| |February 20149CIOReviewThe True Power of Cloud SoftwareCEO SpotlightOrganizations are rapidly moving from pre-internet client-server software to more flexible cloud-based solutions. The basic advantages of cloud-based software are well known. Companies can deploy the software in a matter of weeks or months rather than years. They can pay as they go and get the latest updates quickly and continuously. And cloud software enables companies to respond and adapt to business issues that arise unexpectedly.Just as important, software in the cloud can collect valuable data not available via traditional methods. This is the true power of internet software. Consider LinkedIn, the personal cloud software of over 250 million people. If you are a member, you know the power of LinkedIn's capacity to capture and continuously update data on other members. Compare it to your old pre-internet contact-management system, which was likely rife with stale information no matter how much time you spent trying to keep it current. At LinkedIn, all contact information is always updated and gets better and better over time, all by itself.The same transition is happening in enterprise software. Cloud-based applications are now pre-loaded with data that can help companies do business better. In particular, cloud-based software that is specific to an industry can provide eye-opening insights about that industry that were not available before. This is especially true if a large number of companies within a particular industry adopt and share the same cloud software--a sort of LinkedIn for their industry.In the life sciences industry, companies are challenged with obtaining and maintaining a complete, timely and accurate view of ever-changing data on doctors. Companies need the most up-to-date data--including hospital affiliation, specialties and license information--in order to ensure compliance with a host of government regulations. For example, they cannot provide drug samples to doctors without up-to-date licenses--these interactions hinge on having easily accessible, reliable customer data. This is the key to ensuring that life sciences companies can communicate the right information to the right doctors, ultimately allowing patients to have access to the medicines they need.Historically, getting this data into a company's CRM system and maintaining it has been a challenge. And even when the data was uploaded to the master system, it was fenced in and static. Company A had data on its customers and Company B had data on its customers. But the sharing that would benefit both companies--far beyond whatever competitive disadvantage they perceived--was not possible.Now imagine a cloud-based master system shared by almost every company in the life sciences industry. With tens of thousands of representatives in the field always uploading their data to that shared system--the same way you update your personal data at LinkedIn--the data in the system gets better and better over time and becomes more valuable to everyone. Better still, when there is a critical mass of data in the cloud, patterns start to emerge, enabling companies to gather insights that were not previously possible. Challenges for EntrepreneursEnterprise software is changing fast and there is a wealth of opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue. But founders cannot flit from one great idea to the next. The challenge is to pick a market where there is real customer dissatisfaction and focus on it, rather than follow the latest trends in the marketplace.Jeff Bezos of Amazon is famous for saying, "Your margin is my opportunity." In enterprise software, one person's customer dissatisfaction is another's opportunity. And that is a message that every emerging entrepreneur in the space should take to heart.Veeva Systems(NYSE:VEEV) provides cloud-based software for the global life sciences industry committed to innovation, product excellence and customer success. Founded in 2007, Veeva has its headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area and has a market cap of $3.53 billion. Peter Gassner, CEO, Veeva SystemsPeter Gassner
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