June 1st, 2009
Severa – PSA/PPM discussion with Zaki Usman
The battle for low-cost, SaaS-based PSA/PPM is heating up
Severa, a PSA/PPM (professional services automation/project portfolio management) vendor, has recently launched their newest product line: Severa 3. This is a Web 2.0, SaaS (software as a service) solution targeted for many professional services firms.
The company is currently marketing its solution as supporting some 130,000 projects with over 6,000 customers. It is targeted for the SOHO and SMB space. The software possesses some CRM and Billing functionality as part of its solution.
The company also has an earlier product, Severa 2. This product supports complex Resource Management in service organizations. Both products offer knowledge management & collaboration capabilities. Knowledge management was one of the initial core pieces of functionality that the firm built its solution around.
When I asked Zaki what were Severa’s top three messages these days, he offered up these points:
- the Severa 3 product line was successfully launched
- the company has created a simplified view of professional services management
- for now, the company is promoting a ‘first user, free’ offer
The market for low cost, simplified, SaaS-based PSA solutions is definitely attracting competition. QuickArrow is in this space and others may be moving there as well.
What does this imply? It means that there is no excuse for any internal or client-facing service organization, of any size, not to have a robust PSA toolset.
Competition, in application software circles, is a good thing for consumers. It creates pricing pressure and drives innovation. PSA and PPM may be exhibiting some of the more exceptional product innovations in the application space. ERP vendors aren’t innovating or innovating well. Just look at the SaaS efforts of the main ERP players. These initiatives are DOA while the PSA vendors are years into their SaaS rollouts.
To recap, if you want innovation, SaaS, Web 2.0, the cloud, etc. and a competitive price for your services business, get PSA or PPM now.
This blog explores the intersection set between services and technology. If it impacts either space, it will be covered here. Brian Sommer is a former Accenture partner. He did an 18-year tour of duty there and ran three small practice units (Finance Center of Excellence, HR Center of Excellence and Software Intelligence). He’s sold service projects in almost every continent and remains just as current on both services and technology today as ever before. Brian is currently CEO of TechVentive, a strategy consultancy servicing technology providers, and a research analyst with Vital Analysis. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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