Why Should Businesses Use SaaS Applications?

Online services have opened a new window of opportunity for businesses globally. Beyond simply marketing, conducting business online is the only way to exponentially grow a consumer base, drive revenue, and reach new markets. Among those taking advantage of the growing virtual marketplace are, of course, software developers who are introducing technology to enhance it. One of the ways they’ve started is through cloud technologies and SaaS applications. Companies traditionally deliver their solutions as licensed software but are now moving towards SaaS applications with the help of cloud technology. 

SaaS (or Software as a Service) is a licensing and delivery model meant for users to access applications via the cloud. You can think of it as a mutually beneficial agreement for solutions providers, services using it, and users of that service. On the one hand, providers no longer sell lifetime licenses on their software, making it less intimidating to their clients. On the other hand, users don’t have to download any software and can instead use it via browser and APIs. 

This software is hosted centrally and licensed as a subscription which is why it is also referred to as “on-demand software”. Netflix, for example, is a SaaS company since they sell software that enables users to watch licensed videos on demand. Users don’t have to download the videos and can access them from any device with an internet connection. This allows them to monetize the delivery of their software and keep track of users' data in a data center.

The usage rates for SaaS are proliferating, between 2017 and 2020 alone companies have used 5 times as many SaaS applications. Businesses from all industries, whether marketing, retail, healthcare, or finance, can expand their business with SaaS applications. 

Now, SaaS has variations to it that suit the needs of different business models. The variations are categorized into business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) style applications. Here are some of the applications on both ends:

B2B SaaS Applications

• eCommerce applications: This kind of software lets eCommerce businesses manage workflows and services such as controlling inventory, processing payments, and managing supply chains.

• Human resources management software (HRM): This allows companies to manage their staff by collecting data about current and potential employees. Among many other features, managing benefits and estimating the capability of employees are common draws.

• Customer relationship management software (CRM): This is a popular choice for SaaS as it is great for overseeing a businesses' customer base. Particularly, monitoring marketing campaigns, tending to clients fast, and even tracking a product's delivery status are among many features of CRM software.

• Enterprise resource planning systems (ERPs): This enterprise software allows companies to better manage complex processes. Depending on the company's needs, manageable modules such as CRM and HRM, supply chain, inventory, and accounting are included among many others.

B2C SaaS Applications

• E-Learning applications: In 2019 in the United States, 57% of students were using e-learning tools. E-Learning use has increased significantly in recent years, especially with the circumstances instilled by the pandemic. It has become a highly efficient tool for users to access the material anytime from almost anywhere. Institutions have recognized its value and even mandated its use in some cases, making the demand for quality applications a necessity.

• Streaming services: Back to the example of Netflix, there are tons of music and video streaming services all over the world. People want to be able to listen to music or watch content from anywhere. This technology isn’t reserved for major entities but for providers of all sizes to compete.

• Editing services: Google Drive, Canva, MailChimp, Shopify— the list continues. SaaS applications allow instant access to the service where users can modify the material, whether for business or personal matters.

With this understanding of what SaaS applications can do and who they’re meant for, let’s turn over to the specific benefits this technology provides:

User Advantages

The traditional concept of licensed software is losing its fight against SaaS. Anyone who’s watched the uprise of SaaS will tell you that its popularity is due to the mutual benefits between provider and user. Here are some specific contributing factors to its dominance:

Scalability: While the extent will vary depending on the subscription, SaaS solutions can scale up or down to the needs of the user. This means the software will only utilize the resources it needs. In effect, this will save money since users aren’t paying for services they aren’t using.

Automatic updates: Recall that users don’t have to install the software to access the application. This allows providers to run updates automatically in the cloud which will eliminate downtimes and ensure constant access to the user.

Accessibility: SaaS is cloud-based which makes the applications accessible anytime and anywhere, so long as there is a connection to the internet.

Business Advantages

Consistent and stable revenue: For businesses and users, subscriptions are proving to be a far more feasible option since both are charged in increments each month compared to a large one-and-done purchase.

Access to a bigger market: SaaS doesn’t tend to a specific niche; any company or individual around the world can access it. 

Expanding clientele: because SaaS applications aren’t confined to any one language or location, they bring in users from all over. Aside from the dissemination aspect, its cost efficiency is also desirable.

The Takeaway

Cloud-based software is changing the game for businesses and consumers in that it delivers an experience that keeps people coming back. For users, this technology is flexible, and mobile, and comes at a low price. For the business, consistent revenue and endless possibilities for expansion make its implementation inevitable to anyone looking to make it in the long term. Any company that considers making their applications SaaS will need a highly experienced software development team. Do what’s best for the long-term sustainability of your business.

Written By Ben Brown

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ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.

Keys to Digital Marketing as a FinTech Firm

Without marketing, you have no business, no community, and no longevity. FinTech companies face challenges that are unlike most other industries, particularly since the product is relatively new and different. FinTech brands must be as creative in their marketing efforts as they are in creating innovative services. This means financial startups' main areas of concern should be based on educating and building rapport with consumers.

With FinTech companies, educating and connecting with the audience is done through digital marketing that is powerful and digestible. Companies don’t want to intimidate those unfamiliar with their product, so their branding needs to be easy and not “too techy”. For startups in the financial sector, digital marketing can look like a mountain to climb. However, the trip doesn’t have to be so complex with the right strategic solutions. 

After reading this section, you will understand some of the top methods for financial companies when approaching a digital marketing campaign. More importantly, you will understand why these methods are effective in a highly competitive market:

Branding

The main priority for financial companies, especially new ones, is getting the audience in tune with complex concepts. This can be done in several ways, but the common starting point is by understandably framing the product. Beyond that, companies will want to create hype and ultimately FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) around the product. For example, making investment decisions is based on complex variables. Over 60% of adults are intimidated by investing, a trend that is only becoming more prevalent with each generation. FinTech mobile apps aim to assist those unfamiliar through analytics and AI-generated investment guidance. By using the product, customers will be able to get ahead in planning for their future while being involved in the process. 

In this example, we see that positioning your brand as the latest way to get personalized investment advice based on easy-to-understand data while acknowledging consumers' intimidation generates interest. It should also be noted that honesty in your company messaging is the best way to market, especially as a tech company. One of the top reasons tech companies lose business is hyperbole, which means that transparency in the company's vision and capabilities is crucial.

Branding is not simply a logo, colours, or font that represents the company. This is where some businesses stop and as a result have branding but no brand. True branding is developing emotional attachment behind the materialized elements of your brand. You will buy certain clothing because of how it makes you feel, certain product labels because you trust them, or support businesses that support other causes. In a competitive market, find your niche and use it to be unique (which you’ll see examples of further in).

Digital content marketing

Again, FinTech firms need to educate the audience on what's relevant and upcoming, which is where digital content tools such as videos, blogs, interviews, speakers, etc., are most valuable. No matter what stage your company is at, this will require consistent content that is engaging and informative. The average consumer attention span is 8 seconds which is generous if you observe how people scroll on social media. Essentially, the general rule of thumb with content is the instant hook/incentive which becomes a transaction in itself with the consumer.

No matter what it is, keep it simple. Crypto trading platform Coinbase uses “learn and earn” where users can receive cryptocurrency in exchange for completing lessons and quizzes. This is a perfect example of what content marketing should look like. The goal is to generate leads, conversions, and build awareness of your brand's initiative. If implemented correctly, you’ll find content marketing scalable and great for globally expanding your audience reach. Another good example would be to take a look at FinTech company Current, scroll at least three swipes through their website and you’ll see a great example of generating appeal in today's market. 

Create a mobile experience

This is pivotal to compete in 2022. Remember, FinTechs are up against traditional banking systems and are fully digital which means the best place they can beat them is in a mobile experience. Branding and marketing are great for getting the customer, but retaining that business comes from differentiation. FinTechs who are the most disruptive are the ones who function entirely online (otherwise known as neobanks).

Online banking is continuously growing; in the United States alone, there are over 23 million people who use only online banking services. The uprising of neobanks is enhancing this vision of a fully digitized consumer market. The top neobanks in North America (ranked in order) are Chime, Current, Aspiration, and Varo. While each has its unique features, the number one factor that makes them the best is their mobile experience. 

Get active on social media 

Over 30% of American consumers have at least one FinTech app on their mobile device and spend upwards of 5 hours each day on that device. This screams one thing for digital marketers: OPPORTUNITY. This is prime real estate for advertising in-app, especially for brands that operate solely online or that are trying to make the transition from traditional banking to modern FinTech. 

Specifically, brands want to keep up with current trends and initiatives while zeroing in on their target market. A great example of this is financial company Ellevest whose slogan is “by women, for women”. They tackle the imbalance of women's involvement in investing and offer personal finance coaching along with spending incentives. Ellevest ran a campaign called ‘’invest like a woman” which was aimed at inspiring women to take control of financial responsibilities that are traditionally built for men. 

You can see here that brands that add their touch are the ones who do the best. There is a level of authenticity that makes companies distinguishable, and to connect with the audience and take advantage of that, social media will be the best outlet. 

The takeaway

The online sector is where businesses are finding opportunities for longevity. These opportunities, however, only present themselves with well-thought-out execution. This is especially true for financial institutions since this business is built on trust and understanding. Remember, it’s not that you do it, it’s how you do it, and in the case of marketing, how you present your brand will factor into its lifespan.

Written By Ben Brown

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ISU Corp is an award-winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost-effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners’ mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.

Cloud Computing in the Future: What Will it Mean For Your Business?

Cloud computing technology has rapidly gained popularity over the last decade. This is primarily due to its ability to help businesses scale, reduce spending on or eliminate the need for hardware, and allow the platform to perform consistently. For the average consumer unfamiliar with the service, the term “cloud computing” can sound intimidating. Essentially, it is a method for storing and accessing your platform's data on the internet as opposed to hardware. Think of how you can access Netflix or your Google Drive from any device with an internet connection.

Cloud computing services are quite lucrative since a significant portion of businesses (especially D2C) are starting out online or moving online and away from brick-and-mortar. One press release from Gartner found that end-user spending on public cloud computing services could be on track to exceed $480 billion in 2022. This spending is expected to continue growing at an annual rate of over 20% which would put consumer spending at $600 billion by 2023. 

The benefits of cloud computing can be summed up under the following components:

• Fast deployment speed

• Software updates are automatic

• Highly scalable

• Secure environment for data storage/access

• Unlimited data storage 

• Disaster recovery

• Cost-effective

Now how does this apply to your business? How can you use cloud computing as something that will benefit not only the short-term but also the long-term operations of your company?

The future of cloud computing

The trending hybrid work model is pushing organizations to invest more in migrating to cloud services. This has led to estimated annual spending of over $2.5 billion for companies to simply adopt this technology. With that being said, these are some of the specific advancements we can expect to see with cloud computing this year as well as in years to come:

Multiple cloud services: The cloud services available to businesses will branch out to cover different areas with various capabilities as investments grow. In coming years you can expect to see a prevalence of Platforms as a Service (PaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). 

Big data: The name does speak for itself since this technology is meant to process… well, large amounts of data that traditional software wouldn’t be able to handle due to its complexity. Big data benefits the overall performance of the application as well as the business's ability to take on and keep up with a large workload and deliver various services.

Multi-cloud: Multi-cloud is when a company uses two or more public, private, or edge cloud providers to run various applications and distribute different services. Companies are looking to be more dynamic with online offerings which makes it likely that we will see the utilization of multi-cloud environments.

Internet of Things (IoT): Every IoT device needs a secure environment to store the data it collects. This is where cloud services come in; devices can have the perfect environment to store and analyze the collected data. IoT is great for consumer use day-to-day and for businesses to increase ordering capacity, productivity among staff, and reduce costs.

Benefits of the transformation

All this information and talk of new technology sounds exciting, but what specific benefits can businesses expect from it in the next 10 years? Here are some key upgrades you can expect to see from cloud computing:

Saving resources: With the rising usage rates of cloud services as well as virtualization, companies can cut the cost of hardware and the maintenance that comes with it. In addition to this, we can expect to see AI take over data analysis.

Security: Compared to traditional on-site models that most companies use, the encrypted file storage of cloud computing is far superior. If, for instance, a cybercriminal tried to hack into the system, the files would be scrambled making them extremely hard to access.

Insights in real-time: Decision-making for a business happens from factors within and outside the organization. The best way to understand these factors is through data which is better organized through insights. Cloud computing gathers this data, stores it, and displays the analysis with insights to determine the immediate needs of the business.

Sustainable: Seeing the capabilities of the cloud regarding security, processing ability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness are all factors that can last a business long-term. Additionally, in terms of cloud services' actual environmental sustainability, consumers use over 75% fewer servers, more than 80% less power, and reduce carbon emissions by almost 90%.

Preparing your business

To kick start the cloud strategy in your business, you first have to determine your goals and the services at your disposal. There are also going to be external factors that you’ll need to be prepared for to keep on track. Here are a few tips to ensure your long-term success with cloud computing:

Avoid FOMO (fear of missing out): A huge downfall for tech companies is rushing to release products simply because it's trendy or what their competitors are doing. With any innovation, there needs to be a firm “why” to support its introduction. What works for one company may not work for yours which means your “why” must be aligned with the goals and values of your organization.

Be strategic with multi-cloud deployment: When using multi-cloud deployment, organizations will only want to tap in when necessary. This means that it will be wise to go with one provider and make them preferred but integrate others when the preferred source can’t help. Again, integrating additional providers should only be done when it is in the best interest of the company's goals.

Build your team: You want skilled technicians on your team who have the technical knowledge to support your business. Skilled technicians are not as easy to find as one may think, but you can even train your in-house staff to become proficient with your systems.

The Takeaway

Consumers are moving toward ease and accessibility. No matter what industry you’re in, this needs to be at the forefront of your brand positioning. Cloud computing is the way businesses scale in 2022 and will continue to for decades to come. Any online service will inevitably require it, so use these tips to put yourself ahead of the competition. 

Written By Ben Brown

—

ISU Corp is an award winning software development company, with over 17 years of experience in multiple industries, providing cost effective custom software development, technology management, and IT outsourcing.

Our unique owners mindset reduces development costs and fast-tracks timelines. We help craft the specifications of your project based on your company's needs, to produce the best ROI. Find out why startups, all the way to fortune 500 companies like General Electric, Heinz, and many others have trusted us with their projects. Contact us here.