Advantages of SaaS Development for Your Business

What Is SaaS?

If a person’s work and lifestyle involve a lot of travel, it’ll be better to buy a car. If you only need to travel occasionally, you can use the services of a taxi or rent it (for example, in car-sharing). In this case, you pay only for the service itself—delivery to the destination. And you don’t need to pay taxes, insurance, gasoline, etc. SaaS solutions are like a taxi in the IT world: if you need a service, subscribe and use it. If the service is no longer needed, you can stop renewing your subscription. 

SaaS stands for software as a service and means a subscription-based software licensing model. It is a cloud-based solution, i.e. located on servers on the Internet. The user accesses the service through a browser or API. At the same time, the service provider is fully responsible for its support. Simply put, the SaaS models are when the client works with a digital solution online, paying for access and getting a ready-made tool as quickly as possible.

Another example of a SaaS solution is Google Docs, a free document management service. It implies no media, drivers, or installations. Everything you need is just to create a Google account and work with texts, tables, and presentations directly in your browser. Moreover, other colleagues can work on documents with you, leave comments and offer editing solutions in real-time. 

The history of SaaS began in 1999. Now we see the rapid spread of SaaS services in all areas—from leisure (Netflix, Spotify) to banking and business (CRM systems, IP telephony, analytics systems). 

Here are some popular examples of SaaS applications: 

1. File storage and sharing services: Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox. Allows you to create documents, work with them, and share files with others—clients or employees. 
2. Email marketing services: MailChimp, SendPulse. These services are needed to create and send email newsletters, store contacts, and get statistics on user interactions with your newsletters. 
3. Payment systems: PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay. A payment system is any service used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value. 

SaaS cloud applications have become popular among IT software development companies, users, and executives. What makes SaaS technology so special? And why has it become so popular in recent years?

To a large extent, this is due to the demand for mobility. Smartphones, laptops, the ability to work from anywhere and not be tied to anything—SaaS just continues this chain. A flexible and adaptive system with a fundamentally new model of work is what makes modern human life and business work more convenient and efficient. We have summarized, what are the benefits of SaaS software in the article below.

What are the Advantages of SaaS Development?

We’ve put together what are the benefits of SaaS over traditional software. Briefly, the SaaS model combines functional tools with high-quality service to comprise an excellent experience for the customer. This versatile framework has various benefits for both users and software providers, including: 

Cost savings

SaaS software does not need to be installed, it also doesn’t require additional physical equipment. That means that the costs will already be significantly lower. Most SaaS services are paid. And even despite the subscription fee or a one-time purchase of access, this amount is understandable, predictable, and easily fits into the financial forecast to ensure profitability. Even large businesses can benefit from SaaS technology because they can rent it temporarily if they only require it for a short period.

Tip: SaaS models usually provide free trials for the product. These are 7, 14, or 30-day periods when customers can test the software out for free to determine if they want to sign up and pay for a subscription.

Scalability & Accessibility

Other SaaS advantages are scalability and accessibility. To access the SaaS platform, you need a web browser, which means you can work with the system from any device with an Internet connection, and from anywhere. For example, Google Drive data is stored not on some device of yours, but in the cloud. That is why you can access it anytime and anywhere.

Flexibility

One of the most convincing advantages of SaaS apps is flexibility. Most SaaS services provide a set of tariff plans or flexible custom functionality. You can customize your pricing plan based on your current needs. 

Data Security

Software vendor team members are experts in SaaS development, and their applications are essential for keeping client data secure. SaaS models allow customers to store and backup data on internet servers and access that data from different devices. Advances in cloud solutions provide high-quality data security apps to clients, involving tools such as multi-factor authentication and anti-phishing software.

Back-Up & Data Recovery

If data is stored locally on a specific physical medium, there is always a risk of failure or loss. Plus, there is a large item of expenditure on security, especially in the context of modern laws on the protection of personal data on the Internet. SaaS data is stored in the cloud, which eliminates the need for backups and shifts security concerns to the software providers.

Upgrades

Finally, among the benefits of SaaS is that the service is regularly updated. It includes bug fixes and new functionality. This is done by developers on the SaaS vendors‘ side and therefore reduces the burden on your IT in-house team, as well as maintenance, and configuration. Some vendors develop new versions of products every 6 to 12 months, or even multiple times a week, to make sure a product remains useful to current user needs.

Challenges of SaaS Development

The SaaS model has many advantages, however, there are also several pitfalls. For some companies, they may be critical: 

• The speed of the system directly depends on the speed of the Internet. If it is unstable, or completely absent, the work of services stops. 
• Customizable system. Quite importantly, SaaS development services should involve full customization, starting from the interface up to the underlying system layers. The customization always remains to be decided by the client or a product owner. 
• Security risks. By having good security practices, businesses can grow their customers’ faith in their company. Strong cryptographic cipher suites, encrypted storage, SSO, 2FA, and other security methods are often used to protect SaaS services.

These challenges are gradually disappearing—the speed of the Internet is constantly increasing, encryption methods are improving, and the data is safe.

Future of SaaS Development

More than 80% of business apps for end-users are SaaS projects. According to the BetterCloud survey, it is expected that in two years, more than half of the companies will use exclusively SaaS, eliminating desktop applications and any local infrastructure. This means that the new course of IT development is even more independent, flexible, and user-friendly.

Let's Wind It Up

SaaS product development has been a game-changer over the last 10 years. We’ve discussed what are the advantages of SaaS solutions for businesses and end-users. Cost-effectiveness, flexibility, scalability, up-to-date versions, and predictable revenue streams for vendors are all good reasons why SaaS remains an integral part of technology trends. 

Are you ready to present your project to the world and get SaaS benefits? We will help you with the implementation. Our team will jump in to build, test, and refine a product that will create multiplying advantages for your business. Contact us for cloud application development services, and bring Intelvision on board for Mission Success!