CEO Interview: René Lacerte, Bill.com

What will the software industry look like in 3, 5, even 10 years from now?

The software industry, especially as it pertains to small businesses and CPAs that Bill.com focuses on, will continue to address the ever-growing need for efficiency so our customers can focus on building their business rather than tedious daily tasks. Software providers will continue to seek out inefficient technologies like paper-based finances (checks, invoices) and bring new solutions to market. Developments will continue to offer incremental benefits, but the true winners will be services that pull together everything users need into a comprehensive suite that works how, when, and with whatever other tools they need it to.

What customer demands and business trends will drive changes in software products, how they're developed, and the industry that provides them?

One of the leading trends among businesses and the customers they serve is the need for greater efficiency. This applies to every aspect of the business touching everything from the need for time and cost savings to greater control over critical information to remote access. New software products must not only supplant processes that no longer work or make sense, but they must integrate new tools and features that provide exponential benefits over current solutions.

As such, we're beginning to see some tremendous applications of cloud technology that inherently help software developers drive users towards these objectives, and Bill.com is no exception. As cloud becomes increasingly prevalent, workers will be more mobile and the lines will then blur between mobile applications and non-mobile applications, which is what we're already seeing today with iPads in the workplace. As an end result, everything - from applications to data - will be accessed on the go. Similarly, we will see social networks evolve but the same principles will extend to non-social networks. By this, businesses will be linked and able to share information, collaborate, and conduct commerce seamlessly and without friction. It won't happen because a vast monolith dictates it, but because cloud based technologies will enable it much in the way they enable a social graph today.

Security and/or compliance

• With so many platforms and online payment options available today, it's important that businesses find a solutions provider they trust inherently with managing processes and payment activities related to their hard-earned finances. At Bill.com, we take this to heart and have created a secure online platform that uses bank-level encryption. In fact, we have invested heavily in SaaS 70 Type II certification to ensure we're using best practices to eliminate the chance of check fraud, along with providing the controls and features that allow the business to protect themselves in ways never before possible when they were tied to paper-based systems. Bill.com is secure because it's encrypted, but it's also far more secure than what businesses use today with their financial systems at the foot of their desk. Because of our secure methods, Bill.com is being adopted by businesspeople and vendors across multiple industries, including retail, healthcare, construction, real estate and virtually any other sector in which small businesses are prominent.

Finance & Investment

• We've created a service built by people who run small businesses and understand the complexities of the bill management and payment process. Bill.com executives have been deeply immersed - for more than 100 years combined - in solving bill payment and scalability challenges for businesses. Our trusted service creates a small and midsized business network that connects customers and vendors on the Internet, enabling seamless collaboration of documents and money movement. We've eliminated the friction between customers and vendors created by the outdated processes of sending paper invoices by check. By keeping information constantly connected through each individual partner relationship, we're helping SMBs manage their company and customers more effectively.

This interview was published in SIIA's Vision from the Top, a Software Division publication released at All About the Cloud 2011.