Technology is helping businesses evolve their models and how they conduct their business while the demand for innovations by businesses is driving advancements in technology. This is exactly what is happening with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), a model that was not quite as popular two decades ago. In fact, SaaS has completely changed how businesses run their operations, manage their data, and allow collaboration between employees.
SaaS allows you to use software without installing it on on-premises servers or infrastructure. A service provider makes this software available to businesses and individuals through the internet. Businesses can leverage the power of the cloud to allow their employees to work from anywhere in the world and to access any data or software through their phones and computers. But how does SaaS benefit businesses that embrace it and what does SaaS management involve?
With how competitive businesses have become, the amount of data businesses collect, and the need for employees to access and make use of this data, today’s businesses need systems that can support all three of these needs. By doing so, business leaders can make informed decisions quickly while employees can work on anything at any time.
SaaS also removes the worry for downtime. With on-premises solutions, there is always the chance that the software will not be available for some reason. Businesses have to waste time, and potentially risk losing money and clients, because of these downtimes.
With SaaS, the provider ensures there is redundancy in place so something like this does not happen. They guarantee businesses can access the software and data they require, anytime they need it.
Security is a major consideration for any business that stores any data, and that is all of them these days. A data breach and loss of data can be devastating for a business on multiple levels. On-premises breaches require qualified personnel, resources, money, and time to resolve. Even then, there is no guarantee that things will be fine.
With SaaS, you get a team of IT specialists monitoring and managing the software and all your hosted data. Because of this, security breaches are sorted before they happen. This team lowers the risk of security breaches and data loss and ensures that should something happen to your data, they will be responsible for rectifying the issue.
There are two main aspects of pricing to think about when talking about SaaS software: savings and predictability. The initial cost of getting a SaaS solution is much lower than getting an enterprise system set up. This is because the only thing you need to do on your end is to pick the software your business will be using and then access that software through the internet.
Businesses also get to save money on training and support. They no longer have to hire IT personnel to train their employees how to use the new SaaS solutions because their providers will often have training for very affordable rates. This is a factor to think about when shopping around for a SaaS solution.
Third, many people do not know this, but businesses with unique needs can negotiate the cost of their SaaS solutions with their providers. When negotiating SaaS contracts, the aim is to get the price as low as possible or to get as much as you can for the price you are willing to pay, so it's a good idea to get a SaaS Contracts Attorney to help with the process.
Not everyone knows how to do these negotiations properly to get custom pricing or what they need to agree on before the contracts are signed. The linked guide by Vendr explains everything you need to know about negotiating SaaS contracts, including what questions to ask, key negotiating areas, and how to get the best custom pricing plan for your business. Vendr makes the process of buying and renewing SaaS easy for businesses by doing it for you. They work with businesses to learn what they need, and then they work with vendors to get these businesses the best SaaS pricing.
Predictability is very important for budgeting. By using SaaS, businesses know how much they need to pay at the end or the start of the year. They do not have to worry about creeping third-party costs, patches, or maintenance costs; what they pay to the SaaS provider covers all of these.
When businesses switch over to SaaS solutions, they do not need to buy, update, install or manage any hardware or software. Their monthly or annual subscription means the SaaS will take care of everything for them. This includes having a dedicated team of IT professionals standing by to do all this for the provider’s clients.
The IT team ensures all upgrades and maintenance tasks are completed quickly and efficiently as required. With a guarantee of over 99% uptime on the software, businesses can rely on the reliability of SaaS solutions.
If you have to deploy an on-premises solution, you will have to hire the right people to handle everything. Then you would have to shop for hardware that might not arrive for months, set it all up and install the necessary software. You would then have to test the infrastructure to ensure it works as expected. On average, you are looking at about six months from the start to when the infrastructure is ready for company-wide adoption.
With a SaaS solution, you pick the solution you need, and the provider deploys everything required to ensure you can use the infrastructure as you intend. The deployment is quicker, with the provider involving you and other stakeholders throughout the process.
A faster deployment also means you start realizing an ROI on the deployment faster than if you went with an on-premises solution.
With an on-premises deployment, you have to think about hardware and software updates all the time. If you do not, you might be opening yourself up to security vulnerabilities. SaaS providers ensure you are running the latest software on the latest hardware. They also ensure they upgrade and patch the underlying operating system that their servers use. They do this on an ongoing basis, thus ensuring the best security and better infrastructure experience.
Having relevant software is an important part of today's business models. Automating certain tasks and streamlining operations makes an overall more successful and well-organized business. An example of this is church helper, which is software that can combine finances, event management, donations, and ultimately help grow a congregation in the community.
The cloud and therefore SaaS solutions adapt quickly to your needs. Want to use new software? It is available with a few clicks. Want to add the number of users on your plan? Just talk to your provider. With an on-premises solution, you would have to go through a long process of installing the right software. You would also have to onboard all new users on the platform setting up their accounts and computers.
SaaS solutions also ensure you only use what you need. If you no longer need software, you just remove it from the list. You would have to uninstall the software manually on an on-premises system. Otherwise, you could leave it in the utilizing system resources that would be better used elsewhere.
There is no doubt that all future businesses will be in the cloud. Many businesses are already moving from on-premises solutions to cloud-based and SaaS solutions. If you want to keep pace with your competitors, it is time to start thinking about moving to SaaS. It remains the best, most reliable, and most cost-efficient way to manage data and software, presenting businesses with opportunities to evolve, expand and increase their value.
