Almost all software you use today is SaaS. This has one major advantage and one underestimated risk.
SaaS stands for software as a service: software that you purchase monthly or annually and use via your browser, while the supplier arranges the servers, updates and security. You don't buy a licence or install anything. Accounting packages, CRM systems and e-mail platforms are well-known that work in this way.
IN COMMON LANGUAGE
Rent instead of buying
In the past, you bought software once and installed it on your own server. Worked fine until an update came or the server broke: then it was your problem.
With SaaS that is the supplier's problem. You pay monthly, always have the latest version and can log in anywhere. For most companies that is a clear improvement.
The underrated side is what happens when you want to leave. Your information is with the supplier, in their format, on their terms. Can you export everything into something useful? That's the question you ask before you start, not after.
WHY IT MATTERS
When you have something built yourself
SaaS is almost always the cheapest route for something every business needs: accounting, email, storage. Reinventing the wheel is a waste of money there.
Building your own becomes interesting as soon as your process really deviates from the standard, or as soon as you have to tie five packages together to achieve something that one system should do.
- Standard process — take SaaS; cheaper and working tomorrow.
- Five packages tied together — often the signal that one own system fits better.
- Your process is your distinction — then you don't want to squeeze it into a standard package.
- Export possibility — check in advance whether you will get your data out.
- Cost per user — SaaS becomes expensive as your team grows.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about SaaS
Is SaaS cheaper than building it yourself?
Almost always in the beginning, not necessarily in the long term. A subscription of a few tens of euros per user per month adds up considerably to twenty employees. The turning point is usually the combination of many users and a process that does not quite fit.
What happens to my data if the supplier stops?
That's the scenario to check beforehand. Serious suppliers offer a complete export in a readable format. If you can only download PDFs, then you don't have an export but a printout: and you're stuck.
Can I link SaaS to my other systems?
Usually yes, via an API. That's exactly what links are for: allowing packages that are good at their own job to talk to each other, so that data is only entered once.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
Buy, rent or build?
Tell us which process is causing the problem. We honestly say whether an existing package is sufficient: that often saves you a project.