#How to start a saas company

[lightyaoigami]

☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ how to resume ⋆｡ﾟ☾｡⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎ ﾟ

after 10 years & 6 jobs in corporate america, i would like to share how to game the system. we all want the biggest payoff for the least amount of work, right?

know thine enemy: beating the robots

i see a lot of misinformation about how AI is used to scrape resumes. i can't speak for every company but most corporations use what is called applicant tracking software (ATS).

no respectable company is using chatgpt to sort applications. i don't know how you'd even write the prompt to get a consumer-facing product to do this. i guarantee that target, walmart, bank of america, whatever, they are all using B2B SaaS enterprise solutions. there is not one hiring manager plinking away at at a large language model.

ATS scans your resume in comparison to the job posting, parses which resumes contain key words, and presents the recruiter and/or hiring manager with resumes with a high "score." the goal of writing your resume is to get your "score" as high as possible.

but tumblr user lightyaoigami, how do i beat the robots?

great question, y/n. you will want to seek out an ATS resume checker. i have personally found success with jobscan, which is not free, but works extremely well. there is a free trial period, and other ATS scanners are in fact free. some of these tools are so sophisticated that they can actually help build your resume from scratch with your input. i wrote my own resume and used jobscan to compare it to the applications i was finishing.

do not use chatgpt to write your resume or cover letter. it is painfully obvious. here is a tutorial on how to use jobscan. for the zillionth time i do not work for jobscan nor am i a #jobscanpartner i am just a person who used this tool to land a job at a challenging time.

the resume checkers will tell you what words and/or phrases you need to shoehorn into your bullet points - i.e., if you are applying for a job that requires you to be a strong collaborator, the resume checker might suggest you include the phrase "cross-functional teams." you can easily re-word your bullets to include this with a little noodling.

don't i need a cover letter?

it depends on the job. after you have about 5 years of experience, i would say that they are largely unnecessary. while i was laid off, i applied to about 100 jobs in a three-month period (#blessed to have been hired quickly). i did not submit a cover letter for any of them, and i had a solid rate of phone screens/interviews after submission despite not having a cover letter. if you are absolutely required to write one, do not have chatgpt do it for you. use a guide from a human being who knows what they are talking about, like ask a manager or betterup.

but i don't even know where to start!

i know it's hard, but you have to have a bit of entrepreneurial spirit here. google duckduckgo is your friend. don't pull any bean soup what-about-me-isms. if you truly don't know where to start, look for an ATS-optimized resume template.

a word about neurodivergence and job applications

i, like many of you, am autistic. i am intimately familiar with how painful it is to expend limited energy on this demoralizing task only to have your "reward" be an equally, if not more so, demoralizing work experience. i don't have a lot of advice for this beyond craft your worksona like you're making a d&d character (or a fursona or a sim or an OC or whatever made up blorbo generator you personally enjoy).

and, remember, while a lot of office work is really uncomfortable and involves stuff like "talking in meetings" and "answering the phone," these things are not an inherent risk. discomfort is not tantamount to danger, and we all have to do uncomfortable things in order to thrive. there are a lot of ways to do this and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. not everyone can mask for extended periods, so be your own judge of what you can or can't do.

i like to think of work as a drag show where i perform this other personality in exchange for money. it is much easier to do this than to fight tooth and nail to be unmasked at work, which can be a risk to your livelihood and peace of mind. i don't think it's a good thing that we have to mask at work, but it's an important survival skill.

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ good luck ⋆｡ﾟ☾｡⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎ ﾟ｡⋆

[catpillmeowcel]

Was watching a video about lost media for the Wii and the dude straight up said that Japanese people are gatekeeping information as if thats just not extremely racist.

I decided to take two seconds to do this racist' dumbfuck's job for him since he can't be assed to do any research beyond having seen a small thread about it on Twitter.

The Wii Fit Body Check Channel

Source: Innervision (https://www.innervision.co.jp/12SP/2009_04item/boo_panasonic/repo_panasonic.html)

The Wii Fit Body Check Channel (Will be referred too as Wii Fit BCC for brevity) also known as "Wii Fit からだチェックチャンネル" (Wii Fit Karadachekku Chan'neru) was developed in around 2009 by Nintendo to be utilized with a service developed by Nippon Electric Company, Panasonic, and Hitachi.

According to this article it was a health promotion service offered to employees and their families. (Quote below, Google Translated)

NEC and NEC Mobile Link will begin offering a service that links the health promotion support service using mobile phones that was launched in December last year with "Wii Fit Body Check Channel" via the Internet to employees and families of the NEC Group from April. By using the SaaS platform provided by NEC, small-scale use is also possible, and the company aims to introduce the service in 150 cases over the next three years, including sales to outside the group.

The system allowed for people to measure themselves via the Wii Fit BCC and send the results to health guidance services and receive advice back via email.

Source: Hitachi News Release (https://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2009/01/0127.html)

According to the originally linked article, the future plan was to then use the measurement data "to create unique instruction programs for instructors and training organizations, and provide it as an ASP service."

However it seems to have potentially never made it out of its initial prototypes as according to this last sentence from the article:

Hitachi will begin prototyping the system in-house from February and will make a decision based on the results.

Some additional things

I also found this press release from NEC regarding the software. It lists the following main features (Google Translated):

Here's Nintendo's as well however there's not much new information besides mentioning how step data from the DS game "Walking to Understand Life Rhythms DS" can also be utilized.

Hitachi's goes into a bit more detail regarding other aspects on how users would have two-way communication with instructors through the channel:

Overall, with what we know of the software, it likely never made it to these stages of development or had any of these features implemented before quietly getting completely shelved.

Additional Sources/Articles

"Wii Fit Body Check Channel" uses Wii for remote health guidance service (Markezine)

NEC launches health promotion support service in collaboration with "Wii Fit" (NEC Press Release)

"Wii Fit Body Check Channel" developed to support specific health guidance system for Wii; electronics manufacturer to start offering to health insurance associations from April (Nintendo Press Release)

Developing a remote health guidance platform system linked to "Wii Fit" (Hitachi Press Release)

Panasonic web page showing slide show of products (I didn't see anything regarding BCC on this page but it was linked by another article so I'm putting it here for prosperity sake)

"Plissimo Sigusa" is a specific health guidance support system that can be linked to the home video game console "Wii" (Innervision, showcases a setup of channel with a balance board)

[surprisebitch]

really grateful to be working in a company that values work life balance. i enjoy the work i do. the perks are amazing. i really went from graduating during the start of the white collar recession, 100+ applications, multiple series of interviews to two offers and got the best. like if you followed me since last year, you'd have seen how i struggled that i even made a personaltwt just to vent my hardships. like i'm really blessed and happy that my first fulltime job after grad aligns with my interests and strengths like i actually enjoy my weekdays

im glad i went against my family's wishes to pursue finance or accounting. im also glad i did all those coffee chats with consultants and investment bankers to later realize it wasnt for me. i'd really have been miserable. b2b saas marketing is really the right job for me. i'm glad i was courageous to pursue my career aspirations

[klapollo]

is copywriting a good job to look into as a writer? im job hunting and i see quite a few openings online but im worried the work will be extremely dreary

i didnt set out to be a copywriter -- frankly when i graduated i had no idea what i wanted to do. i spent about three and a half years freelancing and doing gig work and i'd make like 140 bucks a month on a good year. i happened to apply for a copywriting job among a sea of other entry level things -- social media coordinator, communications associate etc. and i feel SOOOOO fucking blessed that i fell into copywriting

in terms of money: copywriting is very lucrative if you get the experience for it and stay the course. my very first position with no prior copywriting experience (just freelance writing experience) paid me 35/hr. starting off you'll probably make about 50k but moving up the hierarchy can pay a LOT. with four years of experience, during my job hunt i would say the vast majority of the positions i interviewed were within a six figure salary band. moving up the hierarchy, lots of senior copywriters make six figs, and some associate creative directors make over 200k. you can definitely live comfortably as a career copywriter if you play your cards right.

in terms of work: personally i love copywriting, but it's an arm of marketing. if you cant stomach writing marketing materials or learning how marketing works, it might not be for you, but i kinda make it into a game in my head. there's a lot of different kinds of copy -- short form (landing pages, social media blurbs, headlines, emails, product descriptions etc) and long form (white papers, SEO articles/blog posts, ebooks). i would aim to find a copywriting position that will have a wide scope of copy types, because that helps cultivate a well-rounded resume (i.e. shoot for a job that'll have you writing landing pages, emails and blog posts etc over one that's just headlines and captions).

there is also B2C (business to customer, as in marketing a consumer product to individuals) and B2B (business to business, as in marketing a product like mailchimp to a business). i mostly do B2C, but I also do B2B now. it's fine to start with just one, but i'd say right now demand is very high for B2B

the good thing about copywriting is that basically any industry requires it in some capacity. i've worked predominantly in entertainment and digital media, but right now i'd say the biggest demand is in healthcare, fintech and SaaS (software). i freelance for a telehealth company right now in part because i want to make my portfolio more well-rounded. but as i said, nearly any industry can need one -- hospitality, beauty, fashion, retail, nonprofits, anything that is a business that needs to be advertised. when i started, i worked in television, which meant my days largely consisted of watching shows before air and writing episode descriptions. i had a lot of fun!

personally, i dont find my work dreary. sometimes it can be a LITTLE tedious if i'm writing something more technical/internal, but the whole point of copywriting is to figure out how to entice someone to check something out, which means puzzling out how to write something fun and engaging. if you want something less marketing-focused, i would look into getting into technical writing. this is basically writing informational texts and guides for technology and similar things. it pays VERY well and is usually in high demand, but i will say it's definitely more tedious than copywriting.

in short: yes i love copywriting and you can be very financially stable in it! i'd argue it's one of the most financially comfortable day jobs for someone with writing experience. happy hunting anon!!!! i hope u get what ur after

[makuojinanwa]

How To Create A Content Marketing Strategy For Your SaaS Business

Whether you're starting conversations that engage your target audience, sharing information that positions your SaaS business as an industry leader, or simply drumming up business for your SaaS product, you need an effective SaaS content marketing strategy.

Why you may ask?

Because 63% of customers cite web pages during their evaluation process. And on the average, companies that blog receive 434% more indexed pages. If, on an industry-wide scale, you have nearly 10 times more leads from long form blog posts than short ones, then content marketing is a priority if you want to grow your SaaS business long term.

In this guide, we'll discuss SaaS content marketing strategy. And by the end, you'll know what content strategy is, why you need one and when to apply it. Then you'll get a step-by-step process of creating a content strategy unique to your SaaS business.

Defining SaaS Content Strategy

If you don't understand content strategy, we'll explain what it is before we get to the why and when.

So what is content strategy?

Content strategy is simply all the content processes a business employs to get prospects to buy their product or service. There's

#Audience Research

#Business Model

#Content Ideation

#Media Platforms

#Content Creation

#Distribution &

#Evaluation

And as a SaaS business owner, SaaS content strategy is simply a content strategy that accounts for your SaaS business model.

SaaS companies like Canva, Buffer and HubSpot have executed robust content marketing strategies that have scaled their lead generation and subscription efforts.

Specifically, Grammarly has a blog that educates their readers on writing styles and technique. Their blog has over 100,000 subscribers and their content has over 5 million views.

These readers get freemium access to their editing tool. They number 30 million users. And a good number of these readers end up paying for their editing software.

As a SaaS business owner, you can aim for similar success, cheap and exponential business growth, with an effective SaaS content strategy.

Benefit Of SaaS Content Strategy

Focus stands out amongst content strategy benefits like exponential growth and cheap lead generation. Joe Pulizzi stressed the importance of content strategy and expanded on focus as a SaaS content strategy benefit when he said this…

"We need to create a business strategy for our content. That means saying no to many channels and content types, and focus on where we can build an asset, an audience, overtime."

- Joe Pulizzi

A good SaaS content strategy saves time and energy that would otherwise be spent talking to the void. Strategy quickly gets you closer to what works. By studying your target market, you discover not just what to say, but where and when to say it.

Let's take HubSpot for instance here.

HubSpot's blog posts are comprehensive guides to unlock business growth via sales and marketing. Their blog content has a strong bias towards explaining theories and practices. But on their Instagram page, we observe something different. Content is more conversational and personable. Learning takes a back seat to experience and entertainment.

Their blog readers and Instagram followers are different. And even when these audiences overlap, we see different attitudes for different platforms. And in this case, the same lead is in a different mindset depending on which platform they consume HubSpot's content.

We can see that HubSpot's approach to content creation and distribution considers platform culture when talking about the same topics. These content strategy insights come from studying market behavior on search engines and different social media platforms.

So now they don't have to work mindlessly. They have knowledge and a plan on how to use relevant content to generate leads and sales.

This is the process of creating a content strategy and you can do the same for your SaaS business.

When To Use SaaS Content Strategy

From time to time, I find founders and aspiring entrepreneurs asking when to use content strategy in their business.

My answer?

Start as soon as you can. In fact, you should have started yesterday even if you don't have a product or market. Surprised? Let me explain.

Early Stage SaaS Companies

You see, a content strategy is valuable because of what it makes you do. You can't have a strategy to engage a market if you first don't know your core service or product, and who would need your offer.

Say you're a digital marketer helping e-commerce stores increase website traffic. And you hope to sell software services to e-commerce store owners in the future. You could use a content strategy where you document your process of helping e-commerce websites grow their traffic.

Now you're engaging your market while figuring out other problems they may have that would be worth a SaaS tool. Before UberSuggest, Neil Patel ran his digital marketing blog for many years. He offered educational content to digital marketers and online entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses. Now his SaaS tool, UberSuggest, helps entrepreneurs with keywords for their content marketing efforts.

Established SaaS Companies

On the other hand, established SaaS businesses can improve the value of their business by having another option to generate leads and sales. Outbound processes like cold calling and emailing can be effective and sustainable. But adding inbound processes like content marketing to the mix increase lead gen options and strengthens outbound processes too.

Regardless of where you are in your SaaS journey, creating a good SaaS content strategy keeps you in touch with your product and market.

Now having understood what a SaaS content strategy is and can do, let's get into the weeds of creating one.

Defining Your Market

All effective SaaS content strategy starts out with a defined market. As a SaaS business owner, ask yourself these questions…

Who needs what you sell?

Why do they have this need?

What would they feel like when said need is satisfied?

What else do they do outside finding said satisfaction?

These questions give you an opportunity to understand your market. Say you sell business software to freelance writers and content creators. Freelance writers and content creators need high paying clients and commercial success with their audience respectively.

But is that all?

It isn't. Dig deeper.

For a freelance writer, higher paying clients mean

Reduced Anxiety

Meaningful Work &

Time Freedom

And for the content creator, a profitable product they own means

Income Stability

Creative Freedom &

Work Satisfaction

As an owner of your business software, you now know what your editing or invoice software actually means to your market. You know their needs and what they'll feel like when satisfied.

So it's time to find them.

SaaS Content Strategy Platforms

We've answered the above questions for your hypothetical software business except for what content creators and freelance writers do outside their core jobs.

Answering the last question brings up more questions…

Do they consume business content from online gurus?

Do they take courses from fellow writers and bloggers?

What about search and social groups where they interact with fellow content creators and freelancers?

Remember, we're trying to find out their hangout spots online. So wherever they spend their time online is a potential content strategy platform. Content strategy platforms are places that shape your tone and approach to creating engaging content that converts prospects.

You can speak with your customers to get an idea of how they spend their online hours when they're not working. Of course you can't go around asking awkward questions like

'Where do you spend your time online?'.

Instead, you can say something like

'What's your most inspiring piece of educational content in the last 2 months?'

'Who's making content that gets you excited?'

'What obstacles do you face that often hinder your productivity?' (By the way, whoever is offering courses or creating content to solve that problem is a potential content strategy platform.)

Get a list of these content strategy platforms and go to work studying your market. You'll find yourself in reddit channels, comment sections of Instagram accounts and YouTube channels. You'll pick up Twitter trends and read blog comments.

Before long, the picture of your market becomes clear. You'll be full of content and distribution ideas for your content marketing campaign. Your SEO keyword search would be much more robust instead of staring at keyword software charts with frustration.

Back to our hypothetical software business. Your market research would take you to content strategy platforms like Ali Abdaal, Dan Koe, Zulie Rane, Gary Vee and Roberto Blake. These creators serve the typical content creator and freelance writer. Observe how they talk and what they talk about in the comment sections of these influencer accounts.

Now you know exactly what your market wants and you know how to create content for them.

It's time to engage and convert.

Engaging And Converting Your Audience

Many SaaS companies get it right up to this point but skid off track at this crucial bend. They lose because they want to engage their prospects on the company's terms. Don't make that mistake.

Remember our earlier conversation about HubSpot's approach to their blog and Instagram accounts?

Good.

They observed that business owners on search engines such as Google, have search intent to learn about new information and products to solve business problems. So HubSpot's blog attracts them with big prominent blog titles and small author bylines.

Blog Titles

Picture of HubSpot's SERP

Blog Titles and Author Bylines

Picture of HubSpot's Blog Post

You get the sense that it's ideas first before people. On the other hand, business owners and professionals who want to unwind while being social on Instagram, dictate HubSpot's Instagram approach to content creation. Here, social interaction and entertainment are priority over ideas and education.

Personality Over Theory

Picture of HubSpot's Instagram account

It's not enough to create content, you have to do so native to each platform. This is where strategy bleeds into tactics. Let's talk team building.

Building A Content Team

Having understood what it takes to create a practical SaaS content strategy, it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to tactics. You could start solo but at some point, you'd need to build a team.

We'll examine 4 factors that determine the success of your team. They're

Vision

Roles

Collaboration &

Accountability

We'll begin with vision.

Vision

Your vision is volume and creativity. You have a SaaS content strategy and ideas to engage your prospects. But to get results, you need to create and distribute as much content as possible.

We're talking 20-30 social media posts daily with at least 3-10 social engagements per post. Write blog posts, record podcasts and YouTube videos on a daily basis. Repurpose your long form posts for social. You want to find what sticks.

This is hard work but that's the real secret to content marketing success.

Especially at the beginning, you have to find out what actually works. So volume and creativity is the vision when hiring a content marketing team. At such volume, in 3-5 years, you'll evaluate content activity and do more of what engages your market. And consistent sales roll in.

There are no shortcuts to this game. It's not a sprint or a marathon, it's both. The long hard road is the easiest and shortest one. Get to work. As entrepreneurs, we instinctively understand that outbound processes like cold calling are a numbers game but we don't apply it to content marketing.

There are so many intangible content marketing skills that can only be mastered via the fire hose approach. So when building your content marketing team, your overarching vision is that big is better.

Roles

You want big and better, so it's time to get you a content marketing team who can achieve your goals. I'd say that there are 3 major content marketing roles.

Director

Manager &

Creative

When you were creating your content marketing strategy for your hypothetical SaaS company, you played the director role. In addition to setting the vision for content strategy, a director of content analyses and adjusts content efforts to achieve customer and company goals.

The manager is in charge of content production and adjacent processes. They hire creatives, supervise them and build systems that guarantee the right flow of content creation and distribution.

Creatives create content assets, engage with professionals within your business and prospects via content strategy platforms. They also collaborate with both manager and director to improve their creative processes.

Collaboration

Team collaboration with each other and the larger organization decides success. On the director level, they have to find a balance between customer satisfaction and company goals.

When creating a content strategy, these 2 criteria guide the content strategy process. Many times, the director is the link between C-suite and the content marketing branch of the company.

The manager, in many ways, is the middleman. They make strategy, from the director, and tactics from creatives, align. Giving strategy legs, and tactics direction, leads to a successful conveyor belt of content assets and development of customer-company relationships.

Creatives who collaborate effectively with their managers, get to do meaningful and result-driven work.

Accountability

Accountability is probably the only way to see through projects. We'll look at 3 ways to hold both you and the team accountable for your roles.

I. Set Realistic Goals

At the beginning you want the team to start with small achievable goals. A social media content creator who hasn't done more than 5 posts a day shouldn't start their first day on the job creating 30 social media posts daily.

II. Set General Guidelines And Standards

Something as simple as adequate communication during work hours should be basic. Team chats and emails shouldn't be left unattended for 3 days without prior notification of a new development. Team members should attend meetings.

III. Assign Specific Tasks To Individual

A good example here would be creatives being in charge of content creation and distribution. They're not responsible for engagement results. That's the responsibility of the manager and director.

Conclusion

As we draw this guide to a close, it's important to note that content marketing strategy will always be worth its business results. And since ever-changing markets affect business results, you'll always have to evaluate your tactics and strategy.

At the beginning of your content marketing efforts, a strategy, content schedule and distribution map, should be the goal. It isn't about the number of views as it's about the number of content pieces you create. And that's why volume is important.

A year or 2 into this flurry of activity, all content strategy platforms would show noticeable patterns of engagement. Some content pieces would have more engagement than others. This is where evaluation comes in.

Ditch what doesn't work and do more of what does. Scaling what works at this point would grow views and traffic. Just as we discussed, content marketing strategy is the first in a series of steps to generate leads and sales for your business.

If you have further questions about SaaS content strategy or content marketing in general, leave a comment below and it'll be addressed.

[wolfliving]

Internet of dead bikes, etc

*Stacey Higginbotham:

Plan for death at the start of building your connected device

This week brings us the tale of yet another connected device that may become a useless chunk of scrap because its maker is going out of business. In this case, the affected product is the VanMoof e-bike, which cost buyers $5,000 and requires a working app for many of the bike's functions.

VanMoof has gone into the Dutch version of bankruptcy, and owners of the product have been told that if the servers shut down, users will have no way to get a security key needed to operate many of the bike's features. For buyers of connected products ranging from home hubs to sous vide cookers, the end of a connected device company often means the end of a functioning product.

But it doesn't have to be this awful for consumers. By planning for failure, startups (and large companies like Amazon or Facebook) can kill their products better.

— VanMoof promises users that their connected bikes will get "better and better" through software updates. What they don't advertise is that without their servers, the bike may not even work. 

In the case of VanMoof, a rival connected e-bike company has created an app that will purportedly unlock the VanMoof bikes and provide some functionality. But relying on a competitor to hack together some software to control a device made by another vendor and hoping that, as a user, you can download your security key from the VanMoof servers, before those servers are shut down, is not an ideal scenario.

It's the equivalent of rushing through your home as a fire burns, trying to grab people, pets, important papers, and heirlooms while the walls crumble. Folks with go bags or even a sense of what to take first are in a far better position if the worst happens. And by now, every company building a connected device needs the equivalent of a go bag or at the very least, a checklist.

Design your business model and device differently

It starts with the design. When designing the physical product, designers need to think about graceful degradation. Put physical buttons on the device. Make sure the product functions as a bike, a juicer, an oven, or whatever else even if the additional software-based or connected features fail. When it comes to making decisions about the chips and services used in the hardware, consider ongoing maintenance costs and how long that hardware will get necessary security updates.

I've seen startups run into issues after they chose a hardware platform that required monthly payments that increase based on the device usage. One of the services was associated with keeping the product secure, so the device makers had the best goals in mind but realized too late that the initial design decision obligated the company to make annual payments that would rise as more people purchased and then used their devices.

Understanding the cloud architecture costs and decisions made when designing a connected device's software and apps also matters. Unlike with dumb physical hardware, where calculating the cost of any good sold ends once the device ships, connected devices have a continued ongoing cost more commonly associated with software.

Software gets around the ongoing cost issue by charging a licensing fee or charging for the product as a service. Hardware providers are trying to offset these ongoing costs with additional subscriptions, or in some cases by offering a SaaS model and throwing in hardware as part of a monthly fee.

Escrow funds, not source code

Any company selling a connected device should understand the monthly cost of supporting their servers and apps, and set aside the appropriate dollar amount to ensure that service providers get paid — even if the company runs into trouble. This means any product must have an escrow account with six months or a year of ongoing device upkeep fees allocated.

This means if a startup goes out of business, it has the funds to notify people that the connected device they spent money on will stop working after a set time as opposed to it just going dark on a random April night (hello, Insteon). Bigger companies may not need an escrow fund, but they, too, should kill underperforming devices with long lead times, discounts, and perhaps even refunds. Those strategies should be part of any initial planning for a new connected device.

We often hear of users demanding that companies put the source code for connected devices into escrow, so that users can run the code on their own servers and keep their devices operational. This strategy has three flaws.

The first is that the source code may not be enough to keep a device running, especially as elements like secure keys and certificate subscriptions are now part of connected device designs.

The second flaw is that not every device is suited for some side-loaded open source code. Meta is dealing with this as it pulls back from its connected video calling device, the Portal. Because the Portal has mics and cameras that a hacker might want to use to spy on users, Meta doesn't want to let people load software onto the product to keep it working; it represents too much risk. Instead, it would rather shut the devices down entirely.

Third, opening up the source code may make it easy for a select few to run a device, but it's not something the average consumer can or will do. So when thinking about escrow, think funds, not source code.

Learn from Amazon and others

There are examples of device deaths done right. Amazon actually provided a good example this year when it announced the end of its Halo wellness devices. Amazon made the announcement in April, and told consumers that 96 days later, the devices would stop working.

This was a relatively short amount of time, but Amazon promised full refunds to anyone who had purchased any of the devices within the prior 12 months, and immediately stopped charging subscription fees associated with Halo devices. It also refunded any unused prepaid Halo subscription fees and said it would delete all data associated with Halo devices without requiring the consumer to take any additional steps.

The ease of refunding customers was only available to Amazon because it was the sole retailer of the Halo devices, which isn't the case for every connected product, but it was clear that Amazon wanted to get out of the Halo business quickly and with minimum consumer fuss. So it made it incredibly easy.

Finally, Amazon asked consumers to ship the devices back for recycling and made doing so free, going far beyond what most companies are doing with dead devices.

Amazon isn't the only company that has ended its products' lives early. The German company behind the Neato vacuum, Vorwerk, shut down the vacuum division this year. But it also said it would maintain a staff of 14 people for the next five years to ensure the security and functioning of the vacuum’s cloud software and app. Vorwerk further said that it would provide replacement parts for up to five years.

I've seen other companies kill their devices with discounts for replacement gear and long lead times. That's the bare minimum, but it can still be frustrating for consumers. For example, I own a set of Arlo connected video cameras I purchased in the summer of 2017. In January of this year Arlo said it would classify my cameras as end of life as of April 2023, which means they would lose several features including free 7-day video storage, firmware updates, and email notifications.  

Since the reason I chose those cameras in the first place was that I got a 7-day window to see my videos before they were deleted without paying for a subscription, I was nonplussed about the short notice but frustrated that my cameras were going to die after only six years. After user outrage, Arlo said that it would continue with 7-day video storage until July 2024 before the devices would lose security updates and that functionality. For me, this means the cameras I paid $220 for in 2017 would work for seven years.

Expiration dates for smart devices

Had I know all of that when buying my cameras, I probably would have been fine with the cost/benefits tradeoff. But others may not have. And this is why in today's day and age, every single device should come with a guarantee that the device will work for a set number of years.  

Companies can go beyond this date, but they need to establish minimums that get displayed on the box and for devices sold online, at the point of sale. This includes how long the device will get new features and essential security updates. The UK has already enshrined this idea in regulations that will take effect in April next year.

Additionally, knowing the device expiration date can help companies figure out how much money they should set aside in the escrow accounts. It also ensures that when another company buys a connected device maker, they can't simply shut it down. Connected devices have been around long enough that we understand the challenges they pose for business models and the challenges that result when those companies fail.

It's past time we start doing something about it.

[jcmarchi]

Generative AI, innovation, creativity & what the future might hold - CyberTalk

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/generative-ai-innovation-creativity-what-the-future-might-hold-cybertalk/

Generative AI, innovation, creativity & what the future might hold - CyberTalk

Stephen M. Walker II is CEO and Co-founder of Klu, an LLM App Platform. Prior to founding Klu, Stephen held product leadership roles Productboard, Amazon, and Capital One.

Are you excited about empowering organizations to leverage AI for innovative endeavors? So is Stephen M. Walker II, CEO and Co-Founder of the company Klu, whose cutting-edge LLM platform empowers users to customize generative AI systems in accordance with unique organizational needs, resulting in transformative opportunities and potential.

In this interview, Stephen not only discusses his innovative vertical SaaS platform, but also addresses artificial intelligence, generative AI, innovation, creativity and culture more broadly. Want to see where generative AI is headed? Get perspectives that can inform your viewpoint, and help you pave the way for a successful 2024. Stay current. Keep reading.

Please share a bit about the Klu story:

We started Klu after seeing how capable the early versions of OpenAI’s GPT-3 were when it came to common busy-work tasks related to HR and project management. We began building a vertical SaaS product, but needed tools to launch new AI-powered features, experiment with them, track changes, and optimize the functionality as new models became available. Today, Klu is actually our internal tools turned into an app platform for anyone building their own generative features.

What kinds of challenges can Klu help solve for users?

Building an AI-powered feature that connects to an API is pretty easy, but maintaining that over time and understanding what’s working for your users takes months of extra functionality to build out. We make it possible for our users to build their own version of ChatGPT, built on their internal documents or data, in minutes.

What is your vision for the company?

The founding insight that we have is that there’s a lot of busy work that happens in companies and software today. I believe that over the next few years, you will see each company form AI teams, responsible for the internal and external features that automate this busy work away.

I’ll give you a good example for managers: Today, if you’re a senior manager or director, you likely have two layers of employees. During performance management cycles, you have to read feedback for each employee and piece together their strengths and areas for improvement. What if, instead, you received a briefing for each employee with these already synthesized and direct quotes from their peers? Now think about all of the other tasks in business that take several hours and that most people dread. We are building the tools for every company to easily solve this and bring AI into their organization.

Please share a bit about the technology behind the product:

In many ways, Klu is not that different from most other modern digital products. We’re built on cloud providers, use open source frameworks like Nextjs for our app, and have a mix of Typescript and Python services. But with AI, what’s unique is the need to lower latency, manage vector data, and connect to different AI models for different tasks. We built on Supabase using Pgvector to build our own vector storage solution. We support all major LLM providers, but we partnered with Microsoft Azure to build a global network of embedding models (Ada) and generative models (GPT-4), and use Cloudflare edge workers to deliver the fastest experience.

What innovative features or approaches have you introduced to improve user experiences/address industry challenges?

One of the biggest challenges in building AI apps is managing changes to your LLM prompts over time. The smallest changes might break for some users or introduce new and problematic edge cases. We’ve created a system similar to Git in order to track version changes, and we use proprietary AI models to review the changes and alert our customers if they’re making breaking changes. This concept isn’t novel for traditional developers, but I believe we’re the first to bring these concepts to AI engineers.

How does Klu strive to keep LLMs secure?

Cyber security is paramount at Klu. From day one, we created our policies and system monitoring for SOC2 auditors. It’s crucial for us to be a trusted partner for our customers, but it’s also top of mind for many enterprise customers. We also have a data privacy agreement with Azure, which allows us to offer GDPR-compliant versions of the OpenAI models to our customers. And finally, we offer customers the ability to redact PII from prompts so that this data is never sent to third-party models.

Internally we have pentest hackathons to understand where things break and to proactively understand potential threats. We use classic tools like Metasploit and Nmap, but the most interesting results have been finding ways to mitigate unintentional denial of service attacks. We proactively test what happens when we hit endpoints with hundreds of parallel requests per second.

What are your perspectives on the future of LLMs (predictions for 2024)?

This (2024) will be the year for multi-modal frontier models. A frontier model is just a foundational model that is leading the state of the art for what is possible. OpenAI will roll out GPT-4 Vision API access later this year and we anticipate this exploding in usage next year, along with competitive offerings from other leading AI labs. If you want to preview what will be possible, ChatGPT Pro and Enterprise customers have access to this feature in the app today.

Early this year, I heard leaders worried about hallucinations, privacy, and cost. At Klu and across the LLM industry, we found solutions for this and we continue to see a trend of LLMs becoming cheaper and more capable each year. I always talk to our customers about not letting these stop your innovation today. Start small, and find the value you can bring to your customers. Find out if you have hallucination issues, and if you do, work on prompt engineering, retrieval, and fine-tuning with your data to reduce this. You can test these new innovations with engaged customers that are ok with beta features, but will greatly benefit from what you are offering them. Once you have found market fit, you have many options for improving privacy and reducing costs at scale – but I would not worry about that in the beginning, it’s premature optimization.

LLMs introduce a new capability into the product portfolio, but it’s also an additional system to manage, monitor, and secure. Unlike other software in your portfolio, LLMs are not deterministic, and this is a mindset shift for everyone. The most important thing for CSOs is to have a strategy for enabling their organization’s innovation. Just like any other software system, we are starting to see the equivalent of buffer exploits, and expect that these systems will need to be monitored and secured if connected to data that is more important than help documentation.

Your thoughts on LLMs, AI and creativity?

Personally, I’ve had so much fun with GenAI, including image, video, and audio models. I think the best way to think about this is that the models are better than the average person. For me, I’m below average at drawing or creating animations, but I’m above average when it comes to writing. This means I can have creative ideas for an image, the model will bring these to life in seconds, and I am very impressed. But for writing, I’m often frustrated with the boring ideas, although it helps me find blind spots in my overall narrative. The reason for this is that LLMs are just bundles of math finding the most probable answer to the prompt. Human creativity —from the arts, to business, to science— typically comes from the novel combinations of ideas, something that is very difficult for LLMs to do today. I believe the best way to think about this is that the employees who adopt AI will be more productive and creative— the LLM removes their potential weaknesses, and works like a sparring partner when brainstorming.

You and Sam Altman agree on the idea of rethinking the global economy. Say more?

Generative AI greatly changes worker productivity, including the full automation of many tasks that you would typically hire more people to handle as a business scales. The easiest way to think about this is to look at what tasks or jobs a company currently outsources to agencies or vendors, especially ones in developing nations where skill requirements and costs are lower. Over this coming decade you will see work that used to be outsourced to global labor markets move to AI and move under the supervision of employees at an organization’s HQ.

As the models improve, workers will become more productive, meaning that businesses will need fewer employees performing the same tasks. Solo entrepreneurs and small businesses have the most to gain from these technologies, as they will enable them to stay smaller and leaner for longer, while still growing revenue. For large, white-collar organizations, the idea of measuring management impact by the number of employees under a manager’s span of control will quickly become outdated.

While I remain optimistic about these changes and the new opportunities that generative AI will unlock, it does represent a large change to the global economy. Klu met with UK officials last week to discuss AI Safety and I believe the countries investing in education, immigration, and infrastructure policy today will be best suited to contend with these coming changes. This won’t happen overnight, but if we face these changes head on, we can help transition the economy smoothly.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with the CyberTalk.org audience?

Expect to see more security news regarding LLMs. These systems are like any other software and I anticipate both poorly built software and bad actors who want to exploit these systems. The two exploits that I track closely are very similar to buffer overflows. One enables an attacker to potentially bypass and hijack that prompt sent to an LLM, the other bypasses the model’s alignment tuning, which prevents it from answering questions like, “how can I build a bomb?” We’ve also seen projects like GPT4All leak API keys to give people free access to paid LLM APIs. These leaks typically come from the keys being stored in the front-end or local cache, which is a security risk completely unrelated to AI or LLMs.

[govindhtech]

IBM Maximo AWS Deployment Strategies

The Business Value of IBM Maximo, a recent IDC report that surveyed 9 companies with an average of 8,500 employees, found that adopting IBM Maximo resulted in a business benefit of USD 14.6 million per year per organization, 43% less unplanned downtime, and USD 8.6 million in total equipment cost avoidances.

One comprehensive, cloud-based application platform for asset monitoring, management, predictive maintenance, and reliability planning is IBM Maximo Application Suite (MAS). Maximo optimizes performance, extends asset lifecycles, and reduces downtime and costs for high-value assets using AI and analytics. Hosting Maximo on a scalable infrastructure maximizes performance, hence the current tendency is to shift it to the cloud. In this trip, MAS migration and deployment on AWS Cloud are gaining popularity.

The growing demand for Maximo AWS Cloud migration

Migrating to cloud helps enterprises improve operational resilience and dependability while updating software with minimal effort and infrastructure constraints. Due to the growing demand for data-driven asset management, firms must aggregate data from diverse departments to identify trends, generate predictions, and make better asset management decisions.

Last April, IBM said Maximo 7.6 and add-on support would stop in September 2025. All Maximo EAM customers must upgrade to the latest cloud-based MAS. Maximo migration and modernization are become increasingly significant to clients.

IBM has released new containerized versions of Maximo Application Suite as a Service (MAS SaaS) on AWS Marketplace with Bring Your Own License (BYOL) to assist Maximo migration to AWS. MAS SaaS on AWS is another milestone in Maximo’s integration of Monitor, Health, and Visual Inspection into a unified suite.

What makes MAS SaaS distinct

IBM Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) specialists use best practices to continuously maintain and administer MAS SaaS, a subscription-based AWS service. This partnership gives customers an industry-leading IBM asset management system underpinned by AWS’s size, agility, and cost-efficiency.

Upgrades and migrations to MAS 8 are possible with MAS SaaS. The data update is similar to prior upgrades, but ROSA and other dependencies require architecture changes. The migration is comparable to how clients transitioned from on-premise to Maximo EAM SaaS Flex, but with MAS changes. Perpetual on-premises customers would stop paying Service & Support (S&S) and purchase a SaaS subscription, on-premises Subscription License customers would start a new subscription, and existing MAS Flex and MAS Managed Service customers would start a new subscription to migrate to MAS SaaS.

Our IBM Consulting Cloud Accelerator (ICCA) technology lets firms plan migration and upgrade strategies before investing.

Maximo migration strategy of a global energy firm

IBM worked closely with an energy company confronting the following challenges:

Infrastructure needed for latest Maximo version takes longer.

WebSphere, Maximo’s core, experienced high-availability and performance difficulties.

Lack of data fabric and integration layer hinders cross-application data interchange.

Complex setup, failures, and security with manual end-to-end deployment.

Since Maximo Application Suite 8 (MAS8) tackles industry issues like failure risk, escalating maintenance costs, sustainability, and compliance laws, the customer chose it. The client chose AWS Cloud for its deployment flexibility, scalability, high availability, and secure architecture. 

Approach to solution

This is how IBM accelerated the energy company’s Maximo move to AWS:

Used Infra as a code to upgrade Maximo from 7.6.0.9 to 7.6.1.2.

IaC allowed instance spin-up for auto scaling. This automation reduces the time to spin up and execute the new environment and addresses multi-AWS availability zone deployment latency.

Used AWS DMS for data migration and schema conversion.

IaC spun the DR environment on demand to reduce database replication (DR) infrastructure and expense. DR capabilities update data in availability zone and DR area.

Achieved data exchange across applications using IBM Cloud Pak for Data and standardized integration using IBM Cloud Pak for Integration components.

Solution components

Maximum Enterprise Application Management (EAM) has a 3-tier design with these components:

HTTP/Web Tier and Application Tier using IBM WebSphere and HIS installed EC2 instance under private subnet for application security.

Database Tier uses AWS Oracle RDS with replication for DR under private subnet.

AWS best practices were used to configure VPC with public and private subnets.

Application servers and deployment manager were autoscaled by Auto Scaling Group. 

Maximum web-based UI resolution for external access using AWS Route 53.

WAF was the initial line of defense against web exploits.

Integration of Terraform and CFT IaC scripts provided autoscaling architecture.

AWS Reference Architecture

Max on RedHat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) helps clients

Containerized MAS 8.0 runs on RedHat OpenShift. AWS, IBM, and RedHat developed an IBM MAS on ROSA reference architecture to help customers inexperienced with production containerization. ROSA, a fully managed, turnkey application platform, supports IBM MAS configuration and offloads cluster lifecycle management to RedHat and AWS, allowing organizations to focus on application deployment and innovation. This means IBM MAS clients don’t need to develop, administer, or maintain RedHat OpenShift clusters.

Operating Model and Maximo Migration

Top 3 Maximo AWS migration accelerators

Clients can migrate to the cloud using three IBM MAS deployment methods on AWS Cloud:

ROSA-powered MAS SaaS on AWS

ROSA-powered AWS MAS

Customer-hosted ROSA

Why use customer-hosted ROSA

The customer-hosted ROSA option for hosting IBM MAS in a customer’s VPC with ROSA is powerful. ROSA is perfect for MAS deployments because it seamlessly deploys, scales, and manages containerized applications.

The benefits of this choice are enormous. Full control over the infrastructure while still subject to the organization’s monitoring, controls, and governance standards allows businesses to customize and adjust the environment to their needs. This control includes adding MAS integrations and enforcing cloud security and governance requirements. ROSA charges are combined into one AWS bill and drawn from any AWS enterprise agreement, simplifying financial management.

AWS enterprise agreements and Compute Savings Plans offer infrastructure savings for MAS implementations. Because the ROSA cluster operates under the customer’s AWS account, customers can buy upfront ROSA contracts and get a one-year or three-year ROSA service charge discount.

Why IBM for Maximo AWS migration?

Any modernization effort must include cloud migration. Cloud migration is not a one-size-fits-all method, and each organization faces unique cloud adoption difficulties.

IBM Consulting’s Application Modernization offering helps clients migrate and modernize AWS applications faster, cheaper, and more efficiently, reducing technical debt and accelerating digital initiatives while minimizing business risk and improving business agility.

IBM offers unique cloud migration services to accelerate customer application migration to AWS:

Cloud migration factory capabilities including proven frameworks and processes, automation, migrating templates, security policies, and AWS-specific migration squads speed up delivery.

IBM Garage Methodology, IBM’s cloud services delivery capabilities, ROSA, and AWS Migration tools and accelerators accelerate migration and cloud adoption.

ICCA, IBM’s proprietary framework for migration and modernization, reduces risk. ICCA for AWS Cloud automates various modernization procedures, simplifying and speeding up company agility. Before investing, businesses can plan migration and modernization strategies. Discover IBM Consulting Cloud Accelerator for AWS Cloud.

Our well-defined pattern-based migration methodology includes re-factor, re-platform, and containerization using AWS managed services and industry-leading tools to remove and optimize technical debt.

Finally, IBM offers customizable t-shirt-sized price models for small, medium, and large migration sizes, ensuring clients’ migration scope is obvious.

IBM helps clients migrate applications, like Maximo to AWS Cloud

In conclusion, clients seek IBM’s expertise to:

1.Upgrade Maximo 7.6x (expiring 2025) to MAS 8. 

2.On-premise workload to AWS Cloud for elastic, scalable, and highly available infrastructure and runtime

IBM Consulting can help

AWS Premier Partner IBM Consulting accelerates hybrid cloud journeys on the AWS Cloud by leveraging business and IT transformation skills, processes, and tools from many industries. On AWS Cloud, IBM’s security, enterprise scalability, and open innovation with Red Hat OpenShift enable enterprises grow swiftly.

BM Consulting develops cloud-native apps in AWS Cloud with 21,000+ AWS-certified cloud practitioners, 17 validated SDD programs, and 16 AWS competencies. IBM Consulting is the best AWS partner due to acquisitions like Nordcloud and Taos, advancements at IBM Research, and co-development with AWS.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[neitzarr]

12 Steps to Create a Successful Consulting Plan

Are you ready to take the plunge and start a successful consulting business? Writing a good consulting business plan is essential for success. Here are 12 simple steps you can take to get started.

1.Draft Your Ideas

. The first step in creating a successful consulting plan is to get your ideas down on paper.

Don't worry about grammar, structure, or neatness. Just jot down your thoughts and ideas to help you organize them and create a plan of action.

2.Research the Market

. Before you can start your consulting business, it's important to understand the industry you are entering and the three fundamental components of your business plan. Take some time to research your competitors and download a template to get started.

3.Leverage Your Experience

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When customers are looking for a consultant, they often choose the professional with more experience in their industry. Consider how many years of experience you have and how it can benefit your clients.

4.Identify Your Niche

. A niche is a specific subset of people that you could serve in SaaS companies, manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, etc. Use the niche scoring method to determine which niche is right for you.

5.Create an Attention-Grabbing Message

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To stand out from the competition, create an engaging message that captures potential customers' attention. Explain why they should choose you over other consultants.

6.Establish Your Sales Channel

. Your sales channel organizes all the potential customers that come into contact with you. This could include social media, email campaigns, or word-of-mouth referrals.

7.Design a Satisfying Lifestyle

.

Your consulting business should enrich your life and create a satisfying lifestyle for you and your family. Consider how much time and money you need to make this happen.

8.Outline Your Hiring Options

. Once you've outlined your three hiring options and a discovery offer, you're ready to launch your offerings to the market.

9.Build Relationships

. Start creating a list of contacts to contact when you are ready to launch and attract new customers.

This could include former colleagues, industry experts, or potential clients.

10. Consider a Hybrid Model

. Once you master one of these models, the hybrid model will help you add new products and services to generate more revenue.

11. Plan Ahead

. Planning ahead may seem unnecessary when your consulting business hasn't yet taken off, but it will help ensure success in the long run.

12. Show Tangible Results

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To show potential clients how your consulting services can have a tangible impact on their business, tell your own story or provide case studies from past clients. Once you have taken these steps, it's time to start looking for clients! Research potential clients in your industry and find out what they are looking for in a consultant. Collect quotes from as many consultants as possible to get an idea of what customers are willing to pay based on experience and reputation. Finally, determine who you will consult in the case of Annie - Studio Potter's research consultants who serve the same audience.

Read more here https://www.smb.management/how-do-i-create-a-consulting-plan

[novalabs]

Wix Vs WordPress

Both Wix and WordPress offer fantastic features, regardless of whether you think a free website builder should host your blog or build an e-commerce website for selling your handcrafted items. If a feature isn't native to one platform or the other, there are programs or plugins to help you expand the functionality of your site. Your needs and goals, which you will discuss with your website application development business, will determine the best option for you.

The Difference Between WordPress and Wix in 2023

Comprehensive solutions, including WordPress and Wix*-based content management systems, are offered by seasoned website creation companies like Novalabs. Ask our specialists how to utilize the free website builder.  

What is Wix?

With Wix, you can create your own website without needing to know how to code. It's a "software-as-a-service" (SaaS) tool, meaning you pay a monthly price to utilize it rather than own the product. 

What is WordPress?

In 2003, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little founded WordPress as a platform for blogging. Since then, it has evolved into a totally free website builder.

By the year 2022, it will be widely known. According to BuiltWith.com, the platform is currently used by about 36.5 million live websites. 

There are two distinct WordPress configurations to take into account: 

Web-based WordPress

Similar to Wix, hosted WordPress is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for creating and managing websites that can be accessed at wordpress.com. 

Although it started out as a blogging service, it is now a fully functional website builder. You pay a regular charge to use it, and in exchange, you get access to a wide range of components that help you build a website. 

WordPress Self-Hosted

You can download and install the self-hosted WordPress program from wordpress.org on your own web server. This suggests that you should get hosting so that your website has a location. Currently, WordPress is open-source, which means that the code that powers it is easily available and modifiable. 

Wix vs. WordPress: Points to consider

1. Usability

One of the simplest website builders to use to create a website is Wix. Why? You can change everything in your program without installing any additional software. Their user interface is quite simple and intuitive, especially for total beginners. They also have an Application Market where you can add features with a single click if you ever want to add more functionality. 

However, compared to WordPress, Wix requires far more work to construct a website. WordPress is also well-known for its modules and plugins. However, installing or performing them is typically not that simple. To establish a site, the software as a whole basically needs a little bit of specialized training or at the very least some development experience. 

2. Design and adaptability

There are roughly 1,000 (yes, 1,000!) free templates in Wix's layout library. They are organized into classes (websites, cafés, photographers, etc.) and are slick and modern.

Whatever the case, you can undoubtedly relax because Wix offers a perspective that is entirely transportable. Although this is totally acceptable for Google (more on this later), you might need to re-arrange a few features (using intuitive) to properly serve your site on mobile devices. 

With Wix versus WordPress, you can get the exact you need if you know CSS and HTML or, on the other hand, if you wouldn't mind investing a few hours figuring out how to update your layout's code.

3. Plugins and Apps

There are many methods to expand your industry-specific site on Wix, and you can choose from 300 free and paid applications in the application market. There are incredible apps for things like lodging reservation systems, artist picture displays, or invoice generation, for instance. The fact that some of these applications are created by Wix itself is actually extremely significant. 

WordPress is renowned for its plugins, which include those for virtual entertainment, contact management, website design improvement, and more. WordPress serves as a good example of this since there is actually a plugin for everything. Although Wix's applications are much easier to set up and maintain, your choice is subject to some restrictions. 

Conclusion

It implies that the best free website builder depends on the type of site you want to create. Hiring a WordPress website development business is perhaps the best option if you require a solid solution that will scale over time. 

However, Wix is helpful for smaller, more modest sites that take less work and have an adequate design. The choice you make in the end will rely on what you really want from your website.

[techscopetechnologiesltd]

5 Important Features of ERP Payroll Management

Everything related to paying employees and filing employment taxes is handled by ERP Payroll management. They are set up to calculate earnings, withhold taxes and other deductions, print and deliver checks, and pay government employment taxes. They also maintain track of the number of hours worked. Payroll is frequently processed using software, which requires little input from businesses.

Employers must enter the wages and number of hours worked, and the software uses this data to compute automatically and deduct withholdings. The majority of payroll system software automatically updates itself when tax rules change and notifies employers when specific tax forms need to be filed.

What Exactly is an ERP Payroll System?

The procedure is automated by an ERP system, which also ensures that all employee data in the connected HR and Payroll modules is updated. The technology enables you to observe and extract the data with just a few keystrokes, and it is immediately visible at a look. This enables you to go deeper into data analytics, which can help you recognize trends and pinpoint issues, as well as facilitate quicker and better decision-making.

How Beneficial is it?

Any firm, whether it is a start-up company or an established major organization, needs to manage its payroll. The projection of the annual budget and the potential for future expansion will benefit from the correct payroll maintenance. Nowadays, the majority of firms look for HR and payroll management software instead of doing manual bookkeeping.

How Does ERP Payroll Work?

Every company or organization needs to manage and execute its payroll. There are several steps and exact calculations needed in order to pay each employee their periodic salary depending on their pay period and work hours. This is generally done in the HR department. When determining payroll, a number of additional factors are taken into consideration, including pay rate, taxes, and deductions. Therefore, accurate payroll processing guarantees that workers receive the required remuneration in accordance with their employment status and other laws.

ERP stands for "Enterprise Resource Planning," and it is a class of software or system used by businesses to schedule and oversee everyday operations, including supply chains, production, services, financials, and other procedures. Accounting and procurement, project management, customer relations, risk management, compliance, and supply chain operations are just a few tasks that enterprise resource planning software may perform to automate and streamline a company or organization.

A full suite of ERP Payroll management can be used to effectively communicate and integrate business processes to allow a flow of data between the applications, typically through shared databases either on-site/on-premise or in the cloud. Individual ERP Payroll management can offer software as a service (SaaS), while a complete suite of ERP systems can be used to provide SaaS.

5 Important Features of ERP Payroll Software

We'll go into detail about the most crucial components of a payroll software system in the section that follows.

1. Automation of Payroll

Having access to specialized payroll software that automates difficult, repetitive procedures related to payroll processing is crucial for efficient HR administration. Additionally, it must be simple to link with numerous third-party applications and business processes.

By using software to streamline payroll processing, payroll automation decreases the amount of human input.

The tasks of calculating tax withholdings, submitting taxes, and processing direct deposits are all made easier by payroll automation. Particularly during tax season, these solutions for finance teams can help save time and money.

2. Management of Operational Expenditures

To minimize overhead costs, one of the key drivers for the development of custom ERP software for payroll management systems. Because of this, it's crucial to check that your payroll software is created in a way that promotes economy of scale.

It is crucial to define the operational activities, or the main revenue-generating operations of the firm, as well as other activities that are not financing or investment activities, before estimating a company's operating expenses.

3. Salary/Benefits Management

It is an essential component that you must take into account while creating a unique ERP system for payroll management. As its name implies, it would assist various divisions throughout the firm in managing pay and benefits for employees. 

Additionally, it would streamline procedures for managing allowances, including HRA, medical, project, and transportation allowances, among others.

4. Tax Planning

Another crucial function that any ERP software must have for payroll management is tax management. It assists you in keeping track of tax filing deadlines and helps you handle TDS calculations, employee remuneration, and tax filings. Additionally, it automatically verifies tax deposits and rebates and updates tax tables in real time.

The fact that high-level abilities are used to execute the payroll software application is its strongest feature. The application's most recent upgrades will provide all of the payroll software's newest capabilities when they are installed. You don't have to pay anything for manual mistakes using this system. The automatic payroll software, therefore, reduces the likelihood of human error to the absolute minimum.

The tax forms are already filled up using this feature's payroll information for the employee. Even with outsourced operations, third-party programs can keep the records refreshed every hour. Additionally, this function provides direct labour distribution paperwork, leave status, and quarterly audit reports.

5. Analytics and Reporting

Additionally, you need to have user-friendly dashboards, effective reporting tools, and cutting-edge analytics features in your ERP software for payroll management. Additionally, the use of MIS reporting tools in payroll software would aid in evaluating your business's current financial performance and economic health.

The ERP Payroll management system's features are crucial but challenging for enterprises. They simplify the lives of HR administrators and executives despite being complex. Research the various vendor offers thoroughly before applying for payroll management software.

FAQs Related To ERP Payroll Management

Q. What is ERP Payroll Management?

Ans. ERP software for managing payroll systems is used to oversee the entire payroll business process of an organization.

Q. What are the benefits of using ERP software for HR and payroll management?

Ans. No matter if the company is a small startup or a well-established major enterprise, payroll management is essential. The projection of the annual budget as well as the potential for future expansion will benefit from the correct payroll maintenance. Nowadays, the majority of businesses look for payroll system software instead of doing manual bookkeeping.

Q. How does ERP help in payroll?

Ans. An ERP system automates the updating process and guarantees that all employee data is up to date in the connected HR and Payroll modules. The technology enables you to view and extract information with just a few clicks, and it is readily available at a glance.

Conclusion

Techscope Technologies is an SAP Business One Partner in India, that specializes in SAP B1 implementation and payroll administration services. We take care of all payroll processing requirements, automate employee wage management, and ensure timely filing of income tax returns and payroll compliance. We have a list of satisfied clients who use our service and manage payroll using an easy panel developed by our professionals.

Source: https://techscope.co.in/5-features-of-erp-for-hr-and-payroll-management/

[marketingaquad]

In Discussion with Ben Hartman, Regional Vice President, ANZ

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Hartman, Etaprise’s newly appointed Regional Vice President for ANZ. Etaprise, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA, is a SaaS Field Service and Asset Management platform designed to drive operational efficiency by mobilizing field service workforces, improving service quality, and enhancing asset management.

Introduction

As part of my series on Service and Asset Management, I had the opportunity to sit down with Ben Hartman. Ben is a seasoned professional in the field and asset management industry, having held senior management roles at leading global companies. His expertise in Field Service and Asset Management solutions bridges the gap between complex technical concepts, business requirements, and strategic management objectives, delivering the business value expected from an industry leader.

Interview

Q: Ben, thank you for joining us. Our readers would love to know more about your background and how you got involved with Service Management.

Ben: It has indeed been a journey! My professional career started in the Netherlands, where I was involved in the sales of capital equipment and related spares and services. I quickly realized the value of service and its impact on customer satisfaction. Before moving to Australia with my family, I worked in Southern Africa in various sales and service roles. Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with a diverse group of companies and wonderful people. In Australia, I joined Astea, a leader in enterprise grade Field Service Management Solutions, which was recently acquired by IFS.

Q: Where does the inspiration come from that led to a career in Service?

Ben: Anyone who has sold Capital Equipment knows that ‘triple S’; - a term I frequently use to explain Service, Spares and Supplies that follows a sale, is the real bottom-line contributor. I frequently used the phrase to explain the transition from ‘service cost centre - to service profit centre’. So, having appropriately trained Service technicians, Spares and Supplies on hand is key to asset uptime and customer satisfaction. The ‘Triple S’ applies to all companies that sell equipment and those that provide the associated Services.

I understand the importance of asset uptime. When for example, a large machine breaks and production can’t continue all the disastrous aftereffects of not being able to distribute on time bears on how service has been done. Managing my workforce, my spares and supplies inventory became a key objective for me to maintain asset uptime and long-term relationships with my customers.

The pressure to deliver a first-time fix rate was paramount and this influenced my determination to understand superior service management practises. By focusing on the first-time fix, I also wanted to make my service contracts profitable. But how to do this effectively? This awareness put me on my drive towards the service industry and software solutions that are needed to deliver a superior service experience.

Q: What were the challenges then and how did you overcome them? Did you make any mistakes and were you able to learn from them?

Ben: The biggest challenge to overcome was the huge amount of paperwork involved and the lack of a mobile solution. The transition of going ‘digital’ was also not without its pitfalls. My biggest mistake was to underestimate inventory management and associated logistics processes. I recall flying in spares and supplies at a huge expense! After that I made sure that I had sufficient stock. This became a huge win for me as sub-contractors across the region reached out to me for spares. In turn this gave me an opportunity to sell additional Services as well as Supplies. Trial and error are tough task master’s and what I have gleaned from that is that patience coupled with respect and integrity in what you do, takes you a long way in gaining trust and respect with customers and colleagues.

Q: How about the technology related challenges?

Ben: One of the biggest challenges was to integrate all the different systems into one homogenous business process, and to integrate with the HCM and Finance systems. At Etaprise we use a combination of in-house integration and automation capabilities which can help us to connect with apps which our customers can easily integrate to.

The second biggest challenge was to find a hosting provider that could support our SaaS ambitions on a global scale. After careful selection we decided to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. Their ability to scale and meaningfully compute instances many times more than any other cloud provider, gives us and our customers the choice and flexibility at a very competitive price.

The third biggest challenge was Scheduling automation. At Etaprise we have put our best minds to this challenge, and I can confidently say that by applying AI to our Scheduling algorithms we are able to provide true value to our customers.

Q: Service business is all around us. It affects our lives in many ways, and the industries that need to provide services are realizing this more and more. In a sense, we are reliant on this. What is your view on the service industry?

Ben: Service management software continues to be a strategic and essential growth driver for many companies. Our vision, which includes applying AI to scheduling and constantly evolving with the latest technology through our dedicated team of developers, sets us apart. The combined specialist knowledge of each specific module, coupled with their agility, provides a unique customer engagement. The end-customer benefits significantly from this approach, ultimately resulting in a substantial ROI.

In Australia and New Zealand, the majority of Field Service providers are small to medium sized companies. With Etaprise we provide a SMB solution suite applied to many different verticals.

Q: Most of the companies now use ERP. Why should such companies invest in Service management?

Ben: Even the best ERP providers often come with constraints, as they are designed to meet the needs of a broad range of organizations. While they typically allow for some customization, the degree can be limited. Sometimes, a plug-in service module is added, forcing the customer to adhere to a less optimal service process. This is where Etaprise steps in. By leveraging our experience, expertise, and agility, we develop and deliver unique field service mobility solutions that meet the needs of most service organizations. In addition to AI, we also tap into IoT, which is being applied in numerous ways already. By applying service management technology and best practices, we create the best outcomes for customers and their assets.

Q: What are your values to your team and to your customers, and how do you demonstrate that? How did your values lead to success?

Ben: I have adopted the RITCH principles - Respect, Integrity, Trust, Communication, and Honesty. These principles are easy to mirror to Etaprise’s commitment in both personal and customer relationships. The internal communication, customer interaction, and the desire to deliver quality outcomes to customers are very evident!

I have taken it upon myself to discuss the real value we bring to our customers by helping them understand the Value Proposition of our software. By applying Business Value Engineering (BVE) and looking at the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), we estimate a measurable ROI and add value to our customers’ businesses and their customers.

Q: Ben in your opinion, what would be the key takeaways to run a successful service business?

 Ben: The primary objective is to improve the utilization of your workforce. This can only be achieved with tools that can schedule technicians, spares, and supplies in real-time. Effective contract lifecycle management and optimizing your inventory and supply chain are also crucial.

By doing things right, such as achieving a high first-time fix rate, you will improve customer satisfaction, grow your revenue, and manage your cash flow more effectively. Customers prefer having their assets maintained conveniently rather than dealing with a break/fix scenario.

The service management tools are available, and the underlying technologies such as AI, machine learning, predictive maintenance, IoT, and a remote-first approach are set to become the future cornerstones of service management. Maintaining ideal asset uptime is paramount. The goal is to manage costs, be profitable, and improve customer satisfaction. The key is to find a solution provider that can cater to the unique needs of the service provider.

We also see a trend where businesses wish to share service responsibility by offloading it to the service provider, with asset uptime being the key driver. Sharing this responsibility comes with risk-sharing.

At Etaprise, we have several innovative commercial concepts to help our customers accommodate these requests. This illustrates our agility and flexibility in our commitment to our customers.

This interview was insightful and inspiring. Thank you so much!

Contact details:

info@etaprise.com

www.etaprise.com

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[sanjanabia]

Breaking into the Cloud Computing and DevOps Field: Where to Start?

The tech landscape is rapidly transforming, with cloud computing and DevOps at the forefront of this evolution. As businesses increasingly migrate their operations to the cloud and adopt agile practices, the demand for skilled professionals in these areas continues to rise. If you’re looking to break into this exciting field, one of the best first steps is to enroll in a cloud computing institute in Hyderabad. Here’s how to get started on your journey.

Understanding the Basics

Before diving into a career in cloud computing and DevOps, it’s essential to understand what these fields entail. Cloud computing involves delivering various services, such as storage, databases, and software, over the internet, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently. DevOps is a set of practices that integrates software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops), fostering collaboration and streamlining workflows.

Understanding these concepts in cloud computing institute in Hyderabad lays the foundation for your career. Once you grasp the basics, you can focus on acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge.

Choosing the Right Cloud Computing Institute in Hyderabad

Selecting a reputable cloud computing institute in Hyderabad is crucial for your education and future career. Look for institutes that offer:

Comprehensive Curriculum: Ensure the program covers essential topics such as cloud service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), deployment models, cloud security, and fundamental DevOps practices.

Hands-On Training: Practical experience is vital. Choose institutes that offer labs, projects, and internships to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios.

Industry Recognition: Look for programs that are well-regarded in the industry, ideally with partnerships or collaborations with leading tech companies.

Experienced Instructors: Learn from professionals with real-world experience who can provide valuable insights and mentorship.

Certifications: Opt for institutes that prepare you for industry-recognized certifications, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals. These credentials enhance your employability and credibility.

Building Your Skill Set

Once you’ve enrolled in a cloud computing institute in Hyderabad, focus on building your skill set. Key areas to concentrate on include:

Cloud Platforms: Familiarize yourself with major cloud service providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Understanding their services and offerings will give you a competitive edge.

Networking and Security: Learn about network configurations, security protocols, and compliance standards relevant to cloud environments.

DevOps Tools: Gain proficiency in popular DevOps tools such as Docker, Kubernetes, Jenkins, and Git. These tools are essential for automating processes and enhancing collaboration.

Scripting and Automation: Basic programming and scripting skills (Python, Bash, etc.) can significantly enhance your ability to automate tasks and manage cloud resources efficiently.

Gaining Practical Experience

Practical experience is crucial for solidifying your understanding and enhancing your resume. Participate in internships or collaborative projects during your training. Many cloud computing institutes in Hyderabad offer internship placements that can provide invaluable experience.

Additionally, consider contributing to open-source projects or creating your own projects. This hands-on experience not only helps you apply your skills but also demonstrates your initiative and problem-solving capabilities to potential employers.

Networking and Building Connections

Networking is essential in the tech industry. Attend workshops, webinars, and local meetups to connect with professionals and peers. Joining online forums and social media groups focused on cloud computing and DevOps can also help you stay updated on industry trends and job opportunities.

Leverage platforms like LinkedIn to showcase your skills, share your projects, and engage with industry leaders. Building a strong professional network can lead to mentorship opportunities and job referrals.

Exploring Career Opportunities

Once you’ve completed your training from cloud computing institute in Hyderabad and gained practical experience, it’s time to explore career opportunities. The job market for cloud computing and DevOps professionals is robust, with various roles available, including:

Cloud Engineer: Responsible for managing and implementing cloud services and solutions.

DevOps Engineer: Focuses on integrating development and operations to improve deployment efficiency and reliability.

Cloud Architect: Designs and oversees cloud infrastructure and strategy.

Site Reliability Engineer (SRE): Ensures systems' reliability and performance through proactive monitoring and incident management.

Many organizations are actively seeking talent in these roles, offering competitive salaries and benefits.

Continuous Learning and Development

The tech landscape is ever-evolving, making continuous learning vital. After starting your career, consider pursuing additional certifications or advanced training programs to keep your skills updated. This commitment to learning will enhance your career trajectory and keep you relevant in a competitive job market.

Conclusion

Breaking into the cloud computing and DevOps field may seem daunting, but with the right approach, it can be an exciting and rewarding journey. Start by enrolling in a reputable cloud computing institute in Hyderabad to gain the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for success. Focus on building your expertise, gaining practical experience, and networking within the industry. By taking these steps, you’ll be well on your way to establishing a fulfilling career in these dynamic and in-demand fields. Embrace the challenge, and you’ll find a world of opportunities waiting for you!

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[ad_1] Synthetic Intelligence (AI) is remodeling industries worldwide, and the Software program as a Service (SaaS) sector isn't any exception. SaaS growth providers have benefited immensely from AI, enabling quicker, extra environment friendly processes and introducing revolutionary options that had been as soon as deemed futuristic. From automation to enhanced information analytics, AI is redefining how SaaS growth corporations ship worth to their shoppers and clients.   Introduction to SaaS and AI Earlier than diving into how AI is revolutionizing SaaS, it’s important to grasp the fundamentals of Software program as a Service (SaaS) and Synthetic Intelligence (AI). SaaS is a cloud-based service the place functions are delivered through the web, enabling customers to entry software program with out the necessity for bodily infrastructure or set up. This subscription-based mannequin has develop into a go-to resolution for a lot of companies, starting from startups to giant enterprises. Synthetic Intelligence refers to machines’ skill to imitate cognitive capabilities comparable to studying, problem-solving, and decision-making. AI makes use of algorithms and machine studying fashions to course of information, enabling automation and enhancing outcomes. Integrating AI into SaaS has the potential to fully rework how functions are developed, delivered, and maintained, thus including worth to SaaS growth providers.   How AI is Altering SaaS Improvement AI is influencing SaaS growth providers in a number of methods, making the event course of quicker, extra environment friendly, and smarter. Beneath are a number of the most impactful AI-driven adjustments: 1. Automating SaaS Improvement Processes One of the crucial vital methods AI is revolutionizing SaaS growth is thru automation. AI permits the automation of repetitive and time-consuming duties, comparable to coding, testing, and debugging. AI-driven platforms can write code routinely based mostly on particular inputs and even detect errors in real-time, minimizing the necessity for human intervention. This enables SaaS growth corporations to construct and ship software program quicker, growing effectivity and lowering human error. Furthermore, AI in automated testing ensures that functions are persistently checked for efficiency and safety vulnerabilities. SaaS growth corporations can now deploy automated testing techniques that run steady checks to determine bugs or safety flaws, which may be corrected earlier than customers are impacted. 2. AI-Pushed Personalization and Consumer Expertise Personalization is turning into a key differentiator in SaaS functions, and AI is on the forefront of this revolution. AI algorithms can analyze consumer habits, preferences, and information patterns to supply customized experiences. SaaS growth providers now use AI to customise software interfaces, making them extra intuitive and user-friendly. AI additionally permits chatbots and digital assistants, enhancing buyer help inside SaaS platforms. These AI-powered assistants can deal with routine duties like answering widespread queries, fixing issues, and even offering product suggestions based mostly on consumer habits. 3. Predictive Analytics for SaaS Optimization AI’s predictive analytics capabilities are probably the most priceless instruments for SaaS growth providers. SaaS platforms can now acquire and analyze huge quantities of information to foretell consumer tendencies, buyer wants, and system efficiency points. This predictive energy permits SaaS growth corporations to optimize their merchandise proactively, providing options earlier than issues happen. For instance, AI may also help anticipate when a server may fail or predict the assets that shall be required to deal with a spike in consumer exercise. This type of perception helps enhance the efficiency, scalability, and reliability of SaaS merchandise.   Advantages of AI in SaaS Improvement Providers The combination

of AI in SaaS growth providers gives a large number of advantages for each SaaS growth corporations and their shoppers. Beneath are a number of the most impactful benefits: ●     Improved Operational Effectivity AI considerably enhances operational effectivity by automating duties comparable to code technology, system monitoring, and debugging. SaaS growth corporations can now focus extra on innovation and have growth quite than on repetitive guide processes. The automation of those duties results in quicker growth cycles and lowered prices. ●     Enhanced Safety with AI-Powered Risk Detection Safety is a vital concern for any SaaS platform, given the delicate nature of the information these techniques deal with. AI performs an important function in strengthening safety by figuring out potential threats and vulnerabilities in actual time. AI-driven safety instruments can detect patterns of irregular habits that may point out a cyberattack, enabling SaaS growth corporations to reply promptly. Moreover, AI can automate the response to low-level safety incidents, permitting human builders to deal with extra complicated points. ●     Smarter Choice Making with Superior Knowledge Analytics AI enhances decision-making capabilities by offering actionable insights based mostly on superior information analytics. SaaS growth corporations can use AI to research huge quantities of information, gaining a deeper understanding of buyer habits, market tendencies, and system efficiency. This data-driven strategy permits for extra knowledgeable choices in product growth, advertising and marketing methods, and buyer engagement.   AI’s Affect on SaaS Improvement Corporations AI has not solely reworked SaaS growth processes but additionally led to vital adjustments in the way in which SaaS growth corporations function. 1. New Enterprise Fashions and Income Streams AI-driven SaaS options have opened up new income streams for SaaS growth corporations. For instance, AI-powered analytics platforms, automation instruments, and digital assistants are in excessive demand. SaaS growth corporations that combine AI into their choices can capitalize on these new alternatives, producing further earnings whereas delivering enhanced worth to their clients. 2. AI-Powered SaaS Options and Choices SaaS growth corporations are actually incorporating AI capabilities straight into their merchandise. AI-powered options, comparable to automated buyer help instruments, predictive upkeep platforms, and suggestion engines, have gotten normal options in lots of SaaS functions. These AI-driven options add immense worth to the end-users and place the businesses as revolutionary leaders within the trade. 3. Lowered Time to Marketplace for SaaS Merchandise With AI automating a lot of the event course of, SaaS growth corporations can carry merchandise to market quicker. AI helps with all the pieces from producing code to working checks and analyzing buyer suggestions. This fast tempo of growth not solely will increase market competitiveness but additionally enhances buyer satisfaction as corporations can rapidly adapt to market wants.   Challenges Confronted by SaaS Improvement Corporations Utilizing AI Whereas AI brings vital advantages to SaaS growth providers, there are additionally challenges that corporations should tackle. Implementing AI in SaaS growth comes with the necessity for expert AI engineers, superior infrastructure, and substantial investments. The complexity of AI algorithms can typically make it tough to combine seamlessly with present SaaS platforms. Moreover, making certain the moral use of AI, notably in areas like information privateness and safety, stays a vital problem. SaaS growth corporations should prioritize compliance with information safety laws and tackle considerations concerning the transparency of AI algorithms.   Way forward for AI in SaaS Improvement The way forward for AI in SaaS growth is extremely promising. As AI expertise continues to evolve,

SaaS growth corporations will be capable to supply much more superior options and customized experiences. Sooner or later, we are able to count on: Autonomous SaaS Platforms: AI-driven SaaS platforms might develop into totally autonomous, requiring minimal human intervention. Hyper-Personalization: AI will drive even deeper ranges of personalization, tailoring SaaS functions to every consumer’s particular person wants in actual time. AI-Centric SaaS Options: SaaS growth providers will more and more deal with delivering AI-centric functions, providing enhanced capabilities in automation, analytics, and decision-making. SaaS growth corporations that put money into AI applied sciences will doubtless develop into market leaders, because the demand for AI-powered options continues to rise throughout industries.   Conclusion AI is essentially remodeling SaaS growth providers, bringing about extra environment friendly processes, enhanced consumer experiences, and smarter decision-making capabilities. SaaS growth corporations that leverage AI stand to realize vital benefits by way of pace, innovation, and safety. Nonetheless, embracing AI additionally presents challenges, comparable to the necessity for specialised abilities and making certain moral use. As AI expertise continues to advance, it can unlock much more alternatives for SaaS growth corporations to create clever, automated, and customized options for his or her clients. The way forward for SaaS lies within the seamless integration of AI, and corporations that acknowledge this pattern early will thrive within the aggressive panorama. SaaS growth corporations should adapt rapidly to harness the total potential of AI and ship next-generation SaaS functions that meet the ever-evolving calls for of recent companies. The revolution has simply begun, and AI is main the cost in remodeling the SaaS panorama for good. [ad_2] Supply hyperlink

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Price: [price_with_discount] (as of [price_update_date] - Details) [ad_1] There are few people we admire more than the Founders and Leaders of software companies who have the courage, determination and, some might say, sheer madness to put their livelihoods and reputation on the line, to leave their own ‘dent in the universe’. It's a day to day, up at dawn, pride swallowing siege to lead such a business. And we know this for a fact because we’ve walked in your shoes many times. Over the last 25 years, we’ve been involved in the start-up, scale up and exit of several successful technology businesses, that between them have realized close to billion dollars of shareholder value. But along the way we've also had more than our fair share of disappointments and have the mental scars and bruising to prove it. We’ve made mistakes and fallen in what felt like bottomless pits. But fascinatingly enough, we learned as much from the ones that didn’t work, as we did from the successes. It’s these lessons which we thought we'd share in this book. So, who is this book for? We think there are three use cases here, so let’s expand. Firstly, you could be a Founder who has raised seed money or achieved a Series A and who set off like a rocket in the early years, conquering all before them. But something has happened. For some reason the business is not growing as fast as you’d once hoped. Without perhaps knowing why, sales have started to slow, and some air has come out of the tyres amongst key stakeholders. Renewals are harder to achieve, once automatically accepted upsells are being rejected and pricing is being squeezed. There’s a sense that the business needs a re-set and perhaps fresh ideas, and energy are needed to get the team back to smashing targets What we’ve learned is that if things have started to slow, especially from a sales point of view, it’s generally down to one of two things. Either the core value proposition has become lost somewhere in the heat of battle and has shifted with or without your knowledge. Or the sales team have lost their way and need some fresh inspiration. We’ll address both these issues (and many more) in this book. Sometimes it’s a combination of both, sometimes it’s something different, but these are two most common reasons we’ve found. If this is you, we hope this book will provide some fresh inspiration. The second use case would be a Technical Founder who has created some brilliant software but is unsure about how to go to market. Without trying to sound too like Liam Neeson, creating a highly effective sales and marketing plan requires a particular set of skills and experience. You might well be thinking it’s time to invest in an expensive sales team, and that might be the right answer. But before you do that, it might be worth reading this book because it contains a set of workbooks that will significantly stack the odds in your favour of gaining repeatable sales traction. Finally, this book is for Founders who are starting out on the SaaS journey and thinking about where to begin. You’ve come up with a great idea on how you might change the world for the better, but before you go all in, feel like you’d like to understand the Go to Market process more. This book is made up of ten workbooks which we recommend you follow sequentially and take time at the end of each chapter to reflect and then take action. We’ll teach you how to prepare your pain statement and then test it on personas within your target market. We’ll discuss how to uncover your perfect customer and what an Economic Buyer looks like. We’ll build Market Maps and debate the best ways you can become famous in your chosen field. We’ll look at Product Messaging, packaging, and pricing and at the very end we’ll show you how to put together an exciting Investor Proposition for when you need to raise capital. At its heart,

this book is a Go to Market Handbook for SaaS Leaders because there’s nothing more important than hitting your sales targets. ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CJ9BPCDK Language ‏ : ‎ English File size ‏ : ‎ 4119 KB Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages [ad_2]