Custom Software
Customization in SaaS — All you need to know about customizing software-as-a-service
An insightful article on customizing software-as-a-service
Just like a perfectly fitted suit or denim, everyone loves it when they receive something -just the way- their mind had envisioned it to be. But not everyone loves ready-made things; hence customization came into existence.
Customization in SaaS is a process of developing software applications that suit a person or a firm’s particular needs. Unlike the more common off-the-shelf software options, custom solutions usually address specific issues and are intended for in-house use rather than resell.
The ability to customize a product is a significant and sought-after request, especially in B2B software firms. As SaaS offers are growing in popularity, eventually the need for companies to be able to put their digital-impression on apps — and customize its use adequately — for nourishing the end user’s needs. It is a demand which is understandable, right?
Myths and Expert’s sayings
However, in terms of SaaS customization, there are many myths that prevail in the tech industry. As soon as a company declares that it is ready to invest in innovation, they are bombarded with ready to launch and off-shelf digital resources that are offered by many players in the market.
You might hear experts saying that investing in a readily available solution is the best way for any business looking to invest in SaaS. But not always the experts saying work for growing companies.
Because investing in custom software creation is essential for enterprises as well as small businesses to empower their business growth with a more personalized or customized digital arsenal.
Several executives may argue that custom software creation is an expensive affair, but if it is not tailored to your business goals, buying off the shelf software may do more harm than good in the long run.
Personalizing SaaS
According to a study carried out by Infosys among 1,000 consumers and 50 retailers across the United States reveals:
· 59% of shoppers who have experienced personalization believe it has a noticeable influence on purchasing
· 86% of consumers say that personalization has some impact on what they purchase, and one quarter admits pers‘onalization ‘significantly influences’ their buying decisions.
SaaS companies are seeing flexibility and customizations, progressively as a way to convert potential consumers. With the right SaaS business model and listening to its customers, businesses can develop a more versatile SaaS product that can be customized to individual needs.
Software applications like ‘OnPrintShop’ have developed a custom web to print SaaS solution that empowers global printers to set up their online print business to engage & retain clients, expand business & reduce operation cost easiest way.
Many SaaS companies are implementing a “made for you” approach to their services, allowing consumers to set up their dashboards, interact with apps they already use, and import data in a manner that is ideally suited to their personal needs.
If you have enterprise clients, they can pay for services like this, and it can be a smarter way to generate additional revenue — while saving your money and helping the new users to start using your SaaS product actively.
Let say you are a business owner (SaaS provider) and wish to customize client’s software, then make sure that customization doesn’t over-complicates your product.
While you consider offering more personalized options as your SaaS services, keep testing on every level of changes/modification to find the sweet spot that brings your client increased conversion, customer satisfaction, and above all doesn’t affect your team’s efficiency.
Why customizing SaaS is essential for your business?
1) Easy Scaling
As your business starts to expand, so do your needs. Buying an off-the-shelf software solution may become a problem if it does not help your business or is too costly for licensing.
Off-the-shelf approaches in their start-up phase of the business cycle could be an excellent choice for small companies because the operations are not stable yet, and the emphasis is on making the company viable.
Therefore, when you don’t want to be constrained by software policies and evolve at your own pace, investing in a customized solution that can expand and scale up to your business processes would be a more sensible decision.
2) Customization Compliance with standards and processes
Even the best digital solutions from world-class suppliers may have problems complying with the traditional rules and processes implemented within an organization. The creators of such software may have incorporated industry-recognized standards guidelines, but very often, a company may have to think out of the box when running its daily operations.
This eventually leads to deviations of their core processes and standards from what industry follows.
Any technology implementation undertaken today should be closely related to business priorities, and companies need to have a good understanding of the business use cases that could be addressed by a specific technology.
With custom software creation, any investment in enterprise applications can get your business a clear picture of the computable benefit.
3) Permanent solution for recurring problems
As soon as you start your day turning on your PC, you see hundreds of emails complaining about the same issue that they had the previous day. Those types of problems create frustration for anyone — whether it an employee, client, or business owner.
By investing in a custom software solution that targets EXACTLY the pain-point, the business is facing and automate all of those routine activities without the needless hassle and scale up your business in an error-free way. It allows you and your team to gain greater exposure, useful market insights, and scalability as and when needed.
Advantage and Disadvantage of SaaS Customization
Disadvantages:
· Time Consuming: Layout, configuration, and installation of a custom program often take a lot of time to complete. This is a big downside for companies pursuing quick and immediate solutions
· Expensive: Might not be budget-friendly: No Free trial or demo before investment. The initial investment might be higher.
Advantages:
· Ownership: You decide what functionality you want the software to have. If you feel like something can be improved, you can always request further adjustments. The best thing, nobody will have the tools (customized software) you use. It’s your call if you want to share your platform with other users or not.
· Control: You have power over all of the software functionalities. That includes how it feels, what features it has, and who has access to what.
· Expert Support- The support you are going to get comes directly from the people who created or customized the software. No-one knows better than they do.
· Industry-focused- Many ready-made software comes with extra featured which are of no use to a specific industry. Because the platform is custom-built according to your needs, it will be developed to fit your niche line of work.
· Easy Upgradability- If the features on release happen to be inadequate or missing, you can always reach out to the development team for the same.
The main advantage of custom software is that it includes functionality that off-the-shelf applications fail to offer. Designing a custom application by following the needs — usually results in an improved degree of efficiency for businesses.
Conclusion
Instead of owners and managers spending hours every day working around shortcomings in standardized systems and consumers attempting to place orders using clunky user interfaces — why not build a customized software app for your unique business needs and priorities?
