Software for challenging times
It is only a matter of time before no one buys software, choosing instead to ‘pay as you go’, ensuring that a business always has just the right amount of service, never wasting money, and being able to respond as quickly as the market demands. Perceptive Online has been pioneering software as a service, and fully comprehends how to use this popular concept to help businesses thrive, not least in these challenging times. Perceptive also offers a range of complementary managed services.
Speaking at the company’s offices on the Castle Industrial Park, Newbury, managing director Brian Parnham, explained: “Irrespective of the size of a company, there are savings with software as a service. You pay not for owning the software, as has traditionally been the case, but for using it, on a ‘pay as you go’ basis, accessing the software through an internet connection.
“You subscribe to the service for a minimum of 12 months, and once you are signed up, you can add or take away the number of users to suit your business. This is helpful if you need to use temporary staff or simply because your business is growing or shrinking. This is impossible to do effectively if you actually buy software.
“This can be particularly attractive at the moment because software as a service can save money through avoiding heavy capital expenditure. It also removes much of the time associated with implementing licensed software and you can be sure of always having the latest version whenever you log on.
“For many people, the first step is hosted e-mail, which in itself can revolutionise a business that has found it struggles with spam, something that is largely stopped before it even reaches our hosted customers.
“We also run a variety of anti-virus programmes that further protect them. It is a small step, then, to look at CRM or accounts and other software.”
Managed services manager Chris Branch added: “Another real benefit is with disaster recovery, which offers peace of mind to you and your clients. Whatever happens, your information can still be accessed through any internet connection. Research shows that 90 per cent of companies who suffer a disaster will go out of business within two years.
“We also ensure that any BlackBerry, iPhone or laptops used by a team are set up to make use of the hosting too. We are experienced at helping businesses utilise these services, and understand how important connectivity is and people can ill afford downtime.
“Speed of deployment is another advantage. A 20-user company could contact us in the morning and we would have that company up and running in the afternoon.”
One of Perceptive Online’s many satisfied customers is Ian Faulkner, the managing director of Aldermaston-based Metaskil. He said: “Through the provision of Hosted Exchange and a managed server for our websites, wiki and discussion forums, Perceptive Online has enabled our business.”
Read the full case study of how Perceptive Online helped Metaskil
Original article appeared in the Newbury Business Today
July 2009