RightNow – On Demand CX Software

I often hear that even though the SaaS delivery model is cool and innovative, success in the market is limited by who can take advantage of it.  Sure, SaaS works for shoe companies, small machine manufacturers, and ecommerce retailers, but it can’t work for everyone.  This criticism isn’t unlike objections heard about the automobile (“It will never replace the horse and buggy”) and the Internet (“It will never work for commerce”).  One of the great things about working in technology is that we spend our days figuring out how to do what seems impossible.

Last month I discussed the importance of the service commitments a SaaS provider must make to its customers.  This month I’d like to share that RightNow made a game-changing move within the public sector space, partially made possible by our operational transparency and commitment to service levels.

For years we heard that SaaS is only great for small companies and non-profits, but we successfully busted that paradigm and are now delivering mission critical systems for large global enterprises on-demand.  For years  we heard that SaaS is only great for things with minimal data security requirements like corporate travel booking and expense management, but we successfully busted that paradigm and provide SaaS services for a variety of finance, telco, and ecommerce firms with strict PII & PCI security and compliance requirements.

For years we heard that SaaS is only great for the private sector, but the certification and security demands of the public sector forced them into an expensive on-premise model.  You are no doubt guessing where this is going; this week RightNow took the lead across the SaaS/on-demand/cloud computing space in delivering a full SaaS solution for our civilian and Department of Defense clients.  As you can imagine, this was no small undertaking and one we had been working on for some time.

In an era where terms like efficiency, transparency, and collaboration are not just goals, but mandates within the federal government, having a market-leading service application like RightNow is a fantastic way for our customers to meet these objectives.  The fact that it can now be deployed as a SaaS solution allows RightNow to deliver the traditional on-demand benefits like speed and efficiency along with our reputation for operational excellence.

RightNow helps our customers deliver exceptional customer experiences when they are faced with supporting huge numbers of consumers, constituents, or war-fighters.  Our product innovation and SaaS delivery model help them to show amazing returns on their investment (ROI).  The fact that we can now do that for our civilian and defense agency customers as well, is not only good news for them as they work to fulfill their mission, it is good for you and I as taxpayers as well.