His prognosis sounded inconceivable to those present in the room. But here we are, over 60 years later, witnessing a world where the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is the driving force of many, if not most, successful businesses.

And while the concept of SaaS has been around for decades, it wasn't until the start of this century that web-based technology became sophisticated enough to make it a viable option for businesses.

Today, businesses are no longer shackled to bulky, traditional software systems that require costly updates and painful deployments. They're moving away from on-premise solutions and onto the SaaS platforms to make their operations purely digital. In fact, on average, companies used 130 SaaS apps as of 2022. That's a monstrous increase from the measly 8 SaaS apps used in 2015.

But despite the meteoric rise of SaaS software, some businesses are still unsure of its potential. If you're one of them, you've come to the right place.

In this article, we'll dive into the top 4 reasons why you should embrace SaaS software for your business and highlight some of the popular product categories that exist within it.

To kick off, let's examine what SaaS software actually is.

What is SaaS Software?

Traditionally, software was sold as a physical product—a CD-ROM or DVD, for example- at a one-time cost. These products were installed on the customers' computers and needed significant maintenance, including regular updates and bug fixes.

SaaS, or Software as a Service, challenges this age-old method of software delivery. Instead of paying for a piece of software that you'll have to install, configure and maintain yourself, SaaS customers pay a flat monthly fee for access to a program that lives on the cloud. That means the software sits on the vendor's server, from where you can access it via the internet.

Why The Push For SaaS?

At first, many businesses were hesitant to transition to SaaS. The advantages of traditional software solutions like on-premise deployments seemed much more concrete than the intangible concept of cloud computing. But these hang-ups quickly dissipated as newer, more sophisticated SaaS solutions hit the market. Here are the top 4 reasons businesses, big and small, have made a beeline for SaaS software solutions.

#1: Cost-effectiveness

With traditional software, the initial cost of the product's license is only the tip of the iceberg. Along with the license, you have to pay for additional hardware, installation, and maintenance. Sometimes, you'll even have to hire dedicated personnel to keep up with the daily operations.

On top of that, your IT team will have to administer regular check-ups and patching of the system, costing you even more money and time. These costs often add up to a sizable chunk of the company budget when bundled.

SaaS software eliminates most of these costs as the vendor takes on the lion's share of the technical burden. Plus, since SaaS is subscription-based, you have a more predictable and controllable operational cost. That means no surprise fees or hidden fees and more budget to allocate towards other areas of the business.

#2: Access to Latest Innovations

The world we live in today is characterised by rapid technological innovation. To stay afloat and maintain their position in the market, business leaders have to capitalise on disruptive opportunities that the latest and greatest tech trends bring. And that's where SaaS software shines like a beacon of hope.

When you buy an on-premise product, the version you're stuck with is essentially frozen in time. Any updates, bug fixes, or security patches will require a drawn-out and expensive upgrade process, often taking months to complete.

On the other hand, SaaS software is constantly evolving and innovating to keep up with the needs of its customers. SaaS vendors roll out updates and bug fixes in near-real-time at no extra cost. That way, you're always on the most recent version with immediate access to all the new capabilities and features as soon as they're out.

#3: Fewer Security Hassles

As the custodian of customer data, security is of utmost importance to the SaaS vendor. It is critical that they take measures to protect their customers' information from malicious actors and data breaches. Else, the vendor stands to lose trust and customer loyalty.

To this end, SaaS software providers go the extra mile to safeguard the data entrusted to them, often exceeding what could be achieved with on-premise solutions. This includes using highly secure cloud infrastructures, encrypting sensitive information, and implementing scattered servers in multiple locations.

What's more, research from Gartner reveals that 95% of cloud security breaches are caused by human error rather than any inherent security flaw in cloud technology. This fact further reinforces just how safe your data is in the cloud.

#4: Easy Scalability

SaaS software offers unprecedented scalability options. With on-premise deployments, businesses will need to acquire additional hardware and personnel whenever they need more resources or functionality. The process can be both time-consuming and expensive. With SaaS, all that changes.

On-demand pricing from the SaaS vendor allows you to scale up your usage on-demand as you need more resources or storage space. This is especially useful during seasonal business periods when extra IT resources are required to handle the spike in workload.

Likewise, when the market's appetite for your service wanes, you can scale down your usage and pay for the resources that you actually use without incurring any penalties or extra costs. This level of flexibility is simply not achievable in traditional software.

#5: Free Trial Periods

Unlike on-premise installations, you don't have to buy SaaS software just by looking at a feature list or relying on word-of-mouth reviews.

Most SaaS vendors offer a free trial period so customers can take the service for a test drive before committing to a purchase. This allows businesses to assess the software's functionality and whether it fits their needs before making any financial commitment.

On-premises solutions don't usually come with this level of risk-free assurance. Instead, they are often sold on a long-term contract basis with significant financial commitments. Because of this, you may find yourself tied down to a product/vendor you don't even like.

Types of SaaS Software

The dawn of the SaaS model has been tantamount to a revolution in the way companies manage their daily operations. Replacing what was once a rigid "acquisition and ownership" model, it ushered in its place a "subscription and access" model – transforming the approach to software as we knew it.

Today's SaaS software market is bursting with diverse solutions catering to various verticals and use cases. You'll find SaaS products for everything from marketing to project management and beyond. Some popular categories of SaaS software that you might want to consider employing are:

Customer Relation Management (CRM) Software

Compared to the older, on-premise model of CRM software, saas-based CRMs make it easy for businesses to manage customer data, monitor the sales funnel and track sales performance. SaaS CRMs often offer features like marketing automation, customer segmentation, analytics, and reporting, allowing companies to get a fuller picture of their customers.

Saas CRMs also come with flexible integration options that you can use to tailor the buyer journey and improve the customer experience. For example, you can integrate your CRM with customer service software to create a seamless customer support process that unifies multiple data sources to provide personalised experiences.

Plus, because SaaS CRMs are cloud-hosted, you can keep your customer relationships alive and meaningful - even when you are on the go. By integrating your cloud-based CRM with data viz tools, e.g., Salesforce to Looker Studio, you can enable customer data analytics and visualisation anytime.

Project Management Tools

With the growing prevalence of remote work and dispersed teams, saas-powered project management tools have become practically indispensable for businesses and creative agencies. These business tools have a wide range of features aimed at making collaboration more efficient and overcoming resource constraints that plague most geographically dispersed project teams and agencies.

SaaS-based project management solutions serve as a virtual nexus for all project-related conversations, documents, and tasks. They also offer tools for data reporting and visualisation, budget management, resource allocation, and more - all of which help propel projects toward swift completion. So, whether you're a remote agency looking for a software to up their project management game or an in-house dev team needing to coordinate multiple projects, saas-based project management tools are your one-stop solution to maximise productivity and seize every moment effectively.

Workflow Automation Tools

Modern businesses use multiple SaaS tools, platforms, and apps to carry out their day-to-day operation. But having all this disparate technology can create bottlenecks and gaps in productivity. That's where saas workflow marketing automation tools come in. These tools integrate with your existing saas-based systems and allow you to design automated processes that connect your workflow's different pieces. Additionally, most of these tools come with no-code or low-code interfaces, making them accessible to users of any coding proficiency - a stark contrast to the rigid, complex programming required by on-premise automation solutions.

Let's say, for instance, you use Excel to manage your data but find the aesthetics of a Google spreadsheet more suitable when presenting the data to stakeholders. Now, you can either take the conventional route and manually follow step-by-step tutorials to export or import data each time updates are made or set up a saas automation tool to sync the two automatically. The workflow automation tool will take care of the data transfers in real time, thereby freeing up your time and reducing errors due to manual input. All without requiring complex programming or IT resources.

Enterprise Messaging Software

Enterprises have a rising need for quick and efficient communication - SaaS messaging software is designed to meet that particular need. These SaaS-based solutions make it easy for businesses to centralise their communication with customers, employees, partners, and other stakeholders.

Saas messaging software provides many useful features such as group chat, multi-channel messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing - all of which come in handy when your business needs to quickly share critical updates or collaborate on projects. Additionally, SaaS messaging solutions are often integrated with other SaaS applications to enable cohesive collaboration and communication. In this way, saas messaging software helps businesses move faster and stay productive even if their offices span different locations.

QR Code Generators

Once thought of as an outdated technology, Quick Response (QR) codes have made an impressive comeback, and saas software companies have been quick to capitalise on their potential. SaaS providers offer some of the best QR code generators on the market with features that make it easy to generate, track and manage digital QR codes for a fraction of the cost of other comparable solutions or in-house creations.

With SaaS-based QR code generators, you can create highly customised codes that bridge the gap between physical and virtual worlds while adding a touch of personality to your promotions. And best of all, saas solutions usually offer detailed analytics tracking customer interaction with your QR codes - something that might be too expensive for companies to develop internally.

Out With the Old, In With the New

For too long, businesses have lived with a costly and labor-intensive software paradigm that leaves them weighed down with legacy infrastructure. But now, with SaaS software, you can move into a new era of cost savings, continuous updates, and improved maintenance. Switch to SaaS software today, and experience the benefits for yourself.