech needs and usage; BUT
• Don’t be afraid to decommission or move a product into a different use case after testing
Want to learn more? Read about Tom’s experience introducing and
deploying SaaS apps at Corel on Prialto Post
[INSERT CTA/HYPERLINK TO ARTICLE]