Why does the TRUXT Label help you stand out from the crowd?
A label serves to distinguish and differentiate you from your competitors, and for users it is an indicator of trust, enabling them to identify and favour those who proudly display the label because they meet a certain number of requirements. When we said that, we didn't say much. Why should a SaaS publisher adopt the TRUXT label? Find out all the latest IT news in our dedicated section.
How do you stand out in a highly fragmented market?
The SaaS market can be described as a wasteland, because it is seen as an opportunity for some and a necessary transformation for others. Software publishers of all sizes (VSEs, SMEs, major accounts) are rightly jumping into the breach and transforming their software solution into a SaaS solution. Of the 3,000 software publishers in France, only 15 have sales in excess of €50m. For the rest, most French players are between €5m and €15m, according to the PwC / PAC / AFDEL Top 100 ranking of French software publishers. So the market is divided between very large players and small players.
Given this situation, SaaS publishers need to focus on differentiation. Differentiation through functional advantages is no longer enough; publishers need to forge non-functional advantages. By transforming themselves into service providers, they are extending their scope of intervention beyond that of traditional on-premise software. Security, continuity, recovery and integration are just some of the issues that key accounts outsource to suppliers. And let's not forget that one of the advantages of SaaS for key accounts is that they can do away with certain tedious administrative activities that offer no added value, and focus on core business tasks. Even if they delegate tasks, they also delegate the responsibilities associated with continuity, security, etc. Depending on how sensitive the key account is to these issues, and on the type of solution and its impact on the business, the key account customer will choose the supplier that offers the best guarantees. So there's no question of making your tool available on shared hosting, without preparing for the non-functional aspects mentioned above.
Differentiation is now achieved by providing guarantees on these issues, and these guarantees must not simply be displayed. They must be provided and consolidated by a third party if they are to be considered reliable and trustworthy. Confidence in the publisher's capabilities is at the heart of the relationship. Key account customers may be more mature on these issues than the software vendor, especially if they are in the financial sector, where the Solvency and Basel waves have forced them to put in place tighter control processes. During pre-sales negotiations, the vendor will be confronted with IT managers who are well-versed in continuity and security issues. It is therefore more comfortable to communicate the results of checks carried out by a third party and the associated improvement plan, rather than struggling to demonstrate its capabilities due to a lack of tangible elements.
Service issues to be covered by the publisher's guarantees
We have mentioned the various guarantees to be provided to customers, the first of which is security. Cloud experts have identified security as both a barrier to the adoption of SaaS and an advantage. A number of articles have been written on the subject, "SaaS is more secure than your in-house IT". How else can you solve this conundrum than by answering "it depends". Some companies have much more mature IT teams than certain publishers, and conversely, there are no regulations in this area. In this context, publishers need to benchmark themselves, to get to know each other better on these subjects, and their sales forces need to be able to explain the resources deployed to better highlight the added value of the service. If this is not the case, insidious questions can cause you to "pshitt" and lose the sale: how do you check the security of your source code? What anti-DDoS resources are deployed? Can your staff view and print my data?
Business continuity is also a major concern for key account customers, all the more so in the case of e-commerce and ERP systems. Here again, there's no question of passing the problem on to the hosting provider. The application layer is the responsibility of the SaaS vendor, and the latter is a stakeholder in the service chain. The same applies to disaster recovery: the choice of hosting provider must depend on the target customer, the nature of the service and continuity constraints. Publishers should choose their hosting provider carefully, depending on their target audience. Publishers need to obtain continuity and recovery commitments from their hosting provider, as these are essential to their own commitments to customers. The SaaS model is a layered approach, and service commitments are the result of a pyramid of commitments that are under the publisher's control. These elements need to be clearly understood by the publisher, otherwise the "soapbox" questions can make you feel uncomfortable: for example, what is the Recovery Point Objectiv of your solution? How do you calculate your availability rate? The publisher becomes a player in the customer's continuity and recovery plan. To make sure they have every chance on their side, software publishers need to be fully aware of their own continuity plans, so as to provide the guarantees they need to win the customer's confidence.
Reversibility is also a central theme in the adoption of SaaS: what happens to my data in the event of termination? How can I get it back, and in what format? These are issues for customers and now also for publishers, and the absence of a reversibility mechanism can be a disadvantage in the sale. The ease of use of the cloud should lead customers to jump from one cloud to another, and publishers will have to choose between a defensive strategy of proprietary data formats and an open format. At first sight, the defensive strategy seems riskier because of the sharing values conveyed by the cloud.
Differentiation through innovation is also a sales driver, and SaaS projects the image of innovation. For some large organisations, the innovative nature of SaaS solutions is a priority criterion: innovation has become a principle of governance that enables the major account to communicate this value of innovation; going to the big market leaders for solutions is sometimes considered counter-innovative. But for these organisations, for whom innovation is a value to be conveyed beyond simple communication, but within the company itself, how can they benefit from innovation without taking risks? The ability of the SaaS provider to deliver the service may come under fire, but what happens if the innovative service provider fails?
The TRUXT label supports the confidence and maturity of service providers
Because we are in the middle of the wave imposed by the Saas model, many publishers have positioned themselves as "Service Providers", and it is vital for them not to miss out on the transformation, because the law of the market will take over again in the medium term. These publishers are faced with groups that are structuring themselves, changing their purchasing processes, and quite rightly adopting a broader vision of their needs. They are moving away from a "software product" towards a "service", in order to shed (without getting rid of) prerogatives outside their core business. In this context, differentiation means demonstrating the publisher's ability to attract key accounts in areas already mastered by the key accounts' technical experts: security, continuity, recovery and reversibility.
These capabilities can be demonstrated through experience, but if they are not there, the renewal rate will suffer as a result of the disappointments of the first customers. Before that happens, and to avoid missed first appointments, you need to be proactive and position yourself pragmatically on the issues that are important to customers: continuity, security, availability and recovery. If the few questions in this document leave you without an answer, it is urgent to put in place the means to meet customer requirements, and to look for ways to differentiate. The TRUXT label is a differentiator, because it is the only label capable of providing comprehensive guarantees to SaaS publishers' customers on security, continuity, recovery and reversibility. Sales teams also need to be trained in these issues.
The audit, supporting the Truxt label
The audit that supports the Truxt label is designed to respond specifically to these issues. These technical and organisational points do not, however, completely prefigure the company's long-term viability, so the control of the sales force, the steering of resources and the management of the company are also part of the control points (financial audit, accounting audit, internal audit and external audit). In addition to operational analysis, financial analysis through an accounting and financial audit enables the financial risk profile to be established, and this risk profile to be cross-checked with the internal practices seen during the audit.
Many publishers are not prepared to audit their processes and infrastructure. Quality assurance of SaaS providers seems to be an irremediable practice that will put SaaS publishers under the microscope, whatever happens. Rather than being subjected to this scrutiny, the rating agency exaegis, through the TRUXT label, is enabling Saas publishers to get a head start and demonstrate their mastery before customers ask for it through an audit firm and an external auditor. The labelling exercise is an opportunity for in-depth reflection with the technical teams on the challenges of SaaS. The label introduces a virtuous dynamic, and the progression in the exaegis rating grid can be used to help set objectives. This solution, which does not require an internal auditor or internal control, enables software publishers to take the lead and demonstrate their operational excellence. It also enables them to demonstrate their progress plans on subjects specific to SaaS issues, and in the end can avoid the Supplier Quality Assurance exercise sometimes implemented by the customer. It's also a win-win situation for the customer, who doesn't have to pay for an audit by an auditor. For the publisher, the initial audit exercise is carried out once and for all, and the report and improvement plan can then be promoted to all prospective customers.
As a reminder, the 7 chapters audited as part of the TRUXT label, which cover 150 points of attention assessed according to international standards, are as follows:
- Customer relationship management
- Provision of defined services
- Work team management: motivation, recruitment, retention
- Management of quality improvement
- Management of recurring threats (security)
- Management of service transfers for integration and reversibility
- Steering, management and administration
Article translated from French