Case Study: ACCEPT

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“OpSource took a lot of time to understand our business and technology issues and allowing them to be a trusted partner in architecting a solution that worked. What OpSource delivered set them apart from their competitors.”

Accept Enterprise Product Development SolutionsAccept Software offers an enterprise product development platform that technology-driven companies leverage when deciding which products to bring to market for the fastest time-to-profit. The Accept360™ Platform is the only complete, end-to-end software solution that tightly links company and product strategy through ideation, portfolio planning, roadmaps, requirements management, and execution. Delivered as a SaaS offering, the Accept360 suite enables Global 2000 companies to:

Decide which products to invest in and what features to build •Align product planning and execution with corporate strategy•Execute confidently by providing visibility into every stage of the •product development process Collaborate with internal and external customers from ideation, •product strategy and planning through executionExecute faster to beat competitors to market for the fastest time •to profit

Challenge: Deliver Enterprise-class SaaS Service to Demanding ClientsFounded in 2004, Accept Software originally offered its Accept360 solution “any way the client wanted it.” Clients could install and run the application on their own infrastructure under a perpetual licensing agreement, or they could opt for the hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) version.

Case Study Highlights

Accept Software provides an •enterprise product development platform that enables G2000 companies to decide which products to bring to market for the fastest time-to-profit. The Accept360™ Platform dynamically aligns product decisions to company strategy and market opportunities, from planning through execution by tightly linking company and product strategy through ideation, portfolio planning, roadmaps, requirements management, and execution.

Challenge: Find a managed •hosting provider with experience in scaling and managing complex Enterprise SaaS applications.

Solution: OpSource Managed •Hosting and Application Operations.

Accept Software chose OpSource •to host and manage its complex SaaS environment based on a proven track record, deep technical skills, and a partnership mentality.

Accept Software Selects OpSource to Deliver Enterprise-class, High-Availability SaaS Application for Lower Cost

Case Study

Mark Pecoraro Senior Vice President of SaaS Operations


ACCEPT SOFTWArE SElECTS OPSOurCE TO DElIvEr EnTErPrISE-ClASS, HIGH-AvAIlAbIlITy SAAS APPlICATIOn FOr lOWEr COST

by 2006, the company’s business had grown significantly, and Accept Software needed help scaling their operations to support larger and more security-conscious SaaS clients. The company decided that it was time to turn over the SaaS infrastructure management to experts and allow Accept to focus more on developing and marketing its software platform. Finding the right managed hosting services provider was critical to the future of the company.

SolutionMark Pecoraro, Senior vice President of SaaS operations at Accept, contacted IbM and HP about hosting and managing Accept’s SaaS infrastructure. “I guess they were too big, and we were just too small. They didn’t seem to want our business.”

undaunted, Pecoraro identified two other managed hosting providers, including OpSource. “both offered many of the same services,” says Pecoraro. “We had a unique, single-tenant architecture and a multi-tenant back-end. OpSource took a lot of time to understand our business issues and help us architect a solution that worked. That’s what OpSource delivered that set them apart from their competitors.”

based on its breadth and depth of technical skills, Pecoraro chose OpSource to provide

managed hosting services. The hosted environment went into production at the end of 2006.

“Many other managed hosting or cloud providers don’t understand the service layer,” Pecoraro said. “We needed a company that knew how to run SaaS operations. If all you need is infrastructure, that’s great; but I look at SaaS operations as a business activity, not a technical activity, and OpSource understands the business operations of providing high-availability, mission-critical functionality to our clients.”

In 2007, Accept made the strategic decision to deliver its solution 100 percent through a SaaS model. “Fortuitously we were already with OpSource and they were a good partner to help us build up our SaaS capabilities,” says Pecoraro. “We saw no reason to change providers.”

In 2008, one of the world’s largest financial services firms expressed interest in Accept’s solution. “That really caused us to raise our game,” recalls Pecoraro. “We had to put in business continuity, disaster recovery, lots of security policies and procedures. It was extremely good that we had OpSource as a partner during that exercise. If we were on our own, we probably could not have met the contractual requirements.”

“OpSource provides Accept with an enterprise-class SaaS capability at reasonable cost with high quality of service and availability.”

Mark Pecoraro Senior Vice President of SaaS Operations



and manuals,” says Pecoraro. “In the SaaS world, because it’s a service, COGS is significant because all of the operations costs are considered cost of goods sold. OpSource has helped us to reduce our COGS, as a percent of revenue, by 40 percent.”

Availability has been high and consistent. “Over five and a half years, OpSource has delivered at least 99.95 percent uptime annually,” says Pecoraro. “That’s a very good record.”

Pecoraro sums up his experience with OpSource this way. “They provide Accept with an enterprise-class SaaS capability at reasonable cost with high quality of service and availability.”

OpSource’s expertise in managing complex SaaS applications and its SAS 70 Type II compliance enabled Accept to close many large deals in the past three years. “OpSource has become a strategic partner, ensuring that we can respond to those prospects and demonstrate our capabilities as an enterprise-class SaaS provider,” says Pecoraro. “OpSource participates in rFIs, rFPs, and security audits. They play a key role in consulting with us about what we should do and then executing on that. I view OpSource as an extension of my team.”

Impact: Cost Effective, Reliable“With a traditional perpetual software license model, the cost of goods sold (COGS) was near nothing, just the cost of the CD



About Accept Software

Accept Software provides an enterprise product development platform that enables G2000 companies to decide which products to bring to market for the fastest time-to-profit. The Accept360™ Platform dynamically aligns product decisions to company strategy and market opportunities, from planning through execution, by tightly linking company and product strategy through ideation, portfolio planning, roadmaps, requirements management, and execution.

About OpSource

OpSource provides cloud and managed hosting solutions that enable businesses to accelerate growth and scale operations while controlling costs and reducing IT infrastructure support risks. More than six hundred enterprises, service providers and Software-as-a-Service ISvs rely on OpSource’s expertise, experience and cloud automation technology to operate high-availability, business-critical hosting environments. OpSource’s Managed Services for the Cloud provide application monitoring, management and optimization across both public and private cloud environments. OpSource’s Software Stack powers the cloud with automated provisioning, billing, management and administration.

Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, OpSource is SAS 70 Type II, PCI DSS level 1 and European Safe Harbour certified and has operations in California, virginia, uK, Ireland, and India.

Corporate Headquarters

5201 Great America Parkway, Suite 120, Santa Clara, CA 95054, 1-800-664-9973 (uSA) +353 1 661 9979 (EMEA), [email protected], www.opsource.net

Technology

Case Study: ACCEPT