Software as a service (SaaS) is one of the latest advances in the technology industry, in which software is delivered online and hosted on a server. Users pay rent to use the software for a period of time.
SaaS Integration Strategies and Tools
Nowadays, it isn’t difficult to understand how to integrate SaaS applications. Virtually every primary business application, from accounting software to enterprise resource planning, can be accessed as SaaS. As a result, implementing SaaS application integration can be very easy to do as you make them work together.
Since SaaS applications cannot access internal systems (databases or interior services), they predominantly offer integration protocols and APIs that run over the WAN. Typically, these SaaS integration tools are HTTP, REST, and SOAP-based protocols.
The ubiquity of SaaS applications and other Internet services and the standardization of their API technologies has spawned the development of mashups, which are lightweight applications that combine data, presentation, and functionality from multiple services to create a complex service.
SAAS Integration Trends and Challenges
The flexibility, availability, cost-effectiveness, and wide range of cloud SaaS enterprises’ features are attracting more and more organizations. SaaS revenue is expected to reach a whopping $138 billion by 2022, according to Gartner.
For most of the last decade, SaaS companies have focused on becoming a versatile tool for a wide range of business functions such as sales, HR, accounting, and more. The horizontal approach may have covered a wide range of areas, but it did seem unnecessary for some clients.
Customers needed software that was tailored to their specific needs to deliver a custom solution. Then this led to the new SaaS integration challenges. Companies began to use a vertical solution in which software was created to meet specific industry needs. This approach works well, providing more sales opportunities, better data management, higher retention rates, and lower churn rates with lower customer acquisition costs.
For most of the past decade, the software has been dominated by the client/server. The client will launch the application, and the server will start the database. But as we get closer to 2021, more companies have started supporting hybrid cloud delivery. A hybrid cloud is the integration of public and private clouds. SaaS companies can now host their security or auditing data, thereby leveraging a cost-effective public cloud while keeping sensitive data in the private cloud. This cloud-based trend has not only simplified business but also helped protect data effectively.
How SAAS Integration Can Change a Business
One of the most significant SaaS application integration benefits that traditional on-premises software don’t have is that it can be accessed from anywhere – thanks to its delivery model. All equipment is already pre-configured and pre-installed in the cloud. This means it is ready to use as soon as you sign up for it.
Customer relationship management software is easy to link to email marketing software, send sales data from a spreadsheet to accounting software, and more. You can get rid of the need to transfer data from one program to another manually.
Artificial intelligence has strengthened human capabilities to improve efficiency and productivity. Today, there is no need to keep records or perform repetitive tasks manually; AI will do it. AI-optimized solutions for enterprises have led to significant improvements in speed, responsiveness, automation, and even security improvements.
The AI-powered chatbots that are now widely used by various SaaS organizations have helped elevate customer service with their speed and personalization capabilities.
Why SAAS Integration Requires Up-to-Date Development Skills
As useful as the technology is, organizations still need skilled developers to build modern applications. SaaS services are no exception and also need constant support and development after their release. Each integration project requires dedicated human resources, including a manager and a front-end and back-end development team.
Development flexibility and high scalability are some of the main reasons why companies choose software as a service integration. SaaS applications development requires a deep level of knowledge using the appropriate technologies that allow you to adjust the product’s development at any of its stages.
How a Value-Based Contract Can Help to Achieve Perfect Results
SaaS integration’s key to economic viability is economies of scale — a software as a service provider serves many customers and therefore spends fewer resources managing each copy of the software. Ultimately, the recurring cost of services to the end customer becomes lower than the costs incurred when using the classic licensing model.
Overall, SaaS integration has many benefits for small and large businesses. It’s a great choice and a great solution if you want to improve your company’s workflow, collaboration, and productivity. It’s also great to cut down on your running costs and only pay for the features you need and use.
SaaS growth is not expected to stop anytime soon. In fact, according to trends in 2020, SaaS businesses can be expected to thrive during this decade.
05 February 2021
