Are you relatively new to the concept of SaaS? Have unanswered questions? Want to know how SaaS can scale up your business or wish to learn more about developing SaaS applications? If you are ready to explore the world of software as a service, we’re set to get you started.

What is Software as a Service?

Also known as on-demand software, hosted software or web-based software, software as a service is a cloud-based software delivery model.

The service provider develops, maintains and manages the cloud application software by providing automatic updates. They make the software available to their customers via the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis shouldering the responsibility of security, availability and performance.

All the hardware, middleware, application software and security are managed by the cloud service provider helping SaaS customers dramatically lower costs. Also, helping the customers to deploy, scale and upgrade business solutions more quickly.

The origin of Software as a Service

The term software as a service was originally coined in the late 1990s around the time when the first SaaS solutions emerged. The application service provider (ASP) model, the forerunner of SaaS, had serious limitations, and the upcoming SaaS model delivered greater efficiencies.

• A single application could serve multiple users
• Local installation of software was no longer required
• It provided a way to collect, aggregate and centralize valuable application data

While the delivery model has remained unchanged, software as a service has evolved significantly from first-generation siloed solutions to a modern cloud suite that can span and connect financials, human resources, procurement and supply-chain processes to commerce, marketing, sales and service solutions enabling high visibility across businesses.

SaaS has now become one of the fastest-growing business models in the industry. It is thanks to this model, worldwide, hundreds of thousands of business owners have risen their capitals.

By 2024, Saas is expected to reach a market size of $185.8 billion.

Common Software as a Service Scenario

You must be using the web services of an email provider- Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo.

What do you do to access your email?

Log into your account from a web browser over the Internet onto on the service provider’s network where the email software is located. You already are using a form of software as a service at a personal level. For organizational use, you rent SaaS applications such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), document management and other productivity applications.

Organizations of all sizes across all industries are embracing the SaaS philosophy. But is SaaS a good fit for your organization?

Here are some statistics to get you thinking:

• In organizations running almost entirely on SaaS applications, employee engagement was far higher. 86% of end-users said SaaS helps them succeed more than desktop alternatives (BetterCloud).
• There were only 500 marketing tools in 2007 and by 2017, there are more than 8,500. (Priceintelligently)
• 93% of CIOs are adopting or planning to adopt cloud SaaS. (Deloitte)
• The average number of SaaS apps used by businesses had grown twice, from 8 to 16, between 2015 and 2017. (BetterCloud)
• 38% of companies adopt cloud-based systems to enhance disaster recovery capabilities. (SpiceWorks)
• The biggest functional markets for cloud SaaS apps worldwide are CRM (31.6%), HCM (14.7%), and ERP (8.4%). (Apps Run The World)

Also Read: How To Build A SaaS Product By Outsourcing?

Business Advantages of Software as a Service

The software as a service model from its inception was designed to deliver a core set of business benefits:

• Lower Costs
  Eliminates the associated costs of hardware purchases and maintenance.
• Pay-As-You-Go Pricing
  Rather than having to buy software licenses and install the software on a variety of computers, subscribe and pay-as-you-go.
• Cloud Flexibility
  Users can access the software from any location on any device over internet connectivity.
• Device/Software Support
  Supports both mobile devices and computers. Also, not just Windows, it supports macOS, iOS, and Android—as well as run on all of the major browsers.
• Easy Scalability
  SaaS allows enterprises to ramp services and/or features up or down as needed.
• Rapid Deployment
  Service providers can make automatic updates in software so enterprises don’t need to worry about buying new releases.
• Driving Innovation
  SaaS speeds innovation cycles giving you faster access to the latest innovations.
• Connected Processes
  Software as a service offers a unified user experience, shared security levels, synchronized release schedules and more.

Risks and Challenges associated with SaaS

To maximize the benefits of the delivery model enterprises need to be aware of risks and challenges that come with the SaaS model:

• To access the application, users of SaaS rely on their service providers to be up and running at all times.
• Loss of control can be experienced when a service provider adopts a new version of an application but an enterprise is not ready to make such a change.
• To switch to a new SaaS provider, enterprises have to confront the difficult task of moving extremely large files over the internet.

Examples of SaaS Models

To help you better understand the concept of software as a service, here are some of the popular products that represent this category:

Google Drive

Highly secure personal and corporate file storage allowing files stored in Google Drive to be accessed from any internet-capable device.

Slack

Modern team communication would be completely different without Slack- convenient conversations, secure messaging, file sharing.

Spotify

A music and podcast provider, Spotify allows users to stream music via the cloud without downloading individual songs.

What the SaaS future holds?

• Artificial intelligence – Expected adaptive intelligence to become an integrated part of enterprise SaaS applications.
• Autonomous Management – DL and ML are playing vital roles in driving more autonomous solutions across the IT stack.
• Chatbots, IoT and Blockchain – SaaS providers are already finding ways to offer newer technologies in their model.
• Cross-Business – Expect cross-business suites as well as more APIs and turnkey integrations for hybrid solutions.

Software as a Service is here to stay

SaaS technology continues to gain popularity as the SaaS business market continues to grow. From report management to mobile management, from video transcoding to financial calculations, from customer data cleanup to computer-aided design, a modern SaaS suite comes with built-in analytics and provides a holistic view of the business to drive growth and innovation across the business by connecting processes, providing superior customer experiences enabling quicker and better business decisions.

Software as service promises decreased infrastructure, increased the speed of implementation and comparable customer experience. It should come as no surprise that companies today are making the switch left, right, center.

When are you making the SaaS switch?

Solve your complex SaaS business challenges.

Equipped with 10+ years of experience along with a handsome product development portfolio, our SaaS experts are here to provide an extended range of SaaS development services for clients ranging from startups to large organizations.

Do you want to hire our team of experts to make the switch for you? Talk to us now

The post What is Software as a Service? A Beginners’ Guide to SaaS appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

The most crucial of these factors other than the technologies in use is the cost of building a SaaS product. Keep reading, and as you proceed through the article, you will get a clearer idea of the different costs that are involved in building one and how you can make it a cost-effective activity.

Quick Tip: Never compromise on the quality for the cost

Very often, entrepreneurs try to take a short cut and opt for the cheapest ways in which they can develop their SaaS-based project. The result of this is quite simple to anticipate- unsatisfactory! Therefore, it ends up becoming a nightmare as the product would not yield the same features or have the same productivity if you compromise on the cost. Look for cost-effective ways but don’t degrade on the quality aspect while doing so.

The Various Cost Impacting Things To Keep In Mind

Diving right in is not such a great idea. Therefore, before you begin developing, it is better to analyse and predict the different costs that you are going to incur while developing your SaaS product.

1. A ready SaaS product does not imply you are done with it

The foremost thing to remember is that once you have developed your SaaS product, your job does not end there. The product is going to need some maintenance too. Or at least regular checks to ensure that it is working perfectly fine and delivering the results it is supposed to. Here are the things that are going to cost you for maintaining your SaaS product:

• A phone line: A small team of knowledgeable executives is necessary to handle the customers’ aspect. Also, you will need a network within the office where the SaaS product is being used.
• Hosting service provider: The application is going to require a hosting service to support its functionalities.
• Insurance cover: Especially for grand products, insurance cover is essential to protect yourself from certain obstructions.
• Software costs: Specialised software are essential for building quality SaaS products. The costs of this software are one of the vital things to consider.
• Ongoing development procedures: Every industrial product needs regular development. This is because there are changing trends and updates which need to be incorporated periodically.
• The working staff: Simply building a product is not the only thing. You need the right team to develop the features and then appropriate staff to handle the working of it too.

2. The scope of your SaaS product

Here’s another crucial factor that you need to consider- what is going to be the scope of the product you develop? Is it going to be a tool or a platform? Determination of the system is one of the initial steps as all the further steps of development are dependent on it. Tools are fit for the type of products that need only limited scope, that is, one or two functionalities only. Platforms, on the other hand, are a more comprehensive approach and require more capital. 

To make it cost-effective, it is always better to initially go with a ‘Minimum Viable Product’ or MVP. Later on, after developing a base product that can function and get you some capital, you can utilise it to enhance the developed product.

Also Read: 6 Reasons Why WordPress Is Best For Your Business Website (#5 is most important)

3. The value of time has a cost too

There is no denying that time is money. There are going to be costs for the amount of time that is spent on building the SaaS product also. Here are a few things to consider in this aspect:

• Validation: This process is a series of activities that take around 10-50 hours. This involves finding the right clients, looking for potential competitors, managing customers, etc.
• Planning: The projects that are planned well turn out to be better in functionality. Therefore, spending more time on planning to ensure quality and precision is better. This would take 30-200 hours, depending on the scope of the product.
• UX design: Working on the aesthetics to create a stellar design attractive for the buyers of the SaaS product is essential. This takes about 25-200 hours.
• Project management: Managing the different phases of the development is as essential as the development of it. This takes about 20 percent of the time.

Each of these activities needs to be accounted for when calculating the costs of building the SaaS product.

4. System specific costs involved

Here are a few system-specific factors essential for consideration while determining the costs of building the SaaS product:

• • Coding and development: This is one of the most cost-consuming parts of developing a SaaS product. This is the part where the actual creation and implementation of the product is carried out.
  • Building tests: A testing system needs to be built to check if the developed product is working fine in different conditions and delivering the desired results.

• Alpha and Beta tests: Alpha and Beta testing is also a critical step. This helps you in getting the required feedback from potential customers as to how they find the product. Their feedback can be valued and implemented to deliver a better product.
• Release and marketing: Marketing the release of the final SaaS product is amongst the final steps in the development that needs proper attention.

All these system-specific tasks are costly and vital at the same time. Therefore, they can’t be neglected.

The Dilemma: Hiring Freelancers vs Development Agency For Your SaaS Product

This is the final thing to look into while developing a SaaS product. It is essential to know if you would be hiring a freelancer for developing your product or an agency. For instance, a freelancer developer in the US charges around $60 per hour for the job. Thus, approximately, it might cost you around $30,000 to build a fully-functional and valuable SaaS product.

An agency, on the other hand, will charge more as there are more employees involved. Estimating all the costs, they will charge around $100,000 for the final product. This would be a better pick if you need something extensive and have a big picture in mind.

The cost of the final SaaS product is going to depend on a multitude of factors, and each of these factors might cost different businessmen differently. Therefore, sit with an expert, think and analyse the requirements for your business and make the most cost-effective pick.

To Sum Up…

For the development of SaaS product or service, there are 3 most crucial resources: time, money and energy. SaaS software or products are sure to witness a rise in the coming years.

Today, there exist various tools and applications for the efficient project management of your development process overseas. For instance: with Skype, Google Hangouts, Jira and various others, you can manage the offshore development of your SaaS product.

EngineerBabu integrates tools like Everhour, DeskTime, Basecamp, Time Doctor, Skype and Whatsapp Web for efficient communication. By dividing the tasks into meaningful and easy to achieve goals for our team members, we’ve provided our overseas development services to a number of clients. You can check out our detailed portfolio here.

Do you happen to have an amazing idea? Share it with us and get the development process started. You can also drop an email to us at mayank@engineerbabu.com. Don’t like waiting?  Click Here NOW!

Also Read:

• How Much Does Mobile App Development Cost?
• How To Set Up An Offshore Development Center In India?

The post How Much Does It Cost To Develop A SaaS Product? appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.

Cloud based solutions have come up as a solution and expected to stay and evolve. There are popular applications behind the introduction of SaaS to consumers as well as working professionals. There is going to be an increasing interest in this type of software because of companies like Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Slack, Google Apps, etc.

SaaS has now become one of the fastest growing in the industry. According to MarketWatch, by 2024, Saas is expected to reach a market size of $185.8 billion.

SaaS developments often constitute of integral components that result in success

The offshore SaaS development process is now smoother than ever with implementation of Agile development methodology and qualified product developers, . With adequate resources available, one can use Agile development methodology to implement a communication and result oriented strategy. With a team-based approach to SaaS product development, you get access to additional benefits of flexibility and speed.

Why do you need to outsource the development of your SaaS product?

In the SaaS industry, a product-market fit has to be achieved in order to stay ahead of competitors. It is because, the industry is rapidly maturing and SaaS companies are saturating the market with an ever-increasing competition. Did you know that SaaS initial public offerings (IPOs) have more than doubled over the past 12 years?

Consequently, the market demands need to be met while being cost effective and lean. Although, most companies do not have the necessary infrastructure to take on these massive projects. One of the major problems involved in the development of SaaS products is, the bulky amount of resources and time taken to build a piece of software from the ground up.

On an average, it can take upto 18 months to build a custom software from its concept to the finished product! Naturally, this would mean that you must have a highly specialised group of employees: software engineers. It can take up a lot of your time to figure out your teams’ needs.

Also Read: How Recooty SaaS Solution for Hiring Acquired 1,50,000+ B2B Customers in 90 Days!

The development of SaaS products is different in many respects from the development of the other traditional products or softwares. There’s a magnificent volume and scale to which the product is required to be developed. Also keep in mind, that the landscape of the technology is an on-going process.

This is when software outsourcing comes into the picture as the most popular solution for SaaS challenge. Working with an outsourced development team provides a number of benefits to SaaS companies. Both during the MVP stage and growth stage. Besides, outsourcing the development of your SaaS products give you multiple benefits.

Pros Of Outsourcing Your SaaS Product Development From EngineerBabu:

1. Complete Flexibility Even After Development:

In the midst of a major software development project, most employees don’t have time to think ahead to next month, much less next year. Making sure that their team is prepared for the next steps once the software is brought to market, becomes the primary responsibility of the management.

Definitely, you can hire a highly experienced permanent staff to assist you in the development of your SaaS project. But it will be rendered useless when they’re no longer required full-time. Why not hire a team that takes care of the process and even guides you with the project after it has been completed?

2. Learn From Those Who Know The Best:

If you’re new to this, you will have to understand everything from the beginning- the entire development cycle, customer needs, technology trends, etc. Rather than going through this process, you can benefit from the experience of others.

3. Make The Project Completion Process Faster:

Typically, on-boarding a full-time in-house staff will require giving them the necessary training on-the-job. If you outsource the entire development project to one company, it will help in significantly saving the time.

While these companies are already experienced enough in their domains, you will get an opportunity to instead focus on the usability and functionality of your project. Rather than the hassle of hiring, devote this time to other channels like marketing, sales, etc.

4. Lowers Down The Cost

All SaaS ventures operate on a given budget that focus on reducing the initial development costs. It seeks to maximise the return from the finalised software. With such limitations, it becomes inconvenient for companies to look for an efficient staff to build their MVPs.

To curb this and make your process go smoother and faster, you can hire an outsourcing company that will take care of either the MVP, or end-to-end development at one go. Depending on your limitations, you can even decide if you wish to bring in experts for the leading roles and responsibilities.

To Sum Up…

In the development of any software product or service, the most crucial resources are time, money and energy. SaaS software or products those applications that will only witness a rise in the coming years.

There are various tools and applications available in the market today for efficient project management overseas. With Skype, Google Hangouts, Jira and various others, you can easily manage the offshore development of your SaaS product.

At EngineerBabu, we integrate tools like Basecamp, Everhour, Time Doctor, Skype and Whatsapp Web for communication. These tools help us to divide the tasks into meaningful and easy to achieve goals for our team members. With our vast experience, we can effectively manage your outsourced product.

Have an idea? Share it with us and get the development process started. Drop an email to us at mayank@engineerbabu.com. If you don’t like waiting,  Click Here NOW!

Also Read:

• How Much Does Mobile App Development Cost?
• 6 Reasons Why WordPress Is Best For Your Business Website (#5 is most important)
• How To Set Up An Offshore Development Center In India?
• Best Freelance Content Writers in India [Updated List]

The post How To Build A SaaS Product By Outsourcing? appeared first on EngineerBabu Blog.