Although SaaS (also known as the "cloud") is something that exist for a while now, there are still a lot of businesses that are not familiar with this type of software or service and can't take the last step towards success. We have a lot of articles on the topic, where we explain a lot of things about cloud computing, but here we will take a look at the most frequently asked questions about SaaS. See if you can find the answers you need:
1. SaaS?
Software as a Service is delivered in a way that makes possible to access it from anywhere and on every device with Internet connection and a browser. It is web-based and it's code is created and hosted on the servers of the software vendors, which are responsible for maintaining it and updating it. This is awesome, because the company that uses it doesn't need to spend additional funds on servers, other hardware or even IT specialists - the vendor takes care of it all. In addition, the price model of the SaaS helps you spread our your costs over time, since the payment is in the form of an annual or monthly fee which includes licenses, maintaining taxes and everything else you need to start using it right away;
2. SaaS or On-Premise software?
It seems like a hard decision, but you can find the answer depending on the type of business you have and its needs. As I mentioned previously - SaaS is cheaper, so it's more useful to small and medium businesses that need to cut costs or don't have much funds. Larger businesses can still find SaaS useful, although it still needs some work to adapt the pricing model to the financial requirements of enterprise companies.
So, a big company developing complex technological products will have more benefits from using an on-premise software, while a smaller company creating simpler products will be a lot more effective using a software as a service;
3. Is this new?
The idea and concept for cloud computing dates back to 1960's, but the technology needed to support the concept and make it all work out is created in the 1990's. So, the long story short - no, it's not new.
At first, SaaS wasn't something that companies took seriously, but in the last five years they were proven wrong, since the companies providing SaaS were able to grow their customer base (hence their revenue), providing the subscription model.
4. Is it customizable?
A while ago, the SaaS didn't have many options for customizing, which resulted in companies receiving a software with the same settings and looks. They also needed to adapt their work processes to the software.
Now, however, there are multiple options for customizing the software so it better suit the needs of your business. You can change the look (brand it with your logo and colors), the feel, the interface, the type of data the software shows, the features - you can tweak absolutely everything. Although there are many ways to tailor the SaaS, the on-premise software can be customized further. Still. But the SaaS vendors are working non-stop to develop even more ways for customization and flexibility;
More articles:
1. How to Handle the Situation: Difficult Customers
2. Advantages of Cloud Computing
3. 4 Tips on How to Focus on Customers