The current economic times we all find ourselves in continue to be on everyone’s mind. Take a look at any cable news channel or the front page of most newspapers, and you’ll see the headlines. With that said, there is evidence the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model continues to be a bright spot for many companies and decision-makers looking to lower costs in this economy. "At a time when capital is precious, big-ticket software purchases just don't make sense," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, Salesforce.com. Salesforce.com, the largest provider of SaaS recently announced a revenue growth of 34% with a net income of 13.8 million for its fourth quarter 2008—up from 7.4 million last year. 

"Salesforce.com was not impervious to the toll of the global recession in the second half of 2008, but the company's 4Q08 results prove SaaS continues to be a winning technology in the down economy," wrote Technology Business Research analyst Melissa Grady in a late February report. Many businesses are seeing a tightening of budgets in certain departments, namely IT. With cheaper up-front costs and a lower total-cost-of-ownership (TCO), SaaS is easily becoming an attractive choice for many businesses in this economy, and Salesforce’s revenue growth further affirms that.

Brivo’s Web-hosted access control products, also SaaS solutions, dramatically reduce the TCO for electronic access control systems. On a single-site comparison of access control systems of similar size, support, and data security, the savings of Brivo’s SaaS ACS WebService™ is a dramatic 76% over the traditional access control system. In fact, for a six-door access control system, we found that the SaaS solution enjoyed an advantage of nearly $26,000 (or 76%) over the server-based solution.

Why the dramatic savings? Our studies find that for most classes of applications, the SaaS model for security management platforms is the clear operational and financial winner, due primarily to the economies of scale introduced by hosted application services. It also provides significant availability and redundancy advantages over most server-based systems, which translates directly to increased business value.

Brivo’s SaaS systems include professionally staffed data centers, no need for software or dedicated PCs, and no upgrades to keep up with, just to name a few. To learn more about this study and Web-hosted access control, download our Total Cost of Ownership white paper.

As always, we’d like to hear what you think. Is your own company using Software-as-a-Service applications, or are your customers asking for the option? If you are using SaaS, how does the total savings relate differ from your previous service?

Market Spotlight - Retail

Business owners must dedicate full attention to their important business objectives. With
ACS WebService™, Brivo lets them do just that! The cost-effective, Web-based access control solution eliminates IT costs and management hassles. Small businesses meet their goals by providing hassle-free, economical access control and video choices—without sacrificing quality and expandability. With Brivo ACS solutions, business owners can also expect:

• Easy multiple site support
• OVR affordable video for retail, particularly multiple sites.
• Notifications (e.g., for delivery notification; doors propped or forced open)
• Improved Total Cost of Ownership: Realize 80% savings over comparably sized traditional electronic access control and video solutions with a Web-based architecture and administration, and reduced IT costs (hardware, licensing fees and maintenance).
• Reduced Environmental Impact: Reduce your power consumption by consolidating application and database processing at our efficient data center.

We invite you to visit our website to view the award-winning Dunkin Donuts' retail solution.

Success Story - Goodwill
ASG Security 

Goodwill Industries of Eastern North Carolina recently implemented Brivo ACS WebService™ for their 29 retail program centers. ASG Security introduced the Brivo system to Goodwill and oversaw the extensive system installation program. “Before Brivo, we had a standard lock and key system,” said Charles Bailey, Director of Human Resources, Safety, and Security. “Each manager had to manually open the store and then turn off the alarm. The problem was we didn’t know who had entered a store and we would have to do a lot research to answer some pretty simple questions on access.”

The employee entrance doors at all 29 retail centers are monitored by the Brivo system. Fifty-eight Store Managers, six Area Managers, and select senior staff have key fob access to the stores. When a Store Manager opens a retail center each morning, seven days a week, an email alert is sent to the relevant Area Manager and then to the Area Managers’ boss. “The great part about it,” commented Bailey, “is 9:00 comes around and we know the status of every one of our stores. If an Area Manager sees one of his or her stores isn’t open, they’re on the phone solving the problem. We’re spread out over half of the state; I can’t have an Area Manager in every location. The Brivo system gives us the accurate, instantaneous information we need.”

As Goodwill continues to expand in eastern North Carolina, Brivo will expand with them into each new location. “The Brivo system has enabled our staff to manage the stores remotely and manage them better. We’ve saved a lot of time at the senior level, we have more accurate information, and we’re providing better customer service,” Bailey concluded.

Your Brivo Regional Sales Managers are eager to help your team identify, engage, and close Brivo opportunities. They are also available to help train your sales and installation staff. Their contact information is listed below

Paul Thayer - Northwest (Northern California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Colorado)
paul.thayer@brivo.com | 240.676.5912

James McQuade - Southwest (Southern California, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico)
james.mcquade@brivo.com | 240.620.3809

Landon D. Hunsucker - Southeast (Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama)
landon.hunsucker@brivo.com | 240.676.8681

Bob Mounter – South-Central (Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma)
bob.mounter@brivo.com | 240.678.5607

Bill Ellifson – Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, North & South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin)
bill.ellifson@brivo.com | 240.678.7349

Mitch Brown - Central (Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania)
mitch.brown@brivo.com | 937.278.7993

Paul Kercher – Northeast (Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, and New Jersey)
paul.kercher@brivo.com | 240.676.8785

Brian Page – Mid-Atlantic (Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, and North Carolina)
brian.page@brivo.com | 240.676.3403

JF Champagne - Canada
jf.champagne@brivo.com | 416.931.7937

Shawn Gore – International
shawn.gore@brivo.com | 647.880.4992

Randy Rolin - Brivo Inside Sales
sales@brivo.com | 866.692.7486, option 1

Eleni Manoloudis - Brivo Inside Sales
sales@brivo.com | 866.692.7486, option 1

JoAnn Dillard - Brivo Inside Sales
sales@brivo.com | 866.692.7486, option 1