Composite and On Demand Software As A Service

saas · #1 (**permalink**) 02-19-2006, 12:14 AM

Hello,

I started working on this site a long time ago and stopped due to questionable viability. I started noticing some of the evolution statements describing Web 2.0 leading into On Demand Software As A Service. So, I decided to revive it a few months ago. I would like the viability of the business model critiqued if anyone is willing?

Plesae review my site and offer feedback.

http://www.netprocesses.com

Thanks in advance

Tim · #2 (**permalink**) 02-19-2006, 10:01 PM

The site looks neat but I don't know what on earth it's on about.

Let's start with this from your home page;

'Need business functionality to support your website? We can help! Possibilities is a browser enabled composite technology offered by netProcesses that provides quick and cost effective business solution delivery. netProcesses offers preconfigured solutions, customized solutions, or the ability to define your own.'

OK, I understand you have solutions but what are the problems that they solve?

On your 'Usage' page you say this;

'Each solution provides a URL. Place the URL on a web page, send the URL through email, or deliver the URL through whatever mechanism you determine appropriate. Your customers click on your link to use the solution.'

Right, ordinary hyperlinks take people to the solutions. I'm still not clear what the problems are that your system solves. Let's take a look at your explanatory PDF;

'What is Possibilities?
Possibilities is a web-based composite platform for producing web-enabled business solutions.
The platform provides features that support administration, workflows, rules, forms, business
process management, and business process monitoring into a single solution. Property page
definitions and wizard-like processes replace conventional software development. The composite
platform expedites the production and maintenance of solutions, which allows resources to be
more productive. With a single platform, organizations are provided with the ability to define,
store, manage, and execute processes.'

OK, now I understand that the solutions are flexible but what do they solve?

A little further on in the PDF (and we're digging deep now!);

'Which Business Needs are Solved
With Possibilities business users are empowered to quickly produce and enable web-based
business solutions that support data collection activities and expert system processes.
Everything about the solution is externalized as properties, which allows modifications to be made
at run-time. Some specific business solutions include: purchase orders, sales orders, work
orders, form digitization, workflow of digitized forms, and web-based enrollments.'

This is weird, I understand all of the individual words but put together like that it seems like a foreign language. Clearly some sort of business speak but I can only think that plain English would be a tremendous advantage.

My advice;

When offering solutions first define the problem.
When defining solutions be clear.

Check out your failed HTML validation and CSS errors.

janeth · #3 (**permalink**) 02-20-2006, 11:26 AM

I agree with Tim, the site is nice and clean but the header, logo nor text tells me anything about your business.

bhopkins · #4 (**permalink**) 02-20-2006, 10:03 PM

I agree with the others, the message is not clear. Now knowing a little about asp.net, I would suggest you modify your code to run in one of the freely available portals like DotNetNuke or Community Server. That would open up a fairly large market for you and I'm sure many people running DotNetNuke could use the functionality in the apps. I would probably purchase the source code if the license allowed me to modify to my needs and is written in VB.Net( could live with C#, but its not my choice) but I don't see 4K in the functionality for a single website. If you want to talk about this more email me at bruceATdynamicvb.net

hth Bruce

Dcrux · #5 (**permalink**) 02-20-2006, 10:43 PM

It took me about five seconds to figure this out: there isn't a business model. It's a technology model looking for business.

You have no targeted site visitor, nor one for the platform. The Advantages page does not talk about advantages, just more technology. For example, the maintenance request "could" be a way to track cost of ownership for equipment, or infrastructure and vandalism (keeping with the orignal idea). The reason software-as-service fails so often is because, in general, the model doesn't offer a service the users want. It's not a technology problem it is a service problem.

Google maps and Flicker work not because people are finally ready for Web 2.0. They work because they consider use first; and Web 2.0 not at all. It's about interaction design and desirability design.

This won't become viable until you have clearly defined business purpose. And the technology supports that puspose. You need someone to develop a business model ...and then redesign the technology.

Tubby · #6 (**permalink**) 02-21-2006, 09:18 AM

I think you need a salesman on your team.