Danish software will conquer America through cloud

With Microsoft's cloud system, a Danish software system can distribute their solution to the world. The Cloud solution provides maintenance issues both easier and cheaper. Simultaneously, collaboration with a Canadian partner supply the platform to conquer the whole of North America.
We are talking about the Danish software company, WorkBook Software A/S, which has now entered the North American market through a distribution agreement with the company 360 Visibility.

The solution is delivered as SaaS (Software as a Service) to, among others, Advertising agencies. At the same time, WorkBook operation of the solution has been sent to the cloud via Microsoft's Windows Azure technology. WorkBook is a business system aimed at companies with many on-going projects and need for time recording. The company has grown out of the advertising industry and today has a market share of 72 percent in Denmark in IT systems for marketing and communications (MARCOM). Besides time recording, the system includes a complete end-to-end workflow of project management along with a finance system.
The new partner, 360 Visibility, are located in Toronto, Canada. The company will market WorkBook as a solution for the professional services segment - for example, engineers, lawyers and consultants. “We see a trend in the American market where people no longer buy software in the traditional way. Instead you go online and search for solutions that meet your requirements. This business model we are now ready to exploit”, says director Henrik Skov Pedersen from WorkBook Software A/S. He expects that SaaS as a business model becomes a major challenge for many of the companies that sell financial systems (ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning) today:
“They have typically survived by selling a solution that included a mass amount of consultant hours for implementation at the customer. I think that we in the ERP industry no longer expect to live from implementation. Instead, we have an advisory role, helping to simplify workflow and optimise projects. The transition to the cloud would enhance development further”, he says.
 
Sky gives global access
WorkBook Software today has partners in eight countries. The solution has been sold as SaaS for several years, where each partner provides the system to their customers. The goal is to get out into all European countries. And it must have transition to Azure made easier.
Henrik Skov Pedersen explains that the existing business model has allowed some challenges: “We've been forced to find a hosting partner in each country where our system can be sold. But with Azure we get a global partner, so the system is automatically available throughout the world”, he says.
 
Windows Azure is Microsoft's offer on PaaS (Platform as a Service). It is a cloud system where you can develop and run applications.
The move to Azure will, among other advantages, make customer support easier: When developers at WorkBook Software must correct something in the system with a partner, they must now keep track of systems for remote connectivity, user names and passwords. With Azure, there will be only one system to maintain.
Of course, WorkBook Software will not terminate agreements with local hosting partners. But the goal is that in five to ten years, all clients run on the Azure platform.
 
Henrik Skov Pedersen believes that WorkBook must be one of the first major software solutions that move completely onto the Azure platform. It has since also provided some challenges. “There are some things that need adjustment. I reckon that the solution will run optimally in about four months. But our biggest challenge has been finding the right competencies. Until now, Azure has mostly been used for smaller applications and testing. Now when we come with a complete business solution, make it some other requirements for example, scaling.”