Many companies are moving from on-premise software to Software as a Service (SaaS) as SaaS is growing quickly. What is SaaS exactly, you might ask? According to Gartner, ‘SaaS is software that is owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers. The provider delivers software based on one set of common code and date definitions that is consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers at any time on a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription based on use metrics.’ What are the benefits and possibilities SaaS can provide your company, in comparison to on-premise software? In this blogpost I will highlight 6 benefits, however, there are many more!
1. Accessibility
SaaS is hosted in the cloud and therefore accessible over the Internet. In other words, the service can be accessed through computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices at any time and any place in the world. Other than on-premise software, you are no longer restricted or tied to one place or VPN connection. A real game changer, because customer orders can be checked easily before a sales meeting, or check real time data when taking a order from a customer.
2. Costs
Another benefit with SaaS is the pricing structure that is very flexible and depending on your needs. Other than on-premise software, there is no need to buy hardware to host your new applications. Instead of provisioning and using scarce internal resources to install and maintain the software, the vendor provides all the hardware and implementation services and performs much of the work to get their software working for you.
3. Scalability and Flexibility
If your company is fast growing and expanding to other territories, SaaS enables your to scale rapidly compared to on-premise. Servers and capacity can be easily added at your convenience.
4. Customization
On-premise software used to be more customizable than SaaS because vendors have built more comprehensive software development kits for these system. Nowadays, however, SaaS have stepped up their game for customization tremendously. Creating Info, the company behind the inventory management system Zayls, offers lots of possibilities for customization. Other than most companies that provide SaaS, Creating Info builts the Inventory Management system from scratch so they can customize it to the unique needs of the company.
5. Deployment time and User Acceptance
SaaS offers a working solution in only limited time compared to a on-premise system. Normally deployment time might take months in the traditional on-premise model whereas deployment time in a Saas model only takes up to a few days (or hours!). Moreover, Saas solutions typically offer seamless, automatic, frequent upgrades as part of the subscription charge.
6. Security
The security of SaaS is oftentimes questioned. Although some people suspect SaaS to be less secure than on-premise software, the vendor has a much higher level of security than the customer itself can provide. Moreover, the vendor of the SaaS model takes responsibility for maintenance and upgrading the software ensuring that it is reliable and meeting agreed-upon service level agreements. This way the application and its data will be secured.