inlevel blog

The curse of application glut

2011-06-27T14:03:00.000+02:00

We are currently experiencing an explosion of applications. It's like a Cambrian explosion of life.

It is especially visible in the consumer area, where the number of available apps for a single platform approaches 500,000 (Apple App Store). Android Marketplace is not very far away. Google App Marketplace and Chrome Web Store are slowly following. Even in the pretty conservative enterprise sector we see tens of thousands apps available.

The sheer number of available apps is mind blowing. Also in particular categories the selection is huge.

It's quite a paradox, but the abundance of apps does not make the choice simple. Quite the opposite. One may find it quite difficult to chose the best app for his/her needs in a given category.

The descriptions in software stores are often minimal. It's hard to identify how the applications really differentiate. Reviews allow to filter out the worst apps, but they rarely provide any additional information for choosing among the triage survivors.

You probably remember the menace of the great information glut we've started to perceived some time ago. Now it seems it is reappearing in a new space.

Hopefully we have learnt from the struggle with the general threat and will able to apply tried methods to the new problem. Search, information extraction and collaborative filtering seems the most promising candidates for taming the beast.

The number of information about applications is growing rapidly. They are dispersed and disorganized, though. The volume of social signals is on the raise, too. Now "the only" thing one should do is to put these resources into use for making the selection process simpler. It won't solve all the problems, but it should help.

Alternatively we can always chose apps on the basis of their screenshots... ;)

Critical factors

2011-05-10T08:19:00.026+02:00

Critical factors for successful Cloud/SaaS/Online applications acquisitions:

Finding it

use business language while performing search
learn what others are doing
be open to new solutions

Checking it

talk to software providers using words and communication tools you like
use trials to get your coworkers opinions
check software provider online reputation

Buying it

understand implications: benefits but also scope and necessary changes within the organization
analyze risks (e.g., data backup and security)
manage software providers: give feedback, exchange opinions and experience with other users

Cloud/SaaS/Online applications are changing the enterprise world. They successfully supplement big software projects and they allow business people to engage directly in software acquisition process. They make enterprises more agile, more flexible and open for new, innovative technologies. The purchase process is still new and people need to learn it, but its adoption is faster and easier than previous application delivery models.

Report "Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition What Makes a Difference?" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

Time to buy

2011-05-09T08:06:00.012+02:00

The Cloud/SaaS/Online applications delivery model brings the possibility of using applications instantly. When we decided to use an application, we can do this immediately: our computer experience is enough; no additional hardware is necessary; implementation is not required. Typically we need some changes within organization, some business processes should be changed but whole process is rather simple. When we do not want to continue using application we can just stop to use it (typical pay as you go pricing model allows us to do it, but some IT work related to data we entered is necessary: local backup or data migration to other system for example).

Traditional Applications

contract
licensing
maintenance
hardware
integration
adaptation/customization
implementation
hot line
customized SLA

Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications:

simple pricing: pay as you go
simple pricing plans (predefined features sets)
fixed terms and conditions (to sign online)
online orders and payments
basic SLA

In general, financial and organizational risk related to Cloud/SaaS/Online Application is lower than when we decide to implement traditional applications (each situation is different and all critical risk factors always should be taken into consideration). It is because such application introduction typically affects only well-defined, limited enterprise areas and do not require significant changes within organization: software supports what people do rather than people having to conform to only what the software was designed for.

We also should take under consideration that people within a department who participated in the purchase decision treat the application as a their own, a new tool to do work better. They like it.

Report "Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition What Makes a Difference?" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

Have I found proper application?

2011-05-08T08:02:00.009+02:00

To check if software we have found is worth purchasing, we must have a conversation with its provider. This is necessary. We need to gather necessary information to make a proper purchasing decision. The success depends on how we do this.

Traditional Applications

direct conversation
whitepapers
technical documentations
live presentations
training courses
reference visits
trial installations
detailed features list
compliance documentation
security specification

Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications

Internet conversation
application online reputation: discussion groups, opinions, communities, social services, social peers references
online materials: video, tutorials, whitepapers
Internet conversation: RFI forms, emails, chat
trials and demos

To resolve business problems we need two kinds of expertise: business related (we have it) and software related (software provider has it). The solution depends on our collaboration: we should provide a description of business problems and ensure that the software provider understands it; the software provider should ensure we understand what he is going to provide and why he provides it.

Modern conversations do not require physical presence: we feel comfortable enough using phones, emails, chat, and social networking services. The typical Cloud/SaaS/Online application provider is prepared to talk with us using all these online methods.

Report "Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition What Makes a Difference?" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

How to look for Cloud/SaaS/Online enterprise applications?

2011-05-07T07:48:00.018+02:00

The key element in performing a successful search is the kind of language we use. There are two separate sets of words: those related to software, used by software providers’ marketing departments, and those related to the business issues we face, which are specific to our job and industry.

When enterprise software becomes popular, it requires specialized, trained, and experienced IT staff to implement and effectively use it. Deep technical knowledge is necessary to operate it. When everyone uses software enterprise applications, these applications become more user friendly, and almost anyone can use it without technical expertise. The new Cloud/SaaS/Online applications are built this way from the beginning and when we read its descriptions we find it more relevant to business issues than IT technical details.

During the research process it is better to focus on what we want to achieve, not how we are going to do this. This way we can benefit from software providers expertise: we know what; they should know how. This process determines the set of words we use during our search: when we use keywords related to our industry or problems, we feel comfortable and we understand what we need. When we use keywords related to IT terminology, we enter on the ground where software providers feel much more comfortable that we do.

Typical sources of informations:

Traditional Applications:

ads
printed articles
meetings with sales representatives
calls from telesales
live presentations
seminars/conferences/exhibitions
communities
vertical associations
search engines

Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications:

search engines
online PR
specialized online services and blogs
online publications
emails
social networks

Report "Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition What Makes a Difference?" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

Imagine a world where ANYTHING can be retrieved and analyzed

2011-05-06T07:29:00.000+02:00

I have recently read an interesting article in Technology Review about visualizing posts submitted by user to Facebook .

A few days ago there was some turmoil connected with location data being harvested and stored on iPhones and Android-based phones.

The issue of internet privacy is getting more and more visibility, too.

Meanwhile I think we should prepare for a life in a world where even more information about us is recorded and available for data mining.

First, there are our internet activities, scrupulously recorded by Google or Facebook.

Second, our calls and locations are tracked by phone companies and often some third parties like Apple or Google.

Third, our financial transactions are recorded by credit card providers and banks, and sometimes by some online service providers like Mint or Blippy.

Fourth, we are being watched by an increasing number of CCTVs, some of which are connected to face recognition software.

The next wave will come with the ubiquitous chips embedded in stuff we use. These will be able to record our actions, contextualize them in time and space, and transmit to some cloud-based system for analysis.

Each day we are closer to a "World Without Secrets" (see book by Richard Hunter).

What should we do faced by such a prospect?

Probably the safest bet is to try avoiding everything that can put you in a bad light. Just imagine a world where ANYTHING can be retrieved and analyzed by others, like presented in "The light of other days" by Artur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.

Cloud/SaaS/Online model basics - just to remember

2011-05-06T07:23:00.016+02:00

General attributes of Cloud/SaaS/Online software applications:

no hardware is required (access is through Web browsers)
limited, specialized, and well-defined functionality (implementation is not required)
hosted pricing model (pay as you go)

Why it is worthwhile considering implementing Cloud/SaaS/Online software applications:

they are modern and innovative
there is a broad choice
they are available everywhere (not limited to specific geographical areas)
they can be used when necessary (for particular needs and time frames)
they are inexpensive

How to get online applications?

To achieve better insight into the details of the acquisition process, we will review the typical procurement stages and take a look at basic differences which Cloud model brought to software acquisition. Usually, to purchase software application for enterprise we need to proceed through three steps:

finding it
checking it
buying it

In next posts we will try to look closer what is specific for Cloud/SaaS/Online applications when we are finding, checking and buying them.

Report "Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition What Makes a Difference?" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

Use app when you like it, dump it when you don't find it compelling enough

2011-05-05T08:14:00.001+02:00

In its recent research report Forrester has found out that ERP (enterprise resource software) is not on the current agenda at the most of companies.

Forrester analysts Paul Hamerman and Choina Martens wrote in the report that "nearly two-thirds of companies believe their current ERP status quo is good enough for the next few years".

Clearly ERP market has matured. It is really hard to innovate in this area for software vendors as well as to gain competitive advantage by implementing new ERP system for enterprise software users.

Companies looking for innovative applications should look in some other areas.

SaaS/cloud model brings many interesting software solutions, that can be cheaply or sometimes even freely tested.

Use some app when you like it, dump it when you don't find it compelling enough. That's the beauty of SaaS/cloud model!

See my previous post: Time of expendable business software is coming

inlevel.com Published Report Presenting Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition Critical Issues

2011-05-05T07:35:00.001+02:00

(press release)
Krakow, Poland, May 5, 2011 — inlevel (http://www.inlevel.com) published a report showing specific factors related to online enterprise applications that should be taken into consideration when such kinds of applications are being purchased.

Most enterprises are familiar with software acquisition, and they are experienced with the large Line Of Business applications, as far as with infrastructure software and dedicated, departmental solutions. Today when Cloud/SaaS/Online software applications are becoming more popular, enterprises face new opportunities and also new challenges during software acquisition. The report "Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition: What Makes a Difference?" (available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html) describes critical elements of the procurement process: how to find the proper application, how to check them, and how to buy them.

In conclusion, the report states that "Cloud/SaaS/Online applications are changing the enterprise world. They successfully supplement big software projects and they allow business people to engage directly into software acquisition process. They make enterprises more agile, more flexible, and open for new, innovative technologies. The purchase process is still new and people need to learn it, but its adoption is faster and easier than previous application delivery models."

About inlevel

Inlevel, an Internet company, is developing an online platform connecting users and vendors of business software.

Inlevel’s idea is to create one place where business professionals can find software solutions for most of their business problems using business language. Instead of going through all the marketing babble and technical specifications, one can find business software based on the expected business benefits, one’s particular industry, what business process needs improvement etc. Inlevel provides a novel way of shaping relations with software vendors to assure you get what you expected.

Founded in 2010, inlevel is an Internet platform linking business software users and software vendors around business concepts such as benefits, processes, performance measurements in context of industries and business functions.

For more information and news from inlevel, please visit www.inlevel.com. For additional assistance you may contact inlevel at info[at]inlevel.com.

Web page: http://www.inlevel.com

Company blog: http://blog.inlevel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/inlevelNet

Twitter: http://twitter.com/completeview

YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/completeview

inlevel LLC

113 Barksdale Professional Center

Newark, DE 19711

Headquarters and Development Center:

inlevel

Karmelicka 55/4

31-128 Kraków

Poland

###

What is also new in Cloud enterprise applications model?

2011-05-04T14:05:00.002+02:00

When acquiring Cloud/SaaS/Online applications, it is good to remember two important factors related to modern Cloud model.

Failure costs less

When a decision is made, people are informed how to use it ,and the organization is prepared, everything should go smoothly and the project outcome should be positive. In real life something wrong can always happen (changes in the market, internal changes, personal issues) and the organization has to stop using acquired software. Such a situation always generates costs (invested time, operational problems, etc.) but these costs are typically much lower compared to the implementation of traditional applications (when software licenses are purchased, new hardware installed, integration done, software customized, maintenance contract signed, etc.).

Transparency

Providers of Cloud/SaaS/Online applications, just as other companies doing business through Internet, have to run their businesses in a transparent manner. When something goes wrong, customers are always able to exchange information. Such information spreads very fast, and they spend a lot of time on the Internet. Online reputation is one of the most valuable assets of software providers, and it is focused on quality, responsibility, transparency.

Report "Request For Informations (RFI) in Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications: Acquisition Process" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

We are preparing RFI, but how are we going to select?

2011-05-03T14:01:00.013+02:00

When a customer is highly educated in IT technology, and he is able to follow IT market trends, the situation is ideal: he can talk with software providers having enough technology and business skills to gather information, make decisions and purchase software. In the real world, software providers have much higher expertise in software development and business processes related to their software than any customer. In such a situation, behind any detailed decision-making factors (related to price, SLA, or even detailed features) the answers to the following questions have a critical influence on a project’s:

Does the software provider understand my particular business issue? Does he want to understand it?
Is the software provider ready to declare achievement of expected benefits, explain how the software will affect my organization. Do we agree on how to measure real effects?

Answers for these questions are the most desired outcome from RFI process related to Cloud/SaaS/Online applications. Having these answers, the customer may prepare detailed software specifications and ask for proposals.

Report "Request For Informations (RFI) in Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications: Acquisition Process" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

Product RFI vs. business issue RFI

2011-05-02T14:57:00.012+02:00

There are two opposite (unfortunately) scenarios how to communicate with software providers: "product RFI" and "business issue RFI".

Product RFI

Before sending an RFI customer has to learn what the software is and become almost an IT expert. It is hard work because the world of software and IT is very rich, complicated, and fast changing. But having such knowledge, the customer can ask, for example: "What are the platforms your product supports, both server and clients?", "Please specify how many platforms you support," or "Please specify your relational database supplier and version number."

Software providers like such questions: they are IT experts and they can easily send answers.

However, going this way the customer should remember that:

it is possible to miss the newest and innovative solution, which he does not know
the estimation that such application can really resolve his business issue belongs to him
he is talking with an IT expert having typically lower expertise
focusing on product details he is still far from addressing business issue

Business issue RFI

When building RFIs, the customer focuses mainly on the business issue definition, and he is doing that from an expert position: he knows his situation exactly, industry, all details. Software providers answers to this type of RFI has to invest some time and labor in checking who the customer is, what he is doing, and what kind of problem he has. Only after doing this work is software provider able to answer the RFI. Some software providers are not be able to do this. However, by going this route, the customer can:

send RFIs to many software providers (not knowing exactly their software specifications)
can check if a software provider is ready to invest time and work to understand his situation and business issue
understand to what extent the proposed solutions addresses his real situation

Report "Request For Informations (RFI) in Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications: Acquisition Process" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html

Request For Informations (RFI): what language to use, what media to choose?

2011-05-01T18:54:00.011+02:00

To resolve business problems we need two kinds of expertise: business related (we have it) and software related (software provider has it). The solution depends on our collaboration: we should provide a description of business problems and ensure that the software provider understands it; the software provider should ensure we understand what he is going to provide and why he provides it.
Modern conversations do not require physical presence: we feel comfortable enough using phones, emails, chat, and social networking services. The typical Cloud/SaaS/Online application provider is prepared to talk with us using all these online methods.

When a business issue is defined and a customer knows that a new software application can be a remedy for the issue, the next step is to find an application that can potentially help and check which one will be optimal. On one side there is the customer with his unique business issue and on the other there are software providers with software applications that can support many generic and many specific situations. It is time for customers to start conversations with software providers.

Report "Request For Informations (RFI) in Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications: Acquisition Process" is available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html.

To prepare Request For Informations (RFI) define your business issue

2011-04-30T14:49:00.013+02:00

The most important reason that a group of people within enterprise looks for new software applications is that business issues needs to be resolved (e.g., forecast building, lead management optimization, talent management effectiveness, customer service quality). At the end of the whole process, when software is bought and implemented, it is time to answer the question: Have the business issues been resolved successfully?

Defining a business problem is rather simple for people doing particular work. The definition is typically created by answering:

What are we going to change or achieve? (benefit)
Where does this change need to be implemented? (relevant business area and affected business process)
What is specific to this issue, taking into consideration the industry we are in?
How are we going to measure the results of this project? – (Key Performance Indicators)

More about search for wenterprise applications can be found in "2011 Report Cloud/SaaS/Online EnterpriseApplications Acquisition: what makes a difference?" (inlevel, April 2011).

Recent inlevel.com Report Shows New Aspects of RFI in Cloud/SaaS/Online Enterprise Applications Acquisition Process

2011-04-29T12:43:00.000+02:00

(press release)

Krakow, Poland, April 29, 2011 — inlevel (http://www.inlevel.com) published a report presenting how to prepare Request For Informations (RFI) when applications are offered under the Cloud/SaaS/Online model.

Business applications delivered under the Cloud/SaaS/Online model are changing relationships between their providers and business customers. Customers can acquire them faster, easier, with lower risks, and with clearly defined business objectives. Software providers can present applications using more straightforward business language and focus on closer cooperation with business customers in terms of resolving business issues.

To optimize Request For Informations (RFI) related to enterprise applications offered under the Cloud model, it is worthwhile to consider changes that this delivery model has brought to the software market. Today, information required to make purchase decisions is less product oriented because technical details, long implementation, and sophisticated parametrization is not necessary. Much more important is to realize what exactly the software does from its business functions perspective: what benefits could be achieved, what process will be improved, what innovations will be implemented to enterprise.

Report "Request For Informations (RFI) in Cloud/SaaS/Online Applications: Acquisition Process" (available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html) shows how RFI can be used to get more information about the benfits to business that are expected to be achieved through software implementation.

About inlevel

Inlevel, an Internet company, is developing an online platform connecting users and vendors of business software.

For more information and news from inlevel, please visit www.inlevel.com. For additional assistance you may contact inlevel at info[at]inlevel.com.

Web page: http://www.inlevel.com

Company blog: http://blog.inlevel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/inlevelNet

Twitter: http://twitter.com/completeview

YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/completeview

inlevel LLC

113 Barksdale Professional Center

Newark, DE 19711

Headquarters and Development Center:

inlevel

Karmelicka 55/4

31-128 Kraków

Poland

###

Confucius story about inlevel

2011-04-14T14:14:00.000+02:00

Tsze-lu said, 'The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?'

The Master replied, 'What is necessary is to rectify names.'

'So, indeed!' said Tsze-lu. 'You are wide of the mark! Why must there be such rectification?'

The Master said, 'How uncultivated you are, Yu! A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music will not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires, is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.'

(Story is taken from Project Gutenberg materials: link)

This is exactly what inlevel suggests: use correct language to describe enterprise applications. Once it is done people know what to do. When description is incorrect it causes long chain of problems and "affairs cannot be carried on to success". In ancient China and also in modern enterprises.

Use cloud apps to reduce your costs and boost efficiency

2011-04-09T08:24:00.001+02:00

Cloud computing recognized the best tool for improving business by entrepreneurs

During the recent GeeknRolla meeting in London, entrepreneurs were discussing the best ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency, among other things.

As reported by BBC, cloud computing was declared the top solution.

Indeed, from the start-up perspective, cloud computing allows to launch business without creating any IT infrastructure. It also allows to replace fixed cost traditionally connected with acquisition of packaged software by flexible monthly payments for software as a service (SaaS).

Thanks to SaaS entrepreneurs can also get rid of maintenance of their IT environment, which often is both costly, time consuming and sometimes frustrating.

In addition, online tools makes cooperation of dispersed teams much easier than traditional software.

Project-based introduction of SaaS may be safer solution for business with history

Adaptation of SaaS is a little more complicated for established companies with existing IT infrastructure. SaaS is for them another element which may increase complexity of their IT environments, introduce new problems and increase risk.

There is however another approach to introducing SaaS into organization with legacy IT systems - adapting it by teams on project basis.

In that way, SaaS applications are largely isolated from the rest of company IT infrastructure which limits any potential risks. Use of online application can be discontinued when the project for which it was used is completed. The key requirement is the ability to export data from the app.

However, when organization receives value from using cloud app on the project basis and users are happy with the experience delivered, they have a strong business case for wider gradual implementation of cloud solutions.

Thousand of cloud apps and counting

There are already thousands of SaaS applications available, and the number is growing pretty fast. According to Gartner, worldwide sales of enterprise SaaS were forecasted to exceed $8,5 billion in 2010, and the market is growing by dozen or so percent annually.

Online apps are deemed the future of software. They have potential to completely replace native applications. In that futuristic scenario, all software is accessible just with browser, and the operating system become irrelevant. That's the vision behind Google Chrome OS. Whether or not this vision becomes reality is not critical. What's important is increasing utility of available SaaS business applications. Why not to use it to your advantage?

To see a selection of available SaaS apps visit: http://bit.ly/ibBpxf

Leakages in Google Docs?

2011-04-08T14:54:00.001+02:00

Why your Google Document is on my list?

A couple of days ago we have received a rather strange email:

I am not sure how your document is loaded onto our google apps. Please remove it or grant me access so I can remove it from our system

[link do Google Docs document]

After verification we have figured out that some other Google Docs user indeed has one of our presentations on his list of documents stored on Google Docs.

The presentation in question is public - published and embedded on our website at inlevel.com/howitworks.

Still it doesn't explain, why the documents jumped between two Google Docs users' accounts.

The other user can view it on his list of documents, but cannot edit nor delete it.

Are your documents stored on Google Docs secure?

I do not know how many other cases of such leakages happened in Google Docs in the past. I also can't tell whether such situation has ever involved non-public / non-published documents.

Nevertheless, this episode made me ask some questions about the security of Google Docs.

Our company uses Google Docs as the main repository for our internal documents. We have a number of pretty sensitive stuff there - financial information, internal discussions etc. Leakage of such materials would be much more unpleasant.

I considered Google to be among the most secure cloud services provider. If Google cannot provide adequate security, who other can?

Share your experience to identify the problem, please!

Have you experienced any other cases of leakages of Google Docs documents?

Please let us know at:

Facebook - facebook.com/inlevelNet
Twitter - twitter.cm/completeview
Email - info@inlevel.com

Fifth Element

2011-04-06T12:16:00.000+02:00

Recently I talked with people who are IT sales and deal with enterprise customers. They were happy about 2010 sales results and they told me that after horrible 2008 and weak 2009 situation on the market is not bad.

I asked for details: what mostly enterprise customers are purchasing?

They told me that basically software licenses related to existing infrastructure: new seats, upgrades, extensions, additional functionality and also some customers are starting small, new project mostly related to data management like BI, warehousing, reporting etc.

I continued my investigation: why they do this? After all they lived for at least two years without spending significant money on basic infrastructure and they had enough time to feel, think and understand how expansive are such solutions. They also had enough time to look around and learn about lighter, new, innovative, cloud based solutions. Why when their budgets are unfrozen again they move two years back instead of try to build something new?

IT sales people answer was simple: because they know how to do it.

Talking about enterprise software people very often complaining about its complexity: difficult licensing, thousands of options and features, unclear pricing, undefined related costs, etc. It is good to remember that such construction is important (or maybe the most important?) element of enterprise software providers competitive advantage. Once they teach customers how to deal with them they are sure about future revenue stream. Only one thing is difficult to estimate: how all this process influences on whole enterprise (costs and innovation)?

inlevel.com Published Monthly Report Showing Business Words People Use to Find Enterprise Applications - press release

2011-04-04T17:05:00.001+02:00

Krakow, Poland, April 4, 2011 — inlevel (http://www.inlevel.com) published today the report about service visitors activity. It contains the most popular business parameters which people use to find modern enterprise applications.

"inlevel view - March 2011" (available at: http://blog.inlevel.com/p/reports.html) shows that IT processes improvement is the most demanded benefit. Besides people are looking for software which can help enhance products and services and improve their quality. This trend is also visible in popular Key Performance Indicators where "IT Support Performance" is on the first place (following by sales management in direct sales and channel management). Business processes which customers want to support by new applications are related to company relationships with external environment and effective internal management (in Human Resources and knowledge management area).

inlevel's software business description includes selection of the most important business parameters like: potential benefits, departments involved, functions, processes which will be changed or improved, industries and key performance indicators which allow to measure implementation success. Each software provider can build such description using provided by inlevel tool.

The inlevel service provides professionals a way to use common business language to find, initiate conversations and identify solutions based their business imperative selection. Using inlevel’s Internet marketing methods, professionals generate online traffic using their business issues. These requests can be from IT decision makers but more and more they are from non IT business professionals.

About inlevel

inlevel was founded in 2010 to create a novel business software marketplace where applications are presented from a business perspective. inlevel wants to allow business professionals to easily discover software that addresses their business issues, even when they do not know what kind of software may be relevant.

inlevel allows for the discovery of business software using business concepts such as benefits, departments, functions, processes, industries or key performance indicators, selections based on peer opinions and actions, as well as to communication with vendors to confirm a match with business requirements. Instead of going through all the marketing babble and technical specifications, business software can be found based on expected business benefit, selected industry or whatever particular business process needs to be improved.

Inlevel is designed primarily for business users who are not IT experts and who are looking for tools that may help in their work.

For more information and news from inlevel, please visit http://www.inlevel.com. For additional assistance, contact inlevel at info[at]inlevel.com.

Web page: http://www.inlevel.com

Company blog: http://blog.inlevel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/inlevelNet

Twitter: http://twitter.com/completeview

YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/completeview

inlevel LLC

113 Barksdale Professional Center

Newark, DE 19711

Headquarters and Development Center:

inlevel

Karmelicka 55/4

31-128 Kraków

Poland

Looking for management, business, performance or intelligence solutions? inlevel.com is the place to come

2011-04-04T14:33:00.002+02:00

Created with: wordle.net

Among the words sought after the most by inlevel.com visitors in March were management, business, performance, intelligence as well as marketing, collaboration, customer and processing.

No wonder, since when you are looking for a software solution for your business challenge, inlevel.com is the first place to come!

We present applications from the business point of view. We focus on business benefits, business areas, business processes and key performance indicators connected with business software. Everyone is talking about IT business alignment - we are enabling it.

Check it out: inlevel.com/search

inlevel.com Was Approved for European Union Grant as Innovative Project (press release)

2011-03-28T19:48:00.000+02:00

Krakow, Poland March 28, 2011 — inlevel (http://www.inlevel.com) announced that Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) which manages funds assigned from the State Budget and the European Union for the support of the entrepreneurship and innovation added inlevel to the list of companies which will be supported by European Union grants.

Competition for funding were made according to the new assessment criteria developed by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP, http://en.parp.gov.pl), the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration and the Ministry of Regional Development, taking into account the opinions of outside experts, Regional Financing Institutions, and the voices of entrepreneurs benefiting from this funding. New criteria gained acceptance Monitoring Committee, whose members include representatives of business circles and the European Commission.

inlevel is working on new, innovative way of enterprise application acquisitions. Enterprise software were mostly restricted to IT professionals for years. In present times, when software is accessible in cloud model and it does not require any internal IT infrastructure, business professionals who are not IT experts can have better, direct access to modern technology related to their job.

The inlevel founders, having a combined 20 years of experience in the enterprise software market, built an Internet service that helps business professionals to become more active during the software selection process. inlevel started as a research project that was built, tested and delivered as an Internet service prototype. Now inlevel service includes basic functionality which brings software providers an opportunity to get together easily with non IT professionals.

Official government announcement can be found on Polish Agency for Enterprise Development page at: http://bit.ly/fLbh82.

About inlevel

inlevel was founded in February 2010 to create a novel business software marketplace where applications are presented from a business perspective. inlevel wants to allow business professionals to easily discover software that addresses their business issues, even when they do not know what kind of software may be relevant.

Inlevel is designed primarily for business users who are not IT experts and who are looking for tools that may help in their work.

For more information and news from inlevel, please visit http://www.inlevel.com. For additional assistance, contact inlevel at info[at]inlevel.com.

Web page: http://www.inlevel.com

Company blog: http://blog.inlevel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/inlevelNet

Twitter: http://twitter.com/completeview

YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/completeview

Headquarters and Development Center:

inlevel

Karmelicka 55/4

31-128 Kraków

Poland

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What are the most wanted, most popular and highest ranked apps?

2011-03-28T14:59:00.020+02:00

We have listened closely to our users

Three weeks ago we launched a redesign version of inlevel.com. We listened to your opinions, feedback from our testers and analyzed a lot of data gathered during an initial test period. We hope the service is much more easier to use now.

The first thing most people notice is the revamped front page of inlevel.com.

Separate sections for most popular, highest ranked, newest applications etc.

Our goal here was to succinctly present what's going on inside the service. Hence, you can see separate sections dedicated to most popular, highest ranked or newest applications, among others. We also show you, what other people are searching for and what applications they are viewing most often.

The most wanted are applications that our visitors ask about, try or buy the most.

Select relevant time scale

By clicking on the small W / M / Y / A letters in the right corner of the section you can check what software was the most desired in the previous Week, Month, Year or Anytime.

Similar action is available for most popular and highest ranked applications.

Serendipitous discovery

We have also a mysterious section called Featured. This is presentation of a single app selected from inlevel directory that may be interesting for you, based on your profile and previous actions. To get the best recommendations, you should be logged in to inlevel.com. Otherwise we are shooting blind here :(

Learn more about application, compare it, or tell others what do you think about it

Directly from front page you can:

review or rank the featured app by clicking on stars under the product logo,
contact its developer about any details that are relevant for you, or
add the app to the list for comparison with others.

Please help us make inlevel.com more useful for you!

We are fully aware that there is still plenty of things we need to improve. We would gladly learn from you what we should change or add.

For your convenience we have prepared a really short survey about redesigned service: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MFVCYXS

Otherwise, you can just sent us an email to info@inlevel.com, tweet to @completeview, or post comment on facebook.com/inlevelnet

Tell the others, if you like what we do

If you like the changes, why not sharing link to our service using buttons present at the very top of the page? You can recommend inlevel.com at LinkedIn, Like it on Facebook, or tweet on Twitter. Many other social services are available under "Share" button.

Applications - millions of possibilities, one headache?

2011-03-26T07:25:00.000+01:00

Are we becoming app addicts? Each user of a smartphone or tablet has usually tens or more of various applications downloaded for his device.

Applications are also coming to little less powerful feature phones. Application stores are becoming available for browsers and operating systems. We are surrounded by enormous amount of software or content-centered software tools.

But how to chose among such a gigantic plethora of possibilities? What differentiates applications seemingly performing identical tasks?

We may follow the crowd and get the most hyped apps. We may listen to our friends and use tools they like. We may limit ourselves to free apps only, and abstain from paid ones. These are simple heuristics.

But what about finding tools for our specific needs? What about comparing functions of the products? These tasks are currently more difficult for lack of adequate comparison tools.

That's the reason we at inlevel.com try to enrich application descriptions by additional information allowing better discovery, filtering and comparison of applications. We focus our attention at business applications, as pretty well defined domain, but our model could potentially be extended to other areas.

Let's try to make our choice of applications a little easier!

inlevel at CeBIT 2011

2011-03-14T12:49:00.020+01:00

Thank you to all exhibitors we could meet and talk during this year's CeBIT. It was a great value to know your impressions about our service and its just released redesigned website. Hope to talk to you all soon!

Let me show you my CeBIT impressions:)

Talking Shakespeare. At this moment a question of "To be or not to be":)

Works as the avatar. Would you like to have such representation? :)

PIAP's showstopper - unquestioned star of Polish national stand with responsible job of serving apples and fudges:)

See you at CeBIT 2012!