Gavin Clark, Commercial Director for Snapfulfil WMS, suggests: “The government’s £80 billion National Loan Guarantee Scheme has apparently not led to any significant increases in the amount of lending to small & medium sized businesses. This is confirmed this year, by the introduction of its replacement, the Funding for Lending scheme only 2 months ago and scarcely 18 months since the original NLGS.” This too is unlikely to make a difference to the businesses that need it most, according to National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
Jonathan Portes, director of NIESR recently told the BBC’s Today programme, the new scheme “won’t necessarily increase the volume of lending. We have had a number of these schemes and I think there is still considerable concern that the role of the banking system in doing its fundamental job of channelling people’s savings into the real economy just isn’t working.”
A report produced earlier this year by the EMC and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicts SaaS and Cloud to be the future for many business sectors. It suggests distribution and retail sectors throughout Europe are set to benefit most from Cloud computing over the next five years. Most importantly, the CEBR predicted this future profitability would be realised largely by increased efficiency as opposed to volume growth due to the impact of rising raw material costs and reduced household spending.
Without available funds to invest in their future, many businesses are unable to plan for future growth and capitalise on any changes in the economy. This “Catch 22” can be very difficult to break, but might just needs a new direction. In the same way that the Internet has permanently changed the face of retail and the buying experience for the customer, Software as a Service is changing the way that businesses can gain access to the sophisticated software solutions they need to grow.
Warehouse Management System (WMS) software provider Snapfulfil have addressed this difficult issue by offering a “No Capital Expenditure” solution for their state of the art software. For companies that adopt Snapfulfil, there are no payments or costs incurred for the system until it is installed, tested and ready to go “Live”. Once the system is tested and is proven to do everything the agreed specification said it would, a simple monthly subscription becomes payable, based on the number of concurrent users.
Clark continues: “SaaS offers a ‘win-win’ situation for our clients. Not only do they benefit from a huge cost saving of up to 30% through improved efficiency and accuracy by installing our WMS, but all the way through the process we share the financial burden with them to ensure that all parties continue to be successful.”
Major research establishments, such as Gartner™ and AMR™ have been predicting major growth in the software industry, due to the increased adoption of Software as a Service and Cloud solutions since 2009 and the pace is continuing to grow.
Gavin Clark concludes: “In effect Software as a Service means that businesses can access the software solutions they need, without tying up essential credit lines, or taking on long term fiscal commitments, which in the current economic climate can only help companies remain solvent and competitive”.
Synergy Logistics Ltd
Tel: 01509 232706
Email: ss@snapfulfil.com
Comments are closed.