As a business, you’re probably no stranger to SaaS; from popular VOIP trends to account management software, there seems to be a SaaS product for every problem out there.
Short for software as a service, SaaS has proliferated the business scene and looks set to continue its growth – in fact, the mobile SaaS market is expected to reach up to 7.4% billion by the end of 2021.
So what exactly is it, and how can it help your business productivity?
What is SaaS?
SaaS is a way of delivering business applications and tools over the internet. Whether you need help demolishing your company’s first computer bug, want to automate tasks, or require a cloud communications platform, there’s bound to be a SaaS product out there that meets your organization’s needs.
What kinds of SaaS products are available?
SaaS has exploded within the last decade, so your range of choice is huge. When deciding what kind of SaaS is best for your business, you’ll want to go over your goals and current strategy. What are you looking to improve? What kind of things could SaaS tools help enhance?
Maybe you’re looking to improve communications within your remote team? In that case, a cloud communications platform would be your best bet, but even that market is saturated, so it’s key you dig a little deeper when doing your research.
Once you’ve identified what kind of SaaS you’ll implement, look into providers within that category and try to separate them by accessibility, affordability, and features. One might have advanced collaborative tools, such as a whiteboard app and meeting countdown timer, but be limited in its capacity and accessibility. Make sure to offset your list of options against one another.
Still wondering whether to implement SaaS into your business or not? Below, we’ve outlined five of the top ways SaaS can boost small business productivity.
1. Automates manual tasks
If one of your needs is to free up time and increase your team’s productivity, choosing SaaS software to automate tasks can go a long way in streamlining workflows, enabling your employees to work on the most time-critical tasks and projects.
The less time they spend on doing manual, repetitive tasks such as admin work and emailing, the more time they can spend doing things to increase business growth and meet your company goals.
Whether you want to automate the creation of vanity numbers for business or your data entry systems, SaaS can free up time for your employees to focus on what’s most important. This allows them to put their skills to use instead of wasting their talent on repetitive, manual tasks that take away from their passion instead of firing them up.
2. Enhances communication and collaboration
If you choose a SaaS product that leverages cloud communications or a cloud contact center, you can easily enhance your team’s communication and collaboration. Since the pandemic, the way businesses operate has shifted, with hybrid and remote work becoming a popular alternative for many.
This has had an impact on communications within the team since physical meetings and office culture have been pushed to one side. With SaaS, however, businesses can keep their team connected and foster collaboration through different platforms that provide communications on the cloud and a wide variety of virtual meeting tools.
Navigating the world of hybrid work and team dynamics has been made easier with SaaS tools such as video conferencing software as it enables your teams to virtually catch up regardless of location.
3. Easily scalable
The great thing about SaaS is that it’s easily scalable and can fit around your changing business landscape and accommodate growth. This means you’ll be able to add more features and tools from whichever SaaS platform you’ve picked for existing and new employees.
Being scalable, SaaS can easily align with any goals you have, from your content marketing strategy to customer retention. Depending on which provider you choose, you’ll be able to add new features to your business as you grow without having to fork out for expensive hardware.
4. Breaks down silos
As we’ve discussed previously, if you decide to choose a SaaS product that incorporates cloud communications and video software into its systems, not only will you be able to foster communication, but you’ll better break down department and data silos.
Siloed information isn’t new – it’s been around since business first began, but the onset of remote and hybrid work has brought employee productivity and engagement under more threat than before.
With teams physically separated, the distinction between front office vs back office has grown wider, leading to knock-on effects on interaction and engagement levels.
The more silos in your team, the less engaged and interactive they’ll be. This could manifest itself as one department being unable to collaborate effectively with another because of a lack of knowledge about their specialism or the tools they use.
However, choosing a SaaS product with cloud communications tools can help break down these silos by providing all departments with the same tools and systems (essentially acting as a form of unified communications).
5. Easily installed and accessible
One of the great things about SaaS is that it’s generally accessible and easily installed. Most platforms provide users with handy manuals and set-up guides as well as contacts for customer support.
Not only does this pave the way for a quick setup, so you can get started on hitting your goals and increasing business growth, but you’ll be able to iron out problems easily, meaning your team can focus on the most important projects instead of faffing around with complex product installations.
Aside from this, SaaS is super accessible – most users will be able to access the software from a variety of devices, including mobile and desktop. This is especially helpful in a remote and hybrid work setting since it enables employees to work the way they feel most comfortable, empowering them to make their own choices.
Isn’t it time you used SaaS to improve your small business productivity?