The basic dynamics of a water cooler company involve planning, scheduling, tracking, billing and credit chasing for a very high number of very low value deliveries.

Even a small water cooler company with just 1000 delivery sites will be producing up to 25,000 delivery notes and 12,000 invoices each year. Efficiency savings of just 10 cents per delivery is equivalent to an additional profit of 2,500 Euro per year for each 1000 coolers.

It is just not possible to run a water cooler company of any size without investing in software. The volume of delivery notes, invoices and other paperwork cannot be managed effectively without some form of software solution.

"In the water cooler market investment in software is essential for maximising profit"

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Aquis believe that it is not possible to maximise efficiency savings and maximise return on investment unless there is a seamless integration between software components.

Marketing applications need seamless links with operational and financial data in order to avoid the time-wasting and the potential embarrassment of tele-sales calls to existing clients. Customer service and sales order applications require seamless links with credit control applications to properly manage calls from clients with overdue balances.

If the interfaces and dataflows between software components are not both seamless and automatic or if various software components are managed, supported and updated by different companies at different times then cost of ownership will inevitably increase and any theoretical advantages that might be gained by having 'best of breed' components will be negated.

"In the water cooler market an integrated software package can dramatically reduce costs"

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Only a specialised package, specifically designed for the water cooler market and constantly being improved and updated to meet the changing needs of the water cooler market can provide the right software infrastructure to minimise operational inefficiencies and maximise profitability.

In other industries which have different dynamics - fewer deliveries and higher delivery values - any small operational inefficiency will have substantially less impact on profitability. The need for specialised software becomes less critical and the return on investment is harder to achieve.

"In the water cooler market a specialised software package can provide a serious increase in efficiency and profitability"

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As an example, the Aquis eServer application suite contains over 1200 input screens, more than 50,000 lines of program code and more than twenty man-years of development effort built into it.

To completely re-create such a package would require several years of activity and costs would need to be measured in hundred's of thousands of Dollars, Pounds or Euros. The risks would be enormous because inevitably the development project would start with a team that had limited experience and knowledge of the water cooler market. As with any large software development project there are no effective ways to guarantee, before the project is completed, that the final implementation is going to be fit for purpose.

It is just not possible or realistic to develop an in-house package or to commission a local software house and expect to deliver the quality and functionality that is available in existing specialised packages at a comparable cost.

In-house development teams and local non-specialist software houses are often too busy fire-fighting and bug-fixing to be pro-actively improving the system. They do not have the advantage of feedback from a wider customer base and both maintenance and improvement costs are going to be more expensive.

"Bespoke development is a strategy that combines high risks and high costs with no guarantee of any long term benefit"

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The Aquis software has been developed over a period of more than twelve years and incorporates more than twenty man-years of specialised development and client driven improvements. Our development history and our large and growing customer base are testimony that the Aquis software is fit for purpose. However, business requirements, legislative changes and technology innovations will constantly provide the opportunity for improving any software application. Aquis exist because they believe that only a specialised package and a specialised company can continue to meet the changing needs of a growing market.

The Aquis team, which continues to grow in proportion to growth in the market, currently comprises ten support and development personnel that are dedicated to the water cooler market. Their specialist market knowledge is combined with years of experience of implementing our software in companies large and small.

The Aquis software is a premium product that provides an excellent return on investment. The quality and functionality of our products have historically made us the preferred choice for most of the water cooler companies that have made the investment in specialised software. Consequently, we have by far the largest user base in Europe and this generates both the feed back and the revenues to provide continual improvement of our products and services.

"Aquis are confident that any cooler company that buys or rents their fully integrated software solution will achieve a return on investment that can not be equalled by any other software solution"

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Until recently Aquis Systems Limited have followed the traditional software model where a client company buys 'user licences' which are installed and configured on a client's own 'network server' for use by as many 'workstations' as the client has purchased the licences for.

This model requires a considerable initial capital investment in terms of initial license fees and in terms of a suitable 'network server'. This is in addition to other necessary investment costs such as training and data transfer. In a growing company this model also requires additional capital investment at regular intervals for additional 'user licences' and for upgrades to the 'network server'. This model often requires short term compromises to be made either on the number of licences purchased or on the quality and capacity of the 'network server'.

The combination of faster and more affordable internet links combined with the rapid growth of companies offering affordable ASP (Application Service Provider) hosting services now allow Aquis Systems Limited to offer our application as a rented ASP service.

The ASP model provides unlimited use of our application over a secure internet connection for a monthy fee which is based on usage. Our application is hosted by an ASP hosting company in a secure environment with the hosting company providing round the clock networking and engineering support. Aquis Systems Limited continue to provide the software support.

With the ASP model the only initial investment costs are related to workstations, internet connectivity, training and data transfer. There is no need for either capacity planning or investment decisions in respect of servers and user licences and the headaches associated with server maintainence and data backups are eliminated.

In the long term the ASP model and the traditional model are likely have a similar cost of ownership. In the short term the ASP model offers many valuable advantages which include lower cost of entry, improved data security, improved application availability, better service levels and a measurable and predictable cost of ownership which is directly related to the growth in your business activity.

"For an innovative water cooler company the ASP model can provide significant business benefits"

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Apart from Governments and major corporations, few organisations have traditionally been large enough to justify the infrastructure costs of specially built computer rooms with fire protection systems, CCTV monitoring and round the clock security personnel to provide maximum levels of physical protection of their computer infrastructure and data. Even fewer organisations have been able to afford the luxury of specialist technical personnel to provide twenty-four hour engineering cover to monitor for failing or failed equipment and the inventory of spare parts to provide instant hot-swap of equipment when it begins to fail.

In the last two or three years several leading computer manufacturers, Internet Service Providers and Telecommunication companies have recognised the market opportunity of investing in giant, specially designed and built "server farms" where computer rooms containing racks upon racks of top quality web servers and data servers are available for rental.

By spreading the infrastructure costs across a high number of user companies these "server farms" can offer its user companies the most sophisticted of protection measures against the traditional risks of fire, flood and theft and also against newer risks such as data theft, hacking, computer virus, etc. They bring the levels of security and reliability that would normally only be expected of an organisation such as a major bank to the smallest of user companies at an affordable monthly fee.

By using an ASP hosting company, Aquis Systems Limited are able to offer their current and future clients an affordable and flexible service on either a shared or a dedicated application server. The capacity of rented server space, network bandwidth and available licences can be increased at any time at a few weeks notice and gives the ASP model a flexibility that can not be achieved with purchased software and hardware.

"The ASP model offers significant benefits in terms of reliability, security and flexibility"

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Although the internet and email have brought significant additional risks in terms of computer viruses and computer hackers it is still true that the majority of data theft, data losses and data corruptions are brought about by internal risks, such as fire and theft or by the deliberate or accidental actions of employees or ex-employees.

Few companies have the means or the resources to provide the levels of physical security and network security that can be offered by an ASP service. The initial perception is naturally to think that allowing valuable company data out of the companies direct control adds significantly to the risk of data theft. In practice few companies have the required layers of physical security and network monitoring needed to stop a determined hacker or a disgruntled employee from stealing or damaging valuable business data.

For many companies moving the data to an ASP hosted server will provide a level of physical security against fire, theft and flood that can not be achieved on the company's own premises at any reasonable cost. In respect of network security, unless a company intends to keep its internal computer network totally isolated from the potential future benefits of email and e-commerce then the risks and opportunities for data theft and data corruption are not significantly altered by the ASP model. However, the opportunities for introducing additional layers of data protection are significantly improved under the ASP model and the costs associated with such network protection can be significantly reduced.

"The ASP model can provide valuable additional protection against data loss and data theft"

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Aquis Systems Limited have been logging, monitoring and classifying support calls since January 1999. Our experience clearly shows that although total service breakdowns are comparatively rare, the vast majority of such breakdowns are caused by hardware or networking problems rather than any failure of the application or database software. Occasionally these problems are caused by actual computer or network equipment failure, more often they are caused by computer or network resource bottlenecks as a result of business growth.

A water cooler company is in the business of providing coolers and water and would not normally have the time or expertise to constantly monitor their servers and their networks to anticipate equipment failures or capacity problems. Under such circumstances, problems become almost inevitable with an in-house server. Some network and computer support companies will offer capacity monitoring as an additional chargeable service but few can offer the sophisticated monitoring tools available to ASP hosting companies.

The Aquis ASP service can offer monthly guarantees in respect of hardware and network availability levels provided by the ASP hosting company. The remaining points of total network failure with an ASP service relate to your electricity service provider, your Internet Service Provider and to the equipment and lines used to connect to your ISP service. If guaranteed uptime is a business imperative the cost of providing an ISDN back up service through a second ISP company would not be prohibitive.

"The Aquis ASP service can provide unprecedented levels of service reliability"

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For a start up company, the traditional software delivery model requires a significant investment in software licenses and computer infrastructure at a time when business growth is unmeasured and other imperatives such as coolers, bottles, trucks, premises and people are placing demands on available investment capital.

For a start-up operation the Aquis eServer application is available as an ASP service at a start up cost of just £50.00 per month. This will provide about two hours per day of continuous use which would be more than adequate for most start-ups. Using the Aquis system from day one of operations will provide a sound and proven platform for introducing safe and reliable operating practices into your new business venture. Additionally, it will completely eliminate the subsequent operational problems and headaches involved in changing systems and procedures and transferring data at a later date.

With the Aquis eServer system in place it will be far more difficult for your new inexperienced staff to mislay paperwork, lose track of trials, bottles and coolers and fail to invoice promptly for delivered goods and rentals. The only investment requirement a start-up company needs prior to using the ASP service is to attend a training course which can only help to educate your inexperienced staff - both in the software itself and in good operational procedures for a water cooler company.

"For a start-up company the Aquis ASP service is a priority requirement"

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Over the longer term the cost of ownership of the ASP model and the traditional model are likely to be similar. The ASP model makes the total cost of ownership much more visible since with the traditional model many of the ownership costs - such as back-up tapes, network administration time, capacity planning, time lost to server problems, etc - are hidden.

Clearly, for a company that already has the investment in computer infrastructure, software licenses and IT personnel the balance of costs and benefits will be entirely different. But for a growing company that wants to focus on the problems of an expanding water cooler company instead of the problems of IT infrastructure the ASP model offers a lot of advantages.

For a growing company that is starting to open additional depots the ASP model can be especially attractive. The flexibility offered by an ASP server where usage is constantly monitored and capacity can be increased with only a few weeks lead time is very attractive. Additionally, subject of course to user authorisation, management reports and company data can be viewed both from head office and from any depot - or indeed from anywhere that has a secure internet connection.

"For a multi-depot operation the flexibility of the ASP model is very attractive"

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