A BIT OF HISTORY…
Do you remember the years 1995 to 2000? The Y2K bug, the millions of new web sites, the Intranets, Extranets and the $500,000 electronic commerce sites? And the burst of the Internet bubble: rings a bell?
14 years later, many still believe that the costs for new technologies are huge and difficult to control and justify. To them, efficient technological tools are a luxury only multinationals can afford.
But things have changed. Thanks to cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS), leading-edge technological tools are now in everyone’s reach.
THE “NEW” SOLUTIONS
There are now affordable solutions available to all organizations.
Here are some examples:
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Electronic commerce software
In 2000, the design of an e-commerce web site took months and required an investment of at least $50,000.
In 2014, multiple easy-to-use online commerce solutions can be implemented and cost less than $100 per month.
Among other things, an online shop can open up new opportunities to generate additional revenues, avoid losing sales to enterprises outside Quebec and serve new customer segments.
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Client relations management (CRM) software
In 2000, CRM softwares were practically inexistent. They were usually part of the most expensive and sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) softwares.
In 2014, there are high-performance CRM softwares that will cost you less than $100 per user per month.
With a CRM software your sales/marketing team will be able to provide better customer service and improve your sales.
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Business intelligence software and dashboards
In 2000, business intelligence and dashboards conception software used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollar. They required substantial infrastructure investments and took months, even years to integrate and implement.
In 2014, specialized solutions are offered in service mode to deploy dashboards across your team. They are affordable and their costs are easily predictable. Some tools will help you understand the past, predict the future and make better business decisions.
A SIGNIFICANT PARADIGM SHIFT: AN OPPORTUNITY WE MUST SEIZE
The emergence of cloud computing and Software as a Service is a huge paradigm shift. You can now get the same tools used by the giants of the industry with just a small investment.
This cloud brings a torrent of solutions, don’t miss this opportunity!
Definition of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
(From National Institute of Standards and Technology (Special Publication 800-145))