Cloud applications should allow organizations complete control of their environmental and sustainability data, even though it is located off-site. Organizations are freed of application maintenance; additionally, there should be no roadblocks or bureaucracy to hinder authorized individuals’ ability to import, export, purge, and archive data to and from the application without having to first contact […]
Since cloud applications do not require investments and installation of hardware and software, organizations should be able to get them running and productive in a fraction of the time compared to on-premises software. This is particularly true for complex environmental and sustainability information management and compliance applications. On day one, customers are able to look […]
There should be no surprise costs with cloud applications. Implementation costs should be predictable, and subscription-based pricing should be transparent with no hidden fees. Cloud applications should not require upfront investments in hardware and software license fees. Real SaaS is a lot more than just hosting and data storing. Where multi-tenancy, a single version of […]
The cloud application provider should maintain a high-performance IT infrastructure, which includes the data centers and databases, operating systems, networks, security, and storage systems used to run cloud applications and manage customer data. It should have stellar IT operations, security, maintenance, and performance tuning processes. Livelihood of SaaS companies depends on their ability to securely […]
Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation this past Friday that marks California’s first regulation for hydraulic fracturing. The bill, which is most likely the toughest regulation yet for fracking, requires oil drillers to disclose the chemicals used and acquire permits before engaging in fracking. Other provisions of the legislation, which will take effect in January, call […]
A cloud application provider should be able to offer excellent security and data privacy better than its customers can do on their own, and at no additional cost. Processes and policies should encompass physical, network, application, and data-level security, as well as full backup and disaster recovery. The provider should be compliant with security-oriented laws […]
At last month’s carbon allowance auction, the fourth ever held, the California cap-and-trade program reached an important milestone. The auction of “current year allowances”, or permits that companies can use for this year’s carbon pollution, have sold out at every auction thus far- but this was the first time the auction completely sold out of […]
How many times has water played a part in your routine activities today? Maybe you have taken a shower, made coffee, flushed a toilet, or washed your hands. Chances are you’ve already counted on water multiple times today, and probably didn’t think twice about it. As we count down the last few days of National […]
Cloud computing applications should be configurable, so your IT organization is freed from costly customizations, and business people can configure processes that meet the specific needs of the organization. The greatest self-inflicted wound customers make is allowing too much customization to software they run on premises. It gets down to how customer balances freedom versus […]
A cloud application provider worth doing business with will share the burden of integration with its customers versus leaving them on their own. Cloud providers should make an integration infrastructure and integration tools available, assist its customers with integrations, and develop a partner ecosystem that includes consultants, integrators, and other software and SaaS companies. At […]