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SaaS

How to work out the return on investment (ROI) of implementing SaaS?

how-to-work-out-the-return-on-investment-(ROI)-of-implementing-saas

How to work out the return on investment (ROI) of implementing SaaS?

A key aspect of incorporating new technology into business processes is calculating the ROI of software. Knowing how to make this estimate avoiding those frequent mistakes that are usually made, makes us prepared to make the best decision.

It must always be calculated taking into account at least two starting points: the current situation, compared to the new project (it is carried out in companies that already have a warehouse that they want to replace), or two new solutions to each other (there is in cases starting from scratch).

The analysis of the cost of an installation and the = return on investment is an exercise that should be included in any project.

What measures can you use?

When a client invests in technology, the first question asked is: What will my return on investment be? Whether in social networks or in the cloud, knowing how to calculate ROI is essential to convince the company’s director, give continuity to the project, and even reassess some points of the
strategy.

The benefits, some intangible, cannot simply be translated into numbers. Especially for companies that already have part of their virtualized environments and that already optimize resources on another level.

However, at the time of making the accounts, the first sum that comes in favour of Cloud Computing is its entire ability to offer the user access at any time. The second is the reduction in maintenance costs with the investments of new hardware and specialized equipment and the continuous updates of its software.

What are the main factors?

An extremely certain point of the cloud is its network and storage capacity. Companies that migrate for Cloud Computing solutions have an extraordinary profit on these issues, paying little for them. As with any significant technological change, transferring data to the cloud requires a different formula to calculate return on investment. For companies focusing on short-term costs and traditional metrics, cloud application deployment may or may not be added to planning. But for organizations that value business agility, development productivity, customer retention, and market
leadership.

In reality, the Cloud ROI calculation varies according to each company’s business methodologies and the problems solved by Cloud computing.

This example will help you to learn the difference between the absolute return on investment and the annualized return on investment:

Absolute returns formula

The end amount of the investment – Initial amount of the investment)/ Initial value of the investment

For example, you have an initial investment of Rs 25,000 that has expanded to Rs 30,000. You may estimate the absolute return as : 30,000 – 25,000 / 25,000 = 20%.

Annualized return formula

End Value – Beginning Value/Beginning Value
For example, you had purchased a residence for 30 lakh in January 2010 and auctioned it for Rs 50 lakh in January 2020. You have the initial investment amount as Rs 30 lakh and the final amount of the investment as Rs 50 lakh. The holding period is five years. You may estimate the annualised return as: 50,00,000 – 30,00,000 / 30,00,000 * 100 * (1/5) Annualised Return = 13.33%.

Common mistakes when calculating the ROI of a software

As in other projects, IT managers can easily make some mistakes when calculating the ROI of software. One of them, which is quite recurrent, is to overestimate the expected benefits and, in contrast, underestimate the costs other than the acquisition/use of the software. To avoid this, it is necessary to be cautious and meticulous when obtaining the figures.

Another common mistake in SaaS Implementation is to compare the initial investment with the returns without taking into account that many of the benefits can be conceptual or intangible. It can be difficult to decide on a specific monetary value, but these benefits cannot be completely ruled out. The recommendation to work on different scenarios can be a support to face this task correctly.

Finally, when it comes to time, managers forget the value of their and their employees. And when the project exceeds the planned deadline because not enough resources were allocated, costs skyrocket. This is something to consider for the correct implementation and that the calculated ROI is an accurate estimate.

Conclusion

No one management formula works perfectly for all situations. Each company has its specificities, which vary according to the segment of operation, the type of consumer it serves, the geographic market in which it operates, and so on.

Stay tuned with SaaSro for interesting updates on SaaS Tech & software solutions!

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    Software Development

    SaaS Marketing: How to do it like a Pro in 2021

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    SaaS Marketing: How to do it like a Pro in 2021

    Software as a Service or SaaS as it is commonly called has emerged as the most preferred cloud model for business organizations. The exponential increase in the demand for SaaS products has also led to intense competition in this field. To lead the race of competition and be ahead of your rivals, you need to have a robust SAAS Marketing Strategy for selling your SaaS products.

    SaaS marketing is challenging because of the following reasons: 

    • The product is intangible 
    • The product is ever-changing 
    • The customer base is limited to B2B  
    • The competition is fierce 

    The companies selling SaaS products can adopt the following approach for effective SaaS marketing: 

    1.Increasing the Traffic:

    The most fundamental principle of SaaS marketing is to drive more web traffic. The customers spend a lot of their time on their internet. Hence, it becomes imperative for SaaS marketers also to use the power of the web to multiply their sales. You can improve your digital presence and increase your visibility by the following methods:

    2.Content Marketing:

    Content marketing is a viable method to market SaaS products as it offers high returns with low risks. These days, customers do thorough research before buying any product. If you write informative content about your SaaS products, it would garner more sales. You should tell the customers how your SaaS product would help them and solve their troubles. You can post blogs, videos, and tutorials regarding your products.

    Moz uses the strategy of content marketing for promoting its SaaS products. It publishes its blogs, guides, and informative videos and tutorials to increase the leads and revenues.

    3.Pay Per Click Advertising:

    Pay Per Click Advertising is an influential and indomitable tool in the hands of SaaS marketers to elevate their sales instantly. Strategic PPC tactics secure high traffic for your website, give rapid results and multiply your profits quickly. SaaS companies should run streamlined and systematic PPC campaigns to drive relevant and quality traffic to their website which has a high percentage of being translated into actual buyers.

    4.SEO tool:

    Search Engine Optimization is the need of the hour. Optimized content rules the digital market. As content is the unbeatable king, SaaS companies need to have a content-rich website and web pages that have a perfect balance of suitable keywords and their utility.

    5.Increase your e-mail list:

    SaaS companies should have a large e-mail database of their prospective and actual customers. Once, your e-mail list is ready, you should send regular updates regarding SaaS products, new versions, case studies, product reviews, etc to the customers for more conversions.

    6.Well-Designed landing Pages:

    A welldesigned landing page creates an impactful first impression. As a landing page is the first point of contact between a prospective customer and your organization, it must be designed immaculately to garner positive response. The landing page should be informative as well as intriguing. You can generate more leads and convert them into sales with the help of phenomenal landing pages.

    7.Action-oriented CTA’s:

    It is also a great marketing idea to incorporate action-oriented CTA’s in your website. A call-to-action would encourage the customers to buy your SaaS products. You can use CTA’s such as fill forms; book a demo, free trial, etc. to improve your conversion rates.

    8.Free Trials and Demos:

    SaaS companies should offer free trials to their prospective customers as nothing works better than free demos and trials. Free trials are an effective way to boost the revenues of your SaaS products. Pipedrive, a leading SaaS company offers free trials to its prospective customers to acquire them as its permanent and loyal customers.

    9.Word of Mouth Publicity:

    SaaS companies should ensure that they offer quality SaaS products to clients. If you deliver a delighted customer experience, the customers would further promote your SaaS product. Word of Mouth Publicity plays a significant role in increasing your sales and profits. A huge network of happy clients would build a strong customer base.

    10.Convert your Leads into Sales:

    It is of paramount importance to convert your leads into sales. SaaS companies should ask for referrals from the customers who opt for trials. A satisfied customer would refer more friends and acquaintances and amplify your revenue stream. You can offer discounts and incentives for referring others. Like Dropbox offers attractive incentive of 16 GB free storage for every person you refer.

    11.Featuring on SaaS review sites:

    Another effective strategy is to get featured on SaaS review sites like Producthunt, SaaSGenius, DiscoverCloud,G2 Crowd etc. These days, customers are also tech-savvy and they research before buying any product. If a customer wants to purchase a SaaS product, he would do a thorough research about it. He would visit the product review sites to know about the product and check the reviews.
    If he would find positive reviews, he would decide to buy the SaaS product. Hence, it would be beneficial to get featured on product review sites and garner positive reviews for your SaaS products.

    A goal driven marketing strategy for SaaS products would accomplish your targets and embark you on the road to success.

    Reach out at saasro.com@gmail.com for software consulting & SaaS solution.

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        SaaS

        19 Killer Strategies To Keep Users Paying For Your SAAS Solution in 2021

        19-killer-strategies-to-keep-users-paying-for-your-saas-solution-in-2021

        When users fail to derive the full benefits of a SaaS solution, they get worried and eventually cancel their subscription. It is particularly important to motivate users to engage with the software in the right way. Moreover, it is very crucial to identify customers pain points to give the right value. 

        In this article we will be covering all you need to know about strategies to keep users paying for your SaaS solutions in 2021.   

        1)Try Before They Buy:

        A recent study found that 44% of B2B SaaS companies offer a free online trial, 41% offer a free 30-day trial, and 18% offer a 2-week free trial. No one likes to enter into an agreement without looking at the house or do a trial run of the car, or get a demo of a new vacuum cleaner. This applies to subscription-based solutions too. Many providers still provide no commitment, cancel any time even without entering credit card information trial period. If your business is a new into market and want to attract new customers soon this is a strategy that you don’t want to ignore. 

        2)Solve a real problem:

        Business run as they solve a problem in the customers life. Be it a dishwasher, a car, house or even a Netflix. They have a need of having their dishes clean, commuting safely, watching some series for entertainment etc. If we are not solving a real problem to the customer he may choose to stop his subscription some time down the line. Figure out what is the customer’s problem and address them in your package. This ensures your software is providing value to your customer. 

        3)Deliver Value By Making Your Software Easy to Use:

        A multi-billion dollar business is built around very easy to use user experience, yes you guessed it right. Its world-famous Apple Inc. They proved it to the world that simple products which solve their customer needs are the best-selling items. Design your product with simple to use yet delivering high value to your customers at the right time when they need. Your application will become most loved of all. 

        4)Encourage Two-Way Communication: 

        Everyone wants to be listened to their needs. So as a customer to his needs. Consumers want to build relationships with brands, more specifically, they want to feel valued and appreciated. This is why opening a line for two-way communication is extremely important. Listen to your customer’s concerns and needs, and identify what they are to say about your product or service.

        Your customers are your first priority as they pay for your business to run. Send a personal email for new signed up users from a real human, on board them and follow up with them regularly. Let them respond to your newsletters. Let your customer service be receptible for the customer’s feedback. Your application will reach new heights if you listen to your customer.  

        5)Make easy to connect to you: 

        Reaching you shouldn’t be a hassle for your customers. Always ensure that they can contact you from their mobile app, website or even better a chat. A concern addressed quickly will make a high impact on customer satisfaction than anything. Respond to them in the stipulated time which is as per your service level agreements to keep a strong commitment towards your work. 

        6)Create an experience not just an app:

         Its easy to create an app with help of a couple of developers. But to build an experience it needs several roles working in synchrony. Customer support team, backend management team, sales and marketing teams and the product development teams are to work in sync to make sure that your application is making what your customers want. Focus on building customer experience than just a technical solution in their hands.  

        7)Use push notifications rightly: 

        Push notifications are like medicines, use them rightly at the right time they work very well. Over using them can cause very bad experiences and even cause your customers to uninstall your app. Use it to send right information to the right customer at right time. They will love it. Don’t over send 10-15 notifications a day which makes a very annoying behaviour. You can choose to provide categories for your notifications which allow user to switch off or no that category of notifications. A user who is not interested in offers can switch off and only switch on critical notifications like One Time Passwords(OTPs), password rest notifications etc. 

        8)Constantly improve new features: 

        Rome isn’t built in a day. So is an excellent business. You may start your business by providing critical features to launch, but to continue in the market you will have to keep innovating and bring new features that are user-friendly, necessary and problem solving. Plan your features in each release and send the new feature’s release notes, training demos etc. in periodic way to keep your users engaged with your business. 

        9)Provide referral bonus:

        Who doesn’t like referral bonus. Let your customers bring their friends and family to your business and let them be rewarded for that. Giving them a extension in the subscription services or letting them to have access to your premium services for a while are few thoughts you can consider. Which business doesn’t want to have new customers at very low cost to acquire customer. 

        10)Report the advantage they get by using your application: 

        It is exciting to know that using a new fitness wearable that I am burning these many calories, having these much intake. How exciting it would be to let your customer understand the benefits of using your product. It could be as simple as that how much time he saves by this product, or how much comfortable your app is to use. If your customer understands your products and service value he won’t be lost any time soon. 

        11)Choose right pricing model: 

        Choose the right pricing model for your business. Few pricing models are pay as you go, flat rate pricing, tire based pricing, per user pricing, per feature pricing. Choose what fits right for you and give your users a couple of plans to choose from. This is very critical as this is how you are going to make money to run your business.  

        12)Choose auto deduction of amount from user: 

        This is one aspect which a saas business owner should emphasis upon. Many customers would like to auto deducted from their accounts by linking them their credit cards. Lack of this automated payment deduction you may have to follow-up with customers for payments, which you loose time that could be spent wisely on your other important aspects of your business. 

        13)Rollout offers and discounts for yearly or bulk options: 

        Who doesn’t like a long lasting customer with long term commitments? Offer your users for a long term contracts with yearly discounts. If there is a customer who loves your product it’s the right time to make him a long term customer by offering them yearly contracts or bulk purchase discounts.  

        14)Negotiate while cancelling the plan: 

        Some users may want to rollback even before their trial is complete. You may choose to show him the value you are bringing to the table. Let him understand what he is losing by not choosing this subscription. Ask him to check out other services that he haven’t had a change to look at. In many cases users will like to explore other options you have than just cancelling. Consider giving them some discounts if they feel if its expensive and still want to have your services of your business.  

        15)Share positive stories and accounts from paying users: 

        Some users will get encouraged to signup or extend their subscription based upon the user testimonials others had by using your product or service. Highlight them how your other users are benefited by using your solution. No better marketing tool than a customer testimonial to your business makes more impact on a new customer’s mind.

        16)Unlock paid features for a limited time: 

        I was surprised when we were in starbucks, India they were asking their customers to taste and give feedback on their new product lines. This is a way to make your customers get a taste of some of the features they never tasted about. Zoom Inc when there was huge demand on online conferencing solutions due to covid19 pandemic used to give their customers a free unlimited meeting for a limited time for their unlicensed customers. These will make your users to try out your new features and who knows some may become your paid customers too.

        17)Your free plan is very generous: 

        Your free plan should be a teaser to your free users so that they will choose to use your paid version of it. You choose the limitation in free plan, as you have right understanding of your business. If you are a cloud provider don’t provide generous storage space, if you are email marketing company don’t let your users send generous emails in free plan. This way users get to use your product as well are compelled to purchase subscription too. 

        18)Moving to Mobile:

        Having a mobile strategy for your business is a must in this era. Be it a non technical business like ecommerce or a tech business like project management tool. Everyone would like to have their work done on the go in this fast paced world. Make sure you have a mobile app for each of your use cases.  

        19)Personalize User Experience: 

        According to an Epsilon survey, 80% of respondents are more likely to buy from a company that offers a personalized experience. Personalize your communication, interaction and offers specifically to your user needs so that your turnaround time and conversion ratio is higher. Consider providing a white-labled application version of your solution under their name if it can increase customer satisfaction and retention.  

        Conclusion 

        In this extensive article we have tried to enlighten best tips for your saas solution in 2021. So,you want to keep your users from canceling their subscriptions,and deliver a seamless experience, you should undoubtedly implement all these strategies. 

        Stay tuned with Saasro at www.saasro.com for your technological journey into saas. 

        Do follow us on Twitter,Linkedin,Facebook,Instagram for more such interesting updates!

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          SaaS

          How can you handle the performance of SaaS-based applications effectively?

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          It is projected that the number of users  who  adopt  software-as-a service can increase drastically in the coming year. This will provide numerous opportunities for all kinds of cloud-based SaaS companies. However, with the growth of any industry, it is only natural that the number of companies providing this service will also grow; hence, it is imperative that SaaS providers fulfill all the customer’s demands or risk losing that customer to their competitor company. Companies will also have to focus on the scalability and optimization of their operations at a steady rate so that they can continue to keep their existing customers happy while growing their customer base. 

          This means identifying any potential problems or performance issues and resolving them quickly.

          The cost effective way of ensuring the performance of a SaaS-based application

          In order to significantly improve the performance of a cloud-based application, a SaaS vendor would first need to correctly tune the SQL queries and configure their database systems appropriately. This helps to ensure the application works efficiently and the vendors are able to gain an additional return on investments for their hardware purchases.

          In the meanwhile, assessing a database issue may be challenging as there is an increase in complexity between SQL queries, server resource provisioning, and data management systems. This, combined with the constantly evolving workload as well as the dynamic server environments, some of the more lightweight or ad hoc databases may not be able to give the required performance and fail to deliver any actionable information.  

          Implementing a legitimate database performance management tool for resolving the performance issues of a database can help pinpoint the contribution of a database in slowing the response time of applications in the testing/development and production phase. 

          What not to do

          While there is a right way of doing something, there is also often the wrong way.In this case, some SaaS companies tend to address any application performance issue that arises by connecting additional servers instead of redesigning the operation. However, this quick fix often fails to be a foolproof plan for the long term. Another mistake vendors make with SaaS delivery systems is failing to configure their operations’ critical components properly. Rather than getting to the root cause of the problem, they try to fine-tune the applications with the help of data derived from APM tools.

          Meeting customers’ performance demands is not an easy task, and more often than not, SaaS companies are confused about how they will meet the growing expectations of their customers. Four key elements affect the digital experience with SaaS, and these are the challenges that have to be overcome by every SaaS company so as to optimize their SaaS-based application. 

          Challenges that have to be overcome are :

          Growth of users

          This is one of the main reasons companies face performance challenges with their application. There is an extensive growth in the number of SaaS end-users worldwide, and the application’s performance tends to deteriorate as the distance between the end-user and the SaaS providers’ data center increases.  There can be several variables such as network speed, strength of their mobile network, performance of their device etc. This is the leading cause of the poor performance of the SaaS application.  

          Add ons to infrastructure.

          As the SaaS provider expands their services into more geographical regions, they have to support more businesses on an enterprise level. This being said, although they add to their infrastructure, they also have to divide their existing systems to support the load. These changes to the system increase the program’s complexity and adversely affect the infrastructure’s health and the end-user application’s performance.  

          Uncertainty of network  

          A total outage of the complete SaaS is rare; however, it can have a disastrous effect on the end user when it does occur. One of the most recent cases of such an outage is the Amazon S3 outage that happened just a few months ago. Due to the popularity and diversity of this e-commerce provider, this outage caused high websites and apps as well as IoT devices to be inaccessible to users for numerous hours. This goes to show that it doesn’t matter how impressive your infrastructure is; having 100% availability all the time is an unrealistic endeavor.  

          Update your management tools

          Suppose you want to be one step ahead of any potential performance issues before the end user notices them. In that case, a SaaS provider will have to shift their application from the traditional application management system, i.e., APM, and use digital experience management (DEM). Suppose you are unfamiliar with how a DEM operated, then in simple words; it creates the experience of the end-user as the ultimate metric and identifies how the systems, its components, and underlying services influence the users’ experience. This works in the same way as the monitoring systems work to track the internal applications’ availability and performance. You will have to put a process in place that uses the right tools and monitors your SaaS applications.   Due to the increase in the system variables, the SaaS provider may find that they are drowning in a sea of data which affects the application’s performance. To make sense of this data and identify what causes the performance issues, advanced analytics will have to be used. When analyzed optimally, this data can be beneficial for their infrastructure and the geographical region outside it.   The business users of a SaaS service need to get involved with performance management processes to monitor the performance to meet their end-user’s rising demands.  For advice on how to fine tune your system contact us today at saasro.com@gmail.com

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            SaaS

            Top 7 Reasons Why the SaaS Mode of Business Rocks!

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            Top 7 Reasons Why the SaaS Mode of Business Rocks!

            Are you wondering how businesses will sustain the after effects of global pandemic ? If yes, then you are at the right place! The way technology is commercialized is changing with time. On premium software world is becoming a thing of the past, while cloud grows rapidly with many companies making the transition into subscription-based services. Although the pandemic has shattered the world’s economy, some businesses are still able to sustain and make profits with the help of SAAS mode of business. One such example is Zoho, which offers a suite of business, collaboration, and productivity applications. Zoho CEO Vembu advised that having any paying customer during these times is better than only looking for high-value clients. Zoho CRM saw a 35 % growth in active users in Q2 and Q3,2020 during the pandemic. 

            As a business owner, you should be ready to make right choice considering all possibilities of  success rates. To know why many companies nowadays transition to SaaS, check out the advantages of the SaaS business model. 

            Here are a few reasons why SAAS mode of business rocks. 

            1. Focus on your business. Focus on what you are good at and leave the rest to the experts who know how to solve the issue. No need to manage your own servers, recruiting a tech team. You just need to pay subscription charges.  

            1. No more managing hassle: You don’t have to purchase high configuration servers and setup an IT team to manage them. Don’t need to pay for your team and server. Just pay for what you use. 

            1. Flexible payment options: Have a flexible payment options with SaaS mode. You can now choose the plan you are comfortable with and upgrade to higher plans when you have more usage or demand. Fortunately with many of the SAAS providers you can upgrade, downgrade several times a month or an year.  

            1. Predictable pricing: All ways have your costing predictable. You are set at a fixed cost no matter how much you use the product. Though you may have to switch to a higher plan if your usage goes higher but you can predict how much you are going to burn by end of the month.  

            1. Scalability: If your usage raises, you are covered. Feel relaxed that your application is always matching the demand your user base is looking for. It automatically scales down your application if your usage goes down. All that is done for free of cost that is included in your subscription fee.  

            1. Managed 24X7 by expert teams: No need to call your tech team if something goes wrong at middle of the night or at a peak situation. Most business critical solutions will have 24X7 customer support and tech team who is supporting the application round the clock.  

            1. Peace of mind: Ever wanted to have a peace of mind without managing the hassle of managing the IT teams, Infrastructure, software licenses, bills. SAAS is the best way to go. You just pay for the monthly usage charges and rest all is taken care of. 

            1. Constant updates: Developing a software solution is just half way done. Maintaining it is all together a different ball game. Updating it with software updates, security updates against threats, is a mandatory phase for all software systems. This is handled by Saas provider at no extra costs. 

            1. Security: It is a myth that SAAS providers provide less security compared to on premise solutions. Security is taken as seriously as any other software system. With encryption for data at rest, and for data in transit, world class data centers with physical security, system and software upgrades make SAAS solutions to be highly secure as well. 

            There is a high possibility of earning higher revenues from the Indian market for SaaS companies thus breaking their dependence on the Western market for scale and growth. 

             If you are building your software solution and not sure what technology to choose from, book a free appointment with our team to get an expert advice. Stay tune with Saasro to kickstart your business idea! Follow us on Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook! 

            Also Read: 10 Important Things To Consider When Implementing SaaS

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