Software as a service has become something of a buzz word which people tend to ignore, primarily because they don’t know what it is. They also have no intention of getting to know what it is or figuring out how they can leverage it. There is a lot of potential for small businesses if they choose to adopt SaaS.

Before we look at the benefits of SaaS, let’s first talk about what exactly Saas is? Simply put, it is a different method of delivering software, whereby the applications are held on a remote server by a service. This service will then make the software applications available to its clients over a network. Think of it as a software rental service. Businesses don’t actually purchase the software but instead lease it over the network from the vendor. Typically rates are charged on an annual or monthly basis and are usage-based subscriptions. With a huge uptake and general acknowledgement of the wonders of cloud computing, SaaS is now growing in popularity as it ties into this realm perfectly.

The question still remains however, what can SaaS do for your small business?
Below are just some of the great benefits which you can expect from this less conventional method of buying software.

Cost
Every businesses primary concern has to be their bottom line. At the end of the day that’s what it’s all about, making a respectable profit. SaaS can help you to significantly reduce your costs for a number of reasons. First, it completely eliminates the upfront cost of both purchasing and installing a software package. Through SaaS, you simply download the system from the supplier and you’re ready to go.

Time
This is a huge area of savings for a business of any size, but particularly for small businesses. Small business owners have so much going on with the day-to-day running of their business that saving time in any of the business processes is a win. SaaS applications can allow you to easily conduct mundane business tasks quickly and efficiently without having to buy expensive software. Have you ever thought of processing payslips online? How about looking after your business accounts or even elements of your marketing? Cutting back on the time you spend on these tasks allows you much more time to focus on building your business.

Scalability
There is very few barriers to entry with SaaS. You can cheaply buy software which you otherwise wouldn’t have had the resources to and even give new software a trial run without the initial set up costs. If things work out, you can always scale up your software without the financial risk.

Compatibility
Having to have every piece of software you have work in perfect harmony together is a non-issue with SaaS. In the past businesses have spent huge amounts of time and money to keep their systems compatible and up to date. With SaaS, you can simply login to a system that you know is already fully up to date, upgraded and in perfect working order.

If used properly SaaS can save you and your business time and money. It can easily eliminate problems with compatibility and updates that haunt businesses that are using more traditional software delivery systems. SaaS overall can provide increased productivity, greater flexibility and overall ease of use and access to the tools you need to run your business.

With its head office in Marlow, Bucks UK, CIPHR is a privately owned business that has over 650 organizations using its software and services for people and data management. They strive to meet their client’s demands through traditional software, outsourcing, data management, and new forms of knowledge-based services.