HyperOffice hosts webinar for SMBs

ROCKVILLE, MD: HyperOffice has announced a new webinar that steers business owners, employees, clients, partners and suppliers away from peril when selecting software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors.

Nearly nine out of 10 (86 per cent) small to mid sized businesses (SMBs) will deploy SaaS tools by the end of 2009 predicts a 2009 Microsoft study, despite the volatile economy – a significant increase from the 21 per cent of small businesses and 31 per cent of mid-sized businesses that market analyst AMI Partners reports are already using SaaS products.

“Software-as-a-Service is much more than the latest buzzword or fad,” said Rusty Weston, who will lead the webinar, scheduled for Friday, 5 June. Weston is the former editor of InformationWeek.com and founder of Third Set Media.

“But most SMBs have little or no experience handling SaaS solutions,” said Weston. “The old rules don’t apply. You don’t buy SaaS software; you pay as you go. You don’t fix it; the vendor does. This makes the vendor-customer relationship for SaaS fundamentally different. The vendor does not close the sale, then make a quick exit. The SaaS relationship only begins with the sale. The customer entrusts the vendor with sensitive business data and depends on the vendor for the smooth running of systems, innovation, support and training. This dictates that new rigorous criteria be applied when assessing different SaaS solutions for business problems.”