A recent survey conducted by i-nexus and PEX suggested that over 80% of companies were using spreadsheets to manage each stage of the business execution process; planning and cascading business goals, driving execution of strategic initiatives, and tracking the impacts of those initiatives on business goals. Business Execution software specialist i-nexus says that such tools are not really fit for purpose for such important processes and that there are other alternative solutions that can deliver substantial benefits.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is one of a number of cloud-based services to which a few forward thinking companies are turning to for managing the many processes involved in successful Business Execution. SaaS is typically hosted by a third party supplier – on a subscription basis. Business users can get on demand access to the application from anywhere they’re logging in, while IT departments don’t have to put in the same levels of support or investment that deploying business software normally entails.

In this Process Perspectives podcast, Grant Crow, Chief Operating Officer at i-nexus, discusses the origins and drivers for adopting a Software as a Service model. He also looks at the barriers to using SaaS and comments on how the approach is changing the way that businesses operate and offering them the ability to respond to changes with increasing agility.