By Editorial | 7/4/2014 | Tricks

Choosing a SaaS Provider – What Factors Should You Consider?

Choosing a SaaS Provider – What Factors Should You Consider?

For any small business owner, IT can be a blessing or a curse. The pace of change is so rapid it can be hard to keep up, and there’s always the worry that you are not fully equipped with the best tools to strengthen and support your business.

This is where SaaS can really help you.

Pause for breath . . . . .

SaaS is an acronym for Software-as-a-Service. The software is hosted on the “cloud”. Again, don’t let the jargon faze you – all this means in reality is that the software is held on one or more computers. To access the software you simply login via the internet to a pre-prepared SaaS account that would then give you access to all the software you need.

Any kind of software is now available as in the SaaS-deployment method. There are generic packages and applications such as Microsoft Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud – bringing the latest versions of the most popular office and creative software to you for an annual or monthly subscription to the relevant corporation. But over and above that there is a wide range of software and apps specifically for small businesses. This is known as B2B – Business to Business. One of the major benefits of SaaS is the subscription models, allowing you to pay for only the features and [space/downloads] that you actually use.

The following lists some example of popular SaaS applications for SMBs and entrepreneurs:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – for all your customer information and sales/marketing activity

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – to help you plan and manage all areas of your business including product planning and development, manufacturing, sales and marketing

• Management Information System (MIS) – to store all the information your business needs in an easily accessible way

• Project Management – to aid in planning project requirements, timescales and communications, then monitoring progress throughout

• Human Resources (HR) – for a range of staffing activity including recruitment, training, monitoring both hours and performance, payroll

• Financial – a wide variety of software is available to help with every aspect of accounting, billing, invoicing and transaction processing

• IT – SaaS can provide you with access to web hosting, e-commerce, email and internal communication systems that are right for your business

• Legal and Compliance – there is software to check that you are meeting the necessary legal or compliance requirements for your business sector

Another huge benefit that B2B SaaS offers to entrepreneurs is that you do not need to purchase software or pay for updates or maintenance. Nor do you need to troubleshoot when your software is not working as it should. All that is sorted for you by your SaaS provider. Generic SaaS software can cost as little as a few dollars per user per month, whereas the costs of combinations of software tailored to your needs will vary enormously. A decent small business CRM system, for example, will tend to cost you around $20-30 per user per month, but could be significantly more if you require more comprehensive features.

So how can you determine whether a specific SaaS solution is right for you?

The first thing I would rely on is word of mouth. No matter how good the sales pitch is, you need to know from people in your situation how a particular SaaS works in practice. By all means try it yourself too and get technical advice from those you trust. But reviews from people using it at the sharp end are critical.

You also need to look carefully at how reliable the solution is likely to be. Remember, you are accessing these applications via a browser, so not only do you need to have a high speed connection, but you should also find out customer feedback on how robust the host servers are. Are there ever any server hiccups – do users ever experience downtime – does the amount of users at any given moment determine the speed of the application? If and when there are issues, how are these resolved (i.e. what level of customer support is provided by the vendor)?

These are just a few of the factors you need to consider when choosing a SaaS solution for your business. The emerging beauty of the SaaS industry is the level within the market. With a little research and some helpful tools, you are sure to find a SaaS application that is perfect for the needs of your business.

By Editorial | 7/4/2014 | Tricks

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