For years, resource management has taken the form of enterprise software. Organizations have bought software licenses, purchased infrastructure to host it, and dedicated resources to install and manage it. As they added more functionality and became more sophisticated, they found it more difficult to extract the full value the software has to offer. In speaking with end-users I always hear that a company bought the software because it has x,y, and z features. The problem is that they are only taking advantage of feature x because they have neither the time or the resources to fully extract all the value it has to offer.

That’s where the cloud comes in. Okay, it doesn’t really have to be the cloud, it could just be software delivered as a service or even a remote managed service, but that wouldn’t make a catchy blog title. Let’s face it, nobody wants to be an SRM expert–they just want to be able to leverage the information the solutions provide to make the appropriate decisions for the business. That’s why resource management delivered as a service makes sense. Organizations can reap the benefits and get the most out of the software without having dedicated resources. Plus, it can be consumed for a low monthly fee.

The bad news is that most legacy software programs were not designed to be delivered as a service. The good news is that a lot of new and innovative providers are more than willing to fill the void. In many cases, these solutions are delivered by distributors, VARs, and system integrators–you just need to ask which delivery options are available.

So while the future of resource management may be cloudy, the benefits of this model should be very clear. The right information at the right time to make the right decision–how could it go wrong?

• Share