Customers love Business on SAAS
Software as a Service often called SAAS, is a delivery model in which software is licensed on subscription basis. This Software is centrally hosted with a public url be it multi-tenant or single-tenant based. It can also be called an “On-demand software”. SAAS comes under the umbrella of Cloud computing along with IAAS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PAAS(Platform as a Service). End-users can access SAAS apps through a web browser.
Business Applications in the last 3 decades hosted as SAAS :
- Office Software like Office 365
- Messaging Software like Slack
- Payroll & Invoice processing software like Quickbooks
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) like Oracle Netsuite
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) like Salesforce & Zoho
- Human Resource Management (HRM) like SAGE
- Service Desk Software like JIRA
- Learning Management System (LMS) like Adobe captivate prime
- Content Management System (CMS) like Sharepoint
- Accounting Software like XERO & Quickbooks
And many more totalling SAAS sales of 100 Billion US$ up till 2019.
Distribution & Pricing
This cloud model has no need for physical distribution or installation as it is centrally deployed. Now you can avoid traditional agents and middleman, thanks to SAAS. SAAS has complimented a lot to all types of Application development. SAAS doesn’t charge an upfront setup cost like traditional softwares. They charge a subscription fee be it monthly, annually on user-basis. The data stays on the SAAS owners server so some of the apps charge on transaction basis. Many SAAS software offer a freemium model where in you can use a limited set of features unlike the package with a subscription charge. Many apps don’t charge any subscription charge but rather monetize using advertisements.
Why is SAAS loved by Customers?
- Pay for Use Only. Many Softwares calculate the units used by the user or the users in his company. For eg: Microsoft Azure calculate units for the apps you use like SQL, Azure App service etc. It only charges you for the time and units you use. If your virtual server is unused for 6 months, it is like you own a server but you dont pay the rent as you dont use it. Isnt that amazing to save a lot of money without stopping your company operations. Businesses with traditional applications have to spend a lot for upgrades. Also with SAAS your expenses become variable rather than the traditional fixed.
- Cheaper. Many Customers lack the courage to pay 20k-50k USD for app development, as along with money they also need to make sure their employees are making full use of it. So signing up on a SAAS platform just for less than 100 USD per month gives them the luxury to use a Cloud product which solves their business problems and then in future if they want they can go for custom software development according to their business particulars. Now as the customer knows what do their employees want for daily operation, it becomes productive as well as affordable. Sometimes customers are so happy with SAAS platform that they dont feel the need of a custom software at all.
- Avoid App Development Costs. Customers now don’t need to spend money in hiring developers to make an app for their business if all the features already exist in any SAAS application. No extra Infrastructure, Lower IT spending and maintenance costs makes business owners happy as they can use that budget in other operations.
Why Updates in SAAS platform don’t stop your work anymore?
- Easier Updates. Updates are decided by SAAS providers and not customers at regular intervals of time. It has single version unlike traditional app where each client has different app version. Its easier to update single version for all clients rather than to go at each client’s office and do manual upgrade.
- Flexibility. SAAS enables the app-makers to accept all types of feature requests from customer. Without asking the customer to reboot, or upgrade hardware, they can release new version with all new features and past bug fixes. CHANGE IS THE NEW CONSTANT.
- Upgrade/Degrade. With SAAS you can upgrade your package for more features or degrade to a lower package for less features easily. It is hassle-free and doesn’t affect your existing data. You can always come back and change your package. No additional hardware needed.
- Scalability. This Cloud model allows users to add more users to company subscription, as well as to remove the users. It has tendency of handling millions of userbase Its loosely coupled architecture makes it easier for app manufacturers to deploy on separate server in different region just like Copies. The flexible model helps to easily scale any system even if there are millions of users sending message or raising order at a single time. Unlike traditional application, you don’t need to add new hardware or extra server or RAM when the user-base expands.
Other Special Qualities in SAAS
- Ease of Use & Performance. Now you dont have to wait till the technical guys finishes the installation of exe file. You can now start using the app in seconds after registration. The performance is faster
- Faster Testing and Bug fixes. All the SAAS owners host all the customer data centrally along with logs so it becomes very easy to find out the bugs and solved them soon. SAAS provider is 1 step ahead and knows the user behavior via Google analytics or Hotjar which helps him/her to improve app faster without the customer complaining.
- Security. With SAAS, customers can take a sigh of relief as the service providers take up responsibility for security along with availability and performance
- 24*7 Availability. Customer can register or use the app at anytime of day and in any part of world. It frees customer’s employees to work from anywhere along with office, which gives better productivity and employee satisfaction too.
- Live chat support. Customers love to solve their queries, doubts or issues at real-time. Almost all SAAS have live chat some with 24*7 availability of agents who can answer back in less than 5 mins or you also have the option to raise a ticket offline.
Recently we build Software as a Service platforms using Asp.net zero framework
We used Asp.net core 3.1 & Angular 8/9 with SQL & Entity framework code-first in Asp.net zero.
Following are some of these SAAS projects built by us:
COIPRO
Oneserv
Simpletix
And many more in Fintech, Insurance, Field tracking, Education, Event Booking, Human resource, ERP etc.
Hope you like our content about SAAS. In case you have more doubts on SAAS or are looking to transform your traditional business to software as a service, send us your requirements to shalin@ncoresoft.com for a Free Consultation on Application Development.
Stay tuned for more such blogs.