Cloud solution provider Appirio has published its always interesting annual predictions of what's coming in Cloud Computing and we would like to share them with you, given their relevance and insight:

Orchestrating and delivering IT Professional Services Projects on time and on budget has just become easier! We're pleased to share the news with you that we have just begun the beta testing phase for our innovative Professional Service Automation solution that will simplify project delivery while incorporating world-class best practices and integrating the complete services value chain.   

Designed to meet the service operation management needs of IT Professional Services companies, our SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solution is being piloted by select clients. The pilot period will last a few months, during which we will work closely with top international companies to bring its service organization’s performance to the highest levels. Our beta testing clients include:
 

•  T-Systems:

Drawing on a global infrastructure of data centers and networks, T-Systems— Deutsche Telekom’s corporate customer arm—operates information and communication technology (ICT) systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions. The company provides integrated solutions for the networked future of business and society. Its 46,000 employees combine industry expertise and ICT innovations to add significant value to customers’ core business all over the world. The corporate customers unit generated revenue of around €9.3 billion in the 2008 financial year. 

• INDRA

Spain’s premier Information Technology company, Indra is a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It ranks as the second European company in its sector according to stock market capitalization, and is also the second-largest Spanish company for R&D investment. In 2008, its revenues totalled €2.3 billion, of which a third came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 90 countries. 

• Pharmiweb

Since 1999, PharmiWeb.com has been bringing the latest news and developments in the pharmaceutical industry to a global audience, now reaching close to a quarter of a million professionals. Sponsored by many of the world's leading pharmaceutical corporations, the company is widely regarded as the world’s leading pharma portal.  

 

We realize IT Service Companies want a cost-effective and easy-to-use way to improve and control their Service Operations as well as manage their knowledge and integrate their value chain. The feedback from our clients over the coming months will help us fine tune our solution to ensure that we deliver a valuable product that will fulfill the requirements of any IT Professional Services Company.

At eTask we have detected in the IT Services provider market an unsolved need, which gravitates around the need to effectively combine and generate synergy from three business imperatives for any IT Services company in today’s world: Operational Excellence, Value chain integration or Collaboration and Sales Growth.

The Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) is an industry association that focuses exclusively on Technology Professional Services. Its members include but are not limited to the leading TPS practitioners. In a recent survey of its members they found out that 90% IT professional services organizations have invested in professional services automation tools but also found out that the satisfaction with solutions acquired until now is very low.

Innovation in the PSA/PPM space has been missing for much of this decade. Professional Services Automation software and Project Portfolio Management software had fallen into an idle status for a while. That’s definitely going to change.  The convergence of new demands in PSA solutions as a result of globalization, offshoring and the widespread interest and adoption of methodologies (such as CMMI, ITIL, PMI or PRINCE 2) with the adventment of new Web 2.0 technologies and more internet bandwith worldwide that make effective remote collaboration possible, constitute a disruption in the industry and present a very interesting opportunity for new comers to jump in and reap the benefits.
This disruption has brought along new needs and requirements around automation, value chain integration and transparency among the professional services operations of all players involved in a PS delivery, which need to translate into solutions that tackle this requirements.

Most changes and opportunities in the PSA/PPM space gravitate around three key variables:
 
Deployment model. Unlike legacy PSA solutions, new SaaS solutions implementations are faster, less expensive, easier to integrate with third parties and have lower upfront costs.  To busy PS execs, faster is always better.

Usability.  Just like Salesforce.com became a huge player in the SFA world by appealing to sales reps, not executives, new PSA/PPM solutions can effectively demonstrate the value of their solutions to PS consultants and Project Managers, with simple, intuitive User Interfaces that are easy to use and provide obvious value to end users.

Integration.  Not only to back office and CRM solutions but also to the operations of partners and third parties required to deliver any given service or solution. In today’s IT Professional Services world, partnering, contracting, outtasking and outsourcing are a must for any company looking to streamline operations, accelerate time to market and effectively compete. New technologies emerge everyday, driving specialization and partnering as a very effective way, and sometimes the only way to operate.


We have  coined the term Expanded Services Operations Management (eSOM) to synthesize the effective combination of Operational Excellence, Effective Value Chain Integration and Sales Growth beyond organic or local markets. The effective combination of the three elements mentioned above is sustained on three key values that are becoming less and less optional in order to thrive in today’s economy: Quality, Collaboration and Transparency. We facilitate the enactment of the three of them in a PS delivery organization.
 
A good eSOM implementation on one hand involves formalizing and documenting PS Processes, leveraging proven methodologies, creating libraries to store project content, RFP responses, code libraries, and best practices.
And on the other hand effectively integrates these processes into the services deployment value chain (freelancers, partners, third parties and of course, customers) while at the same time contributing to and promoting a sustainable business ecosystem that helps everyone grow.

PS organizations that complete an eSOM implementation should emerge with better processes, better value chain integration, real-time visibility into operational and financial metrics, and more profitable and growing operations overall.

Meet the team that is making the collaboration and transparency platform a reality. Please click below on the 'Read More' link.