In today’s world, businesses exist in a fast-paced environment where they must seize every advantage they can get to stay ahead. Technology offers businesses this advantage as it helps them streamline their operations and frees decision-makers to focus on running the business. Because keeping up with technology is so tedious, businesses are turning to Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This is where businesses license software from software providers who host the software on cloud-based servers. SaaS comes with some benefits that make the model attractive to business owners. Here are some of the benefits and key reasons why SaaS is so attractive.
Accessibility
In the past, businesses had to ensure that everyone had a copy of the software on their machine. Once people left the office, they no longer had access to this software unless they were allowed to leave the office with their work machines. Now, the remote nature of SaaS has streamlined how businesses and employees use software.
There is no software to install, and everyone can get access to the software they need wherever they may be, as long as they have an internet connection. This remote access has also made it easier to collaborate and share data, forming much of the foundation that remote work is based upon.
No More Updates
One of the most frustrating things about working with people who have software installed on their laptops is that not everyone will be working from the same software version. This can lead to a breakdown in productivity as everyone tries to ensure final results match those from other laptops and machines. The only way to solve this problem is to mandate periodic updates that have to be done at the same time to ensure everyone is working with the same software version.
With SaaS, businesses do not have to worry about updates. SaaS providers maintain and update all the software they sell plus all the underlying hardware it relies on. By ensuring everyone is working with the same software version, providers play a significant role in enhancing collaboration and productivity.
Ease-of-Use
In the past, enterprise software did not have to be easy to use as businesses could afford the time it took employees to get up to speed. In a fast-paced business environment, this is not possible. This is why SaaS software that is easy to use is widely adopted. Businesses and people, in general, want things to just work without much fiddling or having to overcome a steep learning curve.
To make SaaS easier to use, providers have to ensure their interface, components, and features are clearly mapped and intuitive enough even for people who have never used the software. In many cases, the providers also put out documentation and guides on how to use their software to make things as easy as possible for everyone.
All of these come from SaaS being based on a subscriber model. For providers to keep their subscribers, they must ensure their software is easy and intuitive to use.
Affordability
For businesses that use a lot of different pieces of software, their subscription bills might run into thousands per month. Businesses that want to get away from this model will usually want to host their own software on hardware they already own. This can also end up being prohibitively expensive, especially for smaller businesses that might not have a lot of money to spend on hardware maintenance, as well as the labor costs associated with running such a hardware cluster.
With a SaaS model, businesses can end up saving a huge chunk of these costs as they do not have to deal with owning a server, installation costs, upgrades, security, and more. The cost of purchasing software in a SaaS model can also be reduced by learning how to approach software purchase negotiations and selecting only the software the business needs.
These are just some of the things covered in this guide to purchasing software by Vendr. The guide not only explains how to make purchasing software easier but also how to keep the cost low. Vendr helps businesses buy and renew their SaaS to make things easy and keep costs low. They work with businesses to ensure they have the right software and negotiate on their behalf to get them the best prices on their SaaS.
Saves a Lot of Time
In a traditional setting, a lot of time is wasted setting up the software, teaching employees how to use it, maintaining the software and hardware stack as well as paying close attention to the software and hardware stack to ensure no downtime.
Now, all users have to do is login remotely and start working in a few seconds. This is especially true for SaaS that is intuitive for the user. Businesses also do not have to waste time checking up on their software and hardware stack, as it is all taken care of by someone else.
Employee-focused
The cloud computing that SaaS relies on offers additional services including training models, communication and project management. All these tools allow team leaders, department heads, and senior management to manage projects transparently while being able to communicate with employees and those under them. This applies to both local, in-office, and remote employees.
By doing all this, SaaS can help businesses expand the size of the field they look for talent in as their SaaS supports remote work and enables easier onboarding of new employees.
SaaS Helps with Marketing
Marketing is one of the more challenging aspects of running a successful business. This is because there are so many areas to focus on. SaaS has led to the proliferation of automated marketing in businesses. Now, even the smallest business can take advantage of SaaS to run their marketing campaigns, collect data, come up with new strategies and evaluate their ROI and marketing outcomes.
The subscription plans offered by SaaS providers make it easy for marketers to plan, execute, analyze, and track all their campaigns from a single interface.
Scalability and Integration
Because SaaS relies on cloud storage and computing, you do not have to worry about scaling your users as your business grows. The provider will be happy to add another server or give you additional storage space, RAM, and CPU power when you need it.
SaaS software can integrate with software on the traditional stack to give you a well-rounded selection of software solutions. You can integrate the software you use such as email or a CRM into a SaaS model without too much trouble, and most providers are happy to do it for you.
Reliability
When you decide to use your own server or a server provided by a hosting platform, you might be on the phone for hours before service can be restored. With a SaaS model, the hardware and software are regularly checked to minimize the risk of downtime. Even when there are issues, the provider can switch you to another server quickly or fix the issue as they already have people standing by to take care of these issues.
SaaS is a game-changer for numerous types of businesses. The reliability, scalability, ease of use, time and cost savings they provide should be compelling enough for businesses to switch over.