Top 3 Ways SaaS (Software as a Service) Benefits Your Business
The old-school computer academics would prefer calling it “Time-sharing” or “Multiuser systems”. The ones still in college might use “Cloud computing” for the same. But if you came here searching for the best “online, subscription-based, software solution” for your business, then my guess is “SaaS” is the term for you.
Now if you’re new to this thing whole “SaaS” thing, here’s something to help you understand what SaaS actually is. But if you’re past these basics and wish to understand what benefits they offer, read on.
So, first thing first. If you’re the kind of person who only signs up for a service that has been around for a while, then I urge you to see SaaS as your old pal. Because it has been here more than 50 years, give or take 5 years. Not in the current colorful, auto-updating, one-click for everything, “What can I do for you today, master?” form, but yeah, the basics are nothing new.
You could applaud Christopher Strachey for publishing the “the first paper on time-shared computers” in 1963 or celebrate John McCarthy for initiating “the first project to implement time-sharing of user programs” 1959, but what’s out of the question is asking “Is SaaS time-tested?” to a SaaS sales representative the next he calls.
And thanks to this many years of development, SaaS is booming. It has been booming for a long time now, for both big and small players. And I have the numbers to prove it too. The Business Research Company reports that the market for SaaS is set to reach $272.49 billion in 2021 (that’s CAGR 20.8% for the number nerds), and by 2025 it will touch $436.9 billion (CAGR 12.5%).
But big numbers aren’t enough when you’re stuck between ordering a custom software solution and taking your business to SaaS, are they? So, let’s have a quick look at some major benefits your business derives once you’ve made up your mind to go the “Saas” way.
Benefits of Using a Saas for Your Business
- You Get Many Options
Do you use email? That’s good. Then chances are you must have signed up with all the major email service providers such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, etc. In case you didn’t know, these are some fine examples of SaaS. SaaS providers such as Marketo, SalesForce, Workday, and their competitors have been at war for so long now, just to put themselves within sight of company executives heading departments like marketing, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), HRM (Human Resource Management), etc., Just google “CRM software”, and you’ll see that the first page alone lists anywhere around 50 SaaS solutions to choose from.
Such competition paves way for better customer support, pricing, add-ons, and a plethora of other options that make business management easier for you.
And these options aren’t just limited to offering you another “out of the box” feature. You could ask for extra digital space for your growing business, a dedicated tech support guy who is only a call away in case your system goes down, and, in many cases, an expert team that could help you with data migration, all in just a few clicks. In short, with SaaS, all is taken care of under expert supervision.
2. Updates are Not an Issue
When you buy yourself a software that was solely designed as per your need, you’re getting your hands on something that would probably give you a hard time every six months or so. The software business is a buggy business. No matter what kind you use, a SaaS or in-house one, you have to keep them updated as per industry standards and the ifs and buts of the solutions that your clients use.
And as updates demand both time and money, it’s a never-ending cycle with almost all the in-house solutions. But with SaaS, you don’t have to worry about them at all. To woo more clients every day, SaaS providers stay in an ever-evolving mode, rolling out new features and bug fixes every few months or so.
3. Neither is Data Security
Today, data is the epicenter of corporate decision-making. That’s why a majority of international brands such as Netflix, Facebook, Amazon rely heavily on data collection, saving, and analysis. But when good guys are quick to pick up something to their advantage, bad guys are quicker to use it to their profits and others’ disadvantage. That’s why Statista reports that the year 2020 alone witnessed 155.8 million individuals falling victim to “accidental revelation of sensitive information due to less-than-adequate information security”, aka, data exposure.
Your data is as important as the big companies and individuals, because no matter the quantity, it’s still the flesh and blood of your business. SaaS players know that, along with the fact that a good part of their reputation rests on how good their data protection policy is. Most SaaS companies ask for no additional cost when it comes to protecting your business data from cyber-attacks by keeping malware shields and data backups up to date.
It could easily take a university research paper to list and explain all the benefits of SaaS. But for sake of keeping this blog short, I’ve only listed a few SaaS benefits, which are: affordable pricing, robust infrastructure, easy scalability, user-friendly tech support, smooth data migration, faster updates, and data security.
If you think I should add some more SaaS benefits, then comment below and it will be added to the list. For more such updates on the tech world, don’t forget to follow my blog.
