Appirio: New Venture on

a Cloud (Group 2)
Chew Mei Lien [Cindy]
MBS151080
Sim Jun Liang
MBS151013
Liow Jing Kang
MBS151076
Yap Choon Ming
MBS151030
Goh Pin Siang 25 March 2016
MBS151033
Ho Siew Yee
MBS151026
1. Case synopsis

Background of Appirio
Incorporated and launched in 2006
Vision: Accelerate adoption of the cloud
Model: Software-as-a-service (SAS), encouraging companies
to move their IT systems to the cloud
Measure of business progress: Number of go-lives, i.e. how
many client projects it successfully brings to the cloud
Founders: Chris Barbin (CEO), Glenn Weinstein (CIO) and
Narinder Singh, Chief Strategy Officer
Competitors: IBM and Accenture (these companies offer
traditional services systems in addition to cloud services, as
compared to Appirio which only offers pure-play cloud
services
1. Case synopsis (continued)

Company operations
Practises what it preaches: Does not own a server or depend
on on-premise software, and Appirios corporate network
was on the Internet
Investments in IT as percentage of revenue: Under 2
percent
Appirios IT department is able to forge a front-line strategy
with executives, instead of being limited by maintenance
burdens due to:
Every employee was technically savvy, hence only some
technical support was needed. IT just needed to ensure
the systems did not interfere.
Does not provide or maintain laptops for employees, and
instead they are given an allowance

1. Case synopsis (continued)

Relationships and platforms

Used Google Apps within the company
Adoption of Workday for human capital management system
Ecosystem partners: Google, Salesforce.com

Future directions of Appirio

How to attract large enterprise customers who would look,
and not just leap, into the cloud?
Was the future of cloud computing as bright and
unstoppable as they all believed?
Would large companies trust a startup like Appirio, versus
IBM or Accenture?
Goal: March progressively towards an IPO
2. How did Chris, Glenn, and Narinder recognize the
entrepreneurial opportunity to start Appirio?
In large companies, IT department spent most of the time
keeping the lights on, maintaining and operating the existing
software.

Costly systems (e.g. license software cost) and technology

investments not directly related to a company core business.

Appirio develop the Cloud Computing, it allows specialists to

focus on technical and their business operations.

The adoption of salesforce.com by many customers convinced

Appirio of the growing success of software-as-a-service
solution.
3) What industry is Appirio in, and who is Appirios
competition? How do you expect Appirios
competitive business environment to change
during the next two to five years?
IT Industry, Cloud computing Industry.

Those companies who offering cloud computing services-

Acumen Solution, Salesforce (Partner), Google (Partner), IBM,
Accenture, Dell Boomi.

- A tougher business environment

- New players in the market
- Market leaders become more diverse in their business
activities
4) Where does cloud computing fit in the evolution
of IT Systems?
Provide efficient and simplified way of getting data to the
system user.

Lessen the workload of the IT personnel on maintaining or

keeping the IT system up and running and now they will have
more time to think and generate the new idea of contributing
to the business growth and create more competitive
functionality in an organization.

No massive hardware and space are needed for an

organization to store their data.

Implementation of cloud computing means a leaner approach

for the IT system and subsequently can help to save the cost
and time of the organization.
5) What are the real benefits of Appirios Strategy?
Adopt current Appirios Never depend on
existing basic
system for their
Strategy premise software!
routine
operation.

Utilise and unveil Never own a

Using IT system
the true function server!
as Traffic Cop
of IT

1) Minimize operating cost (man power, space, utilities cost and etc) and
reliability and fixed asset which can lower down the overall expenses and improve
the profitability of the organization.
2) Create more value added service to the growth of the company (especially in IT
function) by eliminating the non value added task like maintaining the laptop.
3) Saving the hassle of buying and updating software.
4) Eliminated the plan downtime which suppose to incur if there is any massive
software update or accepting patches and hot fixes.
6) What happened after cloud? What comes after
the cloud, and how is Appirio positioning for that
world
1) now?
Appirio intends to list its company public through IPO.
2) Appirio is focused on three main cloud solutions: Google,
Salesforce, Workday), so they are still actively looking for
partners to bring more innovation from more parters into
enterprise.
3) Traditionally they looked for partners with 3 main criterias.
a) Enterprise Focus
b) Critical mass to support an ecosystem of inovation.
c) Relevant because of the public cloud.
4) Now they have fourth criteria in looking for partner that
involves learning from their customer base, and seeing what
will be important for them. The names we hear most in that
segment are companies like Cisco (Webex and Quad for
Collaboration), Amazon, VMware (public cloud not their simply
their core business), Taleo, SuccessFactors, Concur,
ServiceNow along with many others, and that list is constantly
evolving.
5) Another new area they are actively focusing is mobile. They are
actively working with Iphone OS and Android from a
technology perspective, because the proliferation of mobile
technologies in business is moving well beyond the simple cell
Q7 How can other new ventures build competitive advantage in
. the cloud? How , if at all, does a venture built on the cloud
have an advantage in terms of key entrepreneurial process:
recognizing and shaping entrepreneurial opportunities?

Increased business
Efficien agility
cy Flexible Capacity
Competitiv
Always on newest
version of software e
Advantage
Lower fixed costs
Lower up-front cost to
Cost develop/deploy IT
system
Recognizing and Shaping Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Cloud solutions are attractive to business leaders as they

provide an opportunity to quickly deploy new features
without following the rigor imposed by traditional IT
organizations.
The cost of entering the market is much less for cloud
solutions than when we were in a mainframe or even
client-server world.