Most Important Customer Success Metrics For SaaS Companies

The SaaS (Software as a Service) industry has gained a competitive edge over the last few years, thanks to its customer retention and growth that has transformed the face of businesses today.

Needless to say, the inclusion of Customer Success is a crucial contributor to the success of any SaaS platform.
Customer success metrics

What Is Customer Success?

The most cited definition by a Customer Success Consultant, Lincoln Murphy states – “Customer Success is when your customers achieve their Desired Outcome through their interactions with your company.

To ensure the success of their product, the subscription-based model in SaaS has radically changed the game for a lot of businesses, more so due to its frequent touch points with customers that require an on-going effort.

Deemed as a game-changer, Customer Success in SaaS majorly contributes to boosting conversions, raising the bar for customer satisfaction, and reducing churn rates.

Additionally, proactively anticipating potential issues rather than waiting for actual issues eliminates future escalations.

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There Are 3 Key Takeaways From This Article That Focus On:

  • How Customer Success Teams contribute towards the SaaS growth
  • Customer Success Statistics in SaaS platforms
  • Customer Success Metrics that are responsible for SaaS growth

Customer Success Teams Contribute Towards The SaaS Growth In:

  • Guiding customers in the new sign-up process.
  • Converting trial customers to paying customers.
  • Upfront demonstration of the product value.
  • Prompting for concrete feedback in real-time.
  • Updating paying customers and ensuring customer satisfaction with the product or service.
  • Influencing customers to love your product or service to make them loyal brand ambassadors.
  • Fostering relationships with customers’ businesses.
  • Increasing revenue and reducing churn throughout the Customer Success cycle.

How Important Is Customer Success In SaaS?

In the words of Jason Lemkin, the founder of EchoSign, “Customer success is where 90% of the revenue is.”

This translates to Customer Success serving as a solid growth driver for SaaS companies.

Research conducted by Databox found a myriad of answers for gauging the success of customer success efforts.

This ranged from collecting customer feedback to renewing accounts to upgrading and upselling to customers.

Let’s check the figures –

Customer success team

Smart Karrot’s statistical report on Customer Success statistics mentions that improving customer retention by just 5% can accelerate a company’s profits by as much as 95%.

Moreover, 70 to 90% of the profit generated by SaaS companies often comes from renewals, upsells, and after-sales services.

According to Bain & Co.’s study, exceptional customer success programs blended with key account management increase profit up to 95%.

With all that said, the investment needed to land new customers falls between and 25 times more expensive compared to new customer retention processes.

After considerable evaluation, the following 7 Metrics prove why Customer Success should not be taken lightly by SaaS companies.

In other words, how Customer Success is a major contributor to SaaS success can be determined by some vital parameters that can make or break your SaaS efforts.

7 Solid Customer Success Metrics For SaaS Success

1. First Contact Resolution:

Resolving the customer’s issue in a single interaction through a phone call, email, or a live chat session reduces the spillover effects of escalations. Needless to say, escalations are way threatening to ignore.

As Jeremy Watkin of 8×8 mentioned, “First contact resolution highly correlates with customer satisfaction. The higher your FCR, the more positive your customer experience and the higher your customers’ lifetime value (LTV).

This means the absence of a First point of contact.

Contact Resolution equates to poor customer service. The inclusion of FCR on the other hand offers an easy passage to eliminate future complaints of your SaaS.

2. Educating Your Customers Upfront:

The SaaS’s growth strategy primarily focuses on easing the customers’ initial hiccups.

A user-friendly approach and your product offering are vital for SaaS success.

To eliminate the horror or escalations that might crowd the customer support phone lines, it’s always advisable to brainstorm the possible issues or questions that users might come up with.

3. CSAT (Customer Satisfaction):

Happy Customers + Product Recommendation = Increased Revenue. It’s self-explanatory that Customer Satisfaction is the primary reason why Customer Success exists in the first place.

Much of Customer satisfaction involves ‘quick’ resolution to unexpected issues brought up by customers and prospects for inquiries.

You don’t want to be judged by your prospects for poor or slow customer service, which is why satisfaction holds prime importance.

4. Upsells And Cross-Sells:

The customer’s churn rate is a blessing in disguise while up-selling your premium products and tools.

Why?

Upselling helps SaaS companies if there’s a requirement for new development or improvement in the existing offering.

Additionally, a happy customer won’t wander online to find your competitors’ tools.

A SaaS company’s profitability hinges on low churn rates and recurring revenue.

Upselling and cross-selling provide an impetus of innovation which makes it easier to sell to the existing customers than the new prospects.

A single sale turns to multiple purchases when your Customer Success team is well acquainted with your customers’ needs.

5. Brand Recommendation:

Customer loyalty leads to brand recommendation. Customer Lifetime Value translates to Customer Loyalty that in turn increases your product value.

Acquiring new customers costs almost 5 times more than retaining existing ones. CLV is one of the key metrics
that focus on the value of the customer over the monitory gain you achieve with their purchase.

The ultimate reason for including CLV in the SaaS growth strategy is retaining existing customers and attracting new ones, moreover, the profit margins are also maintained.

It also helps companies measure ROI for every new customer that in turn helps sales and marketing budget estimation.

6. Net Promoter Score (NPS):

How likely is your SaaS entitled to referrals? NPS is essentially one of the most important customer-oriented metrics as it helps companies gauge customer loyalty stats.

Net Promoter Score is a loyalty program in which surveys are filled out by the customers who in turn advocate for you and share their success stories with their colleagues.

However, the unsatisfied ones won’t bat an eye.

After the NPS survey results are out, they’re grouped into 3 distinct categories, namely:

  • Promoters (Those customers that are likely to buy and promote)
  • Passives (Those who have no strong opinions)
  • and Detractors (Those that could be at risk for churn)

7. Churn Rate:

From a retention point of view, Churn essentially measures how many customers the company loses over a given time frame.

Churn rate is measured in terms of a dollar value lost or a number of customers lost.

I’ve worked with the team at AndolaSoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

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Parting Words

SaaS Success begins with Customer Success.

Your SaaS company is unique and so should your customers feel about themselves and your services.

The exceptional support you provide to your customers would go a long way to retain them and help them spread the word.

Armed with this mindset, every SaaS platform today is on its way to greater success.

All in all, the final verdict is that Customer Success translates to SaaS Success.

What are your thoughts about the contribution of Customer Success in the SaaS space?

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7 Powerful SaaS Marketing Strategy: A Step By Step Guide

In the era of digitalization, the world of business has seen a drastic change. The internet has made it possible for businesses to expand their reach and target a worldwide market. However, this comes with its fair share of challenges. With the abundance of merchandise available, it’s difficult to stand out and make an impact. A marketing strategy is the key to success in the digital world. For a SaaS company, it’s important to have a solid marketing strategy. This will not only help you gain traction, but also drive your sales and monetize your business efficiently.

With the global SaaS revenue hitting $105 billion this year and then expected to cross $141 billion by 2022, it’s tempting to join the bandwagon and develop your own SaaS business.

However, the SaaS business model is quite complex and that’s why your execution needs to be on point from the very beginning.

The pandemic has hugely impacted our lives, with several business sectors barely surviving to stay afloat.

The rate of cloud adoption globally, has grown significantly this year, as many companies that were not in the cloud already, were compelled to migrate to it by enforced remote work.

In fact, the new world order has seen Software as a Service (SaaS) gaining prominence like never before.

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With limited budgets and accelerated digital growth, SaaS has become the ultimate choice for enterprise IT investments – whether big or small.

So, what makes a strong SaaS business? Here are 7 powerful SaaS marketing strategy: a step by step guide that will help you start off on the right foot from the new year.

Offer A Solution For A Problem

The first thing you need to do is ensure that you are addressing a certain problem and you are offering an effective solution for that problem.

Start by identifying a problem you’ve struggled with and think about how you can solve it in the best possible way.

Another option is to think about how you can solve a certain problem better, cheaper, or faster than your competition.

Having industry experience can also be very helpful as you will be able to identify a void that you can fill.

The bottom line is, if you don’t solve a problem, you don’t have a business.

Write A Plan

Writing a plan is the best way to put your idea onto paper.

This doesn’t mean you have to write 100 pages; you can start with a single page pitch that roughly covers the following:

Strategy section which will contain a short description of your SaaS business and your UVP, the problem you are solving, as well as your solution to that problem (i.e. your product).

This section should also identify your target audience and your competitors and say what makes you different from them.

Your tactics, i.e. the channels you will be using to sell your product, as well as the marketing strategies that you will be employing in order to attract customers.

Include a list of your core team members, as well as the resources you’re going to need.

A SaaS business model. This section will state how your SaaS business will make money. At this stage, include only your key expenses and primary revenue sources.

Once you’ve validated your idea, you’ll be able to revisit your business model and create a detailed cash flow forecast, sales forecast, and expense budget.

Make Some Market Research

Now you have your plan but at this point, it’s just a list of assumptions. In order to determine whether your assumptions are right, you need to validate your idea.

In other words, you need to find out whether your idea can be turned into a viable business that actually makes money.

The best way to do this is by talking to your prospective customers. You can get the necessary feedback by running search ads, launching a coming soon site, or launching a Kickstarter.

You can even go door to door or talk to people face-to-face to find out if they would like a product like yours.

Based on the feedback you collect, you’ll be able to revisit your idea and adjust or refine it.

Or, you might determine that there is no market for your idea and come up with an entirely different one.

Another way to validate your idea is by researching your competitors to see what solutions they’re offering for the same problem.

Is there anything that customers want but don’t get at the moment? What could you do differently and/or better than your competitors?

Get The Pricing Models Right

When it comes to your pricing models, you need to test and be ready to make changes in order for your pricing to fit what your customers are prepared to pay.

And having in mind that the competition in the industry is fierce, this might mean offering your product for less than you believe it’s worth, at least at the beginning.

Performing a thorough check on your competitors is a good place to start.

Determining their average, lowest, and highest prices will help you determine how much you should charge for your software.

Brand To Set Yourself Apart

As we mentioned earlier, the competition in the SaaS industry is fierce, so you need to figure out how to brand and set yourself apart from the others.

This means developing your own tone of voice and investing in design. You can leverage tools like Canva to workshop brand colors, logos, and designs even if you have no design knowledge.

You should also ensure that your messaging is consistent and that your partners, vendors, and clients understand who you are, what your vision is, and how you serve.

Finally, don’t forget to pay attention to your domain.

No matter how insignificant it might seem, choosing a good domain is a key part of your branding strategy, as it will give you credibility and an advantage over the competitors.

If possible, stick with a .com domain name that is short, memorable, and easy to spell.

Prepare A Solid Marketing Strategy:

Content marketing is especially important for SaaS businesses. Getting started with content marketing isn’t hard; all you need is a company blog where you will create content that will help your prospects solve their problems and share your expertise on certain topics to establish yourself as an authority.

Participate In Online Communities

Another way to establish yourself as an expert is to participate in relevant online discussions and comment on other people’s blog posts.

I’ve worked with the team at Andolasoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

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Figure out where your potential customers like hanging out online and try to get coverage in those locations. It can also be useful to get listed on all the big SaaS directories in order to get initial feedback about your product.

Final Thoughts

The most important thing you should do as a SaaS business is to get your product out there. As long as you have a working plan and a willingness to make changes, your business will stand a chance against the competitors.

The SaaS Trends You Should Watch Out For In 2021

“Software as a service” (SaaS) is becoming an increasingly viable choice for organizations looking for the accessibility and versatility of software solutions and online data analysis tools without the need to rely on installing and running applications on their own computer systems and data centers.

Gartner predicts that the service-based cloud application industry will be worth $143.7 billion by 2022, which is a level of growth that will shape SaaS trends in 2021.

SaaS is a software distribution model that offers a lot of agility and cost-effectiveness for companies, which is why it’s such a reliable option for numerous business models and industries.

It’s also popular amongst businesses for its simplicity and user accessibility, security, and the widespread connectivity that serves to streamline business models, resulting in maximum efficiency across the board. Today, most companies are in the process of implementing various business intelligence strategies, turning to SaaS BI tools to assist them in their efforts.

2019 was a breakthrough year for the SaaS world in many ways. With a new year on the horizon, in this article, we’ll explore 10 essential SaaS trends that will stand out in 2021. But, before we do that, we will discuss the general characteristics revolving around the industry that will help put additional light on the SaaS industry trends for 2021.

Before we dig any deeper into our top ten SaaS industry trends for 2021, let’s dispel some common myths surrounding the industry.

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The Key Characteristics

Before we explore our essential software as a service trends for 2021, it’s important to consider what defines SaaS as not only a technological development, but as a working business model.

Flexible payment options: Businesses don’t have to go through the expense of purchasing software and hardware. Instead, they have the option of utilizing various pricing structures. Flexibility in payment models, where they only pay for the resource usage they need, for instance, is attractive for many organizations in today’s competitive world.

Scalability: Cloud-based SaaS enables businesses to expand with ease due to its inherent scalability. Companies can be selective about the types of features and options they want.

Updates: SaaS providers handle the necessary software updates and develop new features over time, so businesses don’t have to invest ample amounts of time in this particular area of operation.

Accessibility: With SaaS, businesses have the mobility of accessing applications from any digital device and location, making it especially convenient for mobile platforms. Additionally, it boasts ease-of-use and is user-friendly.

Increased collaboration: SaaS developments enhance a business’s ability to promote collaboration across teams and departments due to the facilitation of file sharing, in addition to a distinct ease of reading and understanding across systems.

Security: Most SaaS models are known for their enterprise-level security, which is a more holistic approach to security than many centralized, on-premise solutions. In Cloud SaaS, per-existing disaster recovery protocols are in place to manage potential system failures. This means that your business’s data is available and secure regardless of a data breach or system failure.

As businesses continue to rely on innovative data discovery tools and technologies to increase both their productivity and their efficiency, and as new software as a service trends continue to emerge, this young, groundbreaking industry can only go from strength to strength.

Even if figures diverge somewhat, the many forecasts conducted on SaaS industry trends 2021 demonstrate an obvious reality: the SaaS market is going to get bigger and bigger.

Indeed, according to Bloomberg, public cloud platforms, business services, and applications (SaaS) will all grow at a 9% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) between 2019 and 2023, and worth $60.36 billion. A Betterbuys report reveals that the specific expenditure in the U.S. SaaS Industry is forecasted to reach $55 billion by 2026.

And according to Gartner, the global public cloud service market is projected to grow significantly in 2021 and beyond.

“Customers won’t care about any particular technology unless it solves a particular problem in a superior way.” – Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, one of the planet’s biggest SaaS providers

All signs indicate that this coming year is going to be an interesting, trendsetting year for the trends in SaaS industry. Of all the developments currently in the pipeline, these 10 SaaS industry trends, in particular, are showing signs of standing out as the most significant in 2021:

1. Artificial Intelligence

The first of our most impactful trends in SaaS is of the autonomous, self-learning variety.

Today, Artificial Intelligence is all over the place – it made the top 3 of our list of our business intelligence trends for 2021 – and next year, it’s expected to make some serious waves. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming more widespread; it’s becoming a game-changer worth $15.7 trillion.

AI optimizes business processes, increasing productivity and efficiency while automating repetitive tasks and supporting human capabilities.

Within business scenarios, artificial intelligence (as well as machine learning, in many cases) provides an advanced degree of responsiveness and interaction between businesses, customers, and technology, driving AI-based SaaS trends 2021 onto a new level. There are numerous features developed by modern software providers based on artificial intelligence such as data alerts.

With an AI algorithm using the most advanced neural network for anomaly detection, and a machine-learning algorithm for pattern recognition, these data alerts learn from trends and patterns and let you know as soon as something important happens.

That way, when a pre-set goal is met, or when something unexpected happens, you will be notified, enabling you to keep continuous control over your business.

Since it is often easy to lose track of what really matters when so many KPIs have to be monitored, an online reporting tool will safely keep an eye on your data and anticipate any fluctuation and change – and alert you when it veers off course.

Artificial intelligence is positioned to disrupt the SaaS landscape in a variety of ways, improving the key characteristics of the SaaS model across the board. When SaaS is combined with AI capabilities, it enables businesses to obtain better value from their data, automate and personalize services, improve security, and supplement human capacity.

How will AI improve SaaS in 2021?

  • Automation: Machine Learning, a subset of AI, is utilized in SaaS to automate responsiveness in customer service reports and applications, such as AI-powered chat operations with live chatbots.It will also automate the onboarding process of SaaS.
  • Personalization: Software is easier to use with technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), which automatically processes human speech patterns, and voice control. This can be deployed across customer service functionality to improve customization and better address client needs.
  • Speed: Artificial intelligence-enabled SaaS speeds up internal processes and operations, allowing businesses to obtain fast answers to questions, make quick forecasts, and speed up their overall level of responsiveness.
  • Security: Due to artificial intelligence-enabled automation, and the ability of machine learning to recognize patterns, SaaS security is enhanced by the quick identification and remedy of potential threats with built-in self-recovery.

Artificial intelligence-optimized SaaS solutions provide businesses with the ability to augment their internal processes with fast automation, more efficiently address customer service operations, and improve the level of personalization and responsiveness throughout their processes, which will remain one of the trends in SaaS to keep an eye for in 2021.

2. Vertical SaaS

Our second forecast for SaaS trends in 2021 is Vertical SaaS. Whereas Horizontal SaaS focuses on clients across any sector and industry, Vertical SaaS is completely customizable, targeting clients within specific industries and supply chains.

Some examples are healthcare analytics software, retail analytics, or modern logistics analytics. Companies who are looking to benefit from specialization are finding Vertical SaaS to be a cost-effective, industry-specific option that allows them to refine the customization of certain features.

Why the Vertical SaaS trends are going to have such an impact in 2021?

Vertical SaaS providers also have the ability to adapt features according to client demand and industry, and effectively address customer needs within their niche. This results in more flexibility and upselling opportunities, and lower customer acquisition costs.

Vertical SaaS also provides the following benefits:

  • Customer intelligence: Enables businesses to obtain industry-specific customer data and intelligence, which plays a critical role in gaining customer-focused insights.
  • Pre-defined metrics and KPIs: Vertical SaaS is already integrated with pre-defined metrics, KPIs, and analytics that businesses can utilize to assess and address daily and long-term processes and performance.
  • Business value: Software is designed to meet industry requirements; therefore, it provides a higher degree of business value for company operations and performance.
  • Improved data governance: Vertical SaaS is positioned to address data governance procedures via the inclusion of industry-specific compliance capabilities, which has the additional benefit of providing increased transparency.
  • A higher standard: In 2021, higher quality service from industry-specific vertical SaaS providers will emerge, as each developer aims to distinguish itself from the ever-increasing crowd.

3. The Growing Need For API Connections

The API (Application Programming Interface) has been a fundamental part of software development for years, and this is precisely what our third SaaS trend focuses on. With the explosion of SaaS solutions and adoption by the market, the need to integrate them into an existing business system appeared.

Some companies may want to migrate all their data to a cloud platform, but many actually would rather harmonize it with their already existing infrastructure in order to improve it – and this is where the problem lies.

At first, SaaS providers didn’t come with a complete integration solution. That failure served to complicate the work and caused them to disappoint their customers as a result

They would then redirect their clients to a third party to supply the specific APIs enabling the customer to integrate the cloud solution into their existing system.

It was indeed better for the SaaS developers not to reinvent the wheel, and to win some precious time and resources relying on third-party APIs. Their go-to-market time frame was shorter, and they could focus on their core capabilities to develop differentiated functionality.

However, more and more SaaS vendors tend to provide greater integration capabilities instead of redirecting their customers to third parties.

As Benoit Lheureux, vice president of research firm Gartner Inc., says to Tech Target: “redirecting your customers to a third-party for integration solutions when integration is a requirement in every IT project of substance is falling short of meeting your customer requirements.”

If you are looking to invest in a cloud vendor’s services, you should ask the following questions beforehand to ensure a seamless integration:

  • What capabilities is the provider offering me to integrate the SaaS within my existing business system?
  • Can this provider also integrate the legacy systems I use?
  • Is my data protected while the integration process is worked through?

4. Increased Thought Leadership

One of the most effective ways to serve the needs of your target audience is through equal measures of inspiration and education – and as more SaaS providers tap into this mentality, we expect thought leadership will become a prominent software as a service trend in 2021.

At present, only 24% of SaaS businesses publish content to educate or enlighten. Others are solely company-focused, and 11% of the primary players don’t even operate a blog, according to Callbox. Astonishingly low figures by all accounts.

But, as the landscape becomes competitive with more SaaS startups competing for the attention of savvy businesses like yours, there will be far more SaaS resources available in the form of videos, interactive apps, blog content, eBooks, and digestible whitepapers.

In turn, this will make software as a service even more widely accessible while offering businesses a wealth of new information about the industry, making it all the more transparent as a result.

While you’re waiting for this SaaS trend to blossom, here are two industry thought leaders you should follow:

  • Mamoon Hamid: A well-respected industry expert and board director on 16 SaaS operations, including Wave HQ and CloudOn.
  • Noah Kagan: A celebrated tech player and one of the web’s leading SaaS experts.

5) Migration To PaaS

As the software as a service industry evolves and innovation increases, many developers or providers will focus on customer retention on top of customer acquisition.

That said, in 2021, we expect to see SaaS migrating towards the realms of PaaS (platform as a service) – developments that empower businesses to build custom apps as add-ons to their original services. The likes of Salesforce and Box have recently launched PaaS-centric services in a bid to hold a strong market share in their niche, and we expect to see this SaaS trend become all the more prevalent this coming year.

To put the relevance of this trend into perspective, here are 3 key advantages of using a PaaS development:

  • The enhanced features, functionality, and ability to customize will enhance your overall business agility, giving you more time and creative space to innovate and focus on your core commercial initiatives.
  • PaaS offerings are, by their very nature, robust, flexible, and accessible which means you will be able to scale your business more easily by using a platform as a service.
  • Security is a distinct advantage of the PaaS model as the vast majority of such developments perform a host of automatic updates on a regular basis.

6. Micro-SaaS

The sixth of our software as a service trends comes in the form of a little something called micro-SaaS.

Like any innovative and invaluable industry on the rise, large numbers of players begin to enter the arena, saturating the market and intensifying the competition – which means in 2021, and beyond, SaaS companies will have to find new ways to innovate, offer value, and connect with new prospects.

In response to a new, more cutthroat climate, we expect to see more micro-SaaS innovations emerge from the woodwork this coming year.

Typically, micro-SaaS businesses are run by a small team, sometimes even by one or two people. Micro-SaaS products are usually complementary add-ons to existing platforms or developments, created with the aim of improving a missing feature or enhancing an existing SaaS product.

These more niche, more “miniature” SaaS offerings could prove increasingly valuable to businesses across industries in 2021, which means we can all expect a host of fresh micro-SaaS innovations over the next 12 or so months.

To clarify the meaning of micro-SaaS in a nutshell, here is a definition of the concept explained by Storemapper’s Tyler Tringas:

“A SaaS business targeting a niche market, run by one person or a very small team, with small costs, a narrow focus, a small but dedicated user base and no outside funding. Hence, micro-SaaS.”

7) SaaS Pricing Policy Change

The seventh in our definitive rundown of SaaS trends comes in the form of policy. Studies show that 98% of SaaS businesses earned positive results from making core changes to their pricing policy.

By reviewing every aspect of platform pricing, a host of companies across niches have grown their audience, connecting with a broader demographic of consumers. And this growing SaaS trend is set to evolve in 2021.

Traditionally, software as a service companies have built their business models based on flexible pricing structures. By offering flexible price points, it has been easy for vendors to drive revenue. But in a seismic industry shift, software-centric businesses have been forced to remold their pricing policies.

Stiffer competition, industry saturation, and the rapid development of SaaS platforms (improved features and functionality) mean that software as service players of all shapes and sizes are starting to reinvent their pricing models according to the needs of their clients or customers.

By leveraging business intelligence and analytics to drive their pricing structures, droves of service-based software businesses are developing more tailored pricing solutions, enjoying increased success as a result—a SaaS trend that is sure to shape the landscape in 2021 and beyond.

When looking for a potential SaaS service, value for money is best represented in a service that will meet your needs on a sustainable basis. Make sure you keep this in mind in 2021.

8. Platform Unbundling

One of the most disruptive SaaS trends in recent times, platform unbundling is set to dominate the landscape as we move into 2021.

Most traditional software as a service platforms are considered horizontal, offering every single feature or function imaginable in one single tool. But, as user needs become more complex, and the industry continues to evolve, platform unbundling is likely to become all the more prevalent.

Every business—depending on its size, sector, and culture—has a specific set of needs, which means that today’s vendors are beginning to realize that not all of the functionality on their platforms suits every prospective client or customer. That’s where unbundling comes in.

Unbundling is a term used in reference to the growing list of startups that provide software-based solutions packaged in the form of an API (application programming interface) rather than a typical ‘full-featured’ platform. Such businesses are on the rise and are expected to make their mark in 2021.

While this is indeed food for thought, it’s important to remember that not every solution will suit an API-based unbundling business model. For instance, when it comes to data analytics, ambitious companies across industries will look to a centralized solution that offers all of the insights, features, and functionality required for online BI in one place.

While it’s important to remain abreast of this most vital of SaaS industry trends, before looking at unbounded services or offerings, you must consider whether doing so will work for your enterprise and its ongoing commercial goals. If you’re looking to improve your data analytics processes, in particular, unbundling is unlikely to be the answer.

9. A Mobile-First Mindset

Number nine on our essential list of SaaS industry trends is centered around the topic of mobile. By the year 2022, experts project that around 72.6% of the world’s population will browse the internet using their mobile devices.

In our mobile-driven age, we’re free from the shackles of time or geographical location, meaning that people can connect with their peers and remain productive 24/7, 365 days of the year. We are in the midst of a portable age, and as more innovative software developers wise up, the mobile-first mindset will serve to shape the future of SaaS.

Increasingly, companies across sectors operate critical parts of the businesses from their tablets or smartphones. Moreover, more employees than ever feel empowered to perform their jobs better by being able to work with dynamic mobile dashboards and various tools.

More software providers will adopt a mobile-first mentality, optimizing their offerings to suit a host of mobile devices. This means we’re likely to see an even more impressive array of mobile features in 2021. Also, as we move towards a new year, increasing numbers of software as a service vendors will develop new solutions to meet this growing demand.

To cut through the noise and push yourself to the front of the pack, offering robust and reliable BI tools that work across desktop and a range of mobile devices is essential.

Mobile devices and screens require a unique set of features and functionality, and by placing their focus on mobile-first design & development, SaaS vendors are likely to enjoy a healthy return on investment (ROI) next year and long into the future.

Mobile-first is, without a doubt, one of the most integral SaaS industry trends for 2021. There will be more portable platforms available to your company’s disposal than ever before — don’t miss out.

I’ve worked with the team at AndolaSoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

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Enhanced SaaS Solutions For 2021

SaaS industry trends aren’t showing any signs of slowing down, and innovative SaaS solutions will only continue to grow in the coming years. Artificial Intelligence-empowered SaaS, Vertical SaaS, the growing need for and development of API connections, increased thought leadership, a migration to PaaS, a plethora of micro-SaaS offerings, mobile-first innovations are here—and these software as a service trends are shaping the future of SaaS.

“Dreamers are mocked as impractical. The truth is they are the most practical, as their innovations lead to progress and a better way of life for all of us.” – Robin S. Sharma, author & tech advocate

Above all else, these inspiring trends in SaaS are a testament to the enduring future of the industry and our increasing societal demand for robust software-centric solutions across the board. The revolution is here, and it’s digital.

We are in the age of digital transformation. As more companies migrate towards a cloud-based, data-driven existence, the scope for offering practical software innovations will continue to rise, and rise, and rise.

As data continues to be the driving force behind smart business strategies in a digitally dependent world, SaaS options are going to be an increasingly convenient and affordable option across industries, both now and in the coming years.

By taking stock of these essential SaaS industry trends for 2021, you will win tomorrow’s digital battlefield, pushing yourself ahead of the competition.

With these 10 trends in SaaS positioned to further enhance cloud-based solutions on the cusp of 2021, organizations, like yours, will have the technological capabilities to drive their business objectives towards successful outcomes.

For more digitally-driven insights, explore our guide to getting started with big data analytics and business intelligence for small business— or talk to our SaaS expert.

This Is Why SaaS Is Getting Popular

60% of businesses today are online and they all use SaaS products in one way or another. SaaS is nowadays considered an important part of a company’s unhampered growth and success in the ever-changing market.

So, let us have a peek into why SaaS is getting popular and how it can help your business.

What Is SaaS?

What is SaaS?

SaaS, elaborated as Software as a Service, is software providing technology that enables users to access data stored on the cloud from any device, connected to the internet using a browser.

It helps businesses run their applications on the cloud version without having to worry about investing in their hardware.

It has been in the picture since the late 1990s and has been a proven cost-effective solution for businesses.

Further simplifying it, It is a software on demand which offers IT solutions over shared infrastructure usually deployed via the cloud network rather than owned separately by a particular business.

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If you are looking at and thinking about why SaaS is so popular with businesses these days, then let’s dig into everything you need to know.Reasons why Businesses are Preferring SaaS

Here are some of the prominent reasons why businesses are going with SaaS:

Reduced Infrastructure Costs:

While you deliver your next software/project to your client using SaaS, you do not need to worry about all the key infrastructure it will require to run properly.

All infrastructural needs for your project are completely handled by your SaaS provider.

The providers are the one who are responsible for dealing with all the necessary infrastructural needs of your project.

The SaaS provider is also responsible for all the maintenance that your infrastructure will ever require during the time it is being used by you.

Low-Cost:

SaaS services are affordable for almost all businesses because SaaS providers charge businesses as per their usage. It is a cost-effective business solution as you only pay for the infrastructure you use.

As opposed to establishing the company’s infrastructure for the project, where costs can go sky-high and the resources might not get utilized to their extreme.

Trouble Free:

Every aspect of the infrastructure is handled by the SaaS provider, ranging from installations, maintenance, and upgrades, if needed all are taken well care of.

This results in almost no infrastructure related troubles for the business and ensures smooth working of it almost all the time. SaaS vendors always take care of their promises and try to handover their solutions in the designated time frames.

Fully Scalable:

As a business, we all want a service or infrastructure which we can expand and scale as per our needs.

When we run high on projects we would usually need more infrastructure for deployment and other parts of the project, whereas when the company is a little bit low on its workload, it requires less of everything.

SaaS helps you right away with this, when the company wants to scale up its storage capacities, it can be done quickly by just opting for a bigger plan, hence, eliminating all the needs of buying and implementing our infrastructure which can result in a lengthy process in time-critical businesses.

Unlimited Updates:

SaaS vendors usually take care of your software’s updates and also suggest and do upgrades as and when necessary, introducing you with the newest features in the market which can help you score big in your business.

You will always be in front, with all the latest patches and software updates delivered to you very easily and without any underlying complexities.

Secure:

SaaS vendors earn money based on the trust people have in their company. As the trust of people in SaaS companies increases, more people opt in to use the solutions provided by a SaaS company.

SaaS companies usually set up their data servers in such a way that they are geographically scattered. Scattering servers decreases the chances of security breaches and also provides more up-time to the customers.

While SaaS was on its progress stage, many companies held back off because they thought that SaaS was not fully secure.

But as time has passed SaaS has proved everyone wrong, and has emerged as a secure way for companies to use software and store their data.

Great Availability:

SaaS service providers always ensure that their systems are up and running all the time, most SaaS vendors have recorded uptime of 99%.

With this, all that you need to have is a computer connected to the internet to manage your tasks easily. This makes it particularly easy for everyone because a request is all you need to access the data.

So, what is the Future of SaaS in businesses?

Increased Productivity And Newer Apps:

Oracle’s reports show how widely GitHub’s user base grew between the users 2012 to 2018. It rocketed to 31 million users from a mere 5 million users in 2012.

This growth in user base points to only one direction, better and more proficient software developers, which have increased productivity and better ideas to deal with all the problems they are pitched with.

As a part of technological advancements taking place with SaaS, newer and more improved apps can come into the picture. SaaS will improve coding processes and the development tools indulged in it.

More Businesses Migrating To Cloud:

Today more and more businesses are starting to use cloud-based solutions for their workflows.

As the time comes, about 80% of businesses will migrate from the traditional, privately owned data warehouses to public cloud data warehouses, which will be a driving force to the companies of the future who want to implement and use different work cultures as well as for trying out different options for data storage.

Extensive Use Of AI And Machine Learning:

As per the reports of Oracle, 89% of people use voice assistants in one or the other way. AI-powered chat bots are used by companies to be connected with their customers always.

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Companies no longer rely on management for critical decisions, rather they use AI to make efficient decisions by feeding in the most accurate data available for a specific decision.

Final Thought

SaaS is an evolutionary system, which will always help you in one way or the other as it has so many benefits. It is a service where you pay as per your usage, so it simplifies costs greatly for companies.

SaaS solutions offer integration and customization capacities for all types of users.

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More and more businesses are now adopting SaaS platforms for their daily works and every other project. SaaS systems greatly decrease the complexities involved in deploying software projects.

These are some of the reasons why SaaS is getting popular with businesses these days.

How SaaS Products Can Expand Your Dream Business

Want To Gain Huge Revenues With Less Investment?

Investing in SaaS products is a great idea if you want to grow your business quickly without spending too much money on manufacturing, operations, and IT departments.

Implementation of SaaS products in organizations serve for versatile purposes to expand your business at its optimum level.

What Is SaaS?

Software as a service is the program integrated into the cloud-based infrastructure to store data in the servers that can be accessed online.

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Hence, the third-party vendor provides the cloud servers to store the data from where the consumers can retrieve the online data from their computer systems.

The SaaS provider distributes the software integrated to the cloud servers to the businesses purchasing the SaaS products.

Why SaaS?

SaaS Products are gaining huge attention due to low cost as compared to the traditional setup.

1. Flexible Deployment

The deployment of cloud-based software is extremely convenient as it does not require any prior hardware setup. Hence, no need to invest in workforce and maintenance charges to set up the software. A sustainable and effective solution to deploy IT software into the systems.

2. Subscription Payment Model

No need to worry about purchasing a license by paying a huge sum of money. All you need to do is subscribe to the SaaS products on a monthly or yearly basis. Hence, extremely cost-effective by paying only a nominal amount as per your requirement.

3. Customization

Cloud computing has made it possible to customize software at ease. Tweak your dashboard with the information required to be displayed. Avail the features with different levels of payment. Hence, highly customizable to meet the organization’s requirements.

4. Scalable And Reliable

The extensive data and activity reports are stored in cloud servers, hence highly scalable to handle huge volumes of data in the server.

SaaS vendors accept to protect the privacy of the client. Hence, the client’s data and information are extremely protected and confined to prevent any data leakage.

5. Trouble-Free Setup

The easy setup of the software is hassle-free and user-friendly. All you need is a good and reliable internet connection to access your data from the cloud.

6. Cost-Effective

Deployment of SaaS products gets rid of manufacturing and maintenance costs, hereby no need for technical employees to set-up software. Hence, extremely cost-effective due to low investment.

Transition To SaaS Products

In the emergence of the digital world, the evolution of SaaS products is happening at an accelerating rate. Industries across the world are demanding SaaS tools to manage and expand the businesses.

Source: BetterCloud

According to Better Cloud March 2015 poll, the average number of SaaS applications used by IT is almost double of 2015. Hence, a dramatic increase in the usage of SaaS applications was observed in 2 years.

Hence, SaaS applications are becoming the driving force to boost productivity.

According to the 2017 research report of BetterCloud, nearly 73% of companies will completely adopt SaaS-based technologies by the year 2020.

Moreover, 86% of end-users have believed that SaaS-based applications have generated higher success rates than desktop technologies.

Therefore, SaaS technologies are no longer alternative solutions for business processes. However, it has become the integral core to carry out all the business operations at its optimum level.

Hence, the potential of SaaS technologies is increasing with the evolution of digital space.

How Do SaaS Products Grow Businesses?

The prerequisites of a successful business are engaging workforce and efficient management.

A business will grow in real terms when more revenue is generated with lower investments. In other words, more clients are generating and retaining.

You have a fixed budget to set up a business, imagine if you are spending a huge proportion of the amount to the development and maintenance of the software with a skilled workforce. This leads to the investment at three levels, manufacturing, maintenance, and labor.

But if you are integrating SaaS-based technologies in your business operations, you can bypass the multi-levels of investment. Hence, a one-time investment in SaaS products saves the company’s resources.

Top SaaS Tools To Grow Business

The SaaS Products has lots of potential applications serving different purposes for different teams to effectively run the business operations.

You don’t have to be a techie expert to choose the SaaS tool for your company. Just focus on the features required to meet your company’s requirements.

Here, we are outlining the important SaaS Products to run and grow your business effectively.

Project Management

Project management tools are important to track your tasks to accomplish the projects and deliver them on time.

Proofhub is an easy to use project management software integrated with collaboration chat, organized files, and feedback platforms to facilitate a simplified and coordinated work approach.

Human Resource Management

HR management software is predominantly used in all organizations to hire the right talent and manage employees’ requirements.

BambooHR provides a user-friendly dashboard displaying insight reports on employee’s activities. The effective tool to manage employees starting from hiring the right talent, on-boarding, fulfilling compensation, and promoting friendly culture.

Team Collaboration

Setting up meetings and to get ready for video chat, communication with your team and manager is critical to gain better clarity on work progress and to discuss the solutions to challenges elaborately and effectively.

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Salesforce, Houston, Texas

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Zoom is the perfect tool to communicate with remote teams. Zoom allows video conferencing along with the options to share screen, file share, and messaging.

Employee Monitoring Management

When it comes to managing employees, employee monitoring tools are important to track your employees’ daily productivity.

WorkTrak is an effective SaaS tool that generates insight reports of employee’s daily productivity. Get acquainted with your employees’ performance, attendance, idle and active times and protect your company’s valuable data from insider theft. The best part is the tool comes with a load of premium features at extremely competitive prices.

Conclusion

The broad spectrum of SaaS products available can grow your business at an accelerating rate with less investment. Beat your competitors by integrating the SaaS tools into your daily operations.

Make The Best Use Of SaaS Development Services

Let’s start with What is Software as a Service (SaaS)?

Gartner describes “Software as a service (SaaS) is software that is owned, delivered and managed remotely by one or more providers. The provider delivers software based on one set of common code and data definitions that is consumed in a one-to-many model by all contracted customers at anytime on a pay-for-use basis or as a subscription based on use metrics.”.

In other words, the application that you can use to deliver and managed remotely, and you can access it via your web browser (and mobile device).

All verified end users can connect to it over the internet at any point in time on a subscription basis or pay as you go basis.

As these Cloud-based SaaS solution which can be accessed from various devices like laptop, tablets, and smartphones. It is more important for workers as they can work from anywhere and at any time. Particularly, on this Covid19 Pandemic situation.

What is SaaS Development

Source: Cleveroad.com

SaaS platforms are ever showing smug with their current growth arrow or customer churn rates, even they are the peak of their performance.

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In 2022, you need to take a deep dive to assess the productiveness of your SaaS marketing and engagement strategies to find prospective adoptions.

“52% of SaaS companies increased their spending on customer retention last year.”

“55% of SAAS companies rate Customer Retention Cost as the key metric to measure. (Totango)”

Chris Lean – 310creative.com

SaaS And Andolasoft

SaaS application models are only continuing to grow in popularity, thanks to their scalability, flexibility, license cost reduction, and automatic updates.

Yet while it offers many advantages over on-premise solutions, SaaS also present certain unique challenges that companies need to keep in mind.

This infographic shares the core benefits for adapting the SaaS Solution and how Andolasoft can make your development journey clean and clear.

Let’s get started:

Make the Best Use of SaaS Development Services

Conclusion

By choosing the right approach, you will obtain the ability to maintain, distribute, license your product in the most convenient ways.

But while switching to the SaaS model, you must consider your business strategy that will vastly increase your odds of long-term success.

So, do not hesitate to ask your question and seek clarification from our technical gurus. Let’s talk!