Let me start with some truths.
The truth is, the generally accepted time frame for rolling out new software done in-house is 18 months. That simply is not acceptable in a dynamic and competitive business or industry. What’s more, a recent study has shown that almost a third of all in-house projects fail. Imagine waiting 18 months then getting disappointed by a program that just does not meet your needs or carry out the tasks you want it to, after spending all the money on manpower, new hardware and software, as well as non-tangible things like lost opportunities.
Another truth is that SaaS can address these problems. Speed? Check. Lack of capital investment? Check. Ease of implementation, from deployment to support? Check. Fast and easily identifiable return on investment? Check.
SaaS has been touted as the key difference between whether your business will survive this recession or not. If you’re not going to buy all these Messianic pronouncements about SaaS, then you must concede that it is, at the very least, a VERY big help.
If you’ve been reading on SaaS, chances are, you might have picked up some inaccurate things about it. Here are some of the myths we hope to dispel:
SaaS is good only for customer relations management.
While most SaaS articles trumpet the success of SalesForce.Com and other CRM-based SaaS providers, there are SaaS applications and services that are used for other functions as well, most notably human resources and collaboration. Other areas of an organization also have SaaS applications made for it. As a matter of fact, some SaaS companies are currently looking at the possibility of running a business with no IT departments, relying solely on SaaS applications.
SaaS is perfect only for small and medium scale enterprises.
While only a handful of large corporations are currently employing SaaS applications, the general economy and the combined benefits will make it a more attractive option for even bigger companies. Not only that, a recent survey among large companies had found that only 4% of these companies are not considering SaaS in the future.
As the economy contracts, however, even big businesses are feeling the pinch. Even software giant Microsoft has recently been rumored to be looking at layoffs of up to 17% of its workforce. SaaS is now becoming the cost-effective alternative for any company of any scale. Especially in light of Barack Obama’s win, which indicates that American businesses are looking at less offshore outsourcing opportunities.
What’s more, SaaS is deployable for any sized company. If it has written success stories for small and medium-sized enterprises, it is definitely ready for big business. Another concern that big businesses have is that SaaS will not integrate fully with their existing systems. Either that or the whole integration process will be so time consuming that it would not be worth their while.
For one, SaaS might never need to interface with a big company’s legacy systems. SaaS has a better track record of maintaining application programming interfaces than Sage, Oracle or SAP. Yet for those who do find it necessary to integrate, they will be pleasantly surprised that SaaS not only works well with legacy systems, but can also enhance its usability and adoption.
SaaS may or may not be for your business. As big a fan as I am of SaaS, the only person who can determine its fit into your business plan is you. But do make sure that you have all your facts straight. SaaS might be the one solution you have been looking for to leverage your competitive edge, and allow you to move on and compete better.
Read another useful SaaS article here: http://www.thefinestwriter.com/blog/adopting-saas