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Global SaaS market is expected to reach $436.9 billion in 2025 !!
As per CrunchBase There are 15,529 SaaS companies in the world until june 2020.
What is SaaS?:
- The Software as a Service (SaaS) market consists of sales of cloud based software services.
- SaaS is a software solution which can be purchased on a subscription or pay per use basis to use an application for organizational purposes
- Customers can access this application over internet, mainly through a web browser
SaaS allows an organization to run an application at minimal upfront cost and speeds up overall functionality of the organization, get better performance, compliance and customer satisfaction.
The introduction of artificial intelligence is also gaining great popularity in the SaaS market
AI helps SaaS companies create better user experience through predictive analytics, automate manual functions and personalize user interface features
Major global players in the software as a service (SaaS) market are Salesforce, ServiceNow, Microsoft, Google, Cisco etc.
Rapid changes in business dynamics like economic uncertainty, competitive rivalry, increasing adoption of mobile, changing regulations, internet usage and applications in the market are expected to benefit the software as a service (SaaS) market
Basic Product Management Skills required for SaaS!!
1. General understanding of data – Not much expected!! But just how to read data and interpret data accurately
2. Industry insights & KPIs – One need to have the market knowledge and industry trends and also being able to set and track key KPIs which depicts performance
3. Strategic thinking – Much Needed!! In understanding and defining the company’s vision and then working towards that vision with realistic and achievable goals
4. Business Acumen – It doesn’t demand a degree but basic business skills to know about ins and outs of your product, company performance which directly or indirectly impacts your product and its development.
5. Design & User Experience Knowledge – To create an awesome experience for customers, a decent knowledge of UX design is mandatory as it dictates the success of the company
6. Core skills – A Communicator, Negotiator, Listener, able to handle criticism and feedback.
The Pros and Cons of SaaS based products
Here are the answers:
The Pros
- Cost – Fixed, Small, affordable, easy to absorb, no surprises, feature based, makes it apt for SMBs
- Maintenance- Publisher’s responsibility, Automated, latest version advantage, no additional cost
- Mobility – Accessible from anywhere where there is a network, attentive to a mobile work place
The Cons
- Security – safeguarding the data is business’s responsibility. Mobility has been creating challenges for business wrt data security. There is a need for strong endpoint security with rise in the SaaS applications. Today the apps are required to be used on the go by employees making it more vulnerable to malicious attacks
- Contractual Obligations – It needs to be monitored by Business on terms of over usage which may lead to surprise cost or penalties. Hence over-usage needs to be tracked
- Loss of control-Unlike perpetual apps, SaaS apps are controlled by publishers and compliance are being audited and may result in financial repercussions
Confused?
Whether to use it or not?
The answer is YES. It’s worth..
Just have a proper process in place to manage the software assets. Monitor it, Track it and ensure compliance