The simplest definition of a hosted application is that it’s a software application running on a third party server that is accessed by customers as a paid subscription.

However, the advent of the Internet has given a new meaning, and a new potential, to hosting applications, because – if your application is accessed by the web, does it matter where it’s located? No. After all, even enterprise applications within your own environment have become more and more web-enabled. As such, they can be accessed by anyone with a browser Once that state has been reached, the location of the server operating the application becomes irrelevant, technologically – that’s what the Internet is all about.

See our Hosted CRM offering

How can hosting save me money?

There are a number of ways, and these can be broken into two general groups of savings – quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative savings

• Infrastructure – when you subscribe to one or more hosted applications from ePlus, we provide the hardware, storage and communications infrastructure. Depending on your requirements, you could share servers with other customers, or you could have a dedicated server. But all this does is determine the monthly subscription fee – you don’t have to provide and maintain the hardware, we do. Internally, most employees with a need to access sophisticated business applications, such as the ones AppliedEye provides, already have desktops and laptops to run them.
• Installation – is pretty much eliminated. Our applications are already installed, and being used by our client base. Adding another user organization doesn’t require another installation of the software (unless you are using a dedicated server, and even then, we have the techniques to replicate installations).
• Maintenance – we maintain the hardware and the installed software. Your need for expensive IT technical support is just about eliminated. We do all the heavy lifting on maintenance.
• Support – as we upgrade our software applications, they are installed by us, available for use by you. Your involvement is in the event any additional training would be required for new features or modules, but this would be the same if the software were installed as an enterprise license.
• Cash flow – do the math. Compare the costs of a three year subscription, with the cost of an enterprise license paid up front, including installation, ongoing maintenance and support, hardware procurement and depreciation, and all the rest. In just about every scenario, hosting is less expensive that owning.

Qualitative savings

• Flexibility – when you enter into your software agreement with ePlus, you can include the option of converting a hosted subscription fee into an enterprise license, at a later date. Think of it as converting a lease into a purchase.
• Mitigate risk – the fact is, things change. If, for any reason, you no longer need to be using the software, your exposure with a hosting arrangement is much less than with an outright software acquisition.
• Time to implement – as business becomes more and more competitive, they no longer have the luxury of long-term implementations. That’s why it makes sense to subscribe to an application that already installed, operational, and performing.
• Scalability - To many organizations, this is the biggest single benefit. A hosted application can be expanded incrementally, simply by licensing more users, or putting through more volume. Additional server and storage requirements are taken care of by AppliedEye. For your part, enterprise-wide applications can be expanded simply by training more users, and possibly paying a larger subscription fee, depending on additional hardware requirements.
• Focus on core competencies – this gets to the heart of what Enterprise Cost Management from AppliedEye is all about. Let us take care of your operational requirements for non-core activities, in this case hosted business applications, and give yourself more time and resources to manage your core business functions.

Cost effectiveness is one of the main considerations for hosting applications. That’s why AppliedEye considers hosted applications to be a cornerstone of its Enterprise Cost Management philosophy.

How can AppliedEye offer hosted applications for less cost to me than enterprise licenses?

There is a simple reason.

First, the cost of a software application is not limited to the software license. The other components are hardware, installation, and maintenance.

Think of it this way – most business processes have fixed costs and variable costs. For software applications, the fixed costs are the infrastructure, installation and the cost of keeping the application running. Variable costs are the things like the time the users spend running the application.

In a hosted environment, Appliedeye can distribute the fixed costs over several customers, reducing the total cost for everyone.

Second, hosted applications are “mass configurable”, meaning that AppliedEye can tailor a system to meet your needs via internal configuration. This reduces AppliedEye internal costs of supporting multiple versions of remote installations.

Third, AppliedEye is able to negotiate volume discounts on hardware and hosting costs.

Types of Hosted Applications

There are a number of them. One thing they all have in common is that they help you manage non-core business processes, which is why all the applications listed below are part of our suite of Enterprise Cost Management solutions.

• Procurement – Procure+ is our leading-edge e-procurement application
• Content Management – patented technology gives you the tools you need to manage catalog and product content for e-commerce.
• Asset Management – Manage+ handle all aspects of asset management, from asset tracking, life cycle processing, finance, contracting and disposition.
• Spend Management – Spend+ is designed to bring business intelligence and a strategic viewpoint into your spending patterns and supplier management.

Summary

Compared to enterprise applications, hosted applications require less time and money to deploy, and require almost no internal technical support. In addition, they are scalable, so you don’t have to purchase, install and maintain sophisticated applications internally. By choosing to host with AppliedEye, you can focus your employees on your core competencies.