Hosted versus License

Why are Invendia inventory management solutions hosted?

Upgrading. Downtime. Maintenance. Hardware obsolescence. Implementation issues. The litany of headaches related to the implementation and on-going care-and-feeding of enterprise based applications is enough make the savviest of companies want to engage in anything but another software implementation. Like a full-blown IRS audit. Anything…

We understand your concerns if you feel this way. That's why we've designed the Invendia Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Web-based Inventory solutions to be hosted over the Web, eliminating the justified concerns of many companies that another software implementation is the last thing they want to devote resources to - capital, time, talent…

Because Invendia is web-based, adopting it is as easy as selecting the processes you want to use or share, determining the roles of your users, and loading your data.

Q: How does Invendia's hosted model work?

Invendia uses a subscription model for software delivery and licensing. This means there is no software to buy or implement or hardware to purchase. You pay only for usage, saving you time and money, and mitigating a large portion of the risk that every traditional software implementation requires that you subsume. The software license is good only for the period you choose to use the software.

From an initial ROI perspective, Invendia shortens time-to-value by eliminating software implementation and cost issues. Invendia customers focus on collecting their data, refining their processes, and defining their business goals.

And over the longer term, Invendia users need not ever implement software upgrades, pay for maintenance, or add hardware. The net effect is to keep total cost of ownership in check.

The hosted model of enterprise software lowers risk, simplifies licensing, eases deployment, encourages innovation, and decreases costs, all of which result in faster return on investment, lower total cost of ownership, reduced risk, and the flexibility that you need to successfully compete in today's fast-moving business climate.

Q: If I don't purchase licenses, what do I buy?

Invendia VMI and web-based inventory customers subscribe for the user license they need today. As their needs change, they add or reduce the users. In this way, they never face the license over-capacity that plagues so many enterprise software deployments. Even more importantly, Invendia customers increase their flexibility in responding to rapidly changing business conditions.

Q: How does the hosted model reduce my risk?

Any enterprise software implementation takes time. The longer the elapsed time from project kick-off to go-live, the higher the likelihood that the project will lose momentum and management and staff support. Hosted solutions like Invendia do away with many of the preliminary steps of a software implementation (hardware selection, for example), and cause less friction and trauma within the organization. And hosted solutions offer you the advantage of single-source accountability because of the elimination of multiple vendor relationships that would be the norm in a standard enterprise software deployment.

Q: Can the hosted model increase the speed of my implementation?

A faster deployment of the software is always a strong positive factor into how well it will be adopted and used by your organization. Hosted solutions typically offer faster deployments, with fewer internal pressures and distractions from day-to-day operations and activities. In short, the focus of the deployment is on end-user training and acceptance, since you won't have to install or maintain servers, networking equipment, security products, or other hardware or software.

Q: My company's experience with software is that it's inflexible. Is Invendia any different?

Another key advantage of the hosted model is that it facilitates on-going process innovation as new functionality can be introduced incrementally over its lifecycle. The traditional model of purchased and locally implemented software binds companies into "big-bang" versioning where updates are introduced in batches - typically every 12 to 18 months. That model inhibits the real-time improvements of software and processes as they become available. In a hosted environment, major new product releases and improvements can literally be made overnight.

Q: What about cost?

Hosted solutions like Invendia have a decided cost advantage over traditional packaged software: low hardware and software costs (you need only outfit your users with PCs, which they likely already have), no depreciation costs, no software or hardware maintenance costs, and lower implementation costs.

With hosted solutions, the first year total cost of ownership can be five to ten times less expensive than enterprise software with the majority of savings resulting from the elimination of upfront integration and customization projects. Thus, the payback period is considerably shortened.

And hosted solutions offer much smoother cash-flows, with no large up-front cash outlays that need be subsumed by your organization.