Ett CRM system ger fördelar för ett företags förmåga att bygga varaktiga kundrelationer. Små och medelstora företag är dock tveksamma till att investera i sådana system. Resurserna för att dels investera i och sedan effektivt förvalta systemen fattas ofta i företagen. Implementationerna av systemen drar dessutom ofta ut på tiden. Modellen Software as a Service har under 2000 talet vunnit stora landvinningar. Leverantörer som erbjuder CRM funktionalitet som en betald tjänst över Internet är ett attraktivt alternativ för små och medelstora företag som vill kringgå ovanstående problem. Samtidigt råder en viss tveksamhet till vilken kvalitet dessa tjänster håller. I denna studie söker vi svar på hur små och medelstora svenska företag upplever fördelarna med att köpa in ett CRM system som en SaaS tjänst.Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga hur ett antal små och medelstora svenska företagupplever fördelarna med att köpa in ett CRM system som SaaS tjänst och presentera resultatet som en källa till kunskap om CRM system som SaaS tjänster. En kvalitativ studie har bedrivits med litteraturstudier som metod för insamling av sekundärdata och semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer som metod för primärdatainsamling. Fyra företag som använder ett CRM system som SaaS tjänst har deltagit i studien. Studien visar att fördelarna med leveransmodellen SaaS eliminerar flera potentiella hinder för små och medelstora företags förmåga att köpa in ett CRM system. Företagen undgår kostsam hårdvara och IT förvaltning. Kvalitén för dessa tjänster håller även en hög standard. Implementationen av tjänsterna upplevs av företagen som snabba och betalningsmodellen medför låga initialkostnader och ger en låg totalkostnad. Det medför även möjligheter till ett mobilt arbetssätt. / Vet ej vem som är examinator för uppsatsen.

Focus of this diploma thesis is on Cloud Computing -- a new delivery model of IS/ICT services for companies. Cloud Computing services are IT resources available to users via internet on pay-as-you-use basis. The aim of the thesis is define underlying Cloud Computing concepts and evaluate the current state of Cloud Computing adoption in the Czech Republic. We discuss the framework for definition of Cloud Computing concepts in the theoretical part of the thesis drawing on resources available in the literature. Cloud Computing survey is conducted using an online questionnaire and followsthe principles established in theoretical part. The main contribution of this thesis is creating working definition of Cloud Computing and identifying reasons that affect adoption rate in the Czech Republic.

This thesis is focused on analyzing the current state of SaaS (Software as a Service) and impact of SaaS on corporate's ICT as a whole. The aim is to explain the concepts and implications of modern forms of providing services, to describe and to evaluate their benefits and risks and to assess future developments in this area. The attention will be paid on specifics of the environment of Czech companies. The first part of this work deals with the current SaaS solutions and related technologies. Emphasis is placed on acquainting the reader with currently available (or introduced by mid-2011) technologies and their mutual relationships. This section also summarizes the current level of knowledge of the field and on this basis provides definitions of areas and technologies. The next part of the thesis focuses on a particular cloud and SaaS solutions available on nowadays market. The next part of this section is based on a specific case study of a small company, which considers the move to SaaS solutions. This section is focused on the practical application of the preceding conclusions. Last section aims at the prediction of development of ICT business in the upcoming years, with an emphasis on SaaS and related technologies. The second part is trying to find answers to the questions "Whether," "When" and "How" will SaaS affect the market of information technologies, their deployment and business models of future anticipated expansion model of Software as a Service. SaaS maturity model is also discussed as well as specificity of the Czech market.

The diploma thesis is focused on a specific way of distribution of Business Intelligence application on Software-as-a-Service base. A different concept opens a possibility for small and medium-size companies which cannot afford robust and expensive solution. The theoretical part provides an introduction with the basic characteristics of BI systems and cloud applications. Additionally, descriptions of the selected criteria are stated for a comparison of the specifics of applications delivered as a service. Integration, analytical and reporting functions Belladati, Zoho Reports and Bime are tested in a practical part of the thesis. The main chapter is devoted to solution product comparison, based on the selected criteria. The main asset of the work is to discover the strengths and weaknesses of each solutions found during the practical testing on the test data. The result of the comparison is not to find the best product, but to enhance the specific properties. The output can serve as a background material during cloud-based BI applications selection.

This thesis is focused on cloud computing and its impact on enterprise resource planning information systems. The historical background of cloud computing is discussed in the first of the thesis. After that, analysis of all possible services and types of cloud computing are provided. In this first part of this thesis, there is also an analysis of cloud computing providers who provide one of the possible cloud computing service - Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS). This thesis evaluates IaaS providers based on suggested methodology. According to this methodology each provider is ranked and the provider with the highest score is used as a provider for outsourcing infrastructure for a new model of information system which is suggested further in the thesis. The next part of this thesis provides a detailed view on cloud computing service closely related to software distribution - Software as a Service(SaaS). This focuses on key features of this approach, there is a discussion about differences between ASP and on-premis approach. At the end of this part there is a detailed discussion about SaaS benefits and risks for customers as well as software vendors. Having discussed all necessary theoretical background a local software company providing mainly on-premise enterprise resource planning information system is described. After all threads and opportunities of this company are analyzed it is suggested to provide a new option of distributing one of its information system to customers - in the form of SaaS. Based on the decision in the previous part, one of the information systems offered to customers is chosen and reengineered in order to allow distribution over the Internet as SaaS. While changing the architecture of the information system, the main focus is to reduce initial costs. A necessary features which need to be changed are analyzed from three perspectives - technological, process and economical. In all of these perspectives there is a discussion about problems which need to be kept in mind. Each problem is analyzed and the solution options are discussed. Towards the end of each problematical part there is a recommendation for the company in order to reach the set goals. The final part is comparing the on-premise system and the SaaS system. The comparison is provided in the customer example. There are calculations for each solution and a discussion about potential attractiveness of a newly designed information system for potential customers.

This Diploma thesis deals with a Software as a Service (SaaS) architecture model in a private business. The goal is to identify factors which influence the decision making process of potential SaaS acquisition and whether the factors are dependent on characteristic of the business. The thesis may serve companies as a guideline to follow customer's SaaS solution demand. In order to achieve the goal, economical, marketing and IT aspects of SaaS are discussed first in the theoretical part. According to these aspects selective factors and business characteristics are determined. Practical part presents a survey which was performed among Czech companies in order to obtain a relevant data enabling to evaluate dependencies between selective factors and business characteristics. After the analysis of the data a result of the survey and identified dependencies are introduced. Furthermore, the author's suggestions to the SaaS suppliers are presented in the conclusion.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to select a suitable task management tool with regards to specific requirements of BNM, s.r.o. company. The list of requirements was compiled based on author's work experience at the particular company. Last but not least the thesis is focused on a solution of identified issues while the theoretical part explains the teamwork theory and team collaboration. Further chapters introduce SaaS oriented software distribution models. The final tool selection is done using a scoring method and WSA (Weighted Sum Product) method belonging to the multi-criteria decision methods category. The decision making proces is further described with a special attention to the selected tool - Asana. None of the considered tools was excluded due to a non-fulfilment of the selection criteria. The main contribution of the thesis is a comparison and evaluation of available task management tools and a selection of a best tool for the one particular company.

Business-to-business customer loyalty management is an essential and long-standing theme in business research and practice. Loyal clients are of great importance within Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), as the business model relies strongly on long-term business relationships, e.g. due to subscription models. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study on how to design loyalty initiatives used in business-to-business SaaS relationships yet. Therefore, our thesis asks the question “How can loyalty initiatives be designed to improve the loyalty of SaaS business clients?”. By applying a qualitative research methodology with multi-case studies, we were able to investigate the status-quo of customer loyalty management by looking at the vendor side and then analysing the perception of loyalty initiatives, with respect to the client’s perspective. A broad number of in-depth empirical data was collected in semi-structured interviews conducted with employees of six SaaS vendor firms and seven of their clients. As we used an abductive approach, we were able to compare our findings with the existing literature and extend previous theory. Our interview findings were then clustered into eight dimensions, which were based on the customer lifecycle, and various initiatives have been assigned to them. All initiatives included several actions performed by the vendors, which were then classified into three categories, according to how important it was perceived by their clients. We concluded our research with the ‘Design Guide for Loyalty Initiatives’ that summarises our findings and provides an overview for SaaS vendors to review and adjust their initiatives. Hence, we deliver valuable insights for SaaS vendors to gain a deeper understanding of their clients’ needs and to, in turn, prioritise their performed loyalty actions and allocate their budget accordingly.

The information and communication technology industry is constantly affected by rapid changes and new development in technology. During the recent years there is an emerging trend within IT outsourcing where scalable and flexible IT enabled capabilities are delivered as a service over the Internet, called cloud computing. Software as a Service (SaaS) is one of the most adopted cloud service models, which is a software distribution model where applications are hosted by a SaaS provider and made available to the customer over a network. Tieto is present in this fast changing industry and has recognized a need to move into the cloud in order to stay competitive and meet their customers’ requests. Tieto’s department Energy Utilities wants to transform their broad portfolio of different software solutions to a SaaS delivery model. This transition will affect Tieto’s sales strategies, both in terms of pricing and marketing, and they will face challenges when changing to a SaaS delivery model. Hence, this master thesis aimed to determine important aspects when a company is changing software to a SaaS delivery model, where focus was on pricing and marketing strategies for SaaS. The objective was accomplished by conducting a case study that involved a qualitative data  ollecting method. Interviews were conducted from three different perspectives: from external SaaS providers, internally at Tieto as well as from a customer point of view. Conclusions from this thesis, was that important aspects when marketing SaaS involved:  managing the customers’ preconceptions, handling the impact of irrational factors,  nderstanding customer need and have the capability to guide and advise customers when purchasing a SaaS solution. The empirical findings showed that a value-based pricing approach was the most common strategy, using a user-based charging method and a model with different levels of subscriptions. The customers expressed that the price level was not the determining factor; instead the difference between the price level and the potential revenue generated from the SaaS solution was of importance. Furthermore, transparency and clearness are desirable conditions in a SaaS pricing model. Several challenges have been identified when transforming software to a SaaS delivery model, where multi-tenancy, security, pricing and standardization were the most common ones.

Earth observation data is increasingly ubiquitous, easily accessible, freely available, and generally usable due to improvements in software, data standards, network infrastructure, and national policies. As a result, greater opportunities arise for using these data in a wider field of application including decision support for local and regional environmental and water resources management efforts. In parts of the world where in situ data are less readily available, global Earth observation data used in such decision support tools can be a boon to underfunded government and private water management agencies. The United Nations Group on Earth Observations Global Water Sustainability initiative (GEOGloWS) works to coordinate such solutions, bringing global water management capabilities to local decision makers. The recent development and deployment of a global hydrologic modelling system based on historical simulations and daily ensemble forecasts from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) using Earth observations and streamflow routing on every river of the world results in a highly informative and potentially transformative dataset for users at local scales. However, for this data to reach its full potential at the local level, it needs to be subsetted at a regional or local scale, presented in a local geographic context, and interpreted in terms of local water management challenges. Furthermore, this subsetting allows for customization to support the way information is used and the kinds of decisions that are made. This paper presents the design, development, and experimental testing of the GEOGloWS HydroViewer, which is an open source, web-based software that effectively localizes global ECMWF forecasts to meet the needs of water managers and decision makers through subsetting the mapping and modelling services and supporting other customization as needed. The unique Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) deployment method, developed and tested here, allows for individual water management agencies to automatically generate custom HydroViewer applications that can be managed and/or customized depending on need and capacity in-country without reliance on external software and capacity, removing typical interdependence relationships that often define technology transfer to developing countries.