Vision from the Top 2012: Chris Cabrera, Xactly

In 2020, looking back on this decade, what will be the single most impactful technical advancement driving business growth?

When we look back on the ‘10s, it will be clear that the full embrace of cloud-based services has not only changed our businesses but our lives.

True cloud computing makes many mobile software innovations possible, changes what we expect from our business and personal tools, re-orders the way products are developed and alters the core of customer relationships.

The cloud is more than a buzzword. It changes the way we live and work. That change will be at the core of innovation.

Without cloud solutions remotely providing services - from your personal radio stations on Spotify or Pandora to access to your customer relationship or sales compensation data - there would be no mobile radio or business intelligence.

The beauty of the cloud-empowered mobile services is that we now expect to take everything everywhere. We expect to be able to tell in a tap or two if a particular restaurant is highly recommended or if we are going to make quota.

That mobile access changes our response. Do we eat at the restaurant? Do we work later to close the deal?

The same cloud revolution - and it is more than a delivery system - that teaches consumers and businesses to demand constant anywhere access, also empowers developers.

With cloud-based platforms, they can jump on existing infrastructure and begin innovating right now. Salesforce, Microsoft and Amazon are just a few examples of existing systems they can tap into.

Now developers can create new tools and get them to market faster than ever with less cost than ever.  Cloud-based platforms and delivery increase the speed of innovation.

Xactly built its small business offering on the Force.com platform using a single code base, a move that allowed us to quickly launch a successful means for small-to-medium sized businesses to automate sales compensation and track commission in real-time.

Cloud platforms also help make innovations stick by allowing entrepreneurs to stretch early investment dollars. Rather than wasting cash on expensive hardware, they can focus on developing better products with successful go-to market strategies.

This increasing innovation will mean more choices for those mobile customers I mentioned earlier. They want everything everywhere, but they also expect it to be the best.

If it isn't, they'll leave you. That's due in part to increased cloud-powered innovation. It is also because cloud-based tools lower the cost of change for consumers.

Users are no longer chained to expensive on-premise equipment. Think of it this way, two decades ago switching from the VCR to DVDs required users to repurchase hard copies of all of their favorite movies.  Today, switching between Netflix and Amazon streaming services requires a few clicks.

That means companies have to innovate in better ways to keep customers. They must provide the best products coupled with the best customer service. Innovations in the way businesses treat clients are driven by cloud revolution.

At Xactly, we stay customer-focused, always applying user input into our innovations so we can provide the best products and service.

In the next decade use of the cloud will spread, lowering the cost of innovation, increasing the mobility of software services and changing customer relationships.

It's no wonder Xactly has been in the cloud since our beginning.

Does mobile fall into one of your top 5 priorities for 2012? If so how will you be tackling it?

Mobile is absolutely a priority for Xactly in 2012.

As I mentioned before, the cloud-based revolution is driving increasing mobile innovation. In a mobile world, our users need access to the information we provide - data on quota attainment, payout tracking and more - from anywhere.

If we don't provide that, our customers don't succeed. If our customers don't succeed, we fail.

Luckily for us, we have always been a cloud-based company.

We were founded on the principle that vital business data should be available in real-time from anywhere.

As hardware has improved - better smart phones and now tablets - we've been right there. We created native apps that combine the best features of the equipment with our SaaS applications.

We believe that by putting sales compensation information - particularly quota attainment data - in the hands of sales people on the road will push them to better performance and their companies to better success. Xactly allows sales reps on the go to check into the potential value of a deal to their paycheck - and to run what-if scenarios on pricing and product mix that help maximize the value to them and their employer.

In 2012, we plan to continue to exploit these technologies to deliver the intuitive usability and real-time access to important business data that users expect.

Being where people need you is a big part of making them a success. As a cloud-based company, it is even easier for us to get there.

This interview was published in SIIA's Vision from the Top, a Software Division publication released at All About the Cloud 2012.