Choosing a SaaS Product
How to source Saas product to meet your needs
Software as a service (SaaS) is an application distribution model where the software is hosted, maintained and updated by a third-party provider on their own servers and made available to organizations or individuals to be used over the internet. Examples of providers are AWS & Azure. Popular examples of Saas products are: gmail, google drive and nearly every software that runs on your browser and is targeted to the end user.
How can Saas help you?
SaaS frees organizations like yours of the burden of hardware and software license acquisitions, and removes the need for managing software. This model enables you to “rent” an application as you us and minimizes your IT needs. A variety of licensing models give you better budget planning options. The pay-as-you-go model allows you to keep your operational expenses in proportion your growth. As a cloud application saas are easily scaled up or down with minimal costs. When your business grows or decreases you don’t have to worry much about acquisitions and implementations of hardware.
Key Questions:
1. What are the benefits you expect to get from the intended saas model?
2. Is it really a SaaS?
3. Browser and Responsive Behavior.
4. Plan an Exit Strategy
5. Saas Provider Support
6. Does the SaaS product play well with others?
7. What is the Saas Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
8. What are the IT support requirements?
9. Do you have a contingency plan?
10. Can you train your staff?
11. What migration options does the SaaS provider offer?
12. What about backup plans?
13. What is the pricing model?
14. Have you balanced new ideas with experienced vendors?
15. Are you clear about the innovation and update process?
Detail the benefits you expect to get from your saas. What are the must-haves and nice-to-haves? [maybe create this so the user can input this and print or save as pdf]
| Must Haves | Nice to Haves |
2. Is it really a SaaS?
Real SaaS solutions usually just need a browser to run, and everything else is done in the cloud.
There are hybrid solutions that might end up costing you more in the long run. The following list mentions additional work they could ask from you:
a. install special client software on, or
b. needs you to keep parts of the application on-premise,
c. and others where you need to add other products
a. install special client software on, or
b. needs you to keep parts of the application on-premise,
c. and others where you need to add other products
3. Browser and Responsive Behavior.
Browsers: You want to think about your saas behavior in different browsers. We can't foresee the future, but think about how different products work in Chrome vs Explorer.
Devices: Test or review the saas product on andriod and ios devices. It would be rare to be able to determine which product your end user will have.
Responsive: Is your application simple enough that your user will use their mobile device? Or is it intensive/extensive enough that they will only use desktop. Unless you answer definitively to these two questions, you may need to have a responsive/ adaptive design.
Devices: Test or review the saas product on andriod and ios devices. It would be rare to be able to determine which product your end user will have.
Responsive: Is your application simple enough that your user will use their mobile device? Or is it intensive/extensive enough that they will only use desktop. Unless you answer definitively to these two questions, you may need to have a responsive/ adaptive design.
4. Plan an Exit Strategy
Digital advances can cause industry giants can become obsolete overnight. You want to make sure that you can protect your application as technology and trends change.
Can you remove your data if needed? In what format? Get it in writing
Will they keep a copy of your data? Is that a violation of your privacy regulations?
Is it open source? This will allow anyone to be able to edit, fix your code later.
Can you remove your data if needed? In what format? Get it in writing
Will they keep a copy of your data? Is that a violation of your privacy regulations?
Is it open source? This will allow anyone to be able to edit, fix your code later.
5. Saas Provider Support
Read reviews to see how well their support service is. Ask about escalation proceedures. If possible create a test account, (even if you have to pay for a few weeks trial) and create a few support tickets to see how well their service is.
6. Does the SaaS product play well with others?
The major drive for moving to the cloud is to have better integration options. Look at your chosen provider’s integration options carefully and take all your requirements into account. Can you integrate these or do you need another developer?
7. What is the Saas Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
The Service Level Agreement (SLA) is where the SaaS provider clearly states the services you, the client will receive.
Measurable: It defines the measurable aspects of the promised service in terms of things like quality and availability.
Consequences: It clearly states the consequences of failing to live up to the promised standards (what happens when there are outage times? What if you lose business or clients because of outage times).
Availability: Standard guarantee of availability within business hours. Or you may have a 24/7 business.
Consequences: Consequences of where the SaaS service provider fails to live up to their commitments.
Others: Every possible misunderstanding in the SLA.
Measurable: It defines the measurable aspects of the promised service in terms of things like quality and availability.
Consequences: It clearly states the consequences of failing to live up to the promised standards (what happens when there are outage times? What if you lose business or clients because of outage times).
Availability: Standard guarantee of availability within business hours. Or you may have a 24/7 business.
Consequences: Consequences of where the SaaS service provider fails to live up to their commitments.
Others: Every possible misunderstanding in the SLA.
8. What are the IT support requirements?
Clarity: Is the level of support and services the SaaS vendor offers clear?
Documented: How clearly and thoroughly is the SaaS documentation is written.
Your Requirements: Can your requirements can be achieved with the SaaS interface, tools, APIs and model.
Your Expectations: Are your expectations and those of the SaaS provider the same?
Documented: How clearly and thoroughly is the SaaS documentation is written.
Your Requirements: Can your requirements can be achieved with the SaaS interface, tools, APIs and model.
Your Expectations: Are your expectations and those of the SaaS provider the same?
9. Do you have a contingency plan?
What if your Saas provider goes out of business? In the SLA you talk about service outages. But what if the vendor goes out of service for a longer period of time or altogether. How will your keep your appliation/business running? A contingency plan needs to be created in case of total SaaS provider service failure.
10. Can you train your staff?
Implementing SaaS is much easier than traditional software. Still, you want to make sure your SaaS provides training programs for new customers/staff.
11. What migration options does the SaaS provider offer?
How will your import your old data into the new saas. Does your SaaS vendor have proper mappings to import data from well-known applications and formats.
12. What about backup plans?
Once you've migrated can your Saas provider guarantee data integrity and prevent data loss. Ask if your SaaS provider has its own backup plan to counter possible human error or service outage. Alternatively you can also ask them to provide you an interface to create your own backups.
13. What is the pricing model?
Beware of hidden costs. Costs are rarely fixed and vary based on different factors including user count, API hits, bandwidth usage, etc. Bring in your legal team and specialists to go through the SaaS service’s fine print.
14. Have you balanced new ideas with experienced vendors?
Often new startups have exciting innovative ideas and designs. However it would be helpful to weigh that against mature experienced vendors. Who has staying power, experience and will they last? Will they succeed or go out of business? You want your SaaS to be stable.
15. Are you clear about the innovation and update process?
The SaaS model frees you from all the hassle and costs that come with managing software, the caveat is that you also lose control. Does the SaaS provider give you the option to keep the old version of the software? Be clear about the innovation and update process of the SaaS vendor. Do you need to create an personalized agreement with the vendor before moving forward.