Software Companies Make Smooth Transition to SaaS with Scio SaaSPLAN

    SAN JOSE, CA, May 28, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Scio Consulting today announced the release of Scio SaaSPLAN, a collection of expertise, processes, and technologies designed to assist software companies (ISVs) transition existing on-premise applications and new product ideas to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Scio SaaSPLAN is the result of several years of providing outsourced software product development and consulting services to help North American software companies design, build, and operate commercial SaaS offerings. By combining focused SaaS product and application development expertise with open Cloud technologies, lean product development, Agile project management, and nearshore efficiencies, Scio SaaSPLAN accelerates and facilitates the successful introduction of SaaS products.

"Building successful, scalable SaaS applications requires more than Web development skills. It requires an understanding of the intricacies of building and operating highly scalable, multi-tenant architectures," says Luis Aburto, CEO for Scio. He goes on to say that "Additionally, SaaS offerings require SaaS-specific administrative and operations functionality to be successful, such as automated provisioning, billing, self-service, metering, and monitoring. Many of the functions are not customer facing and will not help an ISV win business, but they are essential for efficient and profitable SaaS operations."

Scio uses SaaSGrid as its core SaaS Product Development Platform. SaaSGrid is a distributed application server for SaaS that provides scalability, multi-tenancy and application services that are needed by commercial-grade SaaS applications. By providing the foundation to build, deploy and operate a single product or a full product suite, SaaSGrid significantly reduces time to market (usually by 3-6 months) which in turns helps slash application development costs by 40-60%.

SaaSPLAN also incorporates the principles of lean product development to provide early release, feedback and validation from end users in the field while lowering up-front risk and reduced time to profit. Michael Dunham, Principal Consultant for Scio, clarifies that "[t]he objective of Scio's Lean Product Development is to take successful products to market in less time, using fewer resources and lower cost. This is achieved by streamlining the design and development process to ensure that effort is spent intelligently and that the driving factor of all product decisions is the value provided to end users."

Additionally, SaaSPLAN is based on Agile Software Development practices to provide faster time to working software and flexibility to adapt to a changing competitive environment. Scio's Agile Delivery model focuses on rapid and early delivery of business value from the development process and the lowering of risk inherent in traditional waterfall development methods.

Lastly, Scio operates a Nearshore Development Center in Morelia, Mexico, an approximately 4-6 hour flight from most major US cities, while working on Central time. "Operating from this location we deliver leading-edge software products with significant cost and productivity efficiencies derived from working in real-time with our customers," says Jeremy Beck, VP of Business Development. He goes on to say that "being agile is absolutely essential for SaaS and being nearshore is key to maximizing collaboration."

Scio Consulting is a software product development and consulting company specializing in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and On-Demand business models.

We are devoted to helping independent software vendors (ISVs) and Internet-based businesses bring their applications to market faster with higher reliability and better quality.

By combining tailored Agile project management and full-lifecycle software product development experience we provide our clients cost efficiencies, complete project transparency, and exceptional results.

Website: http://www.sciodev.com

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