The Cloud Trend
So we’ve talked about the benefits of SaaS (Software as a Service) including cost efficiency, scalability, and even its positive effect on the environment. However, most companies handle their Business Intelligence (BI) applications in-house. This may not be true in the next few years as SaaS usage is expected to grow to 23% by 2013.
What exactly are BI applications? Business Intelligence applications are computing utilities ranging from data mining and analytic programs to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms.
CIO conducted a survey in May with over 300 IT leaders and found that 23% expect to utilize cloud of SaaS as their main BI solution within three years.
For SaaS vendors, this is incredibly good news, as 57% of those surveyed claimed they anticipate a bigger investment in BI applications within the next year. Opportunity is knocking!
The Benefits of SaaS
We’ve already discussed the benefits of SaaS, but we’re going to do it again!
Two Major Advantages of SaaS
- Cost Efficiency:
o SaaS eliminates the need to buy licenses in bulk.
o Rented on a month-to-month basis (lower upfront costs).
- Off Site Management:
o Reduces workload for in-house IT staff.
o Vendor monitors and updates application.
o Off-site automated backups available.
Its Up To You
Do you want to be ahead of the game and hop on the bandwagon now or later? Regardless of what you decide, SaaS is on the rise. Now is the time to start thinking about whether or not to head into the Cloud.
Prestigious CEO Forum Now Using EquityTouch Deal Sourcing Software
All women business forum of The Commonwealth Institute implements CRM system from Touch Ahead Software
Boston, MA, March 19, 2010 - The Commonwealth Institute Evening CEO Forum has recently started to use EquityTouch for information management. The Commonwealth Institute (TCI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women CEO's and entrepreneurs grow their businesses. TCI's Evening Forum members meet once a month to discuss complex business decisions and exchange ideas. Nancy Keddy, a member of The Commonwealth Institute and co-founder of Touch Ahead Software, noticed that TCI's Evening Forum would benefit from a system to track the communications of the monthly meetings.
During the forum, members exchange contacts and recommendations among one another. TCI Members also provide monthly "check-in" documents with updates and other news about their own businesses. TCI's Evening Forum was looking for a fast and efficient way to digitally archive the documents so that they could be easily accessed in the future. Keddy saw this as an opportunity and recommended EquityTouch. The program now provides a centralized database for all TCI Evening Forum members to upload and reference information at the click of a button.
The "Touch" concept of EquityTouch is helping to organize the information flow of the Evening Forum. According to Keddy, the Forum meets for three and a half hours, and a lot of information is exchanged. With EquityTouch, all communications including recommendations (reading materials, businesses, and individuals), key events, and research can all be catalogued as "Touches" and placed in the database for fast and efficient referencing. Keddy says "TCI's Evening Forum is using EquityTouch in many different ways to have information ready at our fingertips."
About The Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Institute (TCI) is a non-profit organization that helps women entrepreneurs, CEOs and senior corporate executives grow their businesses through peer mentoring. For more information, visit www.commonwealthinstitute.org.
About Touch Ahead Software LLC
Touch Ahead Software is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions company, focused on providing unparalleled benefits of advanced technology to the alternative asset community. The benefits include dramatically reduced cost of ownership and time for implementation, as well as higher user satisfaction and organizational profitability through deal sourcing and powerful collaboration tools. Touch Ahead Software is the developer of EquityTouch, the premiere CRM service for the financial and other specialized industries. For more information, please visit
www.touchahead.com
Press Contact
For more information, please contact:
Cathie Briggette
Touch Ahead Software LLC
(p) +1 (866) 960 9301
(e) cmb@touchahead.com
Touch Ahead Software Releases EquityTouch®
2.0
EquityTouch, the popular private equity/venture capital deal sourcing software receives Outlook integration, advanced search options, and other enhancements in new release
Boston, MA, March 15, 2010 - Based on the "Touch" concept, EquityTouch is unlike traditional customer relationship management (CRM) software systems. With EquityTouch, Touches are any transaction or communication involved in daily business activities that include emails, events, phone calls, and meetings. These Touches are then organized in the application by company, contact, and Touch type for easy reference. The newest version contains multiple application enhancements and customizable options that allow users to import data easily with fewer keystrokes and mouse clicks.
Outlook®
Integration: EquityTouch 2.0 features a downloadable plug-in for Microsoft® Outlook. Users who are running Outlook 2003 or 2007 can install the plug-in to push emails, calendar events, and contacts directly into EquityTouch from Outlook. The EquityTouch Outlook integration allows users to push emails/events to EquityTouch as a Touch, and all recipients become participants of the Touch. EquityTouch then matches all email/event recipients to contacts already existing in the application. If a match is not found, a pop-up window appears that allows them to either create a new contact or manually match them with an existing contact to resolve the difference.
"Or" Searching: Version 2.0 of EquityTouch allows users to perform "or" searches under the Advanced Search tab. Previous versions would allow for single variable searching in all fields. "Or" searching now allows users to select multiple variables in a single field. The new feature is accessible under the Advanced Search tab.
Created/Modified By: EquityTouch 2.0 also includes "Modified By" and "Created By" searching that allows users to look up information based on what other users have been working on in the application. A created and modified date and time stamp will appear on company and person summary pages as well. These options are available under the "Company" and the "Person" search fields in Advanced Search.
Enhanced Filtering: The new release also contains improved filter settings that allow a user to save their filter settings under the "Touches" tab. Users can select the Touch types they would like to see, and then select "Apply Filter." Once the search is run, the user can save the filter under tools settings.
Current EquityTouch users will automatically receive the update. The only action required on the user side is the option of downloading and installing the Outlook plug-in. Any technical questions/concerns can be directed to Touch Ahead Support via email (help@touchahead.com) or phone (1-866-960-9301).
For additional information on EquityTouch or to request a demo, please visit www.touchahead.com/equitytouch.html.
About Touch Ahead Software LLC
Touch Ahead Software is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions company, focused on providing unparalleled benefits of advanced technology to the alternative asset community. The benefits include dramatically reduced cost of ownership and time for implementation, as well as higher user satisfaction and organizational profitability through deal sourcing and powerful collaboration tools. Touch Ahead Software is the developer of EquityTouch, the premiere deal CRM service for the financial and other specialized industries. For more information, please visit www.touchahead.com
Press Contact
For more information, please contact:
Cathie Briggette
Touch Ahead Software LLC
(p) +1 866 960 9301
(e) cmb@touchahead.com
What is SaaS?
SaaS is currently all the rage. The term is a buzz word across the web, and many companies are hopping on board the SaaS train. What exactly is it? SaaS is an acronym for "Software As A Service." Okay, so there's the dictionary answer, but isn't all software a service? The difference is that with SaaS, the service is on demand. SaaS is built on the idea that companies rent Web-based software that is hosted at the provider's site, operating in the cloud, rather than having an in-house system.
What are the benefits of SaaS?
Cost efficiency is one of the key benefits of SaaS. With standalone software, companies usually have to buy licenses in bulk. The company is then left with excess licenses that they don't need. With SaaS, if a company grows or expands, the number of licenses for the program can be adjusted accordingly, as the software is being rented from a third party. [1]
Also, due to the fact that the software is rented on a month-to-month basis, the investment risk is drastically reduced. Instead of paying a large sum upfront for a system, customers pay for the services every month.
Another benefit is that the vendor manages the software. Instead of having the IT staff install and deploy the system, the vendor takes care of this for the company. Because the software is being hosted at the vendor's location, they are in charge of monitoring the program and keeping the cloud well maintained.[2]
Most importantly, everything is backed up with the vendor, so the company doesn't have to worry about employing another system to keep back-ups on file.
CRM and SaaS
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications hold the largest market share of the SaaS market. CRM applications are better able to be streamlined across a company when deployed as a SaaS. Instead of having individual programs in each department, all employees need is an active internet connection. This way the company stays better connected, and workflow is made more efficient.
EquityTouchTM is a leader in Private Equity/Venture Capital CRM. Created by Touch Ahead Software, EquityTouch is one of the fastest CRM's available, as it runs on a web portal. John Binda, Sales Director for EquityTouch, states one major benefit of the SaaS model is that "EquityTouch allows you to access information anywhere so that you aren't tied down to your personal computer." EquityTouch is accessible from any internet connection, even via web enabled cell phones, as the program is in the cloud.
Another benefit of EquityTouch is that subscribers don't have to worry about installing product updates as the program isn't hosted at the customer's office. This eliminates the need to maintain and support a long term system, as the provider is in charge of maintaining the system. Because EquityTouch is deployed on a per-user basis, licenses can be easily transferred from one employee to another, keeping costs at a minimum.
Touch Ahead Software focuses on bringing the benefits of advanced technology to the CRM community. These benefits include drastically reduced overall cost of ownership and time for implementation as well as dramatically higher user satisfaction and organization profitability. Touch Ahead is constantly pushing boundaries and redefining the CRM SaaS model.
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[1] King, Julia. "Beyond CRM: SaaS slips into the mainstream."
Computerworld Management 22 Feb. 2010: Web. 22 Feb 2010.
[2] Finch, Curt. "The Benefits of the Software -as-a-Service Model." Computerworld Management 2 Jan. 2006: Web. 24 Feb 2010.
Touch Ahead Software Releases Tradeshow Tool For Flagship Program
EquityTouch, the popular private equity/venture capital deal sourcing software, receives update with Tradeshow Tool for quick and easy data importation
Boston, MA, February 12, 2010 - Touch Ahead Software, creators of EquityTouch, a deal sourcing and collaboration tool for private equity and venture capital firms, has added a new feature to their flagship product. EquityTouch now includes a Tradeshow Tool that allows users to easily upload information collected from tradeshows, expositions, and other large business gatherings into the application.
Brian Le Blanc, VP of Software Development, explains that the tool is a result of a request from one of EquityTouch's subscribers. "A client came to us with a pain point. They wanted to automate the process of importing company data from trade shows that they often attend. In their previous application, they would search for each company manually and add the ones that were not represented by way of a form that they had to fill in." The Tradeshow Tool makes data entry into EquityTouch much more efficient.
Now, EquityTouch clients can take contact data from tradeshows in the form of an excel file or comma-separate value (.csv) file and import directly into the program. Once uploaded, EquityTouch then checks to see if the new contacts are already in the system and updates profiles with information gathered from web-based business databases built directly into the EquityTouch software.
The new tool saves users a lot of time and eliminates multiple contacts in the system. It also allows subscribers to locate and pinpoint new investment opportunities by sifting through pages of data in a matter of seconds compared to manual reference that can take hours. Le Blanc says, "Now they only need to specify the location of the file to import, and EquityTouch automatically searches for matches in either their own data or in a third party data provider. The process couldn't be simpler."
About Touch Ahead Software LLC
Touch Ahead Software is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions company, focused on providing unparalleled benefits of advanced technology to the alternative asset community. The benefits include dramatically reduced cost of ownership and time for implementation, as well as higher user satisfaction and organizational profitability through deal sourcing and powerful collaboration tools. Touch Ahead Software is the developer of EquityTouch, the premiere deal CRM service for the financial and other specialized industries. For more information, please visit www.touchahead.com
Press Contact
To schedule a press briefing, please contact:
Cathie Briggette
Touch Ahead Software LLC
(p) +1 617 303-0480
(e) cmb@touchahead.com