SAAS Technology Quick facts

SAAS – stands for Software As A Service - a concept that’s seen as the future of how software will be offered and sold to businesses and consumers.

SAAS means software is available to the end-user/customer over the internet at any time they require it (on-demand) and located away from the traditional local server or computer (‘in the cloud’). The ‘cloud’ is simply a collection of dedicated and secure servers in a far away location with a rapid disaster recovery system to ensure continuity of software function in the event of a fire or emergency.

Google is an example of a SAAS company all of whose products exist ‘on the cloud’. Does anyone know of any Google software that’s sold off the shelf? No, because there is none.

How businesses benefit from SAAS

It’s cheaper to adopt because it’s not a capital expenditure - it’s more like paying very cheap rent or a business expense.

It’s faster to use, test, and access

Unlike in the days when we had to wait for new versions of software to be released to download or buy, with SAAS you get access to improvements, updates and new versions instantaneously - so the compatibility problems associated with new and old versions of software are virtually eliminated.

An example of a benefit of SAAS

A month ago, my company’s server was down, so Outlook emails did not work - but because our CRM was an SAAS, the email routed through it worked perfectly. In short, our work didn’t grind to a halt simply because our CRM is ‘on the cloud’ and downtime due to in-house server and software problems is minimized if not eliminated.

Making money

In addition to their cost savings and operational efficiencies, some SAAS products also allow businesses to plug in solutions that will increase their revenue, either through non-stop automated marketing or the addition of new products or services.

SAAS definitely offers new business opportunities for new technology entrepreneurs and existing software businesses.

Scalability

SAAS products are a lot easier to scale up than old and traditional off-the-shelf software products. The fact that all a company needs is internet access makes SAAS products extremely attractive.

The SAAS provider’s hardware costs will also be significantly lower with a lot less duplication of hardware (the same equipment would be needed in every branch of the business if it had to download software onto their server).

The project that I’m involved in is an SAAS solution for airlines. It’s a web-based solution that allows any airline to provide a comprehensive flight status notification service to their passengers through email and SMS. It also allows travelling passengers to set up their flight notification service themselves.

The implementation of this project is much more financially feasible as an SAAS solution and the potential return on investment is also higher because it will exist as a SAAS.

For any technology entrepreneur looking for the next big opportunity, SAAS is it!