Posts Tagged ‘SaaS’

Putting health care EMRs in the cloud

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

By Barbara Bix

This morning, I attended a program at the Massachusetts Technology Leadership forum featuring John Lewis, Regional VP of Sales, of athenahealth. John’s presentation centered on his company’s  experiences of selling what he referred to as health care’s first cloud-based service.

Following on the heels of recent conversations, I’ve had with CIOs, about placing confidential patient data in the cloud; I expected John to tell us how he overcomes this objection.  Instead, he spent the morning convincing us that operating in the cloud is his company’s competitive advantage.  John supported this thesis with figures, facts, and logic.

SaaS: Building the revenue momentum you need to achieve profitability

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Lots going on in Boston this month.  Just got back from an information-rich panel discussion offered by the Massachusetts Technology Council entitled: Tricks of the Trade – Building Revenue Momentum in SaaS.    Here are my notes.

SaaS revenue momentumProgram description

Unlike traditional software business models which are based on one-time license sales and lump-sum cash payments, the SaaS model is predicated upon building annuity-type revenue and cash streams. Over the long-term this business model is highly attractive, but especially for early-stage companies ramping SaaS revenues poses a unique set of challenges. MassTLC has gathered a panel of accomplished SaaS operating executives to share their insights on getting the initial revenue ‘flywheel’ turning and building sustainable SaaS enterprises.

SaaS distribution model challenges vendors to take customer service to the next level

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Many companies focus most of their marketing efforts on bringing in new accounts, yet most realize that the fastest path to increased revenues is repeat business to existing customers. For this reason, alone, it makes sense to deliver outstanding customer service.

The customer service bar, however, is especially high for service providers. That’s because while product companies tend to recognize revenue at the time that they make the initial sale, service providers depend on recurring payments to maximize revenue. Those that fail to meet customer expectations run the risk of never realizing a return on their upfront investments.