| | 1.2 Demand
11. Mission is Application Services | | |
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| 1.2.11. Mission is Application Services: | | Customers demand simple budgetary control of computer systems. The simplest business model that has proved to be viable is where one months service is provided and payment is then made for that months service. This business model has been copied from the utility industry where Telephone, Internet, TV, Cable, Music and similar services are paid with a monthly direct debit or standing order. A singnicant customer demand is that payments can be stopped with one months notice - long term agreements are not wanted. |
| Business Requirement: | | The number one business requirement is to provide application services that can help staff to become more effective and productive. Bespoke applications are designed to leverage staff skills, create a single corporate method of working and generate accurate management information. |
| 1. Application Services: | | Application services are very different to obsolete software developments - services must be efficient because the cost of operation must be minimized. While software vendors have little concern about operational efficiency, ASP must enasure that services are of the very highest quality. |
| Management Information: | | For a manager to manage, they need things to measure - application services can provide those Key Performance Indicators that management need to be able to managers. It is critical that all data is entered and processed within application services so complete and correct management information can be created on-demand. Where data is permitted to be processed using private spreadsheets, then Key Performance Indicators cannot be created, management information cannot be created and managers may find that the quality of data in private spreadsheets is less than they had expected. |
| Analogy: | | An application service is expected to leverage how people do business so they can achieve more, be more effective and improve their productivity. Analogy is that a person planting crops by hand is not as productive as the same person planting crops with a horse and plough. That a person using a horse and plough is not as productive as a person using a tractor and plough. | | Industrialization of manufacturing has dramatically cut the cost of goods as automated machinery can make people many times more productive. Application services continue the long evolution towards higher levels of productivity and effectiveness. Those businesses that embrace and exploit application services will survive and prosper with lower costs and higher productivity. |
| Scope: | | In a perfect world, all application services would be integrated into a complete and correct set of shared data that users can access to undertake all their daily work. As more and more data is intergrated, more and more benefits can be derived in the form of management information and KPI that says who did what and when. | | Application integration includes: | | * Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for clients, prospects, suppliers, vendors and business associates. | | * Billed Service Management as services with readings and contracts that involve billing. | | * Financial Account Management (FAM) as scheduled invoicing and payments to receivable accounts. | | * Workflow and Task Management with diary of scheduled work and Automated Data Assistent. | | * Sales Management with diary of action plans and trip reports. | | * Quotation Management with active customer email track and trace for rapid results. | | * Customer Complaint Management and claims action plan and root cause analysis. | | * Customs Clearance, Dispatch and Billing. | | * Insurance for Marine, Motor and Aviation with instant cover note and monthly billing. | | * Insurance for Professional Indemnity, Employers Liability and Public Liability. |
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